Comment

Comment by Holly on June 23, 2014 at 2:41am

Since his behavior only seems to be happening with you it does seem more likely an issue of respect versus pain, but none of us has x-ray eyes so it could be something like Lyme disease that makes him irritable about being touched due to pain and for some reason, perhaps you touch him more so he acts out with you. That seems less likely to me, but I am not a vet or trainer. I really hope you find a solution that works for all of you! There are many helpful links online that you can use without cost. Nothing in Life Is Free is a great way to help build respect for you and your dog, and very easy to follow as it has natural, kind but firm consequences which help the dog, and owner feel secure. Good luck!

Comment by Beverly Butler Redford & Tucker on June 22, 2014 at 11:06pm

I don't have the training experience that many other people on this list have.  The only thing I can say is you may want to see an animal orthopedist.  Tucker limps when he has run a lot and it got to the point where he favored one leg and limped when he was really tired.  I took him to the orthopedist and it turned out his leg had been fractured near the growth plate which was a common puppy fracture.  It took an x-ray to diagnosis it.  So you may want to talk to your vet about it.

I'm not clear why you don't believe you should not step over your dog.  One trainer I worked with made a point of making sure the dogs were comfortable being stepped over.  But I would defer to the people with more training experience.

One other thing: breathe-stress makes it all harder-eat the elephant in small bites.

Comment by Anna Morelli on June 22, 2014 at 3:21pm

It's confusing, but if you just keep observing, without drawing conclusion, a pattern will emerge. Tread lightly. You may even want to make short notes of what works and what seems not to work. You'll be amazed when you re read it in just a few days.

Comment by Kay White on June 22, 2014 at 2:52pm

Right I do understand that my inner frustrations can leak out and he can feel it even before I do, but what I don't understand is why he ends up running away randomly from me when I am doing trivial things.

Like for example: I was getting dressed this morning and dropped a T-shirt on the ground he was fine. I pulled it right side out, and said quietly to myself "oops this is yours" (talking to my fiance) and put it back in the pile of clean clothes to be sorted. As soon as the shirt hit the pile he darted off and was scared of me. I don't get it, I'm not doing anything, I'm 100% neutral, I'm not being loud, or even talking to him at all. Just getting dressed, but other days he is fine with similar actions.

its just really confusing.

Comment by Anna Morelli on June 22, 2014 at 12:16pm

Kay, a couple of more comments.Keeping him off the bed and couch is appropriate and did not cause the problem, although it may have caused some temporary confusion. Scolding him, in the moment, to stop aggressiveness towards the cat, is also appropriate. All the other things you say about yourself unfortunately add up. Animals and children can be like a canary in the mines, which were kept there to let the miners know when conditions were unhealthy, before we got more high-tech. They can signal you just how "off" you are, generally by acting out and sometimes by withdrawing. That may just be the way out for you, if you accept his behavior as feedback, realizing he is affected by it and connected to you on a deeper level. He may also be a dominant dog ( take charge guy ) and the step from dominant to dominant aggressive is sometimes short, especially if you add fear into the mix.... Whatever the case, gentle but consistent structure, which is reasonable and easily understood by the dog, is needed. Your mostly ignoring him now is working, little by little, as you find yourself more relaxed and feeling physically better, see if he does not return to his former self. If you're really frustrated, the results will be more frustrating. It's a catch 22...

Comment by Kay White on June 22, 2014 at 4:30am

I wanted to add that the ignoring him seems to be working so far, I know its only been probably a day, but I guess I just need to give him space instead of hovering over him all the time.

He's not like scared all the time, it seems really random. Like if I get up and go to the kitchen he will follow me, and if I start talking to myself he just sits near me but sometimes I turn around to grab something and he acts like he is in trouble even though I'm not anywhere near him, but most of the time he is just cool as a cucumber.

I've never been malicious towards him, or randomly mean (or really mean at all for that matter), so I never made a trigger for him to randomly be scared. I'm generally a slow and quiet person, I have my occasional out bursts if I don't exercise (I can be pretty hyper active if I don't keep busy) but there not violent, its mostly random singing and dancing, or marching, and be-booping around the house. Which he generally enjoys because he will giggle along with me, and kinda do his own little hoppy dance thing.

If I did re-home him I wouldn't be able to keep that stuff to myself anyways about him biting me. I consider myself to be an honest person, and I couldn't keep that from someone. Especially if they had kids. One of my conditions would be that they were already a corgi owner or had been in the past, and knew how to deal with the breed.

I just figure since he is only doing it to me, and its a problem with ME, that he might be better off with someone else that would better know how to handle him than I do.

