Protectiveness

:) :) :)

These tips sound so obvious when you finally hear them but I fell for the old "well I'm being calm and quiet therefore that's good" trick with my dog.

I fell for it too. Ralph will correct Sadie if he puts her in a sit-stay and she lays down. I thought, what's the big deal? She is not moving....but now I am seeing that she is only, sorta doing what she is told. That may seem in that situation, but as I sit here and think about, I see why it isn't...what if she decides to only, sorta come and stops in the middle of the street, or something like that. I am slowly learning this dog training stuff....

Just wanted to add another update on Duncan's aggressive behavior. He seems to be making progress but like I said it's in bits and pieces and not yet consistent.
The Step Forward :

The other night he and I were at my mom's apartment doing laundry. I brough him downstairs with me to the laundry room on his leash but not on his Gentle Leader. When we came out of the laundry room, 2 people were walking down the stairs so I took him to the other side of the hallway to wait until they passed. The man asked if he could pet Duncan. I glanced at Duncan and immediately said no. His posture wasn't "friendly" and he looked wary (Duncan, not the man :) ) The man ended up standing there for a minute looking at us. He must have heard me say Duncan's name because he said something like "well, isn't Duncan a big boy" At that point, Duncan's tail started wagging. So I hesitantly told the man that if he wanted to pet him to stick out his hand for Duncan to sniff. He did, Duncan sniffed it then let the man pet him. A few minutes later, 2 teenage boys walked in and both walked right up to Duncan and put their hands out to be sniffed before they walked by. (BOY was I nervous on the inside at this point!!!!) Duncan did wonderful. He didn't bite or snarl or growl. He even seemed to enjoy the attention!!!


The Two Steps Back:

Duncan and I were outside my house on the front porch waiting for a friend to show up to help with some stuff around the house. This friend had never met Duncan so I had him ready, gentle leader on, calm...:)
So the friend arrives, gets out of the car and says Hi Duncan and comes over. Duncan was fine, friendly, happy, welcoming. (This man has a german shepherd and has no fear of dogs and was aware of the problems I was having with Duncan.) While we were standing outside, the neighbors (2 of them a boy and a girl) came out of their door. Duncan went nuts!!! He started barking and growling at them and lunging. I corrected him with the Gentle Leader and made him sit right next to me. He did but his hair was up, he was tense and still snarling at them. At this point, my friend Tom came over and said something about how Duncan was fine with him. He tried to touch Duncan and Duncan tried to bite him. Again I quickly corrected and since there were now 4 people on the porch and a snarling angry upset 90 lb dog on a leash, I exited the situation and went inside with Duncan.
The neighbors are both very afraid of dogs and I noticed that they were looking him in right in the eye.

I see alot of differences in the situations:
1. I was forcing myself to be very calm in the first one and not put any tension on the leash even though I was more terrified because I had less control over him.
2. The first people were obviously more knowledgeable about how to approach and deal with a possibly aggressive dog.
3. In the second situation, the neighbors were already afraid of the dog.
4. I was at my own house.
5. I was more nervous because of the amount of activity with people coming and going and the untrustworthiness of the neighbors. I dont' trust them not to be a "tough guy" and reach out to Duncan against all my prior warnings not too. Therefore, my tension probably was transmitted to Duncan. Duncan was probably also more "comfortable" acting out in his own "home"

Anyway, I'm proud of him for the first step. Just need to keep working and trying to figure out the "trigger" for the behavior to avoid the second I guess. He just isn't one of those dogs that will be friendly to everyone no matter what! (Like my roommate's golden :) ) He's wary of strangers but I know that doesn't excuse him from his behavior.

He ALWAYS puts himself between me and anybody else, even my roommate when we're just hanging out at the house. My mom is slightly scared of big dogs but she loves Duncan. She says she'll never be able to hug me again though!!! ;) I slept over her place the other night and she came in my room to say goodnight and Duncan went and stood on the side of the bed between her and I. He didnt' DO anything and she kissed us both goodnight but he was still right there. It's almost funny if it wasn't a problem with strangers.

Whew, This is so longwinded! If anyone reads this it will be a miracle! Sorry for going on and on!!!! :D ;) :p I get carried away talking about my Duncan dog.

Sounds like Duncan is making good progress, even if he still has some issues. I think the attitude of the other peeople really does make a difference.
Sadie, who is the most submissive dog, will growl and bark when we walk by one of two houses in the neighborhood, if the dogs are out. One house has two labs, the other two rotties. She doesn't do it in front of any other dogs in the neighborhood, no matter how many are in the yard, or how big or small the dogs are. I think she just gets a bad vibe from those particular dogs and feels the need to protect me and Cincy. I guess the difference with her is that once I tellher it is okay, she settles down...hopefully Duncan will get there too!!

Good luck!!!

jennifert - well done!! I'm so glad you are seeing positive results with Duncan. Try to remember that every little thing that happens is helping your confidence in your ability to handle it and this will last you a lifetime. When you feel the situation is too much for Duncan there is nothing wrong with making a tactical withdrawal to a safer distance.
Keep it up - you are doing great.

Jennifert - the progress you're making with your Duncan is super. And what is more super is that you're concerned and putting so much effort into it! I believe Duncan will always be wary of strangers, but he will be able to control it. I think it's great that Duncan loves you so much to want to protect you and that still can happen, but under controlled circumstances. I enjoy reading your posts about the progress you're making and please continue to keep us updated.

