Suddenly doesn't like strangers
Hi. I have a 1 year old male. Until 2 months ago, he suddenly does not like people approaching him when he is on a leash. It was like overnight. I walk him in town, and around the neighborhood and it just started. I'm concerned because I live in a multi family house and we share a common main hallway. So he will growl at the owners and I don't want them to kick us out.
What can I do?
Today I brought treats and stood at a distance, then moved closer to strangers and engaged in conversation. It's a hit or miss. Is there anything else I can do? I use a regular collar that is fabric and gets tighter as he pulls? I have a prong collar but I'm trying not to use it. Should I? He is more in control, even with heeling when I use it, but I know it's not "positive".
He also does not like when people knock on the door or come in. We keep him on a leash and have our guests ignore him until he calms down and then he's perfect. Am I doing this right? Any tips or corrections? I feel like he is so stubborn and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
What can I do?
Today I brought treats and stood at a distance, then moved closer to strangers and engaged in conversation. It's a hit or miss. Is there anything else I can do? I use a regular collar that is fabric and gets tighter as he pulls? I have a prong collar but I'm trying not to use it. Should I? He is more in control, even with heeling when I use it, but I know it's not "positive".
He also does not like when people knock on the door or come in. We keep him on a leash and have our guests ignore him until he calms down and then he's perfect. Am I doing this right? Any tips or corrections? I feel like he is so stubborn and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
Comments
Don't feel compelled to refrain from using the prong collar because that collar was designed to be a safer alternative to a choke collar or even a regular collar that pulls back pressure on the trachea which can cause damage.
Socialize....socialize....socialize. invite some close friends over the house and let them know you want their entrance into the house to be used as a training event for your Bullie. This way you can feel more comfortable with providing immediate discipline to your Bullie when he acts out of line.
Bring your Bullie to an area where there is a large crowd. Overwhelm him with new people so he doesn't have quite the confidence to become dominant or aggressive.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
I hate the idea of prong collar but that is the only thing he actually is good with.
Another new recent problem.
Everytime I would come home or my husband would come home, he would be happy to see me. Now, when I come home from work, he runs to my husband (wherever he is in the house) and then runs back to me, growls and lunges. He has ripped some of my clothes doing this.
Even if I'm home with him all day, as soon as he hears my husbands truck. He starts to growl, wag his tail, greets my husband at the door and then finds me and bites me or latches onto my clothes. He is 15 months, this started about 6 weeks ago.
What do I do?
I take him out to the bathroom, I walk him, take him to the park, feed him all meals. I don't know why
he is doing this to me!
Please tell me what to do. I've spent $100's on diff trainers. He is so stubborn and the clicker did not work. Neither did ignoring him and turning my back. One trainer used the prong so hard he cried so bad it broke my heart. I'm so lost.
So tell me, cause I pin him (when I can actually grab him by the collar) but sometimes he's so "wacked out" I'm scared to reach for him. He is 90% good.but he gets in these moods sometimes, it's when he is anxious. He will be almost asleep and if I move to fast he freaks out and gets scared and will "attack". But then he realizes what's going on and goes to hide in his crate.
I will take any advice or tips.
Do I use the prong (in a correct way) do I keep it on while I'm with him? Do I continue to pin? Does he sleep in his crate at night or can he sleep anywhere?
Let me know. Thank you
This is very important to realize and recognize that, if the case in a given situation, because the measures to take are completely different from the ones to be taken, when dealing with dominance or disrespect.
Dominance towards people - and even other dogs/ animals - is much more rare in dogs than insecurity.
Of course, it is impossible to analyze the situation over the internet. But what you describe at least to me sounds like your dog may be insecure about his position within the family and tries to defend his stand by going forward in order to intimidate you before you get the chance to do the same with him.
That’s how things work in the rather limited perception of a dog.
Knowing this may explain already, why I personally find it damaging, dangerous and counterproductive to use intimidating measures, such as prong collars and chokers - especially when applied until the dog really suffers pain or fear (as that one trainer did), alpha rolling (pinning the dog lying on its back, holding the throat down) or any other physical force, loud and angry voice etc. that creates pain and/or fear.
