Is my dog people aggressive? :(

[Guest Anonymous]

Well if I didn't think it was serious, I wouldn't have brought it up in the forum in the first place... the only thing I dislike about this forum at times is that people can be pretty rude at times...and I think that's very unhelpful, especially if you're talking to someone who really needs some help and is sincere about it. If you're going to be rude, then people will just become offended and definately won't listen to the advice. Not to mention, they'll become discouraged in helping themselves and their pet.(not exactly refering to myself, but for people who come here in general)...

Anyways, like I said, I'll look into her behavior..but I don't understand what you mean by physically restraining her primrose.

I am aware of how to correct a dog's bad behavior (hence the pit was doing much better in the dog park...but now I know that taking a pit in there isn't a great idea). Even though I've never owned a pit bull terrier, I have trained dogs for over a year. I think the best way to fix this problem is to tell her "NO" when she's lunging and put her into a sit/stay position, and praise her when she listens. Any other suggestions? <-- I hope this isn't your idea of physical restraint primrose, because if it is, maybe you should reword that. It sounded a little bit harsh, like you meant muzzling or something of the sort. But I do thank you for your advice.

[Guest Anonymous]

pitbulletta napisał(a):

Well if I didn't think it was serious, I wouldn't have brought it up in the forum in the first place... the only thing I dislike about this forum at times is that people can be pretty rude at times...and I think that's very unhelpful, especially if you're talking to someone who really needs some help and is sincere about it. If you're going to be rude, then people will just become offended and definately won't listen to the advice. Not to mention, they'll become discouraged in helping themselves and their pet.(not exactly refering to myself, but for people who come here in general).......

for one thing, just ignore Primrose. Any advice she might have is tainted by her bizarro fascination with pit bulls as murderers.

But for another: why are you tolerating human aggressive behavior in the Chi? Just becuase he's tiny doesn't mean he can't hurt someone.

[cheekymunkee]

I agree that we need to be more concerned with our dogs actions and that is exactly what we are telling her to do, not only on this thread but the other one ( too lazy to look it up). I just don't appreciate Primrose's generalized statements about "pit bull people" She wasn't being told it was nothing to be concerned about as Primrose suggests. Excuses were not being made, suggestions on how to handle the dog were being made. :)

Debby [/quote]

[cheekymunkee]

But for another: why are you tolerating human aggressive behavior in the Chi? Just becuase he's tiny doesn't mean he can't hurt someone.

That is also true & something I have BIG problem with. I HATE biting dogs, no matter WHAT breed they are & no excuses should be made for any of them. I was recently visously (sp) atttacked by a friends doxie who had bitten 2 other people before it attacked me AND his owner within a span of about 15 minutes. I knew this snotty little dog & it was never overly friendly, it was snappish & growley but never made a move towards me. I walked into their home like I had done a thousand times before. The little snot came towards me barking like usual. I gave him a few minutes to settle down, he came back over for his obligitory heaad rub, I bent down to pet him like I had done every time I visited them & he latched onto my wrist, I stood up, he fell & jumped up & bit me on the knee cap ( I STILL have the scar, whoever says little dog bites don't hurt is full of crap!) Again he fell & I held him on the ground with my foot ( all the while wanting to punt him across the room) until his owner could pick him up. The entire time he is gnawing on my sneaker & trying to get to my ankle. He settled down when his owner picked him up but not long after that latched on to HIS arm & left a horrible bruse & several punctures. At that time I told him he need to put the dog down. He scoffed at me being that he was a small dog. WIthin about 2 weeks he finally decided to do the right thing & have the dog euthanized.

Had it been MY dog, I'd be in court right now.

Debby

[Guest Anonymous]

I did not say that I am accepting my Chi's behavior problem. I never once said that....I stated that I cannot do anything about it. I have tried but he is uncontrolable...its not like I can tell him to sit and he'll listen when he's busy freaking out on somebody. He is currently 7 years old.

I think the problem with that is that it is alot easier said than done, but if you saw this little monster, you would understand. And I don't think it's as much aggression as it is some sort of mental problem. He has exhibited this behavior since he was a puppy. He is trained and knows basic commands, but when it comes to his "problem" he is very difficult to work with, and like I said, I have tried everything. To make it worse, he is very insecure. I think something happened to him before he ended up at my home. At this point, what I"m doing is simply trying my best not to provoke him to get angry in any way, and keeping him as calm as I can by either telling him NO and ignoring him when he starts to freak out at me, and when he starts to freak out at people, I do the same and pick him up. But honestly, that is the best I can do. Small dogs are sometimes harder to work with than bigger ones.. trust me.

