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(Page 1 of 5: Viewing entries 1 to 10) Page Links: 1 2 3 4 5 
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Montecristo- (Monte)
That'll do, pig
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 | | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 4:42am PST | |  | |  | | I'll start...
Hi guys!
I'm Monte. I came to my current home from a rescue at 18 months of age. I spent my puphood tied to a rope outside of someone's house, was poorly (and rarely) fed, never socialized at all.
Like most Saints that end up in rescue, my two-leggers thought I was "too big." DUH. (Hello!?) I was very ill, and had never even seen a vet before I came to rescue.
Anyway, the only thing that the rescue had said about me behaviorally was that occasionally, I would get growly when a dog came near my favorite volunteer. I was at a rescue that had eight fenced in acres, a pond, and a gazillion doggies running around.
I did get pretty barky at Mokie when I first came home, but she is a very good girl and seems to know how to calm anydog down, so we got over things pretty quickly and became bestest pals.
Mom and dad noticed I got really super lunge-y on the leash and VERY verbose when we saw another dog. First, they tried to "dog whisper" me. It didn't work. Mom even met Cesar and asked him what to do with me, because the only dog my size she'd ever seen on his show with my type of problems was told to spend two weeks at the DPC in California. He told me to just "try my best."
I began looking for a trainer in our area. I found a wonderful teacher in Steve, who is a board member of CPDT, faculty member, Karen Pryor Academy, and former FBI agent (whoa, right?).
Anyway, Steve helped us get Monte off a prong collar and onto a Gentle Leader, which has helped things somewhat.
Mom and dad have been working very hard with me, based on Emma Parson's "Click to Calm." We are progressing, for sure.
Just a few weeks ago I ran with a pack of four black labs and two Chesapeke Bay Retrievers! I spent the night in a house with other doggies, I wrestled, play bowed, you name it!
I met a little Golden puppy and played with her too (mom took lots of pics so she could have PROOF).
It seems like my real problem is other doggy aggression when I'm on leash, in particular. I hate feeling like the flight option is taken away from me, so I panic and go into loud mode. If mom does let me meet a new doggy, I am usually very loud and barky, but I NEVER snap.
Mom said it seems more to her like a lack of self esteem and severe social retardation than actual aggression. I think I just get so excited, I don't know what to do with myself.
It's not an alpha thing, it's an insecurity thing.
I love people though. I love spooning, and cuddling. I love Mokie, and playing with my other doggy friends.
It's just that darned leash aggression. |  |  | |  |
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Nee
I don't ride in- purses... |
 | | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 5:37am PST | | | | | | Hi, my name is Sanity (More commonly known as "Nee") and I have been labeled aggressive. My mom has taken me to behaviorists and trainers, and they've come to the conclusion that I'm not really aggressive, I just have absolutely no tolerance for rudeness. I have lots of doggy friends, including a brother and a sister who I absolutely love, and have been an ambassador dog at Pet Expos. I go to the dog park and lots of times I'm totally fine.
But put me in a situation with obnoxious dogs, and I'm NOT a happy camper. I growl and snarl and snap when they infringe on my bubble, and if I'm even in the same room as them I start to get very uneasy. People don't like hearing that their dog is rude though, so instead of teaching their dogs to be polite, they label me as aggressive and say nasty things about my mom. When she says that I just don't like other dogs in my face they tell her that she's in denial and that I'm aggressive and dangerous.
I'm in group classes now, starting with a basic class to help acclimate me to being around rude dogs and ignore them. The first week was rough but it's going much better now. I've gotten to the point where I am so relaxed I'll lick my butt even when there are chaotic dogs all around me. For some reason this makes my mom insanely happy. Weirdo.... | | | | |
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ARCHX Asher,- RL1X, RL2X,- RL3
Learning is- changing what we- do
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| | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 6:15am PST | | | | | | Hi all. My problem child is Asher. Asher came to us as a foster dog. After many, nasty bites leaving punctures wounds, blood dripping, bruised and swollen hands, we knew we could not adopt him out. I had the choice of sending him to the bridge or keeping him myself.
