Territorial child (corgi)
Hello folks. I hope you are all doing well..
We brought Brian home In august.. He's got some issues that don't seem to be getting better even with a number of attempts... He's dog aggressive. He's almost 6 months old and basically used to Cricket. We thought this would be easier to fix, but it's not.. For example: Yesterday I was doing the normal ritual of feeding when Cricket (my 1 years old Corgi) got too close to the food bags again and Brian lashed out and I had to break up a dog fight..
We stopped bringing him to the dog park because of his lip curling, lunging and trying to bite at larger and smaller dogs has progressed into doing those things AND chasing them. He's starting to get to the point where being on a leash is impossible when he seems another dog. What's most frustrating at the dog park is most people think it's cute because of his size, so they laugh.. But now we have people asking why we even bring him if he's just mean..! It's so FRUSTRATING and makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with people. UGH! So we stopped bringing him with. :(
We /know/ he needs professional help.. But recently my cat has had surgery for cancer (400 USD) and our bassett hound had to be put to sleep for bloat (250 USD) and we can't afford to pay bills right now, let alone 100 dollars and gas to go to a trainer.. We usually have an 'emergency vet/animal fund' but as you can see that is taken up, plus most of our normal cash flow.. :( Sadly there's no one out there just willing to help our aggressive puppy for either payments/delayed payment or just out of the goodness of their heart. :/ I understand they need to pay bills, too.. But a little help wouldn't hurt them.
I was curious as to if anyone had tips for us.. We take our dogs everywhere with us and we've started leaving Brian at home.. Which I know isn't helping. But he's now lost his puppy teeth and getting stronger. I don't want him biting someone else's dog and having to deal with that. :(
Thanks for listening.. I hope someone has had a similar situation they've fixed and can help us.. I've worked with dogs for years, and have never come cross a PUPPY with aggressive issues like this.. It's rather worrisome.
-Angel and Travis, Cricket & Brian.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Emily & Cooper on
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I don't know if this will be much help, but I saw this on It's me or the Dog! Many times aggressive behavior like this is because the dog feels threatened by other dogs and is trying to lash out to protect himself or establish dominance. One thing you can do is schedule a meet up with another dog (preferably a female, who is slightly submissive) but keep the meeting in a completely controlled environment where it will just be him, you, the other dog, and her owner. You could maybe do it in your backyard or their backyard. Anyway, to teach Brian that it is safe and even fun to be around other dogs, you would keep them a decent distance and distract Brain with high value treats. o every time he looks at the other dog, he gets a tasty treat (like hot pieces of hot dog). He will soon relax and associate being around the other dog with getting something nice. Then you slowly bring the 2 dogs closer, still using the treats. Eventual the dogs will approach each other calmly, if they start to fight pull them away from each other (to make this easier have them both on a lead) and start again. After a few successes you can transition to doing this in a dog park, still using the high value treats as a distraction but also positive conditioning. After awhile he will no longer feel stress while around other dogs and you will be able to take him everywhere with you!
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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For the time being I would put him in his crate when you're preparing meals and let him eat in there too. Is he aggressive over his food around you as well, or just other dogs? I would also highly suggest NILF (nothing in life is free) training. Make him work for everything, food, toys, going outside, etc.
You may have to accept that he may never be a good dog for a dog park. Often times there are a lot of over-excited, poorly mannered dogs there and that usually brings out the worst in an already reactive dog. I would start doing like Emily suggested - get a treat pouch with yummy treats and try exposing him to other dogs at a distance. You don't even really need another willing dog to use at this point, you could just sit in a parking lot at Petco or the park and use the dogs coming and going as practice. Whenever he sees another dog in the distance, immediately start giving him treats until the other dog is out of sight. If he's getting too over the top crazy to even take the treat, increase the distance until he's more comfortable. You don't want him going over his threshold and losing it. Gradually you will decrease the distance between you and the other dog. This is definitely not an overnight fix and something you'd need to work on patiently and consistently, but it does help.
http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/14/Desensitization-and-Counte...
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Permalink Reply by Yuki & Ellie on
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I agree with Jane. It's possible that you may never reach a state where both you and Brian feel comfortable in a chaotic setting like the dog park. And I also agree with Emily that you need to start slowly and be persistent. If you don't have any friends with a dog that is submissive enough, then you can start with just sitting in a quiet area (maybe a park when there's very little traffic) and just sit. If you see a dog in the distance, then distract with treats and praise him like crazy if he doesn't react. When you're confident that he won't react to dogs at that distance, then move to somewhere that dogs would pass by a little closer and start over again.
There's also a lot of free advice out on the internet. Do a search, see what information is available and choose a training routine that you feel is a good fit for you. You can find all sorts of videos on YouTube regarding dog training, including aggression issues. Whatever you choose, make sure it won't harm him and that you can stick to it through thick and thin. What will win, when all is said and done, is repetition and persistence.
Good luck! I hope that you and Brian are able to overcome this problem and enjoy meeting new furry friends!
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