Duncan is so lucky to have you so dedicated. Keep up the good work, I'm sure it's not easy.

I am the guardian of a dog with tonnes of 'baggage'! Before we adopted her at 8 months old, she spent 4 months in a wonderful foster home, but the first four months of her life living with street kid! She is very mistrustful and protective. Nothing as dramatic as with Duncan, but always the potential to get that way.

Talus (our pooch) has come a long way in the past 12 months that we have had her in our lives. We all have alot more to learn and much more behaviour modifications to make. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately!) this task will be ongoing and a part of every day. It makes us richer for having to make it routine. No, we don't dogs that we can just forget about and assume they will be excellent with everyone and everything, but I love my dog as much as I'm sure you love Duncan and it's worth it.

Our vet (a homeopathic vet) suggested a great book that I ran out an purchased and am currently reading. It is called "Purely Positive Training" by Sheila Booth. I recommend it. Further training and behaviour modification with a trained animal behaviourist will ultimately be the key though. Try contacting them with details via e-mail. This might get you a smidgen of info for free and help to calm your nerves in the interim.

We have just begun to take Talus to her Homeopathic vet. He is wonderful! Talus is still scared of him, but he managed to examine her back leg (without medication) by simply massaging her back and giving her a treat with Rescue Remedy on it. He wants to see about treating Talus' behaviour imbalances with Homeopathic remedies. He just finished treating a dog with agressive behaviour and says that the dog is at least %50 less aggressive than before the remedies.

Just something for you to think about. Another thing to consider is feeding Duncan on a raw meat and veggie diet. I think it has helped Talus quite a bit over feeding her kibble. Ya, they both cost a bit more than the usual methods but well worth it when it comes to your 'baby'!

Try contacting sierrak9.com for information on behavioural issues. This person is a trainer of police dogs and worked with our dog in the very beginning.

Food for thought, hope it helps. :) Lisa

Total fan of the raw diet - bit worried about how much you are doing in one go......

Change one thing at a time - or else you won't know what is working for your dog.

Appreciate the advice. We are currently working on getting Talus back to normal (after ligament surgery), don't want to rush her on anything else as we are focusing on her rehab at the moment. Another month and we will be able to get back into our 'regular' routine of playing with other dogs, going on long hikes and playing frisbee or Kong in the park. Until then, she still has no outlet for her energy (being that she is still only allowed leash walks and no running) You know what they say, a tired dog is an obedient dog. Give them an outlet for their energy and they will be better behaved (provided you both have done good training!)

Found out last weekend that our lovely pooch pal - Talus, didn't exactly start her life on the street with a street kid. Fact is that she was rescued from the street kid at 4 months old from a drug dealer!! Apparently the street kid saw how badly she was being abused and needed to take her away from that situation before she died at the hand of the drug dealer. She only lived with the street kid for a couple of weeks. This definitely shed's new light on the behaviour thing! We are grateful for that street kid who rescued her and through the channels, has ended up as part of our family! We are all richer for being in each others' lives. Even if it's an uphill climb all the time!

Happy tails everyone. Lisa

Talus reminds me of Kay Ann's Simba sort of! :cool:

Dixie and Dusty,

Where is a picture of Kay Ann's Simba? I would be curious to see a pooch that resembles mine. I don't see too many that do!

I totally agree with your quote!

Cheers, Lisa :)

You can find pictures of Simba all over Pet Talk. Kay Ann blesses us with his wonderful picture quite often and she takes excellent photos. I always enjoy the pictures of her handsome boy!

Here is one link. Simba pictures

ENJOY !!! :D :D :D

I haven't updated on Duncan's progress in quite some time but I do have some exciting news....

A few weeks ago, I took Duncan to this event called the "Blessing of the Bikes" Basically, all these people with their Harley Davidsons meet at one location and drive to a church to have their bikes "blessed" for the season. Well I am a huge fan of Harley Davidsons so I wanted to go down and see them. I took Duncan with me so that he could get out of the house on a beautiful day and we could spend some time together.

We went down to the street and there were about 1000 bikes there and twice the amount of people. I had his Gentle Leader on him. We walked down the street looking at the bikes and talking to people. It was crowded at some points and people of course, wanted to pet him. He did so fantastic!!!!!!!!!! :D :D
He let people pet him and he stayed right next to me the whole time. He was calm and friendly and really seemed to enjoy himself!! The only time he became aggressive at all was when he saw a cat in a storefront window!

Next to the street is a big park and Duncan and I went up on the hill to watch all the bikes leave. Now there are 2000 bikes starting their engines! It was so loud. Guess what Duncan did...nothing! He just lay down next to me and watched!! Even when a lady came over with a small dog, he just watched it....Kids came over to play with him and he loved it, even rolling on his back for a belly rub while 3 children pet him!!!

I am so proud of him I could scream!!! He has improved 2000% in the last few weeks. Of course, I'm always cautious with him and there are certain people I will just never let him around off leash. My sister's boyfriend being one of them. I "dislike him immensely" and I think Duncan does too!!!

Anyway, I hope I didn't jump the gun here but he seems to be doing really well and becoming more confident in himself and me everyday!

Maybe we can close this thread.....I better not say that yet huh....
Thanks to everyone for all your support!!!

Great news! :) You and Duncan worked hard and it all paid off. It's not easy to do, so you should feel proud!