After much deliberation, we decided to keep him and work on his issues. I am happy to say Asher is bite free since January of this year.
Ashers issue center around touch and certain parts of his body at all times. He would solicite affection and petting, then snap and snarl. I have ideas of how Ash developed these issues, but no real details.
Ash has been working with a behaviorist since September and has greatly improved. We have worked on desensitizing him to touch and basic obedience.
I really belive that part of Asher's problem is that he is a very smart dog. He learns very quickly. If he learns the good things quickly, he can make those bad associations just as quickly. | | | | |
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Yoshi
Where are the- squirrels?....le- mme at em' |
| | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 7:20am PST | | | | | | Hi everyone,
My boyfriend and I thought that Yoshi was dog aggressive, but I've come to the conclusion he's only aggressive when we pull his leash. I think he believes something is wrong. If I let him sniff with a looser tug, he's OK and at the dog park, he's super happy. Yoshi has also only been with us for about 2 1/2 weeks, so things are still somewhat new to him. Maybe he was extra cautious because he didn't really trust us yet. He is definetly improving and I'm sure he'll get even better with training which starts on 7/23. | | | | |
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Summer
Have a Nice Day! |
| | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 7:47am PST | | | | | | Hi there! Summer is my little leash aggressive dog. She also has occasional problems in the park when she decides she doesn't like a dog. Nee, I'm like you. I think she sees them as infringing on her stuff. She's recently taken a dislike to a girl dog who always jumps in when Summer is playing with her friend Diego, adn I think Summer thinks that 3's a crowd. So this morning, she got into it with Lola, and unfortunately, I got yelled at in the process for not being able to control my dog... I felt really bad about that, but at the same time, I was a little offended that people instantly presume that I let her run wild and free. I don't. I train her formally with a trainer every saturday morning for an hour, and for at least 10 mins in the morning, we're practicing obedience. EVERY DAY. Whenever there is a dog fight that she's not involved in, she may run over and show interest, but if I call her back to me, she will come. Sorry, I'm still a little sore over it.
I think a lot of behavioral problems are due to vaccine damage. I know that's not a popular point of view, but I've read up on it, and I really believe it to be true.
So to tackle that part of it, we're currently clients of a classical homeopath. I've seen improvements already in just short months.
We still have a long way to go...
I DO train with a prong collar. I tried clicker training early on, but Summer seemed distressed and unable to focus with it. With the prong, I use it as a way for her to snap out of it and to pay attention to me. I use a combination of treats, toys and compulsion to teach her appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. I taught her first to Heel and Look with treats, and I actually still use treats, but with the prong, I clean up any hesitation or slowness to respond.
With the leash aggression, I suspect she feels trapped and has a perceived danger from her rabies vaccinosis (causes hallucinatory behavior, has effects very much like encephalitis). So she reacts by trying to scare away the other dog. I hate when she does it, I know it's not her fault and she can't help it... But she looks so monstrous with all her teeth and her bark is so booming. Thankfully, I have a great classical homeopath on my side who keeps reminding me that this isn't learned behavior - it's a result of the insults of vaccinations and chronic disease, and on another side of me, I have my stellar trainer who teaches me how to control her lunges and to teach her how to behave appropriately. He teaches me to deal with her drive and to channel it towards me. So when she's going nuts, I have to pop her collar, tell her NO. And really, this is all it takes for her to remember what she IS supposed to do, which is to heel to me instantly, sit on my left plastered against my leg, and look up at me. I have to be more diligent about doing the calming exercises though - which teach her to maintain self control by staying perfectly still and silent. My old trainer taught me this exercise called Trick or Treat. Essentially, I show a treat to Summer right in front of her nose, and everytime she moves to grab it, I move it quickly away. I say STAY and she must stay perfectly still - no tail wag, no ears peeling back - nothing. Every fibre of her being must be focused on the treat. And when she maintains a certain length of time, I give her the treat, and free her for play.
