 Barked: Thu Sep 9, '10 11:12am PST |
 | |  | | Hah, I just found this group so I guess I'll give this a little bumperoo.
Nicky is reactive to people. I've worked very hard on this, so he is ok... some of the time. He is ok if they are across the street. If they are on the same side he will have his good days and bad days. It mostly depends on what the person is doing. Men and quickly moving children are his biggest problem. He almost always readily accepts women and calm, quiet, respectful children when we are out on walks. Quick arm movements will set him off though. He is getting much better with joggers and bikes- it seems to help if he can see them coming. He will not give you a warm reception at our house, however if he gets a good sniff, a few moments to calm down, and eventually a cookie from the guest for good behavior he will warm up and expect belly rubs. I'd say after meeting a person 3 times he will finally consider you friend not foe (as tested by visiting grandparents we see 1-2 times a year who he now absolutely adores!)
He is also reactive to large dogs on leash during walks. He's great with them offleash. He was in a beginner obedience/agility class and was the only small dog (awesome! NOT), there was only 1 dog he would not react to. I think class was a bit overwhelming for him, though. However, he recently went to a doggy fair for socialization and to test his training progress, and wonderfully greeted several dogs of all sizes without any problems. I think maybe the leash restricting him from greeting the dogs may be the real problem but I'm not sure. Any thoughts on this are welcome.
He is also a heavy resource guarder. I can stick my hand in his food bowl all I want while he's eating but try to take anything out of his mouth and he will have none of that. He's never bitten, but he does use his teeth to try and intimidate me to make me back off. He puts his mouth on my hand as if he will bite, but only closes his mouth enough to rest his teeth on skin. The worst he has done is pinched. Any suggestions for training exercises I can do with him to deal with his resource guarding are welcome. |  |  | |  |
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Reactive on leash. She want to play so bad, but the leash is a barrier, and she gets upset, and redirects her agression to the dog she is meeting.
The Dog Show: Who's Your Mama?
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