Ever since My boy dukie (a 9 year old lab) passed away last month I'm wanting to dedicate my summer to my remaining dogs. Cookie and Mia. Cookie was duke's pal, mate and best friend who is very obediant and we don't have a problem with her. And then There's Mia. Mia is now a 4 year old. She is very hyper. She loves to play, loves to have fun. But when it comes to obediance she lacks in one thing.
She has a big problem with leash aggression/out of control when a dog comes by. I’m not sure if it’s aggression or just overly excitement. She doesn’t bite other dogs, when she is introduced to other dogs she doesn’t bite but more than half the time she is bitten. I’m not sure if it’s because she tends to claim dominance or she is just more intimidating. She’s been attacked by several dogs in her life. We used to go to the dog park until she was picked and bit every time we walked into the park by some owner’s dog that is aggressive. So now with dogs, she is very, very aware of other dogs. Just in our neighborhood she has been attacked by 4 boxers (different owners) and a Labrador retriever, while we were on our walks. And now onto my problem.
Mia does just fine on walks, she walks by my side with her harness on but once she sees a dog she is done listening. She won’t listen, I’ve tried to get her focus with a treat or toy she doesn’t give a dang all she focuses on is the dog Including barking and jumping. And when Mia barks it’s a loud carrying bark that everyone can hear and often stare at us. She often will pull back on her leash in attempt escape out of her harness. I’ve tried to keep walking calmly it doesn’t work. I’ve recently tried to run past the dog but she pulled me out into the street and almost got me hit by a passing car. Tried to wait till the dog past but it isn’t teaching her anything and she continues to do it.
If you have any advice that I could do myself I would greatly appreciate it. There is no nearby trainer in my area that will work with Mia’s problems and I can’t drive more than 70 Miles to go to a trainer out of my county. So I’m really on my own. But I’m certainly willing to work with Mia. She is a very large dog weighing at 98 pounds so controlling her isn’t the easiest. Mia is my full responsibility, I don't get help unfortunately. My parents are not what you say "educated" in the dog training thing. But when I try and take mia out on a walk with my mother she gets mad because Mia barks and barks and reacts to every dog. So I'm in need of help. I wish I had the money to pay for training myself but I don't.
Mia is my best friend, I want to take her out and do many things with her but I can't because of this.
A Bloodhound Mom In need of Help!
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ChubbyPuppy74
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A Bloodhound Mom In need of Help!
Anybody who doesn’t know what soap tastes like never washed a dog. ~Franklin P. Jones
Re: A Bloodhound Mom In need of Help!
Hi! I am certainly no expert but they will come along with sound advice very soon I'm sure.
My first thoughts when I read your post was Wow Mia has been through alot and has had quite a few traumatic experiences with other dogs so theres no wonder she reacts the way she does. She is scared it will happen again and her reaction is fear towards all dogs (not dominance) and is her way of saying "get the hell away from me!". I would suggest avoiding all dogs, if you see one heading your way, make an instant U-Turn, cross the road, whatever you can do and head in the opposite direction so they can't even get close to Mia. Her stress levels will be through the roof and you need to keep her happy and calm by not putting her in those situations where she is close to other dogs. Dogs don't need to socialise with each other, some love it but Mia sounds like she is very uncomfortable. There are lots of threads from owners with similar situations, have a search through, but like I said the experts will come along shortly with more substantial advice.
My first thoughts when I read your post was Wow Mia has been through alot and has had quite a few traumatic experiences with other dogs so theres no wonder she reacts the way she does. She is scared it will happen again and her reaction is fear towards all dogs (not dominance) and is her way of saying "get the hell away from me!". I would suggest avoiding all dogs, if you see one heading your way, make an instant U-Turn, cross the road, whatever you can do and head in the opposite direction so they can't even get close to Mia. Her stress levels will be through the roof and you need to keep her happy and calm by not putting her in those situations where she is close to other dogs. Dogs don't need to socialise with each other, some love it but Mia sounds like she is very uncomfortable. There are lots of threads from owners with similar situations, have a search through, but like I said the experts will come along shortly with more substantial advice.
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Re: A Bloodhound Mom In need of Help!