Comment by Kay White on June 22, 2014 at 12:10am

He did break the skin. He grabbed my whole hand, and I am bruised today, and couldn't bend my fingers for most of last night and this morning.

He's had a occasional limp on and off since he was a puppy. The vet can't find anything, and its not really bad enough for major concern because it only shows up if I walk him too much, or if we play too hard. But if I just make him rest its gone just like that and he is back to normal. Its never in the same leg though, sometimes its the back sometimes its the front, the vet suggested growing pains, and too just take it easy when he limps. He is still doing an awful lot of growing. I feel like he is really small for 1.5years old. Then he like got really big over the last month. So I am not ruling out growing pains, he goes back soon for another check up and he will be looked at again for the limp, if its still happening.

I did NOT get him from a reputable breeder. She was a first time breeder that had a litter with one of her own dogs, but her home seemed really nice and she had kids, and dogs were very friendly. No sign of it being a shady puppy farm or anything. That doesn't mean that he is free of genetic diseases.

The one thing we started about 1 week ago I want to say now, was keeping him off the couch, and off the bed. No more sleeping at our feet, or being stuffed up our butts because he was being aggressive to the cats and guarding me.

3 weeks ago I started a new birth control and my hormones have been everywhere. So that is all the has change with me, other than generally being stressed about what I am going to do with him when college rolls back around this Fall. I'm not going to have much time for him with my learning disorder making school hard enough on its own. It takes me 3x as long as a normal person to do homework and then I fail 1/2 of my classes every semester. So I am very stressed about that right now. If I fail once more I am out of the school system for good. I've been stressed about this for a while now though.

I normally lean down and touch him, and hes always been fine. He usually lets me pick him up and hug him, and hold him, and let him lick my face. But I can't even do that, he gets really tense. I just walked over him in the office (I know I'm not supposed to step over him, but he likes to lay right in the middle of the road and my office is so small I can't go around him, and he refuses to move) and he took off like a bat out of hell, and keeps hiding near my fiance or leaving and going to his dog bed.

So I just started ignoring him, and doing my own thing. I figure I will just copy my fiance and pretend I don't care. I got him to be around me 24/7 and he does like filling that role anymore I guess.

Sorry if I'm being a downer I'm just really bummed about it. I feel like I am doing everything in my power for him but he just isn't reciprocating my feelings towards him back anymore.

Comment by Linda on June 21, 2014 at 11:38pm

"and I wasn't particularly feeling well enough to do the training, my back still hurts, and I am passing a 7+mm kidney stone" and you say you just started back on birth control and your emotions are all over the place.  You may not think you are being any different but he may think so.  Dogs can read our moods a lot better than even we can.  Your voice may be a bit more high pitched or have some other different tone to it.  Your actions towards him may be a bit more aggressive.  This can all be happening without you even realizing it and without any intention on your part.  Like Anna said...fear based reaction on his part.

My previous corgi, who was my shadow, would have nothing to do with me after I came home from having back surgery...I was in a lot of pain and surely not acting myself.  He would not come near me.  Eventually when the pain finally lost it's grip on me and I was back to myself his attitude towards me went back to him being my constant companion.

We may not think we are any different but chronic pain does change us and make us give off different vibes without us meaning too.  As for those that get all over you that you are doing this wrong and that wrong...that's not being helpful.  It only enhances your frustrations.  I like the people here because they give good advice/suggestions without being overbearing and condemning.

Comment by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on June 21, 2014 at 10:38pm

If the skin did get broken clean very well with hydrogen peroxide 3 times a day and protecting it with neosporin too to prevent infection. 

Comment by Beth on June 21, 2014 at 9:07pm

Did he break the skin?  Hands get infected easily so if he did you may need antibiotics.

I don't have too much information to go by, but I agree with Anna that when I read this, my first thought was it sounds like a fear-based reaction to me.  

"Nothing in life is free" can help give him predictable structure, but if you do it, think "Kindly but respected first-grade teacher" not "Boot camp drill sergeant."  

I might suggest cooking up some real chicken or cheap steak, cutting it into tiny pieces, and several times a day work on some basic obedience commands in a fun, upbeat way BUT he must be polite and listen to get the meat.

Practice doing recalls where you first reward come, then reward come-and-sit, then work up to gently touching his neck before treating him, eventually working to grabbing his collar.  Make your movements slow, deliberate, and in plain sight so you don't startle him.

Generally speaking, it's usually best not to try to grab a dog who is not complying, as it can startle them and some dogs will bite when startled.

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