Aggressive Corgi Puppy
So here's the deal, Pickles is now 11 months old (PWC), and spoiled rotten. When we got him from the breeder he was the biggest in his litter and most definitely the alpha of the group. Knowing this, my girlfriend and I have made it a priority from the beginning to socialize him and use the positive reinforcement techniques in training him. He is a very loving and affectionate dog that is very protective of the house and us (his mommy and daddy). He is alot longer and more muscular than your average Corgi, He has also already been neutered and he is housebroken. He is very inquisitive as well. He has never met a stranger before, and is very very good when we take him on walks downtown or to the dog park, he seems to do really well in a public environment and is usually the center of attention. He started becoming food aggressive around six months and was very protective of his food bowl. After working with him, he is much better with his food bowl and does not challenge me anymore.
Two new problems have risen though:
One) When we try and bathe him now he basically turns into the incredible hulk. He used to not put up a fight @ all and would patiently stand there while we bathed/dried him but the last two times he wanted to rip my hands off!
Two) When he would get tired @ night we used to be able to pick him up and put him in his crate, but now when he is tired, you cannot even think of picking him up or touching him in general, he becomes very aggressive and stubborn, even though once you get him in his crate he is fine, he loves his crate, just not the act of being put in it.
[Ive started to fix this problem, he seems to respond well to being put on his leash @ night and being lead into his crate now]
Any suggestions how to curb his bathing and sleep etiquette? Thanks, Appreciate it!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Priss, Charlie & Kaylee (PK) on
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There is a lot of good advice already mentioned. I wanted to second the command to go to bed. Kaylee knows that "kennel" means that she will find the closest crate and jump in. Any obstacles will be met with a lot of whining. We started off with treats and still often offer a peanut butter kong before bed.
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Permalink Reply by Snickmom on
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My dogs love their bedtime biscuit so much that toward evening they follow me whenever I go into the bedroom, looking at me and the crate, just hoping I will say the magic words "get in your box". Snickers has always hated being handled and I worked with her using conditioning as Beth mentioned, now she is much better. I get in the tub with my dogs to bathe them, and they hop in when told. They don't like baths but are obedient doggies and get either a verbal reward or a treat for obeying. If you haven't taken Pickles to an obedience class yet, it might be a good idea. They teach you how to teach your dog things, and you can use what you've learned about teaching stuff to get creative about teaching other things.
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Permalink Reply by Sean & Mal on
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thanks, appreciate all the advice, & obedience classes are on the horizon actually, probably within the month. He used to "Go Crate" fine but he caught on to the whole 'treat trick' which we were doing, now you get the look, "I know what you are doing, and I'm not falling for it!" from him. (Which lead to us having to 'put' him in the crate, which was fine @ first, but has recently become a challenge) Obedience classes should help with this, b/c he really likes his crate, doesn't bark/whine at all when he is in there and sleeps through the night without any issues, I think its just him being stubborn and strong willed...
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Permalink Reply by Frances P Moloney on
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I only share my bath with the same species!
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Permalink Reply by Orange corgi mum on
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Sounds just like my female 11 month old. She is one strong willed little beast. She hates to be picked up-and the bath? Oh no. I was nipped today trying to pick her up to put her in her bath. She played in the mud today and really needs a bath...but will stay dirty! I am going to give up and get a muzzle. I like the idea of seeing if she would get in with me. Maybe a mud bath will be
good of my skin...ha
We have had trainer after trainer. She is just a stubborn brat. No food aggression, very protective of us, and likes most dogs.
She is ok going got her crate as we say "nighttime treats" very animated, and she will let me pick her up to carry her up the stairs to her crate. It is only the bath and being picked up. Sh roll over submissively then snarls. She is warning us, but we have to win! Anyway-a muzzle is next...good luck !!
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I give my dogs treats at the start of the bath, after shampoo, after the rinse and after the pat dry. Since she obviously doesn't like this, I would give her great treats for letting you put her in the tub or shower (no bath), after she starts allowing you to start give treats for being able to turn the shower on ( still no bath) continue this progression moving another step each time she doesn't growl or snap. Take your time and try it several times a day. Eventually she will be ok for a full bath. Try using something yummy like tiny chicken pieces or hot dog pieces.
