Loose leash walking

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Dog_lover
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:06 am

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by Dog_lover »

Nettle, here are a few examples:
1) we take him to families house, they pick him up, he would keep growling. He hasn't bitten because of this so far but his growling got worst after this. At first, I used to not say anything, but I've gotten firm. Since he was from a pet store (I might get a few rude comments but it's what's done. I know it wasn't a good place to buy him) that has a lot to do with his behaviours I think.

2) someone would walk by me and he would jump up at them and often bite. ESPECIALLY with my sisters fiancé. He then gets angry and says I'm too soft on him because I don't believe in yelling. Last time he yelled at him that EVEN I got scared from his yelling.

3) last time my sister was sleeping & my aunt went to put a blanket on her where Mickey also was. He then bit her.

I have told my family (especially sisters fiancé) that when they are coming near me, give some treats to him so he sees people as a good thing. But he says that my dog shouldn't be "bribed". So I don't know what else I can do that's positive. We were never consistant with his training, which is completely our fault. A few times, we've put him in his crate as a time out. A few times we used a pet corrector (I regret this).
Once or twice, my cousin has done the "alpha roll" on him which I seriously hate thinking about. The place we got him from said to listen to Cesar Milan and at that time, I didn't know ANYTHING about his training method and I wish I never had allowed that. But we all make mistakes with trainings and I just got to move on and make changes with his training.

He seemed to have gotten better though. My cousin always compliments how calm he's gotten. What's the best way to greet him when coming home? Ignore him completely?? Or say hi and a pat and then ignore him? I've tried giving him a toy to focus his attention on that but he goes CRAZY when we come home.

Thank you Erica for the clear information. That makes more sense to me now. So I won't get blue buffalo, just to be on the safe side. Maybe I'll get natures variety instinct. There is a lot of different brands on the review link you sent, now we just have to find the best one for him.

Thanks!
Dog_lover
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:06 am

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by Dog_lover »

Nettle, for example right now we have some family over. Mickey went to greet one of them and she started holding him in the air. He kept growling and she would just say "no don't go". I waited. When I saw she wouldn't stop, I told her "he doesn't like that" and then she made him growl one more time & then let him go. I then went to the room so I can CALM MYSELF DOWN because I've told them many times. Apparently I was rude for even asking her to stop but at this point, I don't care if I'm rude. I don't care who doesn't like it. I will stand up for my dog. He trusts me enough to speak up for him since he can't. I don't see how it's rude for me to ask someone to stop but when people don't respect my wish, that's totally fine. I'm glad I'm able to speak up for him more now.
master2

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by master2 »

You did the right thing sticking up for your dog. Keep doing what your doing and be proud that you stuck up for him. Growling isca warning and they won't thinks it's rude when you warn them they don't listern and then if they ignore his growling and he bites :roll: . I wouldn't blame him. You are the one in the right not them and sometimes it really hard when people are not on the same page as you.
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by Nettle »

Good for you for standing up for your dog! Now you just need to start a bit sooner - when someone swoops on your dog with intent to maul, hurt and frighten, they are playing power games with YOU and trying to press your buttons.

Step in front of your dog and say NO! to the person. If it's family, I leave it to you how rude you get, because while I would never normally advise being rude when you can be polite, families seem to better respond to a protective ROAR. (I am the person who once asked a family member if he felt big trying to torment a ten-inch terrier). But do try pleasant first. Maybe a 'how would you feel if a dinosaur lifted you off your feet and bellowed at you?" but said sweetly and quietly might hit the spot.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Dog_lover
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:06 am

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by Dog_lover »

Today we went to the same people's house (my mom had to force me out) but before going, mom sent them a text saying I'm really upset with them because in my opinion, they know Mickey doesn't like it but they are just doing it because they know I'm strict when it comes to how people handle him. So they were completely fine with him and he never growled.
Thanks for the help!

Also, has anyone fed their dogs 'fromm family' or natures variety instinct? We're looking at wet food to feed him since he eats better when he has wet food with his kibbles. I looked at the dog food advisor and from what I've seen, it seems good. However, when I mentioned that to some people (family/family friend) they said it's not that good. My dog has enough of the vet recovery wet food to last tomorrow but then the next day, he needs wet food and the vet said we can stop feeding him the recovery stuff and start feeding him what we want.
Thank you
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by Erica »

I use Fromm as training treats and as "whoops forgot to order his other food" food. It's good, from what I've seen, and my dog loves it and does well on it. I haven't used Nature's Variety, but I've never heard ill spoken of it. Did they give reasons they don't recommend the foods?
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Dog_lover
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:06 am

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by Dog_lover »

Sorry for the late reply guys! Been busy with volunteering & family.

Nettle, I think I've finally got my point across. It's frustrating because many times when my family wants to pet, or pick up Mickey, he growls. Today my sister said "whatever we want to do, he growls. That's what dogs do. You're over doing his training by constantly telling us to leave him alone". I agree, I might be over doing it but that's because I'm the only one with him 90% of the time. If he goes to bite someone (lots of kids in our neighbourhood) it will be our responsibility. I "over do" it because when he growls, he is UNCOMFORTABLE. yes, he growls when they wanna do anything but that's because he wasn't used to it. I'm pretty sure he left his mother when he was 6/7 weeks (too young). Before us, he had no human contact. So obviously he will be growling. It's up to us, to make him learn that human contact is good. However, sometimes they choose to pick him up at the wrong times. Like when he's sleeping, or if he's trying to get to me and people suddenly pick him up. He doesn't growl too much for gentle petting. He mainly growls for getting picked up.
And Nettle, I agree when people want to do things with intent to upset him, I need to put him behind me and say 'NO'. It's just that, sometimes he will run to them and then they will do that. When he's with me, there's no problem. But when he's not at my side, that's the problem. Lol and I don't think I can just go get him from their arms :lol:

Yesterday, my sisters fiancé kept making eye contact with him. I kept telling him to stop but he wouldn't. And when my dog is stressed, he will bite anything that's near him. Which in this case, was me. For the first time in a long time, he bit me and wouldn't let go. When I asked him to never do that, he started calling me "vet" and how I think I know everything. I'm sorry, but it doesn't take a vet or even a dog trainer to know that. I think that's why my dog bites him so many times. And when Mickey does bite him, he throws euthanasia in my face saying "he should/could be put down". Let me just say, that does not make me feel good.

