Kingdom of Pets

Posted by tktaark
Jan 23, 2009

Hi,
I have an 8 month old Rottie/Golden Retriever mix that will not stop jumping on people who come into the yard or house. She jumps and nips at their hands. She tends to settle down after they have been there a while. My older female boxer does not take well to this. She gets very anxious but will not correct the pup. The pup is very protective of her crate and bones. She will attack the older dog when she walks by.

How can I help make this living situation easier for all involved?

A little info on the 8month old. I saved her from being put down as an 8 week old pup. She was the result of a backyard breeding and the family did not want her or her 8 siblings. These pups were removed from their mom at 3 weeks old and made to remain outside in a crate until they were old enough to get rid of. This particular pup had zero human interaction. The food was placed outside the door and the pups were left to fight for it. These animals did not get the training necessary from mom so now it is my job. I need help. Lots of it.

Thanks

Posted by KOPsBecks
Jan 29, 2009

Thanks for the post, sorry it has taken so long for me to reply, I have been overseas and not able to access a computer!

You have several problems going on here so lets deal with them one at a time:

1) The nipping people as they come through the door. Firstly get a muzzle, noone should get bitten when they enter a house, this is not acceptable behaviour for a dog and so they just shouoldn't be given the opportunity. Then put your dog on a lead, this will allow you to correct her when she does start becoming aggressive and excited. Arrange people to come around at set times and tell them that when they come around they are to ignore your dog when she starts getting excited. You are going to teach your dog that this behaviour is unnacceptable. When someone approaches the door get her to sit, praise for good sitting behaviour, if she starts getting anxious, say "NO!" if she does not listen then yank on the lead and say "NO!" if she still does not listen then take her to an isolation room and lock her away. This way she does not even get a chance to continue this behaviour. If at any point during the encounter she is quite, praise her verbally and with treats, she needs to know what is good behaviour. It will take a lot of work and repetition but hopefully this should lead to you having a calm well behvaed dog at the end.

2) The aggression towards your other dog worries me, as it is not fair on you or the older dog. I have kind of a standard approach I take with inter-dog aggression. Start in the backyard as this is a more comfortable and neutral place for training. Both dogs need to be on leads and the younger one will need her muzzle on.
- Have the two dogs sitting at opposite ends of the yard. At least 10 metres apart
- The aim through the whole sessions is to discourage aggressive behaviour in your dogs, so a firm "NO!" when they begin to show any signs of aggression eg. growling, showing of teeth, raising of the hair on the back of their neck. But also to praise your dogs for good calm and friendly behaviour. They also need to be corrected when they don't follow commands.

When you correct either dog by saying "NO!" you can also yank on their lead to get their attention. But also ask them to sit straight after you have told them off, if they do this then praise them.

- Ask your younger girl to sit. If she does she can advance one step before she has to sit again. When she sits praise her, if not then use the "NO" command. In this way we slowly get her closer to the other dog but only when she behaves.

On the first few occassions stop the session when the dogs are about a metre apart. On the 3rd session the two can play but must be on the lead, told off when needed and no rough play.
After another few sessions let the other dog of the lead and eventually both dogs.

Get started with these two tasks and hopefully things will start falling into place, let me know how you're going and feel free to ask me any more questions you may have. Good luck with everything!

Thanks again for posting,
Becks

Posted by MaxHollyNoah
Jan 29, 2009

Hi tktaark,

So you've had the puppy for 6 mos and has she always been aggressive and protective to your Boxer, or did it just started recently?

Do you feed them together or separately?
Does the puppy becomes protective about her food or toys, or yourself against the older dog as well?

Do you walk both dogs together? Do they ever play nicely?

If the puppy is only protective about the bones and her crate, I would not give her bones until she learns to "Share" things with the older dog.

For her crate, I would invest another crate (a second hand one is fine) and start it all over before she claims the crate is hers. If both dogs sleep in crates you can alternate crates so that they don't matter which crate is which dog's. Later on you can decide who sleeps in which crate but this time make sure you prevent your puppy becoming from being protective of one particular crate (and this is same for everything). For example, each of my dogs has his/her food bowl and sometimes I put a wrong bowl in front of one dog by mistake, he/she would look at me looking puzzled but starts eating right away. My dogs are very food oriented but still not possessive of particular things.

When you have more than one dog, you would not want to always worry about them fighting or one attacking the others. You can teach them they are both same pack members and have YOU as the leader, then you can sort things out in the way you desire.

I have been fostering dogs. The first thing I do when I bring in a new dog, I reprimand any of my dogs for growing/showing aggression to the new comer, or the new comer for showing aggression to my own dogs. That is the very fundamental rule. Sometimes one of my dogs (Noah) still shows his teeth to the new comer, I tell him to "Be nice" and I take him and the new comer for walk together. When dogs are walked together, they become pack members quickly.

Since your puppy has been living with you for the last 6 mos, I am sure you can somehow control her and teach her the aggressive behaviors toward the other dog is NOT acceptable in your household!

Good luck

Dog won't stop jumping and nipping at new people entering the house