Originally Posted by bhanish  Thanks for the advice everyone. The update is we just heard from the HOA that my pup nipped a resident's ankle when he was with his dog walker (we rely on a walker when the daycare is closed). The dog walker claims that my pup didn't nip at all, but we have been asked to carry my pup in the building. I'm fine with that but I don't want things to escalate.
ladyjane: With every trainer, I am trained as well. Usually trainers come in, observe, make recommendations, and show you how to implement those recommendations. So my personality as a dog owner has shifted throughout these three years.
First, I was told to limit the affection I gave my dog. The theory was that what dogs crave more than anything is the approval and love of their owner. When affection is withheld, the dog is more attentive to the owner's commands because the pup wants that validation of a "good boy" or pat on the head. I was also told to be the pack-leader. I think this theory is sound, although the practice isn't. The theory goes that dogs want a simple life and be relaxed. Without a pack leader, the dog feels like he has to manage the entire world around him, which is anxiety producing and distressing.
Second, I was told to give my dog a lot of praise and affection. Treats were key. My pup had an aversion to being pet, particularly on the front of the head, so the solution was to give him treats until he slowly made his way over to you. With every treat, you try to get closer and closer. When the pup no longer went for the treat and retreated, he was no longer consenting to being touched. Well, that eventually worked because my dog is now far more receptive to being pet. However, he is still a little paranoid when he sees I want to pick him up. Usually it means I'm going to do something he doesn't want like give him a haircut or brush his teeth.
Third, I was told to accept the fact that my pup's world was going to be "small." That some dogs will always have a problem, and so having him around others may not be possible. This was with behaviorist that gave my pup meds. I wasn't truly receptive to this view because my pup was only 2 years old at the time, and I didn't want to give up on him just yet.
Fourth, I was told that love and treats were great, but that my pup needed to accept that he was not the boss of the house. We used a prong collar to prevent him from lunging at people. We put him on "tie-down" in quiet areas of the house. I was also told that daycares were not great for a dog in training, and did not meet a pup's exercise needs. So we had him go on daily pack walks, hiking around every day. My main task in this was to be consistent, embrace the prong collar or bark collar because the dog would be in more pain with many small corrections rather than one large one to get the point across, and to meet my pup's exercise needs. Honestly, I hate to admit it, but many of these things made my pup more tolerable. He stopped lunging. He gained more confidence from the pack walks. And the bark collar taught him only to bark when it was "necessary"/when he got tunnel vision. But it wasn't sustainable. The goal was to eventually pull back all these methods and my pup would behave as he did when the methods were in effect. But anytime I would pull back, his behavior came back in full force. Eventually, I decided I couldn't do that to him for years and years.
Ellie May: Thank you for your thoughtful post. I think you have described my situation with my pup perfectly. I agree that it is not an easy fix and that it will require a lot of time (admittedly, I have a time-consuming job), but I feel like I'm racing the clock. I don't want him to be put down.
But I've made some adjustments: (1) no delivery person can knock or ring, and must leave items at the door; (2) I or anyone handling Whimsy must carry him out of the building; (3) he can no longer be off-leash at the dog park with a dog walker; I knew to never do that when I was around, but now I can't take the risk of him becoming aggressive with other handlers too; and (4) my pup needs to be either on a short leash or in another room when the apartment door is opened for any reason.
I'm also asking his daycare for trainer recommendations, as the one I reached out to is too busy to respond. |