StarFox Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 My dog is absolutly crazy!!! My dog Zebra was trying to get into the potatoes that we keep in our kitchen tonight. he stuck his nose in the box that we keep them in and I think he was trying to get them out. Anyways everyone is afraid of him when he does this because he protect the potatoes and if you go and try and reach for them he growls and snaps and tries to bite your hand. He's never done this to me before because I'm alpha to him but when I tried to take them away from him he tried to bite me hard! Of course I grabed his collar and had to wrestle him on the growned and I sat on him so he couldn't get up. basically doing alpha to him. But is anyone elses dog a potato hound?! Or do I just have a freak dog? I swear Zebra is part Devil. Quote
Aroura Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 I think you need to take him to obedience training and re enforce your position as alpha. If he's growling at you he is obviously trying to challenge you for that position. Teaching basic obedience will also mean you could teach him the "leave" command and the "give" command. Quote
DogPaddle Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 I'm very comfortable knowing my dogs know everything in the house is mine, including them, their food and toys. I would definately go with obedience and work on things like having the dog sit and wait for you to go through a door first etc, just to be safe. Quote
StarFox Posted March 16, 2003 Author Posted March 16, 2003 Actually Zebra has had 3 obedience classes. One basic puppy class when he was 2 1/2 months old, the second one was a clicker class and the most resent was an adult dog obedience class, which he just graduated from last weekend. But like I said he never is that way with me untill today. I suspect he was testing me to see if I was alpha. He know all his basic comands, sit, down, stay, wait, leave it, roll over, crawl ect. The only problem is that I think that I'm the only one he thinks is alpha. whenever he growls at my mom, dad, bro they just say 'no' and walk away. and when I try to explain that you can't let him do that they basically ignore me, but then again what do I expect from a younger teenage brother, my mom and dad. :roll: I probabaly made it seem that he is always does that be he dosn't. He has actually gotten much better. when we first got him he had bit my mom realy bad when she tried to take something away from him. Now it's not so difficult so he has come a long way from his bad behaviors (and trust me he had allot!). But in the beggining even our trainer noticed that he was trying to be alpha dog with eveyone including her. *sigh* of course I have to pick the most stubborn dog out of the bunch. But all in all he is good. I just thought it was funny because he protects the potatoes and not anything else around the house. Such a strange dog. :) Quote
DogPaddle Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 It is a strange choice for a dog. Do you play fetch with tennis balls, maybe he thinks he's found a treasure trove of special fetch balls? Does he try to eat them? Quote
julie45 Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 WELL I MUST ADMIT I WOULD GET SOME SORT OF obedience CLASSES FOR YOUR DOG,IN MY HOME I AM THE BOSS NOT MY DOG.I SET THE GROUND RULES HERE IN EVRY PART OF THE HOME AND THE DOGS HAVE TO ABIDE BY THEM.I KNOW IT MIGHT SEEM FUN BUT SURPOSE HE DID GO TO FAR AND BITE YOU OR ANYONE ELSE IT WOULDNT BE FUNNY THEN WOULD IT.THIS IS HOW IT STARTS ONE THING LEADE TO ANOTHER.THINK ABOUT IT.MOVE THE POTATOES OUT OF THE WAY,DONT GIVE THE DOG THE CHANCE TO DO THIS AGAIN.WELL GOOD LOOK WITH IT . Quote
DogPaddle Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 Julie - Starfox has indicated Actually Zebra has had 3 obedience classes. One basic puppy class when he was 2 1/2 months old, the second one was a clicker class and the most resent was an adult dog obedience class, which he just graduated from last weekend. So I don't think obedience class is the issue here. Maybe dominance issues, a need for displays like people eating first, going through the door first, no dog on the bed (at least for a while), etc but it seems like they have been doing lots of obedience. Starfox - Chat with Hazel a bit maybe. There are some simple things you and the rest of your family can do to enforce hierarchy. Quote
Luka-pop Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 That's what I was thinking DP... Obedience may not fix a dominance issue. Maybe hide the potatoes so he doesn't have anything to become protective over. How is he with other dogs? Does he try to be alpha? In any case, I'd fix it before it gets worse. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 [quote name='DogPaddle']Starfox - Chat with Hazel a bit maybe. There are some simple things you and the rest of your family can do to enforce hierarchy. *DUN DUNA NA!