When he or sometimes my sister or mom, walks by me, Mickey will jump at them and attempt to bite. He thinks it's because I've gotten Mickey so attached to me. I can't help it. I feed him, walk him, groom him, etc. I feel like those are all things that makes a dog and humans bond closer. Do you think I need to distance myself from him to make him less attached? That makes me feel bad.
A while ago, I went back to the same pet store that we got him from, and someone was saying how they once taped a larger dog in the cage so he didn't escape. I saw how rough they were with my dog too so I think he's definitely been abused.

Thanks for the info Erica. No he just said it doesn't have good stuff in it which I don't think he even researched. We did go with natures variety. They didn't believe me when I said it's good but when we went to the store to get it, the workers said that's a good one especially since his protein level is a bit low.
carrie_02
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:03 pm

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by carrie_02 »

Dog_lover wrote:Sorry for the late reply guys! Been busy with volunteering & family.

Nettle, I think I've finally got my point across. It's frustrating because many times when my family wants to pet, or pick up Mickey, he growls. Today my sister said "whatever we want to do, he growls. That's what dogs do. You're over doing his training by constantly telling us to leave him alone". I agree, I might be over doing it but that's because I'm the only one with him 90% of the time. If he goes to bite someone (lots of kids in our neighbourhood) it will be our responsibility. I "over do" it because when he growls, he is UNCOMFORTABLE. yes, he growls when they wanna do anything but that's because he wasn't used to it. I'm pretty sure he left his mother when he was 6/7 weeks (too young). Before us, he had no human contact. So obviously he will be growling. It's up to us, to make him learn that human contact is good. However, sometimes they choose to pick him up at the wrong times. Like when he's sleeping, or if he's trying to get to me and people suddenly pick him up. He doesn't growl too much for gentle petting. He mainly growls for getting picked up.
And Nettle, I agree when people want to do things with intent to upset him, I need to put him behind me and say 'NO'. It's just that, sometimes he will run to them and then they will do that. When he's with me, there's no problem. But when he's not at my side, that's the problem. Lol and I don't think I can just go get him from their arms :lol:

Yesterday, my sisters fiancé kept making eye contact with him. I kept telling him to stop but he wouldn't. And when my dog is stressed, he will bite anything that's near him. Which in this case, was me. For the first time in a long time, he bit me and wouldn't let go. When I asked him to never do that, he started calling me "vet" and how I think I know everything. I'm sorry, but it doesn't take a vet or even a dog trainer to know that. I think that's why my dog bites him so many times. And when Mickey does bite him, he throws euthanasia in my face saying "he should/could be put down". Let me just say, that does not make me feel good.

When he or sometimes my sister or mom, walks by me, Mickey will jump at them and attempt to bite. He thinks it's because I've gotten Mickey so attached to me. I can't help it. I feed him, walk him, groom him, etc. I feel like those are all things that makes a dog and humans bond closer. Do you think I need to distance myself from him to make him less attached? That makes me feel bad.
A while ago, I went back to the same pet store that we got him from, and someone was saying how they once taped a larger dog in the cage so he didn't escape. I saw how rough they were with my dog too so I think he's definitely been abused.

Thanks for the info Erica. No he just said it doesn't have good stuff in it which I don't think he even researched. We did go with natures variety. They didn't believe me when I said it's good but when we went to the store to get it, the workers said that's a good one especially since his protein level is a bit low.
All I can say is your sister should break up with her fiance. It sounds like if anyone deserves to be removed from the family, it's him.

Sorry you're going through this!
Fundog
Posts: 3874
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:31 am
Location: A little gambling town in the high desert

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by Fundog »

I agree with Carrie about the fiance. He sounds like an abuser, and is likely to be abusive to your sister and any children they have. I can just see him smacking an infant for crying in what he thinks is a "defiant" tone of voice.
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Dog_lover
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:06 am

Re: Loose leash walking

Post by Dog_lover »

I haven't been on this forum in so long, wow.
Things haven't gotten any better as I had hoped. If anything, they're just getting worse. He jumps and bites anyone who gets too close to me. He's a little better with my mom when she comes towards me slowly but he especially bites my sisters husband anytime he walks by. Yet when I ask him to give him a treat when he's coming by, that's "bribing him" which I don't think so at all. I really do feel like that's the only way he'll get used to people coming near me. Or does anyone know any other way? Last time he bit my sister for getting too close to me and my sister and her husband decided to get in his face and start yelling at him. Funny how he never listens to them like that. Yet when I calmly tell him "no" and show him something else to do, he listens to me. And when he DOES listen to me, they think he only listens because he's too attached to me.

I'm trying to do everything I can to make sure he's the loving, friendly dog I know he can be. But it's kind of harder when the only person who's doing all this is me. Only other person who is kind of on my side is my mom. My sisters excuse for not listening to this training plan is "he's already two. That's just his nature and how he is". I've seen senior dogs get trained for their aggression. I'm sure he can be trained if EVERYONE is on the same page. Right?
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