My Luffy is starting to show a bit more aggression lately. Today when I tried picking Luffy up off the bed he started growling and showing his teeth. I wasn't exactly sure how to handle the situation so I proceeded in picking him up while being careful in not getting bit to put him on time out to show him that I wasn't afraid of him. It's only when Luffy is laying down and I try picking him up is when he gets aggressive, but if he is standing already he doesn't have a problem being picked up. He has also been getting aggressive over the water bowl and such at the dog park if another dog tries to approach him while he is drinking. I am wondering how I should correct these behaviors when they occur before they get out of hand. I do follow the NILF program. Is this just Luffy going through his bad twos? What should I do to correct this behavior when they happen?
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Beth and Jennifer, I really appreciate both your tremendous amounts of advice! I understand everyone has their own methods to raising their fur babies and it just might be one of those case by case bases that decides which style to use. I'll soak up what both of you have said and use it to the best of my ability =)
1. Teach him the "off" command.
2. I'm not sure how the "time out" shows him you are not afraid of him. Are you afraid of him? If so, he senses it, and putting him in time out does nothing to convince him otherwise. The time out is just a way for both of you to shift gears, calm down, get under control, chill out, relax, hit the reset button, start over. IMHO.
3. At the dog park, at a shared water bowl, other dogs should respect his warnings and leave him alone . That is very basic canine instinct that you are not going to train out of him. If he has his own water bowl, give it to him in the car. Or, if he can't seem to handle the dog park, stop going. It should be fun for both of you, if not, why go?
Yup, Luffy does the know the "off" command and he listens to it pretty well. I guess what I'm really asking for is if their is a way to condition his behavior so he doesn't mind being picked up while laying down or if i should avoid it all together? I'll avoid the time out idea, I pretty much did that cause I had no idea what else to do, lol. Luffy and I love the dog park and we go almost every day. Luckily tho he has only shown the water bowl aggression only a couple times through out the entire year we have been going but i was wondering if their is any preventative measures i could be doing to not have this behavior explode.
My Sparty had rather strong opinions about being picked up so I just called him to me so he was standing when I picked him up.
Becca did not like being picked up when I got her. We have worked and trained in the 11 months she has been mine. I can pick her up, but she only tolerates it. I know it stresses her, so I use commands that don't stress her when possible. "Off" is a big one. She is allowed on the couch, but if I want her off she gets off. If she shows aggression toward the cat, she gets off. "Off" was taught with positive methods, she got off and was rewarded. It works for us.
Becca also didn't like being held to get her nails done. It took 11 months, but with patience and positive training she let me do all four feet on Sunday.
Becca resource guards from the cat and you all know we have been working on it. Because I know she does this I am careful not to put her in a situation with other dogs where she may guard. The only exception has been my mothers dog. They quickly established that Becca has dibs on bones, but the lab has utter control of any tennis ball.
Good luck, let me know how things work out.
Does this mean Luffy won't be at the park tonight? :( Pooooor Billy!
How are you picking him up?
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