* Hazel to the rescue! :lol: LOL! Chat with me about WHAT? LOL Hazel's got MAJOR dog and people issues! LOL But she has come a long way... so maybe I can give some words of wisdom?... Let me think... Starfox - It is deffently an "alpha" thing like you suspected. I agree with Julie about moving the potatos... that may be a starters. You must ALWAYS be Alpha, no matter WHAT! With my Hazel Boo if I sometimes forget (like let her sleep on the bed, go through door ways first, eat before me, stand at the top of the stairs, jump on me, jump on the chair I'm sitting in ect.) I do notice changes in her behavior just like THAT! Last night her and my kitty got to sleep on my bed, BAD disission! (Well first of all I woke up a Shara Sandwhich mashed between Hazel and Dak! :lol: ) Hazel cried and Cried, and CRIED until I got up. She normally doesn't do this, and is VERY good at "holding it in" all night, and since she went to bed at 2:00 (so was walked then) and woke me up at 6:00 there SHOULDN'T've been a problem. When we got up, she went STRAIGHT for the garbage, something I thought we had recently fixed. Just now while I was sitting here she came runnning up and jumped on me. So today I will be trying to put her back in her place :roll: A good book that I'm reading right now (but haven't finished, so not too sure if it's THAT good) that talks a lot about "sending your dog to Doggy Boot Camp" Is "Final Hope: Gaining Control of Your Aggressive Dog" by Stephen J. Joubert They don't mean this litteraly, but it's taking all the small plesures out of the dogs life. Once the behavior goes away, you may occasionally give back some of these pleasures too of course. It may seem a little harsh, but your dog must ABSOLUTLY know that YOU and everyone in your household are the leaders. If this means that your dog doesn't get free treats, so be it! Zebra must work for what he wants now. Work for you and the people in your household, thus being a lower rank in the pack. Even when you feed him! Get him to sit, or stay first, always make him work for it. (It's best if you feed him about half then take it away, do another trick, then give it back when your first begining too) Hazel now sits emideatly when I bring her her food! :lol: Everyone is above Hazel in this house, even the cats!! She's slowly, but surely, learning this, and living with her has become MUCH easier. See you only have a dog that is challanging you... "gaurding" your potatos ( :lol: ) but if left untreated, this can and will become your WORST nightmare. When Hazel first showed signs of aggression, she was only 6 months old (or so) She would nip at us, stand on us ect. I didn't know it then, but she was showing signs of aggression. If treated at the time, I'm sure I wouldn't have the problem I do now, but it's taken 4 (wait no... 3! LOL! See! I'm still thinking she's 4!!! :lol: LMAO!) years to get her to a tolleratable point, and she is still very uncontrolable! Please, PLEASE, PLEASE!! Explain to your parents and your brother that these issues may progress! And can only be for the worst! It may not be a horible problem now, which is good because that means it's treatable! Anyway, hope that maybe helps a little, and if not, sorry I blabed on forever!! :lol: GOOD LUCK! Quote
mouseatthebusstop Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 I do not agree 3 obedience lessons are enough. you need to go back for more :) Quote
Prairie_Gurl Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 I don't know that you need to back to an obedience class, neccesarily, but keep working with her at home. I work with Shadow every chance that I get and it does help a lot. Your dog should not growl at you, she is obviously challenging (sp) your alpha possition. Reinforce or make sure she knows who's boss. like HazelNutMeg said: don't give your dog treats for no reason at all. Ok, ok. I do, but I make her do a trick first. *smile* Some dominant moves include: putting your foot on her paw, not hard but just set it there. put your hand on her head. push your dogs muzzle downward with your hand gentally, etc etc. I could go on forever. Oh, one more piece of advice. You said that you were afraid of her when she's around potatoes, don't show it!!!! Quote
DogPaddle Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 Hey Mouse - is that three classes or three courses? Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 Prairie_Gurl napisał(a):Oh, one more piece of advice. You said that you were afraid of her when she's around potatoes, don't show it!!!! Okay, a while back some people here gave me some tips about that... one was to wistle, something like the dog can't sense that your nervous or afraid if you wistle? Since it's a single tone sorta deal (I don't know if all this is correct by the way). I was also told if you chew something minty or something like that? Like gum I guess... I don't know though... Quote
courtnek Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 You definitely have an Alpha problem. now for a strange question....Is your dog male or female, and is he/she fixed? Since the dog doesnt go alpha over anything but potatoes, I get the impression he/she is trying to protect them. If it's a girl, maybe she is doing the false pregnancey/baby thing and think's they're her puppies? just a thought... I would put the potatoes away where she cant see them, and then watch for other strange behavior (if she's female), Does she try to "nest", rip up newspapers, that sort of thing? Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 Court, Zebra's a boy: he stuck his nose Quote
courtnek Posted March 16, 2003 Posted March 16, 2003 reading back I see he's male. He is still protecting the potatoes for some reason though.... I have known of females who do this, but not usually males... I fostered a rescue male that used to steal towels, underwear, etc and wouldnt give them up. The vet said it was an insecurity thing. They had me do the whole alpha training thing and give the dog lots of positive attention in between and he eventually got adopted out. Quote
