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Aggresive Female Shih Tzu







jml_wtl
New User


May 5, 2004, 9:16 AM

Post #1 of 6 (4798 views)
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Aggresive Female Shih Tzu Can't Post

I'm new to puppy.com I've been searching the for help and found you! I have three dogs. Two are shih tzus (Suki 4 years old and Bella 1 year old) and one pound puppy (Cookie 3 years old). They are all female and Cookie has been spayed. We got them all as puppies. My problem is with Suki. Ever since she had a litter of puppies (before we got Bella) she has become very aggresive towards the other dogs and my husband and me. She tries to hump Bella all the time. She growls at us when she has food and we try to pick her up or take something she shouldn't have. In the morning when it's time for all the dogs to go out, she hides under the bed, when we call her and finaly have to pull her out she growls at us. She will poop in the house at times. When we pet Cookie, she will get in front of Cookie and give her a look like "that's not allowed." If a water or food bowl is empty, she hits it with her paw. Not that she wants any, but feels she needs to let me know! It's very easy to see their places in the pack. Suki is first, then Bella and Cookie. She sounds like she is going to bite us when she growls like she does. Her heart pounds and her hair stands up. I don't know what to do with her. We lover her very much and she gets lots of attention, as do the other dogs. We use firm words when they do wrong and praise them when they are good. She and Bella are alway in my lap (Cookie is too big for my lap) and they all three follow me all over the house. Suki likes Bella alot and plays with her. But Suki doesn't like Bella and Cookie to play together. Before we got Bella, Suki did play with Cookie. Can anyone tell me how to handle this? Thanks


surchinmy
Ultra ALPHA

May 6, 2004, 12:25 AM

Post #2 of 6 (4787 views)
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Re: [jml_wtl] Aggresive Female Shih Tzu [In reply to] Can't Post

Hi ...

Aaaah ... it sounds like you have dominance issues in your household ...

Suki appears to be exhibiting the signs of trying to establish herself as top dog in your family ... including dominance over you and your husband.

The need to properly handle the issue of dominance in a family with more than one dog is not unusual but it can be complicated & is a little difficult to explain in its entiretly in a forum of this nature ...

It will perhaps be best you do some research and reading on ... dogs & dominance ... how dogs express dominance ... dominance & responsible ownership ...

Do a search using the search icon above on "dominance" ... this issue has been much discussed. Also do search on the internet.

It may also be useful to get some good dog training books. Most training books will have a chapter/section on how to handle dominance. Learning and understanding basic dog behaviour and dog inclinations will be very helpful in the journey towards establishing a happy household (with people & dogs) ...

The key elements to remember are:

(A) All dog owners must learn and understand how to properly settle issue of dominance with and between dogs.

(B) Settling issues of dominance is most effectively done when ALL the dogs in the household recognise and respect the owner as the leader. Therefore the first step towards settling issues of dominance is for the owner to become a responsible leader.

Dogs are usually much happier and under less stress ... when their owners assume/take the role of leader.

(C) One of the best ways for an owner to establish responsible leadership is through training of the dogs. The more time spent training the dogs, the faster the dogs learn to recognise the owner as its leader, and thus surrender to the commands and directions of the leader, restoring order and peace within the household.

Cheers Smile


kitconnie78
ALPHA


May 6, 2004, 3:48 PM

Post #3 of 6 (4775 views)
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Re: [jml_wtl] Aggresive Female Shih Tzu [In reply to] Can't Post

Hi,

I have 6 dogs in my house. 1 pekingnese, 1 min. schnauzer, 2 silkies, 1 pug and 1 border collie.

From my experience the best way of making your dog less aggresive is to show him who the master is. You must try to break your dog. Using stern voice is good but sometimes if your dog show too much aggresion you might want to punish them as well.

My silky will growl but she is ok as long as you show them who is the boss. They will back down if you are stern they get aggresive. Just try to be flexible as well when you face your dog when he is growling. Some dogs do bite even the owner.

~*~*~*~*~*~*
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Cool kitconnie78 is the owner of Blush Bibi, Smile Eden, Minmin (Silky Terrier), Tongue Momo (M. Schnaunzer) Laugh Gobi (pug) Sly Magic (Border Collie) and Frown Ariel


jml_wtl
New User


May 6, 2004, 4:02 PM

Post #4 of 6 (4772 views)
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Re: [surchinmy] Aggresive Female Shih Tzu [In reply to] Can't Post

I talked to my vet today. She said I need to send Suki to boot camp! The advice she gave me is going to be hard, but I have to get Suki out of this. The vet said, she's like a little kid, she got away with it few times, so now she's going to see what else she can get away with. So, she will stay in her kennel when my husband or I can't be there to supervise the dogs. Other times she will be on a leash. If she's bad, she will go back to her kennel. Suki will not be allowed to sleep in bed with us, get on the couch, etc., until she is better behaved. I know this is going to be hard, but she is getting out of control. It's time she learned who the boss it! And it ain't her!!!

