Agressive behavior
Aerion has has a bad problem with agression towards putting on his leash, harness, or even tightening and loosening his collar. He immediately rolls over on his back and pulls his teeth out snarling. He doesn't growl or bark but that behavior really bothers me. I cannot afford classes which I would really like to do and I know swatting him will make it worse. Any suggestions? I have to take care of this before my husband returns in Aug otherwise he will get rid of him
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hmmm... could you tell us a bit more in detail? when did this start? what was the history? what was your reaction? did he bite you? was he okay after the harness is on? how does he behave during walks?
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Permalink Reply by JennFerguson on
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I have had him since 5 weeks old and he has always been kinda of a nipper but has gotten better. I always forcefully tell him NO and have to hold him down. Sometimes he does bite, not to draw blood but enough that I usually give up. He is ok once the harness is on and I've left it on for several days at a time. He is still learning during walks and sometimes towards the end he will just roll over Should he be nutered?
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Permalink Reply by CorgiLove on
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5 weeks is very early to be taken away from mom and litter, it's quite possible that he has insecurity issues because of that. How old is he now?
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Does he act like this for anything else? Does he let you pet him in the areas where the collar/harness would go? Have you looked under the collar to see if there might be a rash or something under there making him uncomfortable? Was he a rescue? Maybe he has a history of being sternly grabbed by the collar and dragged somewhere when he wasn't behaving well, that would cause him to associate collar touching with bad things.
If it's just a quirky behavior, here's how I would work on it: Several times a day when he is sitting next to you, put your hand on his collar and tell him what a good boy he is, give him a nice treat (of course assuming he didn't snarl). As he accepts that, the next step to do is sliding your fingers under his collar momentarily, and later also trying to turn it around his neck a little bit. The way I see it is similar to teaching a pup to accept nail trimming - handle his neck frequently and always reward good (or neutral) response, work your way up to more and more invasive handling, but slowly. Meanwhile, make sure you get a collar that snaps on and off quickly and doesn't need to be adjusted much.
Best of luck!
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he is 5mo old now and yes he openly lets me rub and pet him under the collar and I frequently check to make sure it's not too tight. In fact I just bought a bigger one for him and getting to it to take it off and the new on on was a chore. The mom and dad are great dogs with no history of agression, I just wonder if I didn't do enough as a little puppy. Honestly he is the first "real" puppy I've ever had. I want him to be a good dog. He does jump and grabs when I'm trying to go in when we are done playing so not sure
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It's by no means your fault, he is still a very young pup and you are both still learning. It's perfectly normal for him to test his boundaries at this age.
At only 5 weeks, he was taken away from his canine family too soon, puppies need to stay with their mother and litter until at least 8 weeks old (the current code of ethics actually requires 10 weeks), and many breeders will keep the puppies until 12 weeks to ensure they get the most education from their canine family. But what's done is done, and now it's your role to teach him things that he didn't learn from his mom.
If he lets you playfully touch his neck area, then make sure you approach him in the same playful manner when putting his leash on or adjusting the collar. Dogs are very good at picking up our feelings and emotions and if you approach him thinking "oh man, he is going to go bonkers again, I hate dealing with this silly behavior" then he will react appropriately and get aggressive. If you on the other hand approach him with the attitude of "hey it's play time, fun fun fun!" then he'll be excited and happy.
Don't force him into it, rather try to change your approach, if he already associates seeing the leash with something bad, then hide it in your pocket, start playing with him first, while finding the d-ring on the collar, and very quickly snap the leash to the collar, he won't know what hit him and you continue playing a little while the leash is already on before taking him out.
For changing the collar, same thing - approach playfully and just quickly snap the buckle open and let the collar fall down while continuing the play (make sure you have a collar with a snap-off buckle, not the belt buckle kind).
For putting on a collar, once again same thing - approach him with the collar as if it was a toy, let him play with it, wrap it around his face / legs / neck as part of the game, then at some moment when you have it around his neck snap it closed and continue playing. You need to be able to snap it fast, practice without him.
A harness might be a little harder, I would suggest either not using it or leaving it on him for now. When he accepts the leash and the collar readily, move on to the harness and do the same approach - playfully slide it around his neck, playfully pull his paws through, and (you guessed it - playfully) close the buckle.
Do this frequently, not only when you need it, but as part of every day's routine. Make it all a game, it's all fun, good things come after it, the puppy loves it :)
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thanks I will try different things
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Permalink Reply by James on
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Make him sit and stay (or start teaching him those) then hold food in front of his face while he sits to make eye contact. Eventually you can get him to focus on you instead of the food so you have two hands free to slowly put the leash on. It took me 3 days to get this down with my pup, it should be easy, they really only have to stay for about 3 seconds anyway. Now I just make him stay longer and longer after the leash is on to help train him.
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Permalink Reply by Charlie on
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I can't add much to the good advice from CorgiLove, but I would like to emphasize a point. You do want to make it fun, and never hold him down and forcefully say or yell "No!". I don't think there is a closer human vocalization than "No!" that most closely resembles a vicious, aggressive dog bark "BoWoWo". He is feeling some anxiety with the collar/leash, so by physically pinning him down you have removed his ability to chose fight or flight. He is escalating the desire to "fight" more since he can't run. Then adding a forceful "No!" on top of holding him down, he may wonder why you're trying to kill him!! He does not know you just want to take him for a nice walk, as you have challenged and threatened him (in his perspective). So no swatting, no pinning him down and no yelling.
Turn it into a fun time with treats as CorgiLove suggests.
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Permalink Reply by Arang&Mark on
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I dont know if you can find this episode, but the english trainer on "its me or the dog" on animal planet did an episode on a dog who was very aggressive toward the leash. it was a lady and a chihuahua.
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Permalink Reply by Sam on
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This does sound like a form of fear aggression to me. I also feel it is probably related to him being removed from his litter at such a tender age. Pups learn so much from their interactions with their mom and littermates and behavior issues are not uncommon when a pup is removed so early.
I too would encourage you to make this a very positive experience. May be a good time to learn a bit about clicker training to reinforce the "pleasure/reward" regarding the use of the collar. I would also not attempt it when he rolls over (submissive posture) and growls (warning signal)
Consider what it is you are doing when you go to put the collar/lead on him. Is it to go in to a crate, be confined or is it to go for a walk or go to play ball? Currently the collar/lead should only be used for good experiences.
Make sure you do not corner him or go at him from above. Perhaps sit on the floor and encourage him to come to you. treat....attempt to put the collar on from below the neck....if he is accepting...treat. Take it off.....treat and repeat the process. If he lays down or walks away start back and rewarding that he came to you.
I suspect if you look deep you will see some other displays of his fearful demeanor. I do encourage you to start a journal and record his responses to different things. Never approach him quickly, never use force and do not corner him. Work on his handling tolerance all over his body. Some corgis are quite reactive to things they feel are restraining. This may be part of the issue you are experiencing.
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