Need episode on in-house aggression

Discussion of specific It's Me or the Dog episodes.

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slyons
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Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:01 am

Need episode on in-house aggression

Post by slyons »

Hello, I am looking for an episode name/number that covers a dog that is aggressive toward other family members. I'm sure there are some. Here is our problem:
We have a 3 1/2 year old neutered Coton de Tulear named Oliver. We have a longstanding isue with Oliver barking, growling and nipping at family members other than myself. My husband and two teenage daughters. He location guards (the location being wherever I am), and when they come and go thropugh the room they get barked at, growled at (if he has a bark collar on) and he will bite ankles as they come and go. He also barks a warning (forever and ever) if he hears any movement of anyone else in the house. It is as though whatever room he is in is his area and the rest of the house is a source of danger or intruders--whereas other dogs I have had consider those within the house to be hunky-dory and would only go into warning mode if they heard someone approaching from outside the house. It doesn't help if I shut him out of whatever room I am in--he simply guards that door. If I am not home he is an angel to them. He does like them and once they are settled in the room he is delighted to seek their attention, but the coming and going is hard for him. It is bizarre how he gets upset when they LEAVE the room, and gets up and barks at them and bites at their ankles. He has been this way since six months old, and it has gotten worse in the past couple of months. The only change in his life the training (I am taking him to agility classes and nose work classes)--my theory being that I am spending even more time with him and he sees me even more clearly as the source of all things yummy?

He barks maniacally when guests and strangers come over, or when he hears a car, or a leaf rustling or even a bug crawling outside... but does not bite guests.
In the past I did obedience classes with him. In all his training he is very responsive and learns quickly, and loves to work for treats.
So that is the history.

Sonja
P.S. Nobody else in the family trains or feeds or waters or walks Oliver. Actually we did try my obedience trainer's recommendation last year--other family members taking over responsibility for him and using a no free lunch approach---affection and food only following performing something. It lasted about 2 months, didn't have a noticeable effect, and because it wasn't a miracle cure they eventually gave up and I am doing all of his care.
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Noobs
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Re: Need episode on in-house aggression

Post by Noobs »

It might do some good to go to the website http://animal.discovery.com/tv/its-me-or-dog/ and browse the videos.

You may want to get rid of that bark collar. It's causing your dog pain and discomfort and is likely contributing to stress, and in turn, the barking.

The no free lunch program (aka NILIF) didn't do anyone in your family, including your dog, any favors, and that's probably why it didn't have any noticeable effects. And that is because it can be damaging if used too harshly.

If you post about your issues to the Training section of the forum and give us a rundown of your dog's daily routine (no detail is too small) I'm sure you'll get tons of help, tailored to you, better than watching an episode because all dogs and owners are different.
dontpugme
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Location: Houston, Texas

Re: Need episode on in-house aggression

Post by dontpugme »

I'm thinking that there were many. The two that come to my mind are Boys Versus Girls and another called Man Versus Manny. (similar titles, same breed of dog, kind of same problem :D :lol: )
--dontpugme
slyons
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:01 am

Re: Need episode on in-house aggression

Post by slyons »

Thanks. I am having trouble actualy getting to actual episodes I can watch online at http://animal.discovery.com/tv/its-me-or-dog/. There are some clips, but where are the episodes?
dontpugme
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Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:01 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: Need episode on in-house aggression

Post by dontpugme »

slyons wrote:Thanks. I am having trouble actualy getting to actual episodes I can watch online at http://animal.discovery.com/tv/its-me-or-dog/. There are some clips, but where are the episodes?
So far, i haven't seen any full episodes on there. If you go to http://www.howstuffworks.com/ they have the full episodes of the first five or six episodes of season one. You have to go to the search videos thing and type in "its me or the dog" and they should pop up. If you go to http://animal.discovery.com/tv-schedule ... 70.33808.3 you can view the schedule and see which episodes are airing when. I have the season one dvd and i downloaded season two on itunes.
--dontpugme
tigerlily46514
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:02 pm

Re: Need episode on in-house aggression

Post by tigerlily46514 »

I found this post fascinating, and as i read it, i wondered about if others in the family are participating in Oliver's care. then i read the "PS" and my suspicion was confirmed.


This seems a very solvable problem.
You say the family did give Oliver his walks and fed him for two months but nothing changed? Hard to believe, but, if you say that is the case, i must take you at your word.

Have you also tried having Oliver lick peanut butter off the other family member's hands while you are present? (since you note that Oliver DOES love the family so long as you are not around.)

I also wonder what effect it would have, if when Oliver growls at other members, if Oliver is removed from room, say, placed into bathroom, for like, one minute. Lengthy removals are not good idea, in my opinion, one minute, two minutes tops, is plenty for a dog, in my opinion.

Seems like, sooner or later, Oliver would figure out, "Geez, when i growl, i get removed the room..Hmmm."

I did that response with my rescue, who was indeed "resource guarding" (saw ME as resource). this only took my fairly brilliant dog about 1 day to notice, "When i growl, i get removed out of room." :idea: We removed him calmly, no harsh words, no yanking around, just calmly,and immediately removed him into bathroom, for one minute, every time he growled at people next to me, or next to him.

We had always heard, never 'correct' a growl, as you wil then be left with a dog who has NOT changed his inner attitude, but, instead, has merely learned not to growl.....you will then be left with a dog who might skip that all important growl, and go straight for a bite.


But, hopefully, someone with more knowledge than me will be by!!!!!
"We rescued Buddy, and then he rescued us right back!"
tigerlily46514
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:02 pm

Re: Need episode on in-house aggression

Post by tigerlily46514 »

BY THE WAY, I TOO, AGREE WITH POSTER ABOVE, WHO DOES NOT APPROVE OF BARK COLLARS. These are cruel, and if you take a dog on in your life, you should be willing to invest the time it takes to show him the ropes of what you WANT him to do. :D

A better idea is to train your dog the cue, "SHHHH!"


~~~~Never ever
yell
at a dog who is barking,
the dog MIGHT believe YOU, TOO, are joining in on the excitement.

There are many ways to do this, but here here is one way:
HOW i did that was this:

I sat next to my dog as he barked away at something. (MY DOG IS CLICKER TRAINED, btw).
I would give cue "Shhhh!" and click and reward even one second of silence. I would also praise this moment of silence, massage his back, keep his att'n on me, to help him go a few more seconds without resuming the bark. Actually, the new unknown noise outa me, surprised and briefly startled him into a one second lapse of silence.

DON'T FORGET, USE HIGH QUALITY TREATS, bits of real meat.
Keep treats small, so dog does not get full, nor fat.

Then, over time, i worked towards 5 second silence to click and treat. Overtime, he did come to understand he has to stop barking altogether, is what "shhh!" meant.

My dog now understands the cue word, "Shhhh!". Very handy in the car while driving by cars with other dogs in them!!! :lol:
To avoid a further thread derail, HERE IS GOOD THREAD ON SHOCK COLLARS:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3027
I will admit, i DO reinforce this lesson, as needed, about once every month or two, as needed.
"We rescued Buddy, and then he rescued us right back!"
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