Baden does not have anxiety
after going to the vet on Sunday and hearing he say that he has anxiety i wanted to prove her wrong and calm my doubts as its been buzzing in my head ever since.
i just worked with baden in multiple situations today and i have come to my own conclusion. Baden does NOT have anxiety problems. i walked him around my apartment complex today and gardeners were out, people going to there cars, kids playing and baden would either stop to look for a second or simply ignore them and sniff something. if he has anxiety i would expect him to shake, growl, or bark but he did not of them.
at the end of our walk we came across a father and son getting out of the car and baden loves kids so when i seen the little boy wanting to pet him i told them it was ok and baden lowered his ears, wagged his nub, and came right over. no hesitation. they both petted him and he gave them kisses and eventually sat there while the child pet him. all this is happening while a guy is jogging and the gardeners were leaf blowing. once they were done petting him (and the little boy waved saying "good bye puppy baden, it was so cute!!) baden looked at me and i praised him like he won the lottery and we carried on.
in the distance there was a fedex guy carrying a large box. we couldnt see his face. baden stopped for a moment and looked at me like "is it ok to keep walking?" i told him good boy and that was the end.
now i took him to the pet store. now his energy went from calm to "OMG O BOY!!!" so when he does get in this excited state of mind, thats when he growls and does this sort of yelp/bark when he sees another dog. after a minuet he gets better but still will growl if he hears a noise in another isle but once he sees what the noise is hes ok . i noticed when i try to correct the growling, thats when he starts to get a little nervous. he will lower his body closer to the floor and thats when he wont stop growling no matter what i do, ignore, correct, or try and get him in a better mood. no treat helps this as hes not food motivated. now, im not angry, frustrated or anything. i am calm but happy to bring baden out to see other dogs and such so im not sure why he gets so sad so fast if i simply give a small "eh" sound that i have always used to correct him.
so after what all u have read. what can i do to help when hes sooo excited but appears aggressive (thats what others tell me, hes growling so hes aggressive even though his ears are back and wagging his nub -__-) when hes simply excited but cant snap out of it and i cant correct him if he growls because after that he thinks im mad him or something.
also, we made a friend and we go over to her house a lot but hes gets sooooooo excited that he will bark at her door until she opens it. he did this to other peoples houses as well and once we are inside, any tiny noise that we normally hear, he will do almost like a basset howl and wont stop. why does he do this? when hes at home he dosnt do this at all
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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A sensitive dog will have difficulty at any vet's office. The smells of fear and barking alone will cause anxious behavior. It is up to the vets to counter act this with calm friendly behavior! My Sparty used to vocalize his feelings all the time including growling when a visitor that he liked was leaving the house. He had no intention of biting but used growling, whining, barking and other noises to express himself. I think this may be pretty common with corgis although my other two are not that expressive. Baden is probably just a sensitive dog and was responding to the "vibe" at the office.
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Marie O'Bryan on
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i think so too. hes just so vocal he cant help but express how he feels
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Permalink Reply by Holly on
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I have seen some of those same behaviors which prompted me to contact an animal behavior student. She explained that the ears back means submission or fear. If Baden is not confident he may bark out of fear in certain instances but seem fine at other times. Just a thought. The behavioral consult taught me to reward my dog for just raising her ears. At first I had to just catch her being confident, with her ears raised, and give her a simple "Good" and a treat. Now she raises them when I have treats nearby or even I ask to see her ears.
She also gets praised for any new accomplishments, such as climbing stairs. She used to bark if she heard a noise she didn't understand, but she does fine now if I just calmly say "It's okay." She still growls softly, even with dogs she knows and likes, if she is on a leash and another dog is not. I'm sure that would be scary since she can't get away if the other dog charges. Like Baden, Sully loves people, but she does growl more out of fear than aggression, if she feels threatened by a noise she doesn't recognize or something she has never seen before. Once she barked at a lady she liked because she didn't recognize her in her rain gear. Knowing it was a confidence issue I gently insisted she walk by the woman calmly on a tight leash. Once she did that she was ready to go home with the lady. The woman was not afraid since she already knew Sully wasn't aggressive. It really helped to have someone explain why she behaves as she does. I'm not sure how much it would cost to get someone like that to work with dogs in other areas, but I worked out a barter system with the student. She came highly recommended and it was very helpful, for us at least.
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thats a really good insight on these issues with him. i never thought to reward him for being confident rather then just correct him for growling. So im thinking,since hes not food motivated, i should bring his favorite toy with me and reward him with play when he is good and confident.
right now the biggest issue im having is when hes so over excited that he cant help but bark or make grunting noises and he will pull hard on his leash (like getting out of the car to go to the dog park) would u know how to go about that issue?
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The games of "Wait" and "Leave it"can help dogs with impulse control who learned to react before they learned self-control as puppies. You can have a treat in each hand and make him wait for the one the can see and give him he one hidden in the other hand if he waits a second. You can slowly stretch the time you make him wait to help him learn self control. Sully is very sweet and calm, but she was not socialized as a puppy so she needs occasional reminders to follow the "house rules." For her safety I do not let her go out, exit cars, or approach people or dogs without an okay from me.
If she does rush ahead I make her go back inside or return to me every time. I turn my back on her until she does what she is supposed to, like wait, or sit, then I give her praise and/or a treat and let her proceed . I am very careful not to raise me voice or show any anger which could slow down my efforts to build her confidence. She is getting more brave in many ways, which sometimes shows up in her attitude, such as testing the rules, but she is really so much more relaxed and I feel like we are on the same team. To be clear, I do not tolerate growling or any negative behavior, such as jumping on people under any circumstances, but I limit her without being too intense so she doesn't feel threatened or fearful. Not sure if that is clear, but it worked for us. There is a great video on this site of an incredible and VERY cute puppy named Napoleon who is learning to "wait." It is a great example of how rewarding it is to be VERY patient and willing to practice for months to teach puppies (and older dogs) to control their reactions under any circumstances. Worth watching in my opinion as an example of how smart dogs really can be.
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thats a great suggestion. i will defiantly give this a try! thank you :)
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Permalink Reply by Andrea on
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Have you ever heard of DINO dogs? These are highly reactive dogs. Typically it's motion that sets them off, but some are only other dog related. We have one of these dogs in our agility class right now. This dog wear a yellow vest and none of the other dogs are to go near her. She will bark and react aggressively. They've found that typically these dogs have low sight. It may be something to look into. There are even support groups and what not from people with DINO's. So, if you see dogs wearing a lot of yellow more than likely they are a DINO.
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thats good info, i have never seen a dog wearing yellow but thats good to know if i ever come across one. he is only reactive if he sees the dog and dosnt know them. once he meets them then hes ok and recognizes them. there are several dogs he knows around the apartment complex that he has meet and wants to say hello again too. its pretty cute lol he loves other dogs but its almost like he feels hes gotta puff out his chest to appear bigger and show them hes a big dog (on the inside that is)
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