Shes got good reason to want other dogs to back off and go away, and that is what her behaviour is designed to do.
Importantly, the reason she doesn't listen to you when she is reacting is not that she doesn't want to, or any conscious decision on her part, its because she cannot - the brain, designed to promote survival, will not recognise you talking or telling her off or pleading with her, or waving food or toys under her nose when she is reacting, because if you could (you, her, any animal) be easily distracted from dealing with a potential threat... you would not survive.
Imagine if you saw a tiger and you were skirting around it and about to bang some pots and pans at it or run away.. and then you saw a pile of money on the ground... if your brain allowed that to distract you, the chances are you would be eaten by the tiger, and the closer you are to the tiger, the less likely your brain can be distracted by a reward of any kind.
This is why its really hard to talk people down when they are freaking out up a rock face, and it also applies to GOOD stress too - you can't reason with a teenager screaming for a rock star, or shut them up by waving money at them - high stress situations mean the brain is effectively 'locked on' to the focus point.
So you HAVE to set yourself up so that she doesn't react in the first place - if you are walking and you see another dog, you turn around and you run away, you hide, you cross the road, you do anything you can (no matter how crazy or stupid you look doing it) to avoid that reaction from happening.
At first it will seem like this is pointless or its not teaching her anything but IT IS - firstly it allows her stress go drop - stress doesn't drop in minutes or even hours, stress in your dog is like a pint glass of water - fills up quickly from the tap, but how long will it take to evaporate out, beacuse unlike the glass of water you can't 'tip' the stress out of your dog, it has to go away naturally!
Once her stress levels drop she will start to notice that she DOESN'T have to deal wtih these other dogs, beacuse you are dealing with it for her, you are deciding what to do and you are ensuring that she doesn't get so close that she feels uncomfortable.
Whilst you go through this process, try to get a feel for what distance she can handle - DON'T actually push things to experiment, you won't need to, life has a habit of doing that for you, just make a mental note of each incident and the distances involved and any other factors.
Within a few weeks you should have a calmer dog and a much better idea of what she can handle and how far away it has to be - and THEN you can start on a program to desensitize her to other dogs being in sight.
Importantly, the reason she doesn't listen to you when she is reacting is not that she doesn't want to, or any conscious decision on her part, its because she cannot - the brain, designed to promote survival, will not recognise you talking or telling her off or pleading with her, or waving food or toys under her nose when she is reacting, because if you could (you, her, any animal) be easily distracted from dealing with a potential threat... you would not survive.
Imagine if you saw a tiger and you were skirting around it and about to bang some pots and pans at it or run away.. and then you saw a pile of money on the ground... if your brain allowed that to distract you, the chances are you would be eaten by the tiger, and the closer you are to the tiger, the less likely your brain can be distracted by a reward of any kind.
This is why its really hard to talk people down when they are freaking out up a rock face, and it also applies to GOOD stress too - you can't reason with a teenager screaming for a rock star, or shut them up by waving money at them - high stress situations mean the brain is effectively 'locked on' to the focus point.
So you HAVE to set yourself up so that she doesn't react in the first place - if you are walking and you see another dog, you turn around and you run away, you hide, you cross the road, you do anything you can (no matter how crazy or stupid you look doing it) to avoid that reaction from happening.
At first it will seem like this is pointless or its not teaching her anything but IT IS - firstly it allows her stress go drop - stress doesn't drop in minutes or even hours, stress in your dog is like a pint glass of water - fills up quickly from the tap, but how long will it take to evaporate out, beacuse unlike the glass of water you can't 'tip' the stress out of your dog, it has to go away naturally!
Once her stress levels drop she will start to notice that she DOESN'T have to deal wtih these other dogs, beacuse you are dealing with it for her, you are deciding what to do and you are ensuring that she doesn't get so close that she feels uncomfortable.
Whilst you go through this process, try to get a feel for what distance she can handle - DON'T actually push things to experiment, you won't need to, life has a habit of doing that for you, just make a mental note of each incident and the distances involved and any other factors.
Within a few weeks you should have a calmer dog and a much better idea of what she can handle and how far away it has to be - and THEN you can start on a program to desensitize her to other dogs being in sight.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
