temperment

[Barry]

My 2 and a half year old minnie is getting a little testy sometimes.  Whe she gets something she knows she isn't supposed to have and when you go to take it away, she gets a "look " in her eye that she means business.  She got into the trash the other day and my wife was trying to get something away from her and she bit my wife on the hand and when my wife yelled at her she snarled like she was ready to do it again.  She has never been like this until lately.  She is also testy around people she doesn't know (an never use to be)  Anyone else have this problem?

[Leslie]

increase her training sessions so she knows you are in charge.  She's getting the message she's the boss

We are working on WAIT.  I have gradually increased the time the dog has to sit quitely for a treat and there is NO TREAT (NO SUPPAH, NO TOY, NO RAWHIDE, NO SOCK, NADA, NOTHING ZIP ZILCH) without WORK. Either sit, or wait or kiss or whatever command.  I hope to transfer the wait command to when people come to the door and the dogs are not yipping monsters.  (Okay--they ARE dachshunds, maybe I am over reaching.)  BUT  I can now PUT THE COOKIES ON THE FLOOR (*gasp*) and they wait until OK.

Be calm
Be assertive.

You wouldn't tolerate this with a two year old or a Rottweiler you shouldn't tolerate this in a weener.

Good luck and tell us more about yourself and yer daws.  I am owned by two doxies, Zuzu and Loki

Everyone here is very helpful and will guide in the right direction.  WELCOME!

[PattyInAK]

My boy Willy will come back at us if he is yelled at, so we don't yell at him.  We send him to his crate for some time out and that is the end of it.  You can't let them win, but you don't have to win with yelling.  A stern "bad dog!" and being put in his crate for a while is enough.  By "for a while" I mean 5 minutes, then we are all friends again.  Dogs don't retain the "why" of being punished, so no sense in dragging out the punishment.  As for the garbage, put it up where she can't get it, no sense in having a test of wills when it is easily remedied.

[Leslie]

Anyone with experieince with toddlers knows that they can go into a full blown crying melt down if they fall or are startled or suddenly scared.  If a lamp falls over and crashes to the floor and you swoop up the child and coddle and coo and say it's okay, what do ya get?  A full blown crying meltdown.  IF ya catch the exact momement when the kid sees what made the huge sound and you say in a positive voice.  WOW what a big noise!  That was scary.  No meltdown--well,mebbe a litte one.

Witness the same event with a dawg  as we did the other night.  Object crashes to floor, hound runs off, DH  seeks out dawg: "Poor dog are you okay, come out of the bed...."  dog is not calmer, dog is more spooked.  And now more fearful that the sky is falling.


Now, yesterday I am home alone with puppers.  Huge speeding truck take a speed bump FAST and loud sound fills the living room.  Both dogs on alert--but have not yet moved.  They look at me.  "Wow, BIG noise, girls," and I resume reading.  Thirty seconds later, both dawgs happily chewing their rawhides.

I have found the more I treat them like two year olds (and yeah, I gotta admit it works in reverse when I treat a two year like my dawg)  it makes more and more sense and it builds trust.

Soooooooooooooooooo, my point, if dog bites mom, and mom freaks out, dog is more spooked and confused.  If mom removes dog from situation calmly and without fuss, dog gets the signal Not acceptable. 

Not to say I haven't had my share of bites, but 99% occured when a) pulling two fighting dogs apart or b) mishandling a sick dog and causing physical pain.  ANY indication that a dog will bite needs to be dealt with.

Does this make sense?  Any other members care to add their viewpoint?

[PattyInAK]

I have no comments, Leslie, what you said makes sense.

[Delia and girls]

I would definitely nip this in the bud. It will only get worse if you don't. She needs to see you as the leaders, not her. Maybe you could sit on the floor with a rawhide or something she really likes. Let her chew on it for a few seconds with you holding the other end. Think of a cue word that works for you, 'stop', for example. Say it, and pull the rawhide out of her mouth. Do this repeatedly, making the time she can chew a little longer over time. Your ultimate goal would be to be able to walk over to her, say that word and pull whatever she has out of her mouth. Both of you should do this. It will take time and patience, but it will make your lives together A LOT happier.

Leslie had a very good point also...make her sit before you give her anything. When she learns to sit reliably, you might ask good friends and family to have her sit and give her treats. This will make her little world bigger and see people as possible something positive. When my husband and I take our 2 girls out in public (Home Depot, Lowes, etc), I always take a bag of treats and anyone that wants to pet them, I ask them to give them a treat. Gretchen has put it all together so well, she sits at their feet and looks up..."Well! Feed me!" Caution, though...be careful that she isn't too hungry and gets too aggressive taking the treat (even though she doesn't mean to be aggressive). I always ask the people to put the treat in the palm of their hand. I take the especially yummy treats and my 2, sometimes, get too excited.

[Valerie]

Thanks for posting that Leslie- it really makes sense.  I need to be better about incorporating those tips.