i have a racially sensitive dog!

[leigh]

i LOVE Victoria, and want to be just like her! She's inspired me to follow my REAL dreams, and become a dog trainer!

My partner and I have a 4 yo male short leg Jack Russel (Ted) who is one of the happiest little en I've ever met. He never attended puppy school, and when I first met him he'd not had much training. He sits, and I've taught him to shake........... he won't drop on command, no matter HOW much repetitive training we do - he'll only do it if there's at treat in front of him! He chases bikes down our fence, and noone is allowed to walk past without him barking at them! Luckily he's mostly an indoor dog. He just doesn't seem to be the smartest dog ever.

I also have a 1 yo female pomeranian x jack russel (Bella), who is one of the smartest dogs I've ever seen - she's such a happy little lady, and so quick to catch onto new tricks and training methods. She did attend puppy school, and has had regular training at home with me.

We've only recently bought harnesses for the dogs and now go on daily walks (he used to pull out of excitement, and walking wasn't enjoyable) - and I've noticed something with him, and I don't want her to catch on.

He growls, barks, lunges at anyone of darker skin - Aboriginal (we're in Australia), Sudonese, African people, he 'attacks' them - (but has ever bitten anyone, even off lead). When caucasion people walk past he ignores them. We think this could possibly be because the last dog (Buffy) that he lived with was beaten up with a baseball bat by 3 Aboriginal men who broke into the house, and that dog then growled/barked at etc, Aboriginal people, or people with darker skin. Could Ted's reaction be due to conditioning that he learned from Buffy's bad experience?

I don't have any friends or anyone that I know who is Aboriginal etc, but is there anything that I should be doing, or can do, to get him out of this habit?

I would just KILL for a week with Victoria, to learn all the best training methods!

(And is there a reason Victoria uses chicken, instead of dog treats such as dried liver etc?) I have another question, but I'll start a new topic for that!

[Sam-chan]

I'm throwing caution to the winds here, but I think Victoria uses chicken because dogs like real meat a lot more than treats, and it's less slippery. I remember when I had hot dog slices for our dog for training, I spent far too long fumbling to keep a grip on a piece because they kept slipping.

As for your dog's reactions, it is quite possible, especially if your dog saw Buffy getting hit by the robbers. But for that, I'd advise that you contact a behaviourist, aggression is best assessed in person.

For everything else, it can be conditioned, ask a behaviourist for advice.

[leigh]

my dogs love chicken, but they REALLY love liver treats.
http://www.connex.com.au/catalogue/petf ... _head.html
that's the brand that we use - and I only need to use the tiniest piece (for tiny dogs)


I may have used the wrong terminology when describing Ted's reactions - because he's not "agressive" to the point where he bares teeth, or lunges at them to bite them, it's just barking - onlead he lunges whilst barking, but when off lead, he just stands next to them, barking. He's never bitten anyone, or got in a fight with another dog - he's a gentle little man, just very excitable.

[Sam-chan]

Ah, then yes, sensitiving is the right word, what you need to do is desensitise him to their presence or associate it with good things, like food, try combining it with a 'quiet' command as well.