It's certainly hard to have an aggressive dog, I know... But at the same time, I have to keep reminding myself that it isn't who she really is, and I have to be there to show her the way out of this state. And with the combination of classical homeopathy and training, I think she's improved about 40%. Still a looong way to go, but we're getting there. Thanks for setting up this group Monte!! I'm grateful I have a place to talk about this freely...  | | | | |
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Fudge
How can I be- this cute?
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| | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 8:09am PST | | | | | | Hi all!
Monte invited us to join this group. Fudge is not really aggressive per se, though she will bark and growl at certain human strangers if she's approached in certain ways (she has no aggression or fear towards dogs though--she loves all dogs). She's never bitten anyone (nor even snapped), but she definitely has some fear issues. She's extremely submissive.
Like Summer, Fudge is under homeopathic treatment, and it's helping a lot. She used to have her tail tucked all the time on our walks, but now it's up the majority of the time.
I do think that many behavior problems, particularly aggression and fear issues (including anything that results in over-the-top behaviors, such as extreme paranoia of thunderstorms) is the result of vaccine damage (especially the rabies vaccine). The actual acute form of rabies results in very similar things--extreme aggressiveness or fearfulness, as well as oversensitivity to stimuli. It's interesting that there are many dogs that show many of these behaviors, often soon after receiving a rabies vaccination (I know of many dogs that were perfectly fine before the first rabies vaccination). It's certainly not the reason for all of these cases, but I do believe it's the reason for many. | | | | |
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Montecristo- (Monte)
That'll do, pig
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| | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 8:22am PST | | | | | | I love the different and varied experiences and responses.
Summer and Summer, I'm glad you guys are here because I didn't even know about the aggression component of vaccinosis until you guys "schooled me."
BOL! | | | | |
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ARCHX Asher,- RL1X, RL2X,- RL3
Learning is- changing what we- do
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| | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 10:00am PST | | | | | | Hmmm...the whole vaccinosis angle is interesting. I personally have gone to a 3 year vac schedual with my dogs for other reasons and never put together the symptoms of rabies with fearfulness or aggression in dogs.
I deal with PM rescues and they are very fearful. They get yearly vac, usually from the miller, but since there are no records, we have to give them all again. Of course, whenever we pull a pound dog, it gets another set because they normally don't know when their last set was.
I don't know if I would contribute most of the fearfulness and aggression I see to vaccines, but it certainly is something worth looking into, isn't it. Thanks for that bit of information. | | | | |
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Kolbe
Where can I run- today? |
| | Barked: Thu Jul 19, '07 10:45am PST | | | | | | Hello!
Kolbe is an American Pit Bull Terrier / Pointer (or something) Mix. My fiance got her from the SPCA in March 2006. She was originally from their "sister" SPCA in North Carolina where she was picked up as a stray. Sat in the shelter for close to 5 months, then was "rotated" to his SPCA in Buffalo to buy her some extra time. Since she was a stray we have no history on her.
I'm not any kind of expert on this, but I feel that Kolbe's aggression is more based in "Holy crap, I'm afraid, get away from me" than anything. She is absolutely not aggressive to people in any form whatsoever, but when she first meets a person she is pretty much terrified of them for the first hour or so (won't let them pet her, backs away), until she finally realizes they mean her no harm. Then she's best buddies for life, and won't forget them in the future.
With dogs, it takes 2-3 meetings before she warms up. Her best buds are a Weimaraner and a Chihuahua/Italian Greyhound mix. But when she sees dogs in passing on the street, it's a bark/growl-fest, especially if they approach her. She has never tried to attack (yet!). Now if she met these dogs personally 2 or 3 times after that, she'd start to be okay with them. Once she gets along with them, like people, it's forever. She's rough-and-tumble with the big dogs and very gentle and kind to the little ones. It seems she has a problem with bigger dogs on first meeting than smaller ones. She has a scar on her neck that she's had since my fiance adopted her so I don't know what kind of history that implies, if she was attacked when she was young or what.
She also is afraid of...people on bikes, kids on skateboards, waving flags, big statues....  Poor kid.
I mostly want to focus on her aggression around strange dogs, but don't know where to start. So I'm hoping this group helps!Edited by author Thu Jul 19, '07 10:46am PST
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