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great advice! Thank you .
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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You mention he is much longer than the average Corgi. A long back is a vulnerable back and I am wondering if he may not have injured it, maybe not enough for it to be obvious in other ways but, if his back is hurting him, it would be particularly painful to be picked up. I would have him checked out by the Vet, to be on the safe side. Physical problems should be always ruled out before assuming it's all behavioral. If there is a pain issue, any training techniques would be doomed to fail and could even aggravate the problem, so having him checked out is the prudent thing to do. Warning bites ( where the dog does not actually bite ) show restraint on the dog's part, but do not underestimate the warning.
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Permalink Reply by Holly on
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Anna's reply surprised me because he is so young to have an injury but it's great advise. Even with humans we always have to rule out medical before we assume it is behavioral for all the reasons she mentioned. I do hope he isn't injured though.
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Holly, young dogs are more active, play harder, are more likely to jump as well as to twist their body when quickly changing direction. Soft tissue injuries can be hard to spot. There may be two separate issues going on at the same time. T he resource guarding tendency directed towards food, house, owners is only behavioral, but the two more recent behaviors listed in the post are the ones that could be caused by physical pain and the attempt by the dog to protect himself from that. If he has back issues, it certainly would be good to know this early on, as they can be more easily managed that way.
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My interpretation on this is that it is behavioural: it is not ever OK in my book for my dogs to growl at me.
The crate issue is a non-negotiable: your dog must obey you when you command him to go into the crate. (As with babies, don't wait until he is over exhausted to send him to bed. Do a pre-emptive strike to avoid the tantrum) However, gluttonous corgis respond really well to bribery: my pair, who are not particularly overly trained, nearly fall over themselves at the prospect of the piece of doggy kibble that they almost always get when they go into their crates.
With regard to the bathing: dogs don't actually need to be bathed that often: they are actually meant to smell like dogs, not human babies. Regular grooming is essential to keep the onslaught of corgi hair at bay,(Good luck with that!) and this keeps them clean enough. My pair love nothing better than rolling in fox's spoor / sheep poo / cow pie ....Bella is particular thinks that this enhances her beauty...but I tend to just sponge her ruff, which is where she likes to apply her perfume.
With regard to lifting your dog:due to the unique shape of corgis, if you don't use a shepherd's lift, you can pinch them or else leave a considerable amount of them dangling without obvious support, which has to be fairly uncomfortable I find with mine that they don't particularly like being lifted but they wouldn't be growling at me either if I was to lift them.
Exercise, exercise, exercise....alot of dog misbehaviour is due to boredom or pent up frustration. If you are walking your dog a reasonable amount, with good lead control, it reinforces who is in charge and they worship you all the more as the provider of the walk.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Knuff on
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Your dog sounds very similar to mine. He is testing you. I first noticed Tilly's problem at 7 months. I took her to the vet because I thought she had a back problem. But the vet said it is a behavioural problem. Every time we touched her hind end she would growl and snap at us! I also had this problem the third time after her bath. I was towelling her off and she turned on me viciously! What????? He told us to let her know who is boss. Pin her down and in no uncertain terms say, "NO!" Make sure everyone is on the same page. It took less than a week, to let her know who is boss. She stopped and hasn't done it since. Some people have a problem with the pinning down to the ground, but how else are you going to get their attention right then and there? They are so close to the ground, that it isn't a problem. Our dog is quite dominant as well. I've never had to work so hard on training a dog before. But it is well worth the effort. She used to have so many problems: wanting to chase cars, barking crazily and attacking the vacuum, etc. Those people that have dogs that attack vacuums: I use a more yummy dog kibble for my treats, potato and salmon, and I put it in a large plastic wide mouth bottle, such as for whey protein, and so she spends her time getting the kibble out, whilst I'm vacuuming. One has to be creative to solve our corgi problems. But so worth it!
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