I had been leaving food down all the time. Now, I will feed them twice a day, Suki will be fed in her kennel away from the other dogs. The vet said do this for about a month, then start slowly see how she handles things on her own. If all this doesn't work, I will talk to a trainer. Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how it goes.Crazy

Jennifer


surchinmy
Ultra ALPHA

May 6, 2004, 7:52 PM

Post #5 of 6 (4765 views)
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Re: [jml_wtl] Aggresive Female Shih Tzu [In reply to] Can't Post

Hi ...

In general, I cannot disagree with your vet ... Only to emphasis that understanding dog behaviour will help you restore leadership with the least amount of hardship ...

(A) More often than not, we as owners (because we don't understand enough, the mechanics of a pack) accidentially lose leadership ... We overlook signs of dominance, we over coddle ... we fail to be sufficiently consistent in our own approach & behaviour ... etc ... We confuse our "acts of love" with the surrender of responsible leadership ...

In pack animals, dominance is a natural instinct, and essential for survival of the pack ... When leadership is not available, the dog with strongest personality will instinctively seek to fill that position. So, dogs trying to establish dominance are not (without more) bad dogs ... they are merely following their instincts, seeking to fill a vaccum, that we as owners may not have sufficiently filled.

(B) So, the issue of restablishing lost leadership is as much a learning & training for the owner as for the dogs.

Owners who try to establish leadership by rote, without understanding something of dog behaviour can unwittingly create more problems for themselves.

It's more than just raising our voices, shouting or pulling on leashes ... Even using crating or kennels to assist requires thought in application ... Establishing leadership is a combination of numerous elements & factors, many of which require simultaneous implimentation ...

When trying to establish leadership, earning the dog's respect is far more effective than merely establishing greater aggression ... Aggression or use of force are never the hallmarks of a responsible leader ...

Watch a pack of dogs, and you will see that a good top dog, will be calm, firm and almost never needs to resort to prolonged signs or signals of overt aggression ... A look is often sufficient to maintain order ...

(C) By learning more about dog behaviour, you will learn why, how and when to effectively impliment what your vet has suggested ... And just as important, when & what to disregard ... because you know your dogs best.

It's not by accident that the word "responsible" before "leadership" ...Tongue ...

Having said all that, I am sure you already anticipate - a good trainer can teach you how to establish good responsible leadership, but ultimately the issue of leadership is a reflection of the personal relationship between you and your dogs ...

I would definitely suggest that you get hold of some good dog training books and manuals and do research on the internet ...

All the best Smile


wais81
Enthusiast


Aug 11, 2004, 9:56 PM

Post #6 of 6 (4480 views)
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Re: [surchinmy] Aggresive Female Shih Tzu [In reply to] Can't Post

hey all, i once had dominance issue too...my female shih tzu is also very dominance at times but after training her a bit she is now friendlier to others...i have 2 shih tzu as well Yuki(female) and Miko(male)...i alsom have a great dane cross shar pei name Fie Fie(female). yuki always bullies miko..as in fight with him and always create trouble....then i found out that she is jealous because my mother is giving more attention to miko and not her...so to break that i tried pampering her more...always give food to her first and always bath her first...watever u do choose her first..make her felt that she has priority over the other dogs....then slowly she began to give in and now lives happily with miko although sometimes they still do quarrel a bit..i then went to US to study and bought a cocker spaniel...dookie...he is another dominant one...infact he is worse.he bite everybody that plays with him except me..i took him to the vet and ask why and the professionals there told me that i have a very dominant dog here..he said some dogs are meant to be like that cause they are related to wolves..and that why some dogs will tend to be dominant and wants to be the leader of the pack...like "tai lo" la....the best way for me to solve this problem is to slowly train him or give him away to ppl that lives alone like a bachelor or something...i then tried to train him...i live with another of my house mate but dookie doesn't listen to her..he only listen to me....he even bite me once when i tried to tie the collar on him to bring him out for a walk...at last i got too frustrated and i began looking for ppl to adopt him..i soon found a guy that loves dog very much abd he lives alone..he already has 2 dogs but he said he could train the dog as he is working from home...so i let dookie stay at his place for a while and see how it goes...surprisingly dookie became the leader of the other two dogs the guy had...and they live very happily together...i then decided to let this guy adopt my dog...i still keep contact with him and he told me dookie is now a father and his children are all very cute little angels...i am so glad i found a nice home for him....

Christopher

 
 




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