To bark busters or not....

[sadesmom]

Sadie is a 3 year old spayed yorkie who is the sweetest and most affectionate little girl ever. However, she has some pretty serious dominance issues with myself and food. When she was about 14 weeks, I taught her it was not ok to growl when eating a treat and that if I felt like petting her, it didn't matter if she was eating, I was going to pet her.

She used to be and still is about 99% crazy
When she turned 3 she started listening to some things when she wouldn't before. But none reliably. Her dog daddy always wants to let her off leash and I cringe. She just isn't there yet.

I also worry about her around children. I was watching a little boy( under a year old) and she was extremely jealous. She would bark and bark, and if he was on the floor i would keep her away, but when I'd go to pick him up she would come running and lunge and lick her lips. Then we had a 2 year old that was opening and closing the back door screen (you know. The magnet one??) and she growled so I immediately picked her up (sadie not the 2 year old) which obviously instigated her reaction to bark and snip more. I worry that when I have a baby she will always be bad and I could never ever give a dog away. So I need help with this too!

Then there is her issue with other animals. We live with two Holden's and three cats. She has warmed up to two of the cats where she will bark and try to play with them, and even give them kisses! But that doesn't mean she won't just attack them. She does the same with the dogs. And one dog will growl and snip back. That doesn't happen often but thast time I got involved and was bit by Sadie. She has never drawn blood from any person or animal. But I'm not ok with this. Any area of the house she claims as hers and growls and snips if a dog wants to come up and cuddle with us. I haven't slept with my cat in over 3 years! And he was here first!

We need help with a lot, and I'm sure I forgot something in there. But I'm wondering, do we use bark busters? Or go take a class? Is it a matter of her just not listening so she will go and snap on an animal, but of she listened she wouldnt? I live in Toronto (Etobicoke) and the trainer in my area is said to be good. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. And sorry for any typos, I'm using my iPhone!

[lovinmayorkies]

I'm sure you will find a way to live harmoneously together with your great attitude toward finding solutions.. She sounds sooooo dominant. Maybe you will have to be super dominant to get her in line lol! Sorry I can't really help, only wanted to say Good Luck and try not to worry. One step at a time and you will get there with this little madam

[yorkietalkjilly]

With your tiny terror I would read up on the Nothing In Life Is Free type way of dealing with a territorial or dominant dog on Google and get her involved in positive-reinforcement behavior modification training that you can also read up on here on YT or on Google and do yourself at home. Sounds like she needs a leader in every area of her life and a job - get her working learning and using that energy and drive of hers for something good. She sounds insecure/aggressive and needs strong but loving, patient leadership that makes learning a fun game with bigtime rewards to get her redirected toward the positive side of life. You might use a soft muzzle on her while you are working on her behavior issues when children, etc. are around. If you go with a professional trainer, please use someone with some years on them and a good history you can verify and who carries their own insurance or your homeowners or canine liability insurance covers.

I don't know what Bark Busters is but I would keep this dog far from anything that shocked or buzzed or sprayed her in her state. Just some leadership, loving, fun training work and a new lease on life doing a job will likely help her far more than anything else.

[concretegurl]

Bark Busters looks fine.
Personally I used local independabt people who were recomended by our groomer a retired vet tech had experience with though rescue volunteering.

[sadesmom]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

With your tiny terror I would read up on the Nothing In Life Is Free type way of dealing with a territorial or dominant dog on Google and get her involved in positive-reinforcement behavior modification training that you can also read up on here on YT or on Google and do yourself at home. Sounds like she needs a leader in every area of her life and a job - get her working learning and using that energy and drive of hers for something good. She sounds insecure/aggressive and needs strong but loving, patient leadership that makes learning a fun game with bigtime rewards to get her redirected toward the positive side of life. You might use a soft muzzle on her while you are working on her behavior issues when children, etc. are around. If you go with a professional trainer, please use someone with some years on them and a good history you can verify and who carries their own insurance or your homeowners or canine liability insurance covers.

I don't know what Bark Busters is but I would keep this dog far from anything that shocked or buzzed or sprayed her in her state. Just some leadership, loving, fun training work and a new lease on life doing a job will likely help her far more than anything else.

We were thinking of getting her into agility once she starts listening. Is that a job? lol I definitely don't want to harm her while training. I don't want any contact that is negative. I will definitely read up on that because I would love to train her on my own!

