Hello all. I don't know what thread to ask this in, but this seems like a good spot.
So I've adopted a 2 year old Havanese-Mix, and she's spayed. Her name's Vixie.
She's a loveable teddy bear and everything but the problem is - she gets really hyperactive and super aggressive around my birds.
She has already attacked one (she's still alive and already better) and nearly attacked another while the bird was in my mother's arms. When she gets extremely hyper and growly, her claws will find anything to hold onto - in many cases - skin.
So she'll leave deep scratches that'll usually bleed.
Anyway, the main thing is that I'm starting to get worried about the birds. I have them on their own stands pretty high up and Vixie tries everything to try and get to them.
I also have another dog, Courage who is a Poodle/Shih Tzu mix at a year old. He's fixed.
Sometimes she'll growl at him and snap at him when he barely walks by her toys and/or food. She has already bitten him around his chest area - luckily it wasn't terrible or anything, but it was enough to cause him to bleed.
She was fine the first few weeks then it's like her personality changed for the worse.
My mom is already at her wits end with Vixie and I wanna try my hardest to keep her in the family - if possible.
Anything I can do?
Need a lot of help.
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Re: Need a lot of help.
How long have you had her for, and what do you know of her history before she came to you? Also, could you run through her usual daily routine, please? e.g. walks (how long, on or off lead?), training, play, time alone, and so on. How does she behave generally - is she hyper in any other circumstances?
Also, when you say she is aggressive around the birds, is this 'real' aggression as opposed to seeing them as prey? A dog might show aggression - growling, barking, and so on) towards a cat, but be more quiet and focused when he sees what he regards as prey, such as a rabbit. However, if the dog is frustrated because he can't chase the rabbit, he may redirect aggressively out of frustration onto the person holding his lead. I'm not an expert but it might help the experts if they know whether the aggression is born of frustration.
Certainly for the time being, the answer will be to keep her separate from the birds, ideally right out of sight. Is this at all possible? The way to 'fix' this would be to teach her to be calm when she can't see (& maybe hear) the birds, then to be calm when she can see one bird behaving calmly at a distance, and gradually building up exposure. You want her to think 'See bird... settle on bed... something AWESOME happens' (like sausage!).
However, there may be a limit to how far you can go - she may never be safe if she's loose in a room with a bird flying around feet from her nose, which is why you really need to find some way of managing the situation.
Also, when you say she is aggressive around the birds, is this 'real' aggression as opposed to seeing them as prey? A dog might show aggression - growling, barking, and so on) towards a cat, but be more quiet and focused when he sees what he regards as prey, such as a rabbit. However, if the dog is frustrated because he can't chase the rabbit, he may redirect aggressively out of frustration onto the person holding his lead. I'm not an expert but it might help the experts if they know whether the aggression is born of frustration.
Certainly for the time being, the answer will be to keep her separate from the birds, ideally right out of sight. Is this at all possible? The way to 'fix' this would be to teach her to be calm when she can't see (& maybe hear) the birds, then to be calm when she can see one bird behaving calmly at a distance, and gradually building up exposure. You want her to think 'See bird... settle on bed... something AWESOME happens' (like sausage!).
However, there may be a limit to how far you can go - she may never be safe if she's loose in a room with a bird flying around feet from her nose, which is why you really need to find some way of managing the situation.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Dibbythedog
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Re: Need a lot of help.
Nice post from Judy.
What species of birds do you have?
There could be two issues here, prey drive towards the bird and resource guarding directed at your other dog.
For safety's sake , don't let your birds out of their cage when she is in thr room and dont leave her in there unattended when you go out. You can use a dog gate to keep her out.
Article about dog to dog resource guarding
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues ... 368-1.html
What species of birds do you have?
There could be two issues here, prey drive towards the bird and resource guarding directed at your other dog.
For safety's sake , don't let your birds out of their cage when she is in thr room and dont leave her in there unattended when you go out. You can use a dog gate to keep her out.
Article about dog to dog resource guarding
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues ... 368-1.html
Re: Need a lot of help.
I've had Vixie for about 3 to 4 months. She's mainly an indoor dog and plays a lot with Courage.
All I know of her past is that she was seized once, and then left at the pound by another owner. She was also in rabie quarantine with two other dogs for a while, but she's clear on rabies.
However she tends to sleep a lot and barely eats, which also worries me.
On behavior, she's pretty decent. She does seem to snap at Courage from time to time, especially when it comes down to giving me attention, eating (when she wants) and playing with toys.