These things will only confirm to an insecure dog that its position is indeed being threatened and it will even more likely respond to that perception with more aggression when feeling cornered.
What happens in your home to me sounds a lot like an insecure dog, unless the nipping and “going after you” are not just the typical displacement activity of an excited young dog, when your husband, whom he obviously likes very much, is coming home.
If I were in your situation and suspected insecurity as the trigger, two things would be my major goal right now:
1. regaining MY OWN confidence and sovereignty
and
2. working on my dog’s insecurities by showing him there’s nothing to fear and working on his trust in me.
Being the one, who feeds the dog is often overrated when it comes to assessing the relationship with a dog. It is a part of that relationship. But there’s a lot more than just the pure dependence on our feeding hand for the dog to really develop sincere trust in us.
I would first try to change the homecoming routine of your husband to break up that triggering situation. Change it to one that somehow eliminates your dog’s access to you while he greets your husband at first.
Just leave that moment to them, if possible and manageable.
Then, once you step into the picture again, your husband needs to support you in order to show your dog that aggression is no the way to resolve problems. If the dog goes after you, BOTH of you ignore him! Excluding him completely doesn’t physically hurt, but he will not want this and start to try and show behaviors that make you both “like him again”. Try it a few times, the both of you - and see what happens.
Also I’d try and see what happens, if the three of you play together after your dog had the chance to greet your husband alone. If it works well, it will enhance the bond. If not, again, your husband needs to pull on the same string with you.
No force, no harsh words. Just both of you interrupting ALL interaction immediately when the dog show signs of aggression no matter against which one of you.
If you are already so intimidated yourself that you are no longer able to handle the situation calmly, get a light and comfy muzzle for doggy, get him used to it by positive reinforcement and just slip it over his head BEFORE the intimidating situation can begin - again, regain your confidence.
This is just protection, no punishment and only temporary. So, your dog also does not have to feel punished by having to wear a muzzle. Just connect it to positive things (treats, praise).
After he learned that using aggression doesn’t really help his position, both of you praise and reward him for “GOOD” behavior whenever you can.
Show him how you WANT him to behave, give him a chance to learn alternative behaviors. And sooner or alter you will also no longer need muzzles etc.
Also probably a little hard for you at that point right no, yet very important is not to be intimidated by your dog. He can feel and literally smell that and that means his behavior is successful. If you can’t help yourself but are becoming nervous, just don’t interact with your dog that moment. Close the door behind him or yourself and calm down, regain your confidence.
Once facing the dog again, try to be firm, but understanding, move slowly, voice low, talk to him. He does not understand the words, but he really gets the tone and will understand that you are interested in learning what’s bothering him.
Another part of consistency is to allow measures enough time to show effect. Many times when we think that a method we have chosen to try is not working, it is actually only our own impatience standing in the way. Every dog has its own learning speed. And every relationship develops at different paces.
Allow small steps for your progress. Manage, if necessary as long as you are all still working on the behavior. Change the scene, crate him before your husband comes home (neutrally, not as a punishment or so) - wherever is necessary during the transition phase to calm yourself and regain confidence without raising the stress for your dog. This is a stressful situation for all of you.
Only small steps help to not suddenly cross this thin line between “ok” and “out of control”. Gradually raise the bar.
All of this does not mean that you can only touch your dog with satin gloves in the future. Quite the contrary, actually. Firmness and consistency are still key! However, it is important for your dog to experience that your corrections come from a strong, consistent, loving and FAIR leader, NOT out of anger, desperation or fear.
Consistency is very important with an insecure dog. Because unclear situations promote insecurity, which can prompt the dog to make it’s own - wrong - decisions.
Don’t feel bad about being treated by your dog like this. This is nothing personal. It’s your dog that has a personal problem. And he is lucky that you are the one who can solve it, because you are the one in control and the one he can trust.