[yorkietalkjilly]

Oh, she's probably do so well in agility and redirect all those issues with insecurity into having a grand old time and working out her nerves. Try that NILIF method of dealing with her day to day and read up on how to be a loving and absolutely positive, gentle leader of your dog. And sit back and watch them change. I'm currently reading a wonderful audio book about positive-reinforcement training by Tamar Geller, The Loved Dog. She is an Israeli ex-intelligence officer who loves dogs and teaching them nonaggressively with love and fun. That's how I've always trained all dogs - made it more fun than anything and they eat it up and mind me and I've never been growled at unless testing a dog's limits as a puppy and never bitten except as a child when I dressed my Peke in a bonnet and doll dress! Dogs love to work and play and combing those into the same thing really works for most.

[sadesmom]

I read up on it and I'm going to start now! It just makes so much sense. I stumbled apon this website K9aggression.com but I can't figure out if it's a book or what it is. Have you heard of it? I'm going to look into classes for her and start with commands. All the listens to (food must be involved) is sit and paw

[yorkietalkjilly]

Read, read, read, and study to learn about how to be a gentle leader who is always positive with your dog and helping them enjoy their short time here. Dogs do that best when they have nothing to worry about because their owner has them and the environment under control and they are to look to us for everything and don't need to police children or other dogs in the area because their mommie is doing that and dogs are happy when busy working, learning and playing like children. Working with a dog teaching it to obey commands and do tricks and stay quiet and leave objects alone is key BUT THE BIG THING training teaches them is the one thing few of them are born with - impulse control. Once you have taught a dog to control itself - life gets far easier. Just stay away from training websites or books that teach harsh discipline, alpha rolls and constant neck jerking - not needed and cruel. Dogs react must faster and enjoy life when treated like children and brought up with loving, responsible boundaries.

[sadesmom]

Well, it took about 20 "sit"'s but she sat for her dinner! First step I guess! I emailed a veterinarian behavioralist because I don't know of the nothing in life is free training will work for her aggression. But if it's too expensive then I'll have to find something else. But I am definitely sticking with the training because I want her to relax and only worry about being a doggy and listening to me

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by sadesmom

Well, it took about 20 "sit"'s but she sat for her dinner! First step I guess! I emailed a veterinarian behavioralist because I don't know of the nothing in life is free training will work for her aggression. But if it's too expensive then I'll have to find something else. But I am definitely sticking with the training because I want her to relax and only worry about being a doggy and listening to me

Dog aggression is usually just a bad habit they form out of insecurity from a perceived feeling that they need to handle a situation as they have no strong leader doing it. NILIF teaches a dog that you are their source for everything in life they want or need and thus they begin to recognize you as a leader in total control of their world, their protector. Thus the need to aggress begins to subside about the same time there is a trust and bond that forms between you two as you work as a team in obedience and agility together, further teaching your dog to look to you and follow your commands only(they begin to do this by rote in time - responding without thinking) and they learn not to take matters into their own hands - or paws, as the case may be. Obedience training, learning to control their impulses and follow commands, actually modifies their behavior and most people are surprised at how a previously nervous or insecure, dominant/aggressive dog begins to calm down and change to an agreeable, happy pet that has left its old ways in its dust.

Dogs living in feral conditions or in the wild hold a deep respect for their leader and leave attempts to control other dogs or children that might come near to the leader or the leader's chosen "pack police". Pet dogs that see their human as their family leader do the same and if children or other dogs come near, they leave them to you and see no further need to try to handle them themselves with aggression. Keeping them safe from noisy children or other dogs is the leader's job. (Sorry, I did Spellcheck and sometimes it enlarges the font in the section where my cursor is resting and I can't change it back! Don't know why it sometimes happens.)

[sadesmom]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Dog aggression is usually just a bad habit they form out of insecurity from a perceived feeling that they need to handle a situation as they have no strong leader doing it. NILIF teaches a dog that you are their source for everything in life they want or need and thus they begin to recognize you as a leader in total control of their world, their protector. Thus the need to aggress begins to subside about the same time there is a trust and bond that forms between you two as you work as a team in obedience and agility together, further teaching your dog to look to you and follow your commands only(they begin to do this by rote in time - responding without thinking) and they learn not to take matters into their own hands - or paws, as the case may be. Obedience training, learning to control their impulses and follow commands, actually modifies their behavior and most people are surprised at how a previously nervous or insecure, dominant/aggressive dog begins to calm down and change to an agreeable, happy pet that has left its old ways in its dust.

