Ok. I have posted before about Missy and Hunter. Hunter is 3 and Missy is 5. Missy does not want to be around Hunter because he always growls at her, if she tries to get on the sofa, plays, etc. They have played together a few times. If Hunter falls asleep on you and you try to move, he tries to bite you. If you pet him and he is lying down relaxing, he jumps and tries to bite. I am scared to try to move him for fear he will bite me. He sits on my lap on the sofa and my husband touches me and he growls and if he keeps on touching me, he lunges at him to bite him. What do we do? He gets upset (growling and showing his teeth) if you clap your hands together when he does something wrong, or if you tap him on the rear. I really dont want to have to put him to sleep, but he is not getting any better and Missy, I think, wants to live in another home. Is there anything we can do???? please help!!
It has been almost 3 weeks since your original post. Have you tried any different approaches to Hunter, i.e., any obedience training, hand feeding, not allowing him on the couch, time-outs when he is not behaving, etc.
Let us know any changes (good or bad) in his behaviors.
Right after I posted this, we decided to ban Hunter from the couch. And things seem to have been going better. My hubby pets him on the couch, but if he growls or anything he makes him get down. I think it has helped missy. He still growls at her though and we still don't know what to do about Hunter sitting in my lap and my hubby touching me and he growls at him and eventually snaps at him. We thought about making him sit between us and both petting him. I am working on obedience training with him some. He does okay, but I have to do it with both he and Missy at the same time. Not quite as easy. I think we are slowly making headway, maybe. He will not let us take his collar off. Is there anything we can do to assure him we r not going to do anything to him when we take it off or should we just leave it on? He tries to snap when u touch the clasp. Thanks for your response!!!
I am glad that you banned Hunter on the couch. However, it sounds like he can still get on your husband's lap (I assume your husband is sitting on the couch so practically Hunter is still allowed on the couch:confused:
It is good that you make him get off as soon as he misbehaves (growling). When he growls at Missy, can you just move him from her and put him in a time-out? The lesson here is that he can only be included in the family time when he behaves well. He would not like to be left out so I hope he will eventually learn not to growl when he wants to be with you guys (and Missy). But you will have to be consistant so you have to do this back and forth every single time. Time-outs can be as long as 20 mins or so.
As for training, training two dogs is not easy. Once they both perform well, you can practice commands with both at the same time but till then, you will just have to do one at the time. Put the other dog in a separate room. Or, have your husband take one dog for a walk and you work with the other one.
The best way is to enroll Hunter in a training class. That way, he will not only learn those commands but also learn how to behave with other dogs and other people. Growling will be a big "No-No" there.
We will try time out when he growls. We do tell him to get off the sofa when he growls, but he does not understand and just jumps back up. We have been thinking of obedience classes, but it is just the price, but thinking about saving up for them. I did think about separating them when I do the training, but I think missy would cry and cry and cry. I do have another question. I spent all day cleaning the rug in the office because he seems to use that to poop on and the floor to pee on when he can't hold it any more, such as this morning when I got up late. The office is where missy eats and drinks, so I was wondering if this could be a form of acting out against missy? Should we try feeding them in the same room, or maybe closer together and maybe he will stop this. I just don't know. I never catch him doing it and I am tired of cleaning up after him. Thanks so much for your response!
Sounds like youre making headway, even if its slow. I think the key thing here is to be stern and not let Hunter get away with anything. Banning him from the couch means he doesn't get on the couch AT ALL. Not on your laps, not right after he gets put off - you really need to stop letting him up there at all for a while. A few weeks at least. If you keep letting him on your laps, you're not sending the message that the couch is a privelage at all - you're just letting him do what he's always done, which is a problem. And letting him jump right back up isn't a good idea - this only reinforces in his mind that he's the boss - you need to stay on top of correcting him. If he jumps up, put him off, and if he just jumps up again - time out! It will be a lot of back and forth like MHN said, but if you want Hunter to start behaving, youre going to have to stick to your guns and just bear with it for a while.
As far as training, I don't think its wise to try Hunter and Missy together. You want each of them to pay attention to you, not each other and everything else. I think what MHN suggested about your husband taking Missy for a walk while you train with Hunter, and then switching is a great idea - this way neither dog is just left on their own. And I definitely think enrolling Hunter in a class is a great idea if you want to save up for it - Missy may cry at first, but she will get used to it, so don't let that be the reason you don't go through with it.
As far as feeding and Hunter pooing where Missy eats - it might be worth a try feeding him in that room. You can feed them at different times, its probably better to do it that way, but him eating in that room should decrease his using it as a toilet.