Many people think that trick training is just hokum and has nothing to do with real education.
I beg to differ in that part.
It’s not just a fancy handshake or a rollover your dog is learning. He is learning to focus on you, to trust you, to read you and work together with you. He is learning that behaving the way you want him to (after showing him) is earning him good things (attention, praise, affection, treats …)
Training with your dog is a VERY powerful way to strengthen your relationship.
Trick training is one of the easier ways to do at home with your dog. But actually almost any kind of training that you do together will fulfill this purpose.
It also gives you more confidence in the handling of your dog and teaches you about how much you can trust him not to do things that could hurt him or get him in trouble.
I know this is not a step-by-step guide on what to do in your situation.
But I thought that taking a slightly different perspective may help you to look at your situation a little bit differently and come out of your desperate corner again.
There’s no need to be desperate. You guys just have not found the balance in your relationship yet. But taking the suggestions above to heart, I am sure things will improve.
And if a trainer - or another person - ever touches your dog in a way that makes him cry, I would tell him to keep his unprofessional hands off my dog for all eternity, if he does not want me to inform animal welfare about his “practices”.
Good luck for you and your furry little one!
Theoretically his "grabbing" can mean different things. He could just be trying to engage you. It could be a replacement behavior. He could be trying to alert you or he could try - as you feel it - to hold you back.
Anyway, this certain moment that you can prepare circumstances for can also become your first step in training. I don't know how you have reacted in the past.
But provided he does not seem overly aggressive, just excited and "over the edge", I would probably try to put on my best "disgusted" face and make my own displeasedness VERY clear to him. I would try to sound indignant and angry - loud, firm voice, but no yelling and use my abort command.
If you do have one so far and have never trained one, I would immediately start to teach an abort command to him.
Abort commands are one of the most common misunderstandings between dog and owners, because many people just assume that the dogs understand a firm “NO!” without ever really teaching them what it means.
Luckily in many situations they do understand, because due to repetition of certain situations and the tone of the voice they can eventually count one and one together and learn the meaning of “NO” by their own experience.
However, if such a command has never really been clearly established, chances are that there is still a lot of space left for misunderstandings and misinterpretation.
Really teaching an abort command and using it consistently is therefore VERY helpful in the relationship and communication with your dog.
If possible, something other than “no” should be chosen - for example “leave it”, because we are using the word “no” so often in every day life that again it can be confusing for the dog to know, if a certain “NO” in the given situation relates to his actions or something else, such as a conversation, we're just having with our partner or so.
Also it is good to have a second command ready to make the dog give away things. This way you can still communicate, should the “leave it” command fail. I use “let go”.
Both commands are pretty easy to train within a few days. Once they can be used reliably, in addition to your displeased reaction, you can use those commands to actually TELL your dog that you want him to LEAVE your clothes or LET GO, if he was faster.
If you need help with training, try Youtube to find some video tutorials. There are some really good sources, such as kikopup, for example.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-qnqaajTk6bfs3UZuue6IQ
It is a fascinating fact that once the space for misunderstandings is being eliminated and the dog actually understands what we want, it seems to become a million times harder for the dog to disobey. To me it seems like some kind of automatism that I’ve witnessed about a million times with my own dogs in the past - the dog, once it understands the command, HAS to follow it.
Once the communication is clear, the command usually only fails, when the dog is too excited/ full of adrenaline, because then dogs sometimes literally can’t hear us. And they can’t follow a command they don’t hear.
But I would guess that will not be such a big issue for you at home. It rather happens when the dog is being exposed to a number of new environmental stimuli at once.
If your husband witnesses your dog grabbing you when he comes home, he should not “reward” and enforce that behavior by greeting the dog enthusiastically. As heartless as it may seem, THIS should be the situation when doggie is being ignored for his actions. The greeting can then happen 5-10 minutes later. But never in that situation, because to the dog that indicates that his behavior is successful.
Also maybe it’s a good idea to put the good clothing away at home for the next few weeks until he has got it that he is not supposed to grab them.