Stranger Biting

[glider]

Hello, I came on to this forum looking for help for my 6 year old hound mix, Ruffles. I am 15 years old and feel so bad for her. We got her as a puppy we played rough with her, wrestled her, and gave her soo much attention. At the time, we had a 4-ish year old dog named Princess, my first dog who I loved soo much. Well, Ruffles started chewing up the furniture so my mom and stepdad sent both dogs to the basement to live, the basement consists of a cement floor, a chair for the dogs, some junk, and a sliding glass door leading to our huge back yard. Well, as Ruffles started getting older, she started to nip at everyone but me, my brother, my mom, my stepdad, my neighbor who gives the dogs so much attention, and my best friend who grew up with me and the dogs. She bit our 7 year old neighbor in the lip which made her bleed because the girls tooth jabbed into her lip, she bit an 11 year old boy who lives down the street who was playing with my younger brother in the back yard on the elbow and he was bleeding a little, and the worse was when we had her at the vet clinic to get rabies shots and some girl ran over and started petting her right away and she jumped up and bit her nose, requiring a few stitches. Plus, she shows a lot of aggression towards a lot of men. So now whenever we take her anywhere, she has to have a mussle on which makes it hard for her to breath, and if someone comes up and pets her, she jumps and would bite if no mussle was on. If we are at the vets, she is super aggressive with the vet, but if we are not in the room, she will not show any aggression, and is a great dog (thats what the vets have said, we have tried a few), so we are guessing that she is just very protective of her 'pack' which happens to be us. Sadly, Princess died October 27 a little more than a year ago (the hardest thing I have ever had to go through in my entire life), so Ruffles main companion was gone, and now she is left in the yard or basement alone. Now that she is alone, she barks a lot because she wants attention, but my mom said we can't let her back up stairs because we would always worry whenever anyone would come to the door that she would bite them, and since she craves attention, she jumps all over us (she calms down after she has been upstairs for a few minutes, like after we gave her a bath a few months ago). And, my mom said she sheds too much, if I gave her a bath every week, would that keep her from shedding so much? I want her to be able to come upstairs so badly and I want her to be able to be mussle free, I just want her to be happy. I need help, so if you can offer ANY advice what-so-ever, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Sorry for such a long post and all the questions, I just really want help. Thank you soo much.

-shane

[SunsetRose]

Hey,

You need to get your parents to hire a professional behaviorist to help you out. This is a serious issue, it's not something that you, your brother or your parents will be able to fix on your own.

Unfortunately this is what happens when people neglect to do the proper training with their dog and isolate them to the backyard or, in your case, basement. It's not your fault. I'm only 17 myself, parents can be stupid when it comes to dogs sometimes so I totally understand where you are coming from.

So talk to your parents about finding an all positive reinforcement behaviorist to come to your house and help you guys to eliminate this behavior. If your parents don't go for it, then I'd be willing to guide you through what to do to the best of my ability to help you and your dog. I was actually only 15 when I started to work with aggressions, so I think you'd be able to do it if you had some help

[agilityk9trainer]

Ah!

I just put two and two together, and figured out who you are Sunset Rose. I read your post and thought, "Wow. Good post!" It was then that I began to figure out who you are, and of course your advice was right on.

Glider, I ditto what Sunset Rose said.

[SunsetRose]

LOL!

Good job agility :P Probably wasn't too hard was it

[borzoimom]

Agilityk9trainer- icons are a dead giveaway and pictures here.. lol..
Let me add a few points- you said you were bathing her weekly as your mother said she sheds too much- that can make the hair follicles allow the coat to shed more. Maybe just one every 3 weeks - . It would be better to brush her daily than to over bathe her.
Also- she is bored and isolated- left to her own little world. Like you would be if you were locked in a room and could not get out much. Although you feel she is " in the house" really its no different than left outside- she still doesnt have any interaction with people needed to help her get over being " so protective" or scared from lack of human contact. If she were not aggressive and had not bitten so many people I would suggest walking her to get her and about- BUT YOU CANT TAKE HER OUT for a walk in public with this behavior. She does need a behaviorist or trainer- but she also needs stimulation. Maybe playing with her more in the basement even.. It appears to me she is totally confused on how to get the attention she so desperately wants- the jumping up etc. With only a concret floor and a few items of "junk" it must feel like a prison to her.
Some obedience class trainers will take a dog into their class with aggression problems if they think they can handle the dog. But first we need to get her on a more controlled level- and a trainer or behaviorist should be the first step. Lack of getting out ALOT when puppies, out and about, in dog classes etc at a young age is usually the core to set the behaviors in motion. I take my pups to class all the time- even though I even teach classes- the reason- GET THEM OUT AND ABOUT with other people and dogs. Training in a group does more to socialize a dog than training at home especially with puppies. I even take my show dog pups to 'handling' class although I am already training them for show- same reasons- to get out around other people and dogs and get use to the "scene of a dog show".. I know she isnt a puppy anymore- but mentally- in a way she is- only now as an adult its going to be harder to fix- ..
Your dog seems terribly lonely- and even a person would " go nuts" left to " solitary confinement" for enough length of time.
Do you have a fenced in yard she could run safely- maybe you could play ball with her etc. Open up her world a little bit.

[borzoimom]

One more thing- if you can find a trainer that has a class that will let the dog come, you will probably be required to have a muzzle on the dog. This should be the type the dog can drink- like a lure coursing muzzle. That is what I use to require to protect the other dogs and people.

[agilityk9trainer]

Borziomom,

Yes, the little icon next to Sunset Rose's name would be of help if I could see it! I'm blind as a bat (cateract surgery in a few years will fix that) and coulnd't make it out very well. I figured it all out by her other posts on the board.

[borzoimom]

Borziomom,

Yes, the little icon next to Sunset Rose's name would be of help if I could see it! I'm blind as a bat (cateract surgery in a few years will fix that) and coulnd't make it out very well. I figured it all out by her other posts on the board.

I am sorry- I didnt realize that.. I like the colors here and the pictures- helps you realize who you are talking too and it really helps. Maybe one day she will post a signature..

[angelchampy]

It's a shame the dogs are in the basement. Isolating them like that causes real problems. I know somebody that keeps his 2 dogs in his basement, cement floor and I supplied the rug b/c he wouldn't. The dogs are uncontrollable. They don't stop jumping, they nip at you, they're just so excited when they see somebody they go nuts. They thrive for attention. It's terrible when people do this. I don't know why they have dogs in the first place if they're not treated like family members and kept in the house. I've seen the dispositions of dogs go in a downward spiral when in a house at first, then either put downstairs or outside. My advice would be to put them back in the house and work with them - and yes - you probably will need that behaviorist. Dogs shouldn't be treated like that. They're family.