Hi everyone, I have a Terrier cross that I rescued from death row on the pound, over here in Australia, and according to the pound who knew a lot about him he was a severely abused little dog, who also had had no socialisation. I got him when he was 2, and he was in very bad physical shape, underweight, filthy and infested with fleas and stick fast fleas and worms etc. When I first had him about 9 months ago, he used to try to scavenge out of the indoor and outdoor bins and was not house trained or neutered ( he now is) he also pulls fruit off the trees and tries to eat it, he used to live in a concrete yard and ate fruit to fill up I think. Anyway. he has bad visitor aggression and bad on lead aggression. I have had the animal behaviouralist out and have been implementing general alpha dog leadership which has improved his indoor behaviour enormously, and he practises with a quiet, gentle visitor we have over once or twice a week and has made a bit of improvement here, however, the other day, I let him loose, normally he has been on the lead with my friendly visitor, and he got on really well with her, he let her feed him treats, and even came up to her for a stroke. Things were going really well and he was not barking at her, then when she went to walk away, he went for her, and mouthed ( didnt bite) her hand. Can anyone explain to me why he always "goes for people" when they walk away from him, I could understand it if he went for them when they are facing him and looking at him , which in dog language is threatening, but why when they walk away?? I am so hoping he is not going to be one of those most dangerous of dogs, one that seems to have no provocation before he goes for people, the most dangerous dogs are the unpredictable ones Does anyone have any ideas why he does this????
Thank you for adopting that poor little dog! It is amazing how some people will treat their dogs.
For the mouthing, I have two thoughts. If your dog is getting on really well with the friendly visitor, is it possible he just didn't want her to leave? You said he mouthed, not bit -- perhaps he was holding her back? Or he could have seen her walking away as running away and pursued her?
When he "went" for her, how did he do it? Lunge? Growl or bark? Did he seem angry? Without seeing him in action, it is hard to tell just why he does it.
Hi, I have 2 other rescue dogs and I tell ya, he has been tremendously hard work, not a day goes past when Im not scared for his life and visitors, or his life and taking him for a walk! He sort of rushed after her, and I noticed a [B]very DISTINCT change in his bark[/B], to what I now know is a warning type of barking, and then he jumped up and mouthed her hand, [B]he did not bite. [/B]When we first had him, he used to do this a lot with my dad, he would bark and wag his tail at dad , so to calm him, dad would let him sniff his hand and give him a stroke as if to say hey, its me, calm down, then as soon as dad WENT TO MOVE AWAY, Scrappy would go for him....???? After strong constant alpha dog training he no longer does it to dad, but still with my one visitor that he is allowed to practice on, I find it so puzzling that he does it when the person moves away????
I know, its so weird isnt it, why when the person moves away, no he does not do that with me when I move away, never has, and yes I take your point, Id never thought about the fact that he was alone most of his time before now. The bark is distinctly different though, but I still dont understand him enough to be able to interpret exactly what it means. He is a really sad little dog, very fearful, but trying to cover it up with a lot of noise and swagger I think. The animal behaviouralist who came out for 3 hours was great ( Best in Australia ) and she said he was a very confused little dog, because while he was barking and warning you away, he was nicely wagging his tail, so he wants to be friends but maybe doesnt feel safe enough to trust anyone yet, especially 'strangers' to the house?? I have to work night and day to regain his trust, doing training, massage for bonding, training whilst on walks etc
When your friendly visitor comes, is it all practice with Scrappy or do the two of you visit a bit? How does Scrappy act when he isn't the prime focus?
Thank you so much by the way for opening this conversation with me. We do have a visit at the same time. Hes pretty much the same when the focus is not on him. If he is crated when we have a visitor, he barks THE WHOLE TIME. Even when we are practising and he is on the short lead, he still barks a lot, his method is when he looks at the scary object, ie my friend Heather, he gets a treat for doing so, being very careful not to reward him for barking, so its tricky timing
Sounds as if he HAS to be the center of attention. When people walk off, they are leaving him and he grabs them to stay.
How do you fix it? You want him to know and trust you as the leader. Since he already lets you leave, trusting you will return, you have a good start.
When your visitor comes in, no attention should be paid to Scrappy until he calms down. Don't keep him on the short lead, as that means he cannot escape ifhe is afraid. I think that is probably why he barks -- "I'm afraid and flight isn't an option; I'll fight, or, at least, pretend to." You don't seem afraid of his biting during the visit, just the mouthing when the visitor leaves, so why keep him on a lead? I suspect, once you take off the lead, he will "hide" from the visitor at first. When I was dealing with a fearful dog, my behavioralist said you must never take the fearful object to the dog or the dog to the fearful object; you must let the dog approach on his own schedule.
So go back to the off-lead training with the visitor. When she is ready to leave, have her give him a jackpot chew or toy that will keep him busy as she quietly leaves. Having him busy with something he really likes will keep his attention off her. Getting this jackpot should only be when someone is leaving.
I've never had a dog with separation anxiety. I've always given them a milkbone when I left without them. With some dogs, I'd return hours later to be greeted at the door by a dog with the same treat in her mouth. Or maybe it would be "hidden" on a bed or behind a table. The important thing is, the bone means I am leaving without you, so take care till I get back. I'm thinking you might teach this to Scrappy, extending it to any visitor.
Hi, yeah sorry I havent made myself very clear and thats entirely my fault, I dont mean when they leave the house, just when they go to move a few steps away from him. And yeah I agree totally with your idea that he has to be the centre of attention, a few other people have said that is what it is like, it is as if he doesnt want you to walk away and stop giving him the attention, so mouths to make you stop walking and pet him again??? I have a new l behaviouralist coming out today, who hopefully will do about 12 sessions with him, focusing on his visitor fear aggression and strange dog aggression, Ill let you know how it goes, he is definitely the sort of dog who needs long term work, just to even try to figure out how he thinks never mind curing anything lol! With the lady who said her mums terrier was kept away from visitors for 16 years, what was this little dog like going out for walks?
And thanks for not thinking Scrappy should spend the rest of his life away from everyone. I suspect that terrier never went out for walks unless there was nobody around -- what a boring life. Since Scrappy actually wants people, it would be cruel to deprive him of them. I hope your behavioralist is able to help him.
My only puppy, the breeder (backyard, only litter) told me to not let her become familiar with guests lest she not be a protector. Fortunately, I ignored her. Loki loved people, but was a big black GSD, who intimidated bad people. Her big black GSD had to be confined when visitors were around. She followed her own advice and ended up with a people-aggressive dog.
Scrappy doesn't sound aggressive. He just doesn't know the proper way of handling people. I think you will end up with a fantastic companion!
Do all of your puppy's visitors approach him and leave the same way? You may want to "standardize" the way others approach and leave although, I suspect the behavioralist will come up with some creative solutions.....
Either way; thank you for giving him a great home and working with him!