On the topic of what kinds of birds I have; I have two Cockatiels, a Parakeet, a Green Cheek Conure and an Indian Ringneck.
Honestly she leaves them alone a lot of time until I start paying attention to them or even look in their direction.
Thanks for the link!
All I know of her past is that she was seized once, and then left at the pound by another owner. She was also in rabie quarantine with two other dogs for a while, but she's clear on rabies.
However she tends to sleep a lot and barely eats, which also worries me.
On behavior, she's pretty decent. She does seem to snap at Courage from time to time, especially when it comes down to giving me attention, eating (when she wants) and playing with toys.
On the topic of what kinds of birds I have; I have two Cockatiels, a Parakeet, a Green Cheek Conure and an Indian Ringneck.
Honestly she leaves them alone a lot of time until I start paying attention to them or even look in their direction.
Thanks for the link!
Re: Need a lot of help.
This is for my benefit... What's a "mainly indoor dog"?? No walks?
Re: Need a lot of help.
Yeah we do walk her from time to time, but she doesn't like going outside too much.
Re: Need a lot of help.
It sounds as if she is bored, as she doesn't get out of the house much and you haven't mentioned any structured training/play, and possibly quite anxious and needy (not wanting to go outside, not eating well, not liking your attention to be on another animal. Then she has the stimulus of the flapping birds, and it's a great (from her point of view) outlet for her frustrations and her energy.
So to stand a chance of dealing with attacking the birds, you have to get the rest of her life right:
1) If you think she's underweight then a vet check would be worthwhile in case there's a medical cause for her not eating. If she isn't underweight, then there's nothing to worry about - though you might want to consider what you're feeding her in case she finds it boring. You could also reduce the amount you give her so she's hungrier at each mealtime and will get into the habit of eating more enthusiastically. If you tend to leave food down for her all the time, please stop doing this as it is likely to increase her anxiety.
2) Address why she doesn't want to go outside. Start by taking her just outside the door, giving her a treat, and going back in. Take it gradually, and don't force her to go anywhere where she shows anxiety. Make sure only really nice things happen outside. Aim to walk her at least once a day, preferably twice. Let her sniff as much as she wants, even if you are stuck standing still for 20 minutes. If you can take her to a secure area, let her off lead, and play fetch or whatever she enjoys, so much the better. But don't push it. She might take a while to find that all this is fun.
3) Give her more to do inside the house. Have a read on this thread for ideas: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1135
4) Make sure that she has a special place (bed/crate) where she can relax and sleep, away from the birds. Reward any 'good' behaviour around the birds. Work on gradually exposing her to triggers - e.g. if she doesn't like you giving them attention, get her to settle down peacefully, walk up to a bird and maybe touch it, then go back to her and reward her. Build up to picking up a bird, and so on, but only at a rate where she is happy to remain settled because she knows that a treat is coming. But as mentioned, this may not be failsafe so management is the real key. Just preventing her from attacking the birds may in itself make the habit diminish.
So to stand a chance of dealing with attacking the birds, you have to get the rest of her life right:
1) If you think she's underweight then a vet check would be worthwhile in case there's a medical cause for her not eating. If she isn't underweight, then there's nothing to worry about - though you might want to consider what you're feeding her in case she finds it boring. You could also reduce the amount you give her so she's hungrier at each mealtime and will get into the habit of eating more enthusiastically. If you tend to leave food down for her all the time, please stop doing this as it is likely to increase her anxiety.
2) Address why she doesn't want to go outside. Start by taking her just outside the door, giving her a treat, and going back in. Take it gradually, and don't force her to go anywhere where she shows anxiety. Make sure only really nice things happen outside. Aim to walk her at least once a day, preferably twice. Let her sniff as much as she wants, even if you are stuck standing still for 20 minutes. If you can take her to a secure area, let her off lead, and play fetch or whatever she enjoys, so much the better. But don't push it. She might take a while to find that all this is fun.
3) Give her more to do inside the house. Have a read on this thread for ideas: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1135
4) Make sure that she has a special place (bed/crate) where she can relax and sleep, away from the birds. Reward any 'good' behaviour around the birds. Work on gradually exposing her to triggers - e.g. if she doesn't like you giving them attention, get her to settle down peacefully, walk up to a bird and maybe touch it, then go back to her and reward her. Build up to picking up a bird, and so on, but only at a rate where she is happy to remain settled because she knows that a treat is coming. But as mentioned, this may not be failsafe so management is the real key. Just preventing her from attacking the birds may in itself make the habit diminish.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
