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Help! My dog is going crazy!

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lizball
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Oct 23, 2003, 5:40 PM

Post #1 of 5 (2368 views)
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Help! My dog is going crazy!	Can't Post

I have an eight-month old Australian Shepherd who seems to be very dominant. Whenever she's around food or is in her kennel, she growl and tries to bite. I've been through training with her and have done everything the trainer told me, but she has never gotten over this aggressiveness. In addition, last week my fiancee had surgery on his leg and has been laid up. Whenever he goes to pet her on her head, she growls and, if he continues, she attempts to bite him. She listens to me when I tell her to stop, but just temporarily.

Does anyone have any suggestions for correcting her behavior? My fiancee is almost ready to get rid of her because he's afraid this aggressiveness may continue and then extend to me and anyone else around her. I love my dog, but I'm afraid I almost agree that she'll have to go if it continues...
I love my dog.

HappyGirl
New User

Oct 23, 2003, 9:34 PM

Post #2 of 5 (2355 views)
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Re: [lizball] Help! My dog is going crazy! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Can you try to recall any incident that started yr girl wanting to bite?Normally if a dog tries to bite the owner,there's some incident that triggered it to do so.

You might like to try using yr hand to slap her muzzle firmly with a FIRM 'NO' or 'No Bite' when you know she's going to do it,eg:when she sees food.Just before you feed her,get her to sit for a few seconds then allow her to go to the food.When you or your fiance wants to pet her,make sure she can see your hand coming and as you pet her,talk to her in a gentle voice.If she tries to snap,slap her muzzle until she stops snapping.

This method may sound 'cruel' to some ppl but the worst thing that could happen for us is to have our dogs biting us.It's best if you can try to recall any incident that might have triggered her aggressiveness. Smile

HappyGirl

shyeow2
Canine Addict

Oct 23, 2003, 10:20 PM

Post #3 of 5 (2350 views)
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Re: [lizball] Help! My dog is going crazy! [In reply to]	Can't Post

I hav this experience before. What I do :

1) giv my dog food more often by hand, may be starting u use some delicious food like chicken raw meat.

2) whenver u feed them in the bowl, dont walk away let them eat alone.. sit beside them and wait them finish.. talk to them softly

3) dont pat them during eat time.. u can call their name first.. then use a spoon take some meat (must taste better than their dinner) near to them.. then put in the bowl.. do this few times..slowly, call their name and pat their body and then only put in the meat mix with their food.

4) i think what happy girl said was true.. some dogs they always try to be dominant.. u should rude and shout to them NO loudly whenever they try to be aggressive onto u. u must fears to them then only they will obey u..

i dont know will this help.. but it's work for me. 2 of my dog now can eat tog. and no more food aggressive to each other..
Frown

Visit My Blogs!! http://peonythestormrider.blogspot.com/
http://jojothemalaysianmongrel.blogspot.com Frown

immy
Member

Apr 17, 2004, 12:07 AM

Post #4 of 5 (2210 views)
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Re: [lizball] Help! My dog is going crazy! [In reply to]	Can't Post

my furkid has this problem too when he was a pup. he used to growl at me when i go near his food. what i did is i slap his mouth...n shout at him. you have to be firm! for a few weeks after that, everytime he eats, i will sit next to him, n sometimes i will move his bowl...and if he growls, i will tell him 'NO' ...after a few weeks, he stop growling , and let me remove his bowl anytime during his meal. he was ONLY bout 3 months then, i'm not worried bout him biting me..doubt he can do any damage... But, your furkid is already 8 mths, i am NOT SURE if its a good idea to move his bowl with your hands...

When i first found him, he has a tendancy of biting my hand when i touch his tail, he wont let anyone touch his tail.. i think i know why he is scared..u see..he dont have a tail, according to the vet, the tail has been cut off by some people when he was a puppy. i guess this is the reason he is terrified when someone tries to touch him there..he must be thinking "will i be hurt again". What i did after that is, i will let him see my hand before i touch his tail..i keep doing it everyday for a week or so, after that i get my friends to try it....this is to show him that no one's gonna hurt him...and thank god!! now he allows everyone to touch his tail Smile

...Do you know your furkid's background? maybe she's been beaten or there's always food shortage when she was a pup, that's why she behaves like this...

my furkid stil growls and tries to bite other dogs...eventho he embarress me Crazy

,but am still not giving up!..i'm sure one day he will learn not to do it anymore. i should partly be responsible for his attitude too, because he never get to hang out with another dogs till he's almost 7 mths..guess he sees himself a human. Unimpressed

n refuse to hang out with dogs.

sometimes we are the one responsible for our fur kids behaviour!! there's no such thing as a bad dog Cool

BE PATIENT! she's still a pup..u can stil train her! dont give up!!..and good luck! Wink

immy

surchinmy
Ultra ALPHA

Apr 18, 2004, 6:51 PM

Post #5 of 5 (2203 views)
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Re: [lizball] Help! My dog is going crazy! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi ...

Try checking this thread ... a outline of the method for reconditioning and training a dog is described ... modify it to suit your situation re: food possessive dog ...

www.puppy.com.my/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=80966;page=2;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

The method outline basically teaches the owner now to use treats and praise to help dogs overcome their fears and to accept new situations, dogs and people ...

I would not smack the dog ... please remember that an 8month old shepherd is almost full grown & any kind of a bite will be painful, to say the least ... People get away with smacking puppies, but I certainly wouldn't try it with a anxious and tense adult dog.

A dog that is food possessive, is already anxious and tense, and if you hit the dog, that may be all it takes to make your dog snap back ...

I would suggest that you first get your dog used to (a) your being close when feeding, and then slowly to your (b) handling his food when feeding ... This has to be done gradually ... without otherwise increasing anxiety & tension in the dog.

And you will also need to sort out your dog's reaction to your fiancee, if you wish for a happy household.

Suggest you try these threads:

www.puppy.com.my/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=99917;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

www.puppy.com.my/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=63103;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

Since you already have access to a trainer, you might like to approach your trainer for advice as soon as possible.

A good trainer will be able to provide you with immediate, hands-on advice that will be much more effective than what we can achieve over an internet forum. Also consider getting a good dog training manual.

Cheers Smile

(This post was edited by surchinmy on Apr 18, 2004, 7:45 PM)