[kjc]

Is Neesa spayed? If so, when?

Just to make sure I said this: If you decide to train her, she is on leash(other end in your hand or tied to you), or in a crate, or a room with the door closed. If you forget one time that could be the last time.

As your daughter may have stopped her from aggressing with her dogs, (what did she do?), you'll still need to train her with your dogs in your house, but it also makes me think there is hope for her.

I have to admit, as Tink has baggage with her, the only way I get through to her is by yelling. If I talk in a normal tone, she doesn't listen and will argue back. If I act very upset, and look her in the eyes, and go off on a loud rant, she will then cower and drop her head and lay down. She gets a look on her face like 'Oh no, Mommie is really upset with me... I'm sorry, I went too far'. Only then will she stop. I don't like doing this with her, but there are times when compliance is not an option. Each time I have to correct her behavior, I try to tone it down a notch, and am working at getting her to listen when I speak normally. But coming from a family with 6 children who must have played with her constantly, it makes some sense that she reacts this way.

When I first got her, all she wanted to do was play. She would get so wound up playing, she would go to Red Zone and knew to bite my hand to make me drop the toy. I tried the 'Ouch!' technique, but that did not stop her. On the 4th day here, she hit my cheek, just below my eye, with her teeth, but her mouth was closed. Well I know why she ended up back at the Humane Society.

I watched her for quite a while. She wanted to play all the time, and as I thought about it, that's probably the only time she got attention. She didn't know anything else to do. She would also growl when I tried to pick her up to get her off the bed. I tried working with her during play, to stop before she got too excited, but it wasn't working. I decided to do an Alpha Roll on her. I thought I could do it bc as a tech I was good at holding dogs and cats, especially difficult ones, so, as a last resort, that was my plan.

I tried playing with her a few more times, each time she became uncontrollable, so it was do the Roll or return her to the H.S. She went for my face again, so I quickly grabbed her and held her down on her side. She was fighting me, and I didn't have a good enough hold of her, so I let her up too soon for the Roll to be effective, but I didn't want her to hurt herself either. I thought well, maybe it would have some effect on her, but it didn't. I would have to do it again.

So we started playing, and she bit my hand hard. I grabbed her and laid her down... this time I had her. It took a bit for her to stop fighting me, but finally she relaxed. I held her down, but very slowly began to loosen my grip, and she layed there. I finally let go, but started petting her for a minute or two, she was finally totally relaxed. I said ' Okay, you can get up now', and she did.

From there I could use the "Ow!" technique, and she has learned bite inhibition very well. I never thought I'd ever be able to trust her again, but over time she is proving herself to be fairly reliable... no intentional bites, and learning to share her toys. (I bought a few sets of duplicate toys to confuse her).

I never intend to use that technique on her again... I shouldn't have to, and it is not good to keep repeating it, as it can break a dog's spirit, which I do not want to do.


One thing, when you pick Neesa up when she is in the red zone, what do you do then? Hold her till she's calm? This would not be good, as she'll see that as a reinforcement of her behavior. She needs to be put on the floor with a leash (you can use a slip-lead, just be sure to put one leg through the noose too so she doesn't choke), and you need to match her excitement level, or she will not hear you.