[mydogroxy]

i hate to say it, but primrose actually made A LOT of valid points in that post. much of what she said is dead on.

[cheekymunkee]

She did, UNTIL she got to the "strange little ritual" part of her post.

Debby

[mydogroxy]

She did, UNTIL she got to the "strange little ritual" part of her post.

i do think some pit bull owners are guilty of behavior like this. a lot of people can be very idealistic and feel that pits who show any human aggression (even if in severe pain or something) should be put down. when it comes down to it however, the same people will excuse certain human aggressive behaviors.

i do think primrose words her statements, including that one, very deliberately in order to make very obvious jabs at pit bulls and their owners. although i feel her post was good, that particular statement was uncalled for.

[cheekymunkee]

i do think primrose words her statements, including that one, very dileberately in order to make very obvious jabs at pit bulls and their owners. although i feel her post was good, that particular statement was uncalled for.

That's all I'm saying, thank you for wording it MUCH better than I did. :wink:

Debby

[gooeydog]

although i feel her post was good, that particular statement was uncalled for.

Agree on both counts. The dog is a liability, simply because it has shown that it will be aggressive towards people under the right circumstances (and who knows what they are, is she doing this because she was teased, or because he's invading her house, or because she just plain decided she didn't like him? No one knows, we can only speculate, so you don't really know what's triggering her to react that way), and she WILL require an attentive eye for the rest of her life to be sure that she doesn't fall into a situation where she could react that way and actually hurt someone. It's up to you (PBette) to determine exactly how much of a risk she poses, and decide as well how much of a risk you will tolerate in a dog. If she were to bite the super (or anyone else), you could be held responsible for not taking precautions necessary to keep your dog from being put into a situation where she'd already shown aggression, so be aware of that. No one can really tell you why she is acting the way she does without seeing her actions in person (though in some situations, people can make pretty good guesses based on descriptions of the dog's actions/behavior), so for something this serious, it is important that you try and get in touch with a professional trainer or behaviorist to evaluate her and see if they can't figure out why she's acting this way with that person, as well as give you tips on how to manage her.

At the very least, you need to really get on the obedience work and get her to where she'll behave even when she doesn't agree with the situation. You may be able to accomplish this through positive only means (desensitizing her to the people she's uncomfortable around, or redirecting her to more suitable activities), or you may have to use some corrections to get the point across to her that it is not ok to blow you off when she thinks she knows better or there's something she'd prefer to do. There are trainers who will work with either or both methods, so surely you can find someone to help you in this.

In regards to your chi's aggression (running the risk of offending here again, but that is not my purpose)...

its not like I can tell him to sit and he'll listen when he's busy freaking out on somebody

It sounds like he knows you will not make him listen when he's busy freaking out, and takes full advantage of it. This has probably been reinforced by hundreds of incidences of him carrying on, you telling him to do something, and him ignoring, with little consequence. That's like lettign a two year old get away with having whatever they want everytime they throw a fit, then expecting them to suddenly shape up when you decide you've had enough and get serious in your attempts to teach them some manners.

He is currently 7 years old.

Means not a thing. Our dog aggressive Dachshund is 6 yrs old, and I didn't even bother actually addressing the dog aggression until she was around 5 (we didn't have her until she was 1.5 yrs old, she's obedient enough that you wouldn't know she was dog aggressive in most situations). The only thing it does mean is that he's had plenty of time for his bad habits to be reinforced, so it may be harder to convince him to do otherwise.

You say he is trained... use that to your advantage. When you see a situation where he may react, either avoid it if you don't think he can handle it (this will keep him from having his aggressive reaction reinforced again), or give him a command (heel, sit, down, whatever he does well, and something he can do for long enough to allow the distraction to pass), and enforce it.

At this point, what I"m doing is simply trying my best not to provoke him to get angry in any way, and keeping him as calm as I can by either telling him NO and ignoring him when he starts to freak out at me

Is he aggressive towards you, too?

when he starts to freak out at people, I do the same and pick him up

More reinforcement. In his mind... he carries on, you talk to him and then pick him up- which he enjoys.

Small dogs are sometimes harder to work with than bigger ones.. trust me

This is true. But at the same time, a lot of the problem often lies in people thinking that small dogs are a dramatic difference to train compared to big dogs. They're not. They all have the same basic drives and needs, just different sizes :lol:

[cheekymunkee]

[quote name='cheekymunkee']

But for another: why are you tolerating human aggressive behavior in the Chi? Just becuase he's tiny doesn't mean he can't hurt someone.