StarFox Posted March 17, 2003 Author Posted March 17, 2003 I read all your post and I agree. It is definitly an Alpha thing. He's still a puppy and he is in his "teenage"stange. and he is constantly testing me to see if I'm alpha, I can't tell you how many times I had to wrestle him to the ground and sit on top of him with my hands on his neck so he wouldn't bite me. He never sleeps on my bed. He always sits before I give him his food. But when he was younger he use to steal socks, paper towels, dish towels, shoes, underwhere...basically anything that he could get his grubby little paws on. We use to have to bribe him with treats to get the items away from him. Wich we learned very quickly that it was NOT a good idea to reward him for taking things. So we don't do that anymore at all! Now we just take them away from him and he dosn't growls he just sits there looking guilty. But he is definitly an alpha dog. In all our training class he mounts all the male dogs and in the fisrt two classes he acted like the alpha dog but once we got to the third class where there was a Mastiff and a Great dane he leard his lesson that he was not alpha. He tried to mount both the great dane and the mastiff (he's a german sheapard, golden retriever mix). :roll: But all I can assume is that because he was a rescue dog and they found him on the streets that he had to fight for what he got. Not that's an excuse for his behaviour but I'm just trying to think where he is comming from. Oh by the way he is neuterd. I know that makes a differnce in the way dogs act but I think I just got a realy stubborn dog. BUt the strange thing is that it's potatoes. We call them his 'potato babies' because we can't figure out what's his thing w/ potatoes. And I agree that you can not show fear with dogs. Especially my dog. When I first got him I was afraid that he would bite me now I don't. Although my brother is afraid of him (my brother is also afraid of our 4lbs rabbit). so I think I need to work on my parents and brothers behavior as well as the dogs. Thanks for eveyone's input. I appreciate it. Quote
DogPaddle Posted March 17, 2003 Posted March 17, 2003 Well it sounds like your addressing the issue. Potatoes though! Why potatoes, come on dog at least go for the steak! :lol: :huh: :lol: Quote
courtnek Posted March 17, 2003 Posted March 17, 2003 This may sound crazy, but if he was found on the street quite possible he was raiding garbage, and eating potatos....people usually throw out the skins....Maybe the potatos make him protective because he was starving.... those are hard lessons to unlearn, although it can be done. He might just be protecting what he remembers as a food source... In time when he becomes confident that he wont be thrown out on the street again the behavior may subside. In the meantime, I would just put the potatoes away and work on your training with him. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted March 17, 2003 Posted March 17, 2003 ...basically anything that he could get his grubby little paws on. We use to have to bribe him with treats to get the items away from him. Wich we learned very quickly that it was NOT a good idea to reward him for taking things. So we don't do that anymore at all! Hazel use to do that too! See now it's quite amazing really, what I taught her was something simular to what you USE to do I think... Depends on what you were doing though... were you callin him and THEN giving the cookie while you take what he stole? Or were you throwing the cookie a differnet way so you could theft it back while he was distracted? See how I curbed this behavior in Hazel, was much like what a human would do with their child... I taught her to bring the thing to me. She will come running down the hall with a sock in her mouth, tossing her head around, I will simply say in a srict tone: "Hazel, bring me that now!" and she will come trotting up and drop it in my lap. I then say "good girl" and find her Kong for her. What Hazel has learned is that she gets rewarded for BRING IT BACK TO ME, and we get to swap, she gets her Kong, I get the sock... works out well for everyone! :D Potatoes though! Why potatoes, come on dog at least go for the steak! I agree! That is really weird! :lol: This may sound crazy, but if he was found on the street quite possible he was raiding garbage, and eating potatos....people usually throw out the skins....Maybe the potatos make him protective because he was starving.... those are hard lessons to unlearn, although it can be done. He might just be protecting what he remembers as a food source... In time when he becomes confident that he wont be thrown out on the street again the behavior may subside. In the meantime, I would just put the potatoes away and work on your training with him. acutally Court, that doesn't sound so crazy, actually does make sence! Anyway, Good luck with your potato lovin pooch, and let us know if there's a turn around kay? Quote
Prairie_Gurl Posted March 20, 2003 Posted March 20, 2003 Hazel: When I'm nervous or on unease (like our first obedience class) and if I chew gum I think it helps. I haven't thought about it before, but now that I look back, yea. I think it does help. I've never heard of the whistle thing before. Weird. lol. Courtnek: I think that's probably a great reason that he's doing that with his "potato babies". LOL. Those lessons are hard to unlearn. Like, (I know this is kinda outa topic here) when I first got Shadow she musta not been alowed inside the house w/ her first owner, cause she didn't wanna... thought she was gonna get in trouble. It took a while before she learned that I WANT her in the house... I didn't wanna lawn orniment. Quote
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