MeganD
Royal Oak, Michigan
JH
Posts:33
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| 10/25/2012 8:08 PM |
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We took Bailey (4yo F) to her first training class today. From the moment we walked in all she wanted to do was bark and try to get to the other dogs. She is an only dog at home, and I'm not too sure of her background, as we just adopted her and she was a stray before having a few foster homes.
We didn't even get to participate in the class, we were on the sidelines working on not barking and lunging in excitement to go see other dogs. She is not being aggressive, she just wants to go say hello (I think) and in the this training class, they do not let the dogs socialize.
Any advice? We have not had the opportunity to introduce her to other dogs, but we are hoping to take her to our Aunt's to play with her dog this weekend and maybe go to doggie daycare once or twice a week. I am hoping once we get her socialized better with other dogs, and teach her to focus on us and not the other dogs, that she will quit doing this. |
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Texas Belle
Austin, TX
MH
Posts:7835
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| 10/25/2012 8:42 PM |
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| Keep doing obedience even if all you work on is fixing this behavior. I would also get her in other environments too always working on this behavior. At home work on her focus and build it so she is paying attention to you when you ask her to. Also keep working the obedience at home. Be sure you reward the behavior you want, but also be sure you aren't inadvertently reinforcing the bad behavior too. Dogs live in the moment so reinforcement or correction needs to be almost immediately after the behavior. Your girl may also be a good candidate for clicker training. What kind of collar do you use? It may help you to put a prong collar on her as it will give you more control and won't damage her throat if she is lunging and pulling allot. I use a small to medium prong on my guys when I need that type of collar. Don't let anyone talk you into a large size as they are not as effective. Good luck and just stick with and you will get there. |
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Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna)
Yellow Rose GSPs
   
"A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato |
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pixie bee
MH
Posts:4448
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| 10/26/2012 9:11 AM |
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Sounds as tho she has trouble with the meet and greet.
Many dogs do.
My suggestion would be to allow her to socialize daily and freely with as many dogs as possible off leash.
She needs to understand that dogs are no big deal.
I don't think you will have success with how she was handled in class.
This may only lead to more anxiety,frustration and an aggressive seeming behavior.
But I don't know.
Obedience will help but I feel around other dogs she will be too preoccupied to be able to focus on you.
If they do not allow you to participate in class I think you have two options - get your money back or work with her on the sidelines.
I would opt for working with her - this is a great opportunity for both of you.
A prong collar will be your best friend while doing this.
Learn to pop and not apply constant tension.
Bring food,toys and your best fun voice.
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"Time with my dogs clears my mind, renews my faith, and lets me see the world as it is. My only regret loving dogs as I do, is the misery of their early departure." Robert G. Wehle
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Splat
Illinois (Northern)
MH
Posts:3130
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| 10/26/2012 9:22 AM |
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My oldest could care less about other dogs... He likes them and does get excited to see them but once he greets them he is off doing his own thing... now Striker my younger one is a barker by nature... so when he sees a potential buddy he gets so excited he barks, this sometimes scare the other dogs and other times causes lot of energetic play... the best way for me is to let him greet the other dog and get it out of his system... he has had lots of obedience though so if he is on a leash and in a situation where he can't go up and greet a dog he knows to listen and pay attention to me... he may do a little crying but no barking... I know a few people saw him at nationals a couple years ago and he did just fine with all the other dogs...
So I agree that you need to let her loose and free with meeting other dogs as much as possible so it isn't so exciting, but also get the obedience down too... |
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MeganD
Royal Oak, Michigan
JH
Posts:33
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| 11/01/2012 5:26 PM |
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We are working her in a prong collar now and our walks are so much better! We need to get her one with medium links, as we have a large link collar that was a hand-me-down from our parents dog that passed last winter.
We went to the class again and were essentially told Bailey is not ready, and to talk to the training director to get our money back or put it towards a session a few months down the road.
So now our goal is to get her as socialized as possible. We don't know many other people nearby with dogs her size, just our Aunts' dogs. If she does well with them and we work on her more with recall, I think we could move on to the local dog park on a sunday morning when there may be less dogs.
On walks when we pass dogs, I have been working on getting her to pay attention to me and pay the other dog no mind. She has been getting better.
We have a doggie play date with our Aunt's Brittany Spaniel this weekend. I think they will get a long well and hopefully wear each other out in the fenced backyard.
I'll update on how the meeting and play date goes! |
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Texas Belle
Austin, TX
MH
Posts:7835
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| 11/01/2012 5:57 PM |
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| One of the things I like to do is take my young dogs to the local pet store or somewhere like Petsmart and walk the isles and work on focus and obedience. Also another good place to socialize is sporting events like football games at your local school if they will allow it. Some hardware stores and farm and ranch supply stores will also allow dogs. The more places you take her the more socialized. Also ask if there are beginner socialization classes you can go to. |
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Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna)
Yellow Rose GSPs
"A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato |
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kpwlee
Raleigh, NC
MH
Posts:992
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| 11/02/2012 6:27 PM |
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Check Meetup.com for groups of dog owners that do walks together, in our area there are several active groups.
In addition to what Bev said I take Bugsy to outdoor shopping areas, walk a bit, sit on a bench for a bit, repeat. He used to get sooooo excited around people - he still does- but it is tons more manageable.
