They don't know what to do with him:(

[Tina]

My in-law's have been having troubles their dog Boo. He is a 1 year and 1/2 old Poodle/Terrier mix. He is a good dog most of the time. But he does have his moments and it has been happening alot more lately.

He is very bad of picking up stuff laying around hammers,tools, bones, sticks, toys, blankets, just whatever maybe in the floor.
Whenever they try to take something away from him he will growl and snarl at them get real mean. He has already bitten them I don't know how many times now.

One day my mother in law was trying to wipe off Boo's muddy paws, while my father and law was holding him. And Boo turned and bit him on the hand. He has also hidden under the bed one time and they were trying to get him, and he growled and showing his teeth at them again. And then yesterday Boo had a stick, my father in law thought he wanted to play so he reached down to get get it. Well Boo grabed a hold of his thumb and he didn't want to let go. Boo ended up hurting my fater-in-laws thumb pretty badly.

They are not sure what to do with him now. They are getting ready to move into their new house they built in a few weeks. He knows the house well and has stayed over night and all. So he should be ok. They want to give him another chance.

I probably should have asked about how to help the first time that he done this for some help. So that I could give them some ideas on what to do. I'm trying to search for a behaviorist right now but I'm not sure if it will do any good to tell them. I don't know if they'd want to send the money.:(

Don't get me wrong I think it is great that they like to save their money, and not spend it on everything they see and want. But they are "tight wads" in my opinion. Heck, they won't hardly go out and buy themselves a pair of glasses or go to a doctor if they need it.

I don't know maybe some here can help me out. Well them out.:confused:

[Karen]

Have they done any obedience training or classes with him?

[Tina]

They have done some of their own training with him. Their is really no obedience classes that are close enough to us. Everything that we have found is over 2 hours away. I'm not sure if they would have taken him anyways, they don't like to spend their money on things they don't think they need.

[aly]

They NEED to have at least one seesion with a behaviorist who specializes in dominance aggression. It is extremely important. They need to set aside a special fund for it or something. If they try to give the dog up, the dog WILL end up being put to sleep by just about any shelter he ends up in.

If they feel they can't handle it, rescue groups should be contacted. Sometmes rescue groups have relationships with behaviorists and are willing to deal with aggression problems. Not all of them will because of the liability issues though.

It will be hard to give you advice without seeing exactly how they interact with the dog, but I have a STRONG feeling that it is dominance aggression. They need to stop letting him on the furniture and make him sleep on the floor below them. They should also be sure to eat their meals first before they feed him. And if he's laying in a doorway that they need to walk through, they should make him move instead of trying to step over him. Also, they should go through doors before him.

Obedience class would be good so they can learn how to work with him effectively, but I think a behaviorist is much more critical at this point because this problem is escalating.

[carrie]

HI,
As usual I have not read any other replies to your post so apologies in advance if I repeat or negate what others have said.

Your in-laws need to stand back, take a deep breath, and decide.

They can carry on and the situation will escalate with dog - even if they take it to training classes (the dog may behave well there and return to being a problem the moment it returns home).

Or....

They can decide to change their whole outlook on the dog and the way they interact with it.

The first option will solve nothing.

The second will involve them changing their ideas and reasons for having a dog in the first place. This is not an easy thing to do and many people are unable to do it.

To start with they must not pick the dog up - at any time!
Do not feed the dog any treats at all.
The dog is confined to the house and is only allowed out when on a lead.
Any pulling on the lead, or aggression toward anything (be it animal, huiman or object) results in your in-laws marching straight back home with no regard to the dog wanting to stop and sniff, pee or anything else.
The dog is only given cuddles or pats when the owners have called the dog to them.
Any attempt by the dog to illicit cuddles or attention must be ignored.
Feeding the dog is to become a crucial part of the non-violent, dog language way of gaining control that they MUST stick to if it is to work - the dog gets 1, 2 or 3 meals a day.
dO NOT give more food than usual.
Leave food down for ten minutes only and remove it when the time is up.

If your in- laws go with this for just 5 days - and I know it is hard - they will seee a dramatic change in the way the dog behaves.

All the dog wants is a strong pack structure that it can have faith in. Once it has that belief that the pack is well and has good leaders then the dog is able to relax. The dog no longer has to try to control everything. Stronger members of the pack are showing confidence in a way the dog understands. They are more able to be leaders than the dog is. The dog will be happy to accept this because it knows that it is true - the dog knows it is a poor leader in a human world.

[G.P.girl]

carrie, that sounds liek a really good idea. we did somethign similar to that with this horse that kept acting up and biting and stuff. it worked really well

[carrie]

G.P. girl ---hope I got that right!!??

I always think you have to see an animal problem from the animal point of view.