That is also true & something I have BIG problem with. I HATE biting dogs, no matter WHAT breed they are & no excuses should be made for any of them. I was recently visously (sp) atttacked by a friends doxie who had bitten 2 other people before it attacked me AND his owner within a span of about 15 minutes. I knew this snotty little dog & it was never overly friendly, it was snappish & growley but never made a move towards me. I walked into their home like I had done a thousand times before. The little snot came towards me barking like usual. I gave him a few minutes to settle down, he came back over for his obligitory heaad rub, I bent down to pet him like I had done every time I visited them & he latched onto my wrist, I stood up, he fell & jumped up & bit me on the knee cap ( I STILL have the scar, whoever says little dog bites don't hurt is full of crap!) Again he fell & I held him on the ground with my foot ( all the while wanting to punt him across the room) until his owner could pick him up. The entire time he is gnawing on my sneaker & trying to get to my ankle. He settled down when his owner picked him up but not long after that latched on to HIS arm & left a horrible bruse & several punctures. At that time I told him he need to put the dog down. He scoffed at me being that he was a small dog. WIthin about 2 weeks he finally decided to do the right thing & have the dog euthanized.

Had it been MY dog, I'd be in court right now.

Debby

I should change that to say, had it been MY dog I would have euthed it after the FIRST bite. It would have never been allowed a second, but of course I would STILL be in court over it.

Debby

[Guest Anonymous]

Great Post Goo!

PBL, I really hope you don't take offence to Goo's post, and that you use her information she's provided for you! She'd helped me quite a bit in the past with my aggressive dog, and she's had the experience and knows what she's talking about :wink:

As for Primmy, I think all I can do is basiclly ignore her from now on, however hard that may be :roll: :-?

[Guest Anonymous]

Yes he is aggressive towards me...but definately not as much as outsiders.... he has major mood swings. One day he'll lick you to death, the next he'll turn on you. Like I said, its easy for you to say to tell him to sit or lie down until the distraction passes..but like I said..its easier said than done. As I've mentioned, I'm pretty sure my Chi has some mental problems, and no, picking him up is not something he enjoys and enforces his behavior...if you pick up a small dog underneath his armpits from above, its actually you letting him know that you're dominant over him and that you mean business. Again, there are alot of factors you have to know about before you can just jump in and make judgements.

Trust me, you've probably never seen behavior like this from any "normal" dog, and all the things you are saying I'm already aware of and I'm sure it would be great advice for someone who has a regular dog with some aggression problems, but this little guy is beyond that. I've taken him to vets and they don't know what to say (that's normal, alot of vets DON'T know much anyways)..as for a behaviorist, well considering I used to work with one, her advice was just as bland, plus, even she admitted that he is probably crazy.

Anyways, its pointless trying to explain my Chi over the net, you'd have to see him for yourself to understand what I mean, and take into consideration ALL the factors that go along with this little guy.

"It sounds like he knows you will not make him listen when he's busy freaking out, and takes full advantage of it. This has probably been reinforced by hundreds of incidences of him carrying on, you telling him to do something, and him ignoring, with little consequence. That's like lettign a two year old get away with having whatever they want everytime they throw a fit, then expecting them to suddenly shape up when you decide you've had enough and get serious in your attempts to teach them some manners."

<-- I already mentioned that I've been dealing with his behavior since puppyhood..this isn't something that "I just decided I had enough of" and started trying to train him... Also, what do you suggest for starters as a "consequence" when the dog doesn't listen? I'm telling you...I think he's got head problems...I don't even know why I'm talking about my Chi when I mentioned that there's no use... sometimes you can't change a dog by training them and enforcing good behavior no matter how much you try, and I know that from my work experience at a shelter...don't ask.

The reason I mentioned my Chi being aggressive in the first place was to find out whether aggression rubs off from dog to dog...and right after that, people started asking me why I tolerate the Chi's aggression in the first place..why I'm not DOING anything about it... please DO NOT make assumptions like that when you have no clue. I thank you for your advice on the pit bull regarding her lunging towards the super, however I am really not interested in any training advice for my Chi, because its a bit hard to train a dog that's pretty much mentally sick....and I'm being quite literal...he was a nut case since we got him from a pet shop 7 years back....yeah...he was a "discount" dog because nobody wanted him and he was displaying "odd" behavior...so he's quite a different case..and I still love the little guy....h*** no I'm not gonna put him to sleep...just need to be careful every time and keep him away from trouble. However my pit bull does not have these problems and therefore THAT IS WHY I am seeking some additional tips and advice...

Alright well that's all I needed to say about that....and I hope it cleared up some questions the rest of you were posting...

[Horsefeathers!]