Dog issue - being too defensive
Discussion
Hi All,
Introducing 'Maggie' our 3 year old English Pointer cross (supposedly German Shepherd but we think more Lab).
We've had her since a pup and she has always been very protective in recent months she's become more anti-social with other dogs / people.
If I walk her on my own she is pretty good, she's always on the lead when walking on roads and then I let her off in fields/woods etc. Where she's in a place that she knows she'll have a good run and come back when called.
If we see other people with dogs she'll tend to ignore them mostly, have the occasional play with them but can try to be quite dominant in other cases.
When she's on a lead she can jump up on at people so tend to keep on a short lead/close to heel on stop and make her sit whilst they pass. If people want to make a fuss of her she can be quite cowardly and will shy away.
My wife walks her in the mornings after the school run with our two girls (2years old / 9mths old) and she is very defensive (a lot of barking/showing of teeth if other dogs wander up to them/the buggy), if she's on the lead she will pull quite hard and has been known to jump at people whilst barking (at 25kg with a big bark it's rightly quite disconcerting for them)
I had a lady comment at the weekend who I see occasionally and she commented that Maggie is a different dog when she's with me/without the girls.
If we go out as a family and walk her on the lead, she pulls quite hard until she is at the front of the us.
I know she's trying to protect the girls/my wife but it feels like she's out of position in the pack and I was hoping someone might have a few tips that we could use to curtail this quickly (she seems to be getting slightly worse now that our 9mth old is moving around more)?
Thanks in advance,
Phill
Introducing 'Maggie' our 3 year old English Pointer cross (supposedly German Shepherd but we think more Lab).
We've had her since a pup and she has always been very protective in recent months she's become more anti-social with other dogs / people.
If I walk her on my own she is pretty good, she's always on the lead when walking on roads and then I let her off in fields/woods etc. Where she's in a place that she knows she'll have a good run and come back when called.
If we see other people with dogs she'll tend to ignore them mostly, have the occasional play with them but can try to be quite dominant in other cases.
When she's on a lead she can jump up on at people so tend to keep on a short lead/close to heel on stop and make her sit whilst they pass. If people want to make a fuss of her she can be quite cowardly and will shy away.
My wife walks her in the mornings after the school run with our two girls (2years old / 9mths old) and she is very defensive (a lot of barking/showing of teeth if other dogs wander up to them/the buggy), if she's on the lead she will pull quite hard and has been known to jump at people whilst barking (at 25kg with a big bark it's rightly quite disconcerting for them)
I had a lady comment at the weekend who I see occasionally and she commented that Maggie is a different dog when she's with me/without the girls.
If we go out as a family and walk her on the lead, she pulls quite hard until she is at the front of the us.
I know she's trying to protect the girls/my wife but it feels like she's out of position in the pack and I was hoping someone might have a few tips that we could use to curtail this quickly (she seems to be getting slightly worse now that our 9mth old is moving around more)?
Thanks in advance,
Phill
Have you actually done much training with her. Seems like lots of jumping up and pulling on the lead going on. Sounds like she's in charge and not you guys,
My dog used to pull so when he did, I'd stop, tell him off then start walking again. Every time he pulls I just stop and let him know he's not taking me for a walk.
Same with jumping etc. It's just about reinforcing good behaviour and pointing out bad behaviour, it's just consistency and repetition.
Sorry if you know all this already.
My dog used to pull so when he did, I'd stop, tell him off then start walking again. Every time he pulls I just stop and let him know he's not taking me for a walk.
Same with jumping etc. It's just about reinforcing good behaviour and pointing out bad behaviour, it's just consistency and repetition.
Sorry if you know all this already.
El stovey said:
Have you actually done much training with her. Seems like lots of jumping up and pulling on the lead going on. Sounds like she's in charge and not you guys,
My dog used to pull so when he did, I'd stop, tell him off then start walking again. Every time he pulls I just stop and let him know he's not taking me for a walk.
Same with jumping etc. It's just about reinforcing good behaviour and pointing out bad behaviour, it's just consistency and repetition.
Sorry if you know all this already.
I think that is a fair comment to be honest. We did puppy training with her and we used to carry treats as rewards (but seem to have got out of that habit). My dog used to pull so when he did, I'd stop, tell him off then start walking again. Every time he pulls I just stop and let him know he's not taking me for a walk.
Same with jumping etc. It's just about reinforcing good behaviour and pointing out bad behaviour, it's just consistency and repetition.
Sorry if you know all this already.
She is very quick to learn so happy for us to reinforce some of those original behaviours that she used to be good at!
Forging ahead could be excitement, dominance etc. I believe one of the cures is to walk the other way when the dog pulls forwards. It'll soon realise that it's going nowhere unless it stays next to you. The barking should be ignored but rather concentrate on rewarding calm behaviour thus preventing the barking. Always end on a high note :-)
You need to get the advice of an up to date trainer. They can comw out with you and watch her interactions etc and advise how to correct it.
Position in the pack stuff has been disproved and a good trainer won't refer to packs etc.
Same goes when people talk about dominance. It is actually uncommon for dogs to be dominant.
Chances are your dog is picking up on subtle signals from your wife, a trainer will observe these and correct appropriately.
Things can usually be resolved very well with correct intervention especially if they are good natured dogs underneath it all.
What area of the country are you in? I know an absolutely fantastic trainer in South Devon! I could guarantee he would solve the issue!
Position in the pack stuff has been disproved and a good trainer won't refer to packs etc.
Same goes when people talk about dominance. It is actually uncommon for dogs to be dominant.
Chances are your dog is picking up on subtle signals from your wife, a trainer will observe these and correct appropriately.
Things can usually be resolved very well with correct intervention especially if they are good natured dogs underneath it all.
What area of the country are you in? I know an absolutely fantastic trainer in South Devon! I could guarantee he would solve the issue!
A friend of mine has a somewhat bouncy 40Kg Rhodesian Ridgeback.
They found this of use:-
http://careforreactivedogs.com/
Also, I'm in Beds and the Appledown Rescue Kennels group can be a good source of local resources.
This is a thread about trainers - it's public so you should be able to see it.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/68892502164/permal...
They found this of use:-
http://careforreactivedogs.com/
Also, I'm in Beds and the Appledown Rescue Kennels group can be a good source of local resources.
This is a thread about trainers - it's public so you should be able to see it.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/68892502164/permal...
Edited by ctdctd on Wednesday 14th June 08:51
ctdctd said:
A friend of mine has a somewhat bouncy 40Kg Rhodesian Ridgeback.
They found this of use:-
http://careforreactivedogs.com/
Also, I'm in Beds and the Appledown Rescue Kennels group can be a good source of local resources.
This is a thread about trainers - it's public so you should be able to see it.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/68892502164/permal...
Interesting! I'll take a read.They found this of use:-
http://careforreactivedogs.com/
Also, I'm in Beds and the Appledown Rescue Kennels group can be a good source of local resources.
This is a thread about trainers - it's public so you should be able to see it.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/68892502164/permal...
Edited by ctdctd on Wednesday 14th June 08:51
Many thanks
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