I have studied horses for many years, understand their psychology, biology and physiology and get on with them fine.
Every time I try and ride one, however, they decide I am the reason for every unhappiness they have ever had and feel it is their duty to throw me on the ground and then run over me two or three times

I guess I just don't get horses - I now have such bad injuries in my back because of my misunderstanding horses that I can no longer ride. I think the horses are happy with that!

[G.P.girl]

aww maybe you just didn't find the right horse that you "clicked" with? i don't really know. but i think it's very interesting the way they interact with each other and it's so amazing when they "accept" you in the 'herd'. i was trying to train this 3 year old filly with severe behavioral issues and i had to have one of the stable hands bring her out in to the circle-corral-thingie (because they were big strong guys and the horses wouldn't kick them becuase they were afraid of them) but she wouldn't let anyone pet her and the guy who normally trains the horses just gave up on her so he said i could train her if i wanted, so after three weeks of workign with her with the method ,and i couldn't put a lead rope on her, she came up to me and just laid her head on my shoulder. it was so great. but unfortuantly i had to move not long after that so i don't know what happened to her, i think they were just going to sell her to whoever whould take her:(

[Tina]

Well thanks so much for the advice. I have not talked to my in-laws since the other day. I will tell them about the advice given here and let them decide what they want to do.

I just really hope they don't decide to give him up or something. If they think they need to, then I may talk my husband into taking him in for awhile. But I'm not sure how he would feel about that. I just don't know what will happen. It just really bothers me.

I'll let you all know what happens with Boo.

[guster girl]

How are things with Boo? I hope your in-laws can work with him.

[Kathleen]

It sounds like their dog is being domineering, they are the pack and its the leader dog.

They need to get it in training and spend money to get him well trained.

My dad has spent tons of money in training our dogs,we work hard on having nice dogs. We have gone and asked help time to time. Just recently we did and sure it costs alot but so does bitten off thumb or infections etc. He will get worse not better and he will really attack them bad or someone visiting or a small child. they need to get help immediately. they are not good owners in allowing this to go on without asking for help and getting it.

Also does the dog have toys of its own to play with. IF it doesn't that may be why its picking everything up. He need toys and needs to be kept busy and walked and wear him out.

[Tina]

Boo seems to be doing ok. I still need to tell them about the advice that was giving here. We were at their house this weekend but I didn't really get a chance to talk to them about Boo. My sister in-law,her boyfriend and kids were in for the weekend. So it was pretty hectic weekend.

When I seem him he did seem to be doing fine, except for the fact my sister-in law's little boy and her boyfriend's little boy were picking on him. They were blowing in some kind of straw or something making him bark.


He will get worse not better and he will really attack them bad or someone visiting or a small child. they need to get help immediately. they are not good owners in allowing this to go on without asking for help and getting it.

I'm not going to argue and say it is not going to get any worse. But I really do not see them going to a behaviorist because, they are the sort of people that believe in it.

And I really Do Not appreciate you calling them bad owners. They really care about the dog they treat him like a child (so that could be alot of the problems), They let him get away with alot of things. They have trained him the best they could, they take him to the vets,feed him good food and everything.

Besides we live in the part of the state that does not have anything far as behavorist and such. If they did try and wanted to find one. More then likely they would have to drive 5 or more hours away. Which is not really that bad of a thing I guess if the dog really needs to be seen by a behavorist. I just don't know if they would be willing to do that or not.

The best I can do for them is tell them about some of the advice on what to do.

Yes, he does have toys of his own to play with. He is just bad about picking other things up.

[lizbud]

Originally posted by Tina


When I seem him he did seem to be doing fine, except for the fact my sister-in law's little boy and her boyfriend's little boy were picking on him. They were blowing in some kind of straw or something making him bark.


I'm not going to argue and say it is not going to get any worse. But I really do not see them going to a behaviorist because, they are the sort of people that believe in it.



Tina,

I just wanted to let you know that Carrie, that has posted to
this thread IS a CERTIFIED Behaviorist. If the dog's owners do
do "take" the dog to a specialist, you can give them Carrie's
suggestions for free. They really should start back to the basics
with this dog & re-build a different relationship with him.

This really sounds more complicated to read than to carry out in
practice. I wish you the best of luck in helping them & the pooch.

p.s. I am very curious to know how the dog's family acted when the little boys were teasing the dog? Did they stop the kids?

[Corinna]

I agree Carrie is one terriffic help. Glad to see you post again Carrie it's been a awhile. :) :)

[Tina]

Yes, I thought Carrie's advice was very good:) and I plan on telling my inlaws about it.



p.s. I am very curious to know how the dog's family acted when the little boys were teasing the dog? Did they stop the kids?

They told the kids to stop, they did stop for like a hour. Then they were doing it again so finally they took the straws away. I don't like to be mean but my sister in-law's little boy is a big brat!!:mad: She let's him get away with to much.

But anyways I really hope that my inlaws can work something out to help Boo.