Dogs living in feral conditions or in the wild hold a deep respect for their leader and leave attempts to control other dogs or children that might come near to the leader or the leader's chosen "pack police". Pet dogs that see their human as their family leader do the same and if children or other dogs come near, they leave them to you and see no further need to try to handle them themselves with aggression. Keeping them safe from noisy children or other dogs is the leader's job. (Sorry, I did Spellcheck and sometimes it enlarges the font in the section where my cursor is resting and I can't change it back! Don't know why it sometimes happens.)

Oh my goodness now I feel really good about this! I'm really excited to train her and get started. Thank you so much for your advice! She has to have knee surgery and we were holding off for a few months to get her listening to us first to avoid further injury. But it's not an immediate surgery so I'm going to look into an intro to agility class first!

[yorkietalkjilly]

I'm so glad you feel better. Dogs are such a joy to work with and be around, even the mean big ones as they just need help and leading in the right way with a lot of patience and love and a little persistence. Mostly they are like scared children.

[sadesmom]

The place near me that does agility recommends doing an obedience class. If their approach is like NILIF, would this be a good place to start?

[yorkietalkjilly]

Sounds good to me. Get her busy training and working with and for you, looking to you for everything she gets or does and learning to look to her mommie for even a drink of water just until she gets the idea that she really needs to depend upon you. Once she gives in and learns that, learns you will always care for her and she must always trust you, she will start to relax and just be a little dog. Along with that change comes respect and the relinquishing of power. But along with good positive-reinforcement training, she will learn further you are in control.

Once you have a good 90 days under your belt of positive-reinforcement training, start to claim areas of your home from her. Claim your bed. Muzzle her and bring in a cat and reprimand her any time she starts to intensely look at or tries to focus on the cat. Watch her like a hawk and any focusing of her eyes on the cat - intense looking, ears coming forward, head a bit lowered, reprimand her and remove her from the room or give her a bit of a nudge with your finger to break that intense concentration and get her attention - or just place your clawlike hand across the back of her neck and hold it there just like a momma dog does when reprimanding one of her babies. Do not get angry or tense during this - she's just now learning a new way and having to learn to relinquish control when the cat is on the bed and she won't know how. She wouldn't have gotten this way if you all had known how to stop this from happening but most of us are not born with these kind of skills. So do not feel bad yourself because none of us are born dog guru's or anything. We all have to learn.

So when she flexes up on the cat, don't hold it against her or get upset, she's just being what she has always been - a little boss. So teach her now that is not okay. Now we are going mommie's way and my finger nudging you or my hand across the back of your sweet little neck is just snapping you out of your concentration on kitty and showing you how we are going to go forward from here, sweet baby - nothing more. Mom's not mad. IMMMEDIATELY when she gives way to the reprimand, remove your finger or hand and smile, take a deep breath and relax. Good job!

If you removed her from the room when she focused on the cat, wait until she sits down and her ears come back or out a bit before taking her back in. That is very important and no small issue. She must relinquish her intensity and relax in the other room. Stand there patiently and breath slowly & patiently until she does. This is dog training - no way around the waiting, etc. Once that happens, walk her back into the room and indicate she may jump back up on the bed with the cat but direct her where you want her to go on it. Then resume watching her and any intent focusing showing she's about to go into territorial protection mode, remove her from the room, wait until she relaxes and return to the bed, directing her to the portion of the bed you choose.

Repeat for about a 5 - 10 minute session another time later, at least twice a night and more often on weekends until she learns that territorial moves toward the cat, however minimal, are no longer tolerated and she isn't in control.

Here is the success of training - you must keep doing this bed exercise and controlling her inappropriate actions until she eventually learns to stop the protective, territorial attitude and accepts kitty being there as a matter of course. Remember, she's had years to act this way toward kitty on the bed so it will take a long time to retrain her reactions but if you will persist and be more determined than she is to prevail, you will.

Once she is cool with one cat, bring in a second and redo the whole retraining episodes, reprimanding territorial intensity. Once she's cool with two kitties, allow the third one and repeat it all until she's okay with all three cats. This could take a year but whatever amount of time it takes, you are either progressing toward a goal or going away from it so don't despair. If you keep it up, she will learn.

Best wishes to you for taking control and getting started so read and study all that you can about how to positively & lovingly train a dog and thus modify its behavior and curb the instincts that are upsetting the family peace. If you find a better way or ways, go with it/them. There are lots of dog training methods and you need to find the one that works best for you and your dog. You will be amazed at how smart a dog is once you learn how to work with it properly to correct problems and teach it to control its impulses and mind you. A well-trained dog is a happy dog and a loving family member.

[Britster]

Jeanie has given some great advice as usual!!

I personally would stay away from Bark Busters.