Snapping and Barking

[bailey'smom]

I have a problem with my one year old dachshund. He is the sweetest dog around anyone he knows and sees often. Lately, I have been bringing him around little kids and getting him out in the open. Every time he sees a stranger or they make the wrong move he goes crazy and starts barking and snapping at them. I can't tell if he is scared or just trying to attack them. I have tried everything I can think of. He is extrememly smart and knows how to sit and stay, but he doesn't listen to anyone when he wants to attack. I know it is probably my fault for not getting him used to the public when he was a puppy, but does anyone know of anything I can do now?

bailey'smom <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm24.gif" border=0>

[Opalowl]

This isn't going to help much - our Frieda, who is almost three, does exactly the same thing, and has done ever since we've had her - and we got her at 7 weeks so she didn't have time to pick up bad habits from anywhere!. We've even had a behaviourist come over and help us out - with very little result.

In the end, on the advice of her breeder who is also the breeder of our sweet, gentle boy, Bruno, we bought a 'soft' muzzle (one of those made out of cloth straps) which we put on her when company comes. That helps - when she has *that* on she's submissive and cuddly - but the minute we think she's learned, and take it off, she's snapping and barking again. Sigh...

[dutchman]

Have you considered a basic obedience class? The socialization of the class itself may help to ease your current problem. Depending on how sever the problem has become there may or may not be an easy solution. You need to warn people about Bailey's problem and at this point I would avoid contact with children for everyone's safety. A gentle leader used when in public may help it does for my shy aggressive boy Tanner. Be aware the gentle leader is not a muzzle and Bailey could still bite someone when he has it on. One thing the trainer I had told me not to do is to pick Tanner up when he exhibits this type of behavior. If you pick them up you are giving positive feedback to the behavior. You should avoid holding Bailey when you are introducing him to strangers. MY trainer is well noted for her ability to work with aggressive dogs. When Bailey shows any sign of aggression use the chin bop to correct him. The chin bop is an upper cut delivered with the thumb side of a closed fist. The amount of force the chin bop is delivered with depends on the size of the dog. You want to clack their jaw but not injure them.

Good luck,

Tom and the boys (Frank and Tanner)

[dutchman]

I've thought of a couple of more things you should know. First remember to remind people that they need to approach with an open hand held below the dogs eye level. Dogs read body language and if you block their eyesight by approaching with a high hand you increase their anxiety level. If shyness is a general problem you can try having people offer treats on on open hand and let the dog approach them to retrieve the treat. People can toss the treat part way to the dog at first if the dog is too shy to take it from them. I hope some of this helps.

Tom and the boys (Frank and Tanner)


<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by dutchman on June 05, 2001 at 10:37 AM</font>

[Frzframe]

I'm having the same problem with Mitzi right now. She is 10 months old. Although she doesn't try to bite anyone. She runs around growling and darting at the person or people. She doesn't do this while at doggie school or while on her leash. She just does it while she's on her chain. I'm never far from her while she's outside. And when I go over to her a pick her up (which is hard because she won't come to me I have to catch her by stepping on the chain) she calms down and the person/people will come up and pet her and she'll be totally fine with it. She's never tried to bite anyone and I don't want this to escalate into that. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!! I need advise also.
~Shonda

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Frzframe on June 04, 2001 at 04:57 PM</font>

[dutchman]

Hi Shonda,

One quick note. My trainer said not to pick up Tanner when he was misbehaving meeting people or dogs (unless it's an emergency to avoid some one getting injured). By picking up Mitzi when she is behaving badly you are actually rewarding her and reinforcing the bad behavior. In your case I think either a water bottle or chin bop correction would be good starting points.

Good luck,

Tom and the boys (Frank and Tanner)

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by dutchman on June 05, 2001 at 10:43 AM</font>

[Heather]

Hi,

A note on the chin bop method. I tried it on Bean when he would show aggression towards other dogs. I found that this only made it worse. When I asked about it, someone replied that perhaps since the aggression was not towards me, he did not understand why I was bopping him. I personally did not like doing it, and found it only made Bean crazier.

I found that getting his attention, makeing him sit, and praising that good behavior seemed to help the most.

[2DogsLong]

Been there!

My boys hit 1 year old and turned into terrors. They would bark and lunge at people walking on the sidewalk and would snap when strangers would try to pet them. Especially children.

I'm happy to report that last weekend, Oscar and Frankie were caught playing with 7 kids aged 3 to 14. Not a snap or a growl. They are 2.5 now but I didn't really start trying to modify their behaviour until 3 months ago.

Oscar is the ring leader so I dealt with his problems. He is a nervous boy, especially with other dogs. He hated kids running near him and would chase them and snap. I started bringing him to the park alone and walking him alone to build his confidence. I made sure we were never out long and it was always a positive experience.

I sat outside the house holding him and when people walked by I would distract him with a treat and praise him when they passed 'ungrowled at'.

I asked people at the dog park to pet him and give him treats (just his kibble) whenever they saw him.

I sat in the park with him and we watched kids playing until he was no longer tense.

I sprayed him with a squirt bottle of water when he lunged at people or dogs.

I brought his favourite treat on walks and when I saw dogs coming I'd go into a driveway and make him sit and distract him with the treat until they passed.

I had other people walk him to see if he was snarling to protect me. If he had been I'd work on dominance training to let him know that I can take care of myself. Since it was fear aggression, I had to ease his fear of strangers and kids by socializing him.

The major break happened when 2 kids moved in next door who decided that my dogs would like them. They always had treats and were not afraid of the barking and snarling routine. They were calm and respectful and eventually won the dogs over. We slowly introduced them to the other kids on the street from oldest to youngest until they were used to all ages.

If Oscar snapped he was sent into the house and the fun was over. This was the worst punishment we could give him.

I still only feed them half of their food in their bowls and have other people feed them the rest. I've always got a pocket full of kibble.

Bailey needs to meet people one at a time so he is not overwhelmed, and he needs to know that people are the source of all that is good. Consider more training classes to improve his confidence, socialization, and to enforce your alpha status. Trick classes would be fun. It could be a stage. I've found that 1 - 1.5 is a rough time with a pup. They learn selective hearing and push their boundaries.

Good luck!

Sue

[bailey'smom]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will try each of them until I find a way to get Bailey out of this mess. <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm25.gif" border=0>

Right now he is all sweet and curled up in my lap ...
<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm20.gif" border=0> no one would ever believe he could do such mean things to kiddos

Bailey'smom