I really need advice about Bailey's fear/aggression issues
 I didn't get bit this time. It involved a new person in the house again. Jacob, who doesn't understand dog behavior all that well, started playing tug with the dogs (thinking it would distract them from the new person) while they were already excited about the new person in the house, and the excitement of playing added to that caused them to go after each other. Poor Bailey is limping around, Eevee has a cut on her ear and her back It would really be great if everyone could just follow my rule of DON'T BRING NEW PEOPLE INSIDE WHILE THE DOGS ARE TOGETHER!!!! They HAVE to be separated. I seem to be the only person here who understands that. One dog gets crated or put outside until the dog that is inside is over the excitement of a new person in the house, then they trade places and the other one gets used to the new person, and then and only then can they be inside together with the new person. I can't tell if this has anything to do with Bailey's dog issues. She never reacts to Eevee the way that she does any other dog, they get into fights spontaneously, but with other dogs she growls and shows all the normal signs of getting aggressive and I can intervene before it turns bad. Maybe fighting with Eevee at home led to her dog fear/aggression issues. The dog at class that she has issues with is a husky, and I was reading online that sometimes dogs will mis-read breeds like huskies because they have pointy ears and their fur stands up more than other dogs'. So maybe that's got something to do with it. But, that doesn't explain why she took issue with the lab puppy from obedience class. I'm just at a loss, I don't know what to do to help her. I'd gladly call a behaviorist or something, but that's hard to find around here. Please please give me any advice you can, we really need it. |
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| I wish I had an answer for you. If you can find a dog trainer that could come and observe Bailey and Eavee together, it would be so beneficial. I know that if I didn't have a wonderful dog trainer I could call on, I wouldn't be able to nip any issues early. Are there any around you that you know of. Believe me, a good trainer is worth every penny, and having them come to your home and watch them in their environment would be helpful and give you the proper tools to manage this. I'm sure there are members here that can give you some advice. I'm new to the two dog household so I can only imagine how stressful this is for you (and your babies). |
| I don't have much experience with dog aggression but I do have some strategies that work well with dogs who are anxious when new people come into their space. My nervous dog with fear issues has a high anxiety level when new people come into the house. He has never acted agressively towards oth dogs but he has growled (from under furniture) pooped himself and will urinate while running away (and making a huge mess) if a new person tries to make friends right away (he needs time). The problem is we have people over all the time, I thought socializing him would help, and it has a little bit but he is still very anxious. Today I hosted a baby shower with 15 "new" people I had never met before. While my sheepie was in his glory Ru was very stressed. I find putting him in a room just off the entrance to the house with a baby gate across the doorway for the first ten or twenty minutes people arrive. This way he can see and hear the people and realize they aren't going to harm him before I try an introduction. I find closing him in a room makes him more anxious because he doesn't get to "check people out" by smelling and watching them from a distance first. He has to let the anxiety run it's course and this takes some time, I don't take down the gate if he is still tucking his tail or acting shifty. Usually after five or ten minuts they are both passed out sleeping and are over the fact that people are here. If I do take down the gate I give him the choice to come meet people or to stay in the room. He will usually come out eventually and slink around to check things out slowly and very cautiously. I have started keeping my sheepie in the room with the baby gate too so he has a chance to calm down before meeting people (because people enable his jumping habit which we are working so hard to nip in the bud). I find giving the dogs (and people) some time to calm down works, there is so much excitement when new people come over; dogs dont know them or why they are in their 'safe space'. Ru is learning that when people come over he doesn't have to meet them if he doesn't want to and they won't go into his space but he can go see them eventually if he wants. It is helping, slowly. People often forget that dogs don't do introductions the same way as we do and have different concepts of "personal space". I have seen the dog whisperer and love his approach but telling people no talk, no touch, no eye contact doesn't always work so well when you have an excited and adorable 5 month old sheepie puppy running about. The problem with anxious dogs is that they are so unpredictable and progress can seem so slow and be discouraging at times. Having worked for over a year with my Ru I have noticed that people dont always understand why we have these rules because the kind of extreme anxiety issues Ru came to us with are thankfully uncommon. People still go right up to the gate and try to call him over, but the gate helps because he has a separation and can guarantee some distance. Dinner parties are also so much more fun when you aren't mopping trails of pee and worrying about a trauma pup. See if you can find a dog behaviour person to give you some advice. I found that my instructors in my obedience classes had lots of good advice. Keep at it! Anxiety issues take lots of perseverance to resolve and anxiety can make a fantastic dog act in not so fantastic ways! P.s. I have heard the same thing about dogs reacting to the perceived cues they read from other dogs. Huskeys and chows are ones that can cause confusion. As are bulldogs and mastiffs because of their burly build. My friends dog has issues with dogs who have cropped tails. It's tough because dogs rely so much on body language and we don't always know what they interpret. |
| She's not exactly afraid of the people, and neither is Eevee. They're both equally excited to meet new people, jumping all over them and whatnot (we're still working on the no jumping thing). That excitement seems to be what sets off the fights at home. The growling at other dogs is always out of the house. She doesn't always do it when she first sees them, either. She didn't pay any attention to the husky at class until 30 minutes into class. The lab puppy was in obedience class for 8 weeks with her before she took up issue with her. Neither of them came up to her or threatened her in any way that I could see, neither of them came up to me either, or Jacob. I'm just not sure what her trouble with them is. When we put Bailey in the crate, let Eevee get used to the new person, send Eevee outside, and let Bailey out of the crate, Bailey is totally happy to see the new person and waggles her butt around and will jump on them and looks happy and pants, no barking or growling or timidness at all. The reaction is the same the other way around too, with Eevee in the crate and Bailey meeting the person first. Bailey does have separation anxiety, she couldn't be left at home alone for more than 15 minutes, even with the TV on, or else she would destroy anything she could get her paws on and pee on the floor. Adding Eevee to the house made the separation anxiety stop completely, so long as they are left at home together. If I take Eevee somewhere but not Bailey, I can expect a mess when I get back if I don't put her in the crate. |
| Oh, and I always hear that I shouldn't scold her for growling or barking when she's afraid (and at class it does seem like a fear thing to me), but the trainer at class always tells me I need to correct her right away by saying NO and a quick yank on the leash. I always hear that that can make her even more fearful. I tried to be gentle about getting her attention back, just turning her and then having her focus on me, usually by showing her a treat, since that will keep her attention very well. I don't give her that treat until I know her focus is off of the other dog and back on me, so I'm not rewarding her for looking at the other dog. But I got scolded myself for doing things that way! Which way do you think is the best for handling that in class? I don't want to be doing the wrong thing for her. |
| Sounds like a very tricky situation. I know our doggy class there was a mini fight that broke down because one dog was staring down another dog. The people didn't even notice as it was such a tiny gesture that caused a big problem. I know high excitement levels that often come along with new people and new dogs make things even more unpredictable. I wish I could help more |
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