We also have public events that are fundraisers for rescues, perhaps check with your SPCA or shelter and see if they run classes or have events. They tend to do both around here as the realize that rescue dogs have often missed key socialization
Lastly keep a close eye on her reaction when she lunges on the prong, some dogs associate the pain with the other dog and become reactive to other dogs because they experience pain when they see another dog ( because they lunge, but they miss that piece of info out). That is totally NOT what you need at this point |
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It's Bugsy's world...
http://dailyzoomie.blogspot.com/ |
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pixie bee
MH
Posts:4448
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| 11/03/2012 6:47 AM |
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I don't think you need to be concerned with the size of the playmate - just the personality.
My dogs were just playing with 4 other dogs. Along came a regular, a jack russel, but my dogs have never met this dog before. He was the toughest little bugger.
I swear my dogs had fun leading him on,making him think he was in charge.
Then there's Chance - the mayor. When any dogs "get into it" the mayor comes over, puts his face between the two and growly/barks and everyone stops and breaks up.
Then there's a lab mix, cute little girl, who grabs everone's neck and tries to drag them down and step on them. She beat up this jack russel so badly. But he came back for more. She tries to jump on and dominate my boys and they just back away and make growly noises at her.
Thing is - all the dogs like each other b/c their personalities mesh well.
Now, there are some dogs who enter the picture that ruin this.
They are nervous,insecure and can't handle all the personalities.
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"Time with my dogs clears my mind, renews my faith, and lets me see the world as it is. My only regret loving dogs as I do, is the misery of their early departure." Robert G. Wehle
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Splat
Illinois (Northern)
MH
Posts:3130
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| 11/03/2012 8:37 AM |
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| I second not worrying about size but more on personalities... |
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MeganD
Royal Oak, Michigan
JH
Posts:33
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| 11/05/2012 7:01 AM |
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We took Bailey to go play with her cousin-dog Karlie on Saturday. Overall it was a success, and we plan to try to get them together as much as possible, because they will be around each other a lot this summer up at our summer place on the lake! (I Hope B likes to swim!)
2 of the yards adjacent to my Aunt's had dogs in them, a chocolate lab and then 2 little yappy dogs. So B had a lot of stimulus, but enjoyed running around the yard with Karlie and saying Hi to the other dogs through the fence.
There was one moment where Karlie and Bailey got into a tussle, not sure who started it and it was unclear if they were just playing. They were just sniffing each other and the next moment they were growling and Bailey was attempting to pin Karlie down. We pulled Bailey off Karlie and let them cool off. They went on a short walk together and were fine, and they were fine the rest of the day together, but Karlie was a little wary of Bailey. But Bailey seemed happy to see Karlie still and be in the same house or yard with her.
So we will try again maybe this weekend. It was nice seeing her interact with another dog. |
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pixie bee
MH
Posts:4448
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| 11/05/2012 7:30 AM |
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Sounds good, I would have let them settle it or at waited to see the outcome of that exchange.
If they don't settle it - it will occur each time they get together.There is a "power struggle",it needs to be decided upon or maybe not and they will need to be supervised more closely.
Power struggles usually occur when one or both dogs are social climbers.
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"Time with my dogs clears my mind, renews my faith, and lets me see the world as it is. My only regret loving dogs as I do, is the misery of their early departure." Robert G. Wehle
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MeganD
Royal Oak, Michigan
JH
Posts:33
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| 11/23/2012 12:33 PM |
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Bailey got to Play with a Vizsla last weekend and they got along great! Both ran around and chewed sticks. The Vizla is a year and promptly wore Bailey out after about an hour.
Today I had my friend bring her Dachshund over. He genrally loves bigger dogs, so we thought we'd give it a try. I don't know what we could have done different, But the meeting did not go well. We let them sniff, but Bailey seemed to want to treat him as prey or wanted to play with him rough. She lunged at him (on lead) the second he walked in the yard. After a little sniffing she seemed to go after him and he yelped. I don't know if we should have just let them both off lead in my fenced back yard and see what happens, or if we did the right thing by deciding they probably shouldn't play together. I'm wary of Bailey with little dogs, as she seems overly interested in them and I'm not sure it is in a good way. |
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MeganD
Royal Oak, Michigan
JH
Posts:33
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| 11/23/2012 2:45 PM |
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Bailey Playing with her new Vizsla friend, Lily.
The aftermath  Bailey was wore out good. |
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Texas Belle
Austin, TX
MH
Posts:7835
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| 11/23/2012 3:43 PM |
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| Dogs tend to behave more aggressively when on leash. I probably would have kept the shorthair on leash and let the doxie off leash so they could get acquainted. If that goes well then let them both off leash to play. I always watch my shorthairs when around smaller dogs simply because the shorthairs can play rough. My guess is between the leashes and your nervousness caused the tension with the dogs. If you are uncomfortable or worry about smaller dogs, then just make play dates with the bigger dogs. |
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Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna)
Yellow Rose GSPs
"A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato |
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MeganD
Royal Oak, Michigan
JH
Posts:33
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| 11/23/2012 7:11 PM |
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The doxie seemed fine with her. We let him off lead to check Bailey out on lead, but anytime she would get a little rough for him, he would hide behind his owner.
I agree it will be for the best if she only plays with medium to large dogs from now on. |
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jyoung
Posts:15
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| 11/24/2012 8:23 AM |
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| I have a wienie dog I guess its different when they live together. It took bella some time to learn how to play with him. Since we didn't get her till she was 9 months old. I think most dogs can learn how to play with small dogs it just takes some time and direction. |
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