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Permalink Reply by Holly on September 21, 2014 at 3:41pm

Welcome to all of you! I sought help training my dog (adopted at age three) because she was very affectionate, but too submissive. Also, she was aggressive when she first met my daughter's sweet but very active, large lab which alarmed me. Your story has many similarities. It sounds like Gravity is not so much bad with dogs as he is fearful of other dogs, in particular bigger dogs that may not be well-socialized. There are a few dogs where I live and none of the owners (wisely) let my dog near them because none of them, with the exception of the tiny terrier next-door, is good with other dogs. Henry, the terrier is still not well trained and he jumps excitedly on people and dogs, but my dog is used to it now and realizes it isn't aggressive. She actually likes Henry, even though he pissed on her head once. I think many owners don't try to manage behaviors and they just think they have to accept whatever they get from their dogs. That makes it hard to socialize your own dog if you can't trust the other dog owners to know how to manage their own pets.

In my case my daughter's large lab is well-trained in general, but overly energetic. Remy gets in my dog (Sully's) face and is generally too excitable for Sully's taste. Also, there is some mild resource guarding (whining or soft growling) that still occurs when Remy is getting any attention from me or any of the other family members that Sully really likes. We are always working on that, but she never again reacted by lunging at Remy out of fear. We stopped that by letting the two dogs get to know each other, both off leash, but that is only because I was sure I could trust my daughter and son-in-law to manage their dog. Sully only lunged at Remy once when she was on a leash and Remy was not. They now play together outside happily, as much as Sully plays. Looking back, I realize I should have planned the introduction better. It sounds like you are taking the right steps to learn how help Gravity become more comfortable. I think you could easily do that if you know anyone with a calm, trained larger dog and you made simple introductions with both dogs on the leash. Sully was even afraid of tiny Henry when he was off-leash one day. I can't blame her. I can imagine how scary it would be to be tethered and have someone come at you at full speed. You pup is still such a little guy. You have plenty of time to gently introduce him to other dogs and to socialize him in general. Since he was labeled "cautious" he may benefit from training to be more confident. It really helped my dog. For example, I learned that having both ears up was a sign of confidence and dogs can be taught to show that sign of confidence. I used to give my dog a treat when ever I saw her ears erect. I would say "Pretty ears" and give a treat. It wasn't long before she raised her ears every time I said "Show me your ears." I also learned other tricks to build confidence. Now I have a dog that is confident, but respectful.

I still work on training her (informally) daily and always will, but corgis are smart and eager to please. It is easy to get equally excited when your dog is excited and happy, but I wonder if the urination may be triggered by over-excitement. If Gravity continues to pee when playing, when you first arrive home and such, it may help to just stay calm and quiet. If he rolls on his back immediately when you approach he may be a bit too submissive. I found it helpful to turn my back to Sully when she went belly up, and praise her when he got up. Of course she is who she is temperament-wise, but she really does act more confident now. I am very glad she is more submissive than dominant in nature, but I wanted her to be confident I all situations, which she is pretty much now. I guess you can socialize at any age. By the way, are you guys identical? My twin granddaughters are identical twins and from day one Sully pretty much ignored one girl (a cat person) but she loves the other one, who loves her as well. She likes all of my family, but She is almost possessive of a few. She ignores my daughter's cats, but she whines if one of them tries to sit on the lap of one of "her" people. That behavior is not encouraged, but it is interesting I think. Good luck with Gravity. It sounds like he is off to a great start!

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on September 21, 2014 at 4:27pm

I am currently working with my 8 month old puppy on not barking at strange dogs by first teaching him the "watch me" command. It's an easy one and very good one for future training. Just hold a treat by your eye and as soon as your dog looks at it, treat with your other hand. Practice this regularly so that when ever you say watch or look whichever you use treat as soon as eye contact is made. Now when we encounter dog on the walk I say "look" and instead of focusing at the other dog my dog looks at me. I try to treat him until he has lost interest in the other dog. So far this has been working really well. He is less apt to bark at strange dogs he sees. I also take him to classes so he can be around other dogs in a controlled environment. My hope is that eventually he will realize he doesn't need to fear other dogs.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on September 22, 2014 at 10:28pm

Classes in the right environment ( the methods are positive, the trainer has the situation under control, the class is not too large, no more than 10-12 dogs, and no aggressive dogs are allowed in class ) will be highly beneficial.  Don't rely on only one set of classes.  I would avoid dog parks, where she could have another bad experience and any loose dog. 

Teach her to respond to the word "quiet",  you can practice walking where there are dogs behind a fence, start with walking on the other side of the street, so not too close.  Have her sit or just stand by you and be quiet for 30 seconds to a minute then reward with one or two treats.  Correct if she barks.  If a leashed dog is approaching, do not allow it to come into her space, move aside, distract her with a treat, let the other dog go by and expect her to remain quiet, or correct.  

Correct IMMEDIATELY any barking at people approaching, this is bratty behavior and unacceptable.  Barking may be acceptable at night ( dark conditions ) or in any situation where you yourself feel really uneasy. 

Take her out A LOT  in as many different places and circumstances as possible, so all kinds of things and situations become normal,and "old hat" to her.  Keep treats for people to give her if they stop to see the pup, or to pet her. Ultimately, she does not have to like other dogs, just behave appropriately around leashed dogs (like on a walk, at a Vet's office, etc.) but she does have to like people, so provide lots of good interaction with people, including calm children.....  Every month that passes will form her future behavior, so don't wait to take her in the direction you're wanting to see her develop.  Have fun with it all, you can both learn together.

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