Author Topic: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)  (Read 7317 times)

Offline London_Pyr_Lover

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I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« on: December 11, 2008, 08:11:18 am »
I've booked an appointment with one of my areas best known dog trainers.  I'm at wits end with Miss Naja.  I don't really know what to do about her aggresion issues, so I'm getting professional help.

I've been keeping this to myself mostly, but Naja and I have been struggling with her fear aggresion.  Whenever presented with a new person or situation she will react with snarls, barks, and growls.  She is extremely territorial, which I know is definately a Pyr trait, but when I invite other dogs into the house or onto the property, I need for her to accept that it was my desicion, and accept then into the house and property as well.  She has jumped at and frightened children and people in Petsmart, and it's just getting to the point where I'm nervous bringing her out of the house.  She's never bitten anyone, but I feel as though it could be getting to the point where she could bite.  So I've inlisted the help of a man named John Wade, my vet recommended him.

Just out of curiosity though, has anyone here heard of him?  I'm unsure of his methods, it doesn't sound like he uses positive reinforcements like treats and such.  Here's his website. http://www.johnwade.ca/.  Anyways, he's coming at 1:00 on December 29th.  Any hints or tips for me would be great.  Also, one strange thing, he wants me to try to get video footage of Naja being aggresive.  How should I go about doing that, I mean, I try to avoid situations where there is a chance she could react badly, do I go out and purposely put her in those situations now?
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Offline Scootergirl

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Re: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2008, 08:32:09 am »
His methods sound a lot like what the Dog Whisperer preaches. He's right. Treats and being nicey nice often don't work on training dog behavior issues. Sure, they'll work to train tricks, but to change a dog's behavior you have to train them from a dog's perspective. Be open to what he's teaching you - because, if he's a good trainer, he won't be training Naja, he'll be traiing YOU.

Good luck. I know you love Naja and just want her to be relaxed and happy in any situation. You're doing a wonderful thing.
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Tonda

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Re: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2008, 08:52:15 am »
I'm so proud to see an owner doing the right thing! I know I'm prejudiced, cause we all rock so hard here, but it really is refreshing and wonderful to see you taking the issue seriously and doing what is best for you and Miss Naja (I’ve seen so many people over the years NOT do anything to fix this kind of behavior).

Please keep us informed about how it goes. Got my fingers crossed.

Offline vmimom2006

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Re: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2008, 08:52:52 am »
I think it's a good idea to get a professional trainer too. I think he must want her video taped to see if it might be fear aggression or true agression and what her signals are before she goes in to it. Do you have anyone that you feel comfortable with that she has does this to that could act as a "guinea pig"? Set up a video camera without her seeing you and try it. Good Luck and I hope you get the good results your hoping for!
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Lyn

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Re: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2008, 09:45:31 am »
I've never heard of him but just reading his website what he says makes sense to me.

Lola is fear aggressive due to lack of socialization as a pup..she was very fearful when we got her at 10 weeks old. I went to a trainer that prefered to flood the dogs with treats than to correct. While it's did help change her focus it didn't completely stop the behaviour. Paying $60 an hour to feed her treats just wasn't worth it to me when I could do that at home... So I stopped going there and started working with her myself using treats and corrections, just a slight leash pop if she lunged or barked. I didn't even realize how well it was working until I had an emergency appointment at my vet clinic (when her face swelled up like a balloon from a bee sting) and she was surrounded by dogs and 'strangers' and she sat quietly in front of me. Strangers in our home are also much more accepted by her. My uncles overbearing girlfriend that she hated is now mauled for attention whenever they come over. LOL

Even still Lola will never be dog park material but I'm happy with the progress we have made.

If I lived closer to you I'd be willing to be your 'bait'. LOL
« Last Edit: December 11, 2008, 09:46:40 am by Lyn »

Offline Ursa

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Re: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2008, 04:24:40 pm »
Keep us posted on Naja's progress.  I had a fear aggressive foster once but he was much younger than Naja so his rehab mostly consisted of lots of supervised socialization and quick corrections for any inappropriate behavior.  Basically we worked to desensitize him to the things that frightened him.  In his case it was large dogs.
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Viking Lady

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Re: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2008, 04:37:04 pm »
How old is Naja?

I had written a post not too long ago about paying for help in training Luke, at my home. This business comes to your home and trains you how to communicate with your dog like animals communicate with each other. Oh...the way I've written it makes it sound stupid and it really isn't. But they come one time and stay as long as it takes and then you just keep doing what they taught you. They guarantee their training.

Anyway, I had to wait because it was $500, which I can't spare right now. I was concerned that Luke was getting to old to train well but they assured me he wasn't. He is 10 months old. I am writing because you made me feel better that you need some help. I feel like everybody is doing such a good job with their dogs and I have a long way to go. Thankyou for admitting you need help too. I am trying to save up for my training.

Offline London_Pyr_Lover

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Re: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2008, 09:27:47 pm »
Thanks guys!  You've all made me feel alot better about this decision.  I've been feeling alot like a bit of a failure as a pet owner.  But you're right, if I were to do nothing and chance her biting someone, then I'd be failing her.

Debbie, Naja is 19 months old, so no, it's never to late to train your dog.  It just gets a little harder to untrain unwanted behaviors as they get older.

It's kinda funny, youd never guess that she can be scary right now.  I just got home from work (It's 3:39 am), and she's lying at my feet using my foot as a pillow.  lol  She's such a giant suck.   :P ::) :D
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Offline ruffian

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Re: I've gone and bitten the bullet. (little long, sorry)
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2008, 04:22:48 am »
Personally I feel as long as you are trying to fix the situation you are not a failure, that is when you just give up and tie them in the back yard.  When I had to re-home my Chow, Pippin I felt the same way, but as time passed I realized it was the best thing I could do in the situation, had I kept her Ruffian or her would be dead because they were gonna kill each other.