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Fear Aggression/Dominance with other dogs?


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Hi guys! Sorry I haven't been on here in SO long, I've been super busy with school and work. But! I'm here to ask you all your opinion.

...My dog is a jerk.

No really, he is.
When Mylo first came to our home he was super friendly and excitable, literally bounding on anyone who would come near. I had always wanted a dog I could take to the park and take long walks with and take just about anywhere with me. Unfortunately things haven't gone to plan.
Mylo is a very nervous dog, to the point where he's stressed all the time. He's constantly yawning, licking his lips and avoids eye contact a lot, which I know are signs of stress. He was completely unsocialized before he got here, literally trapped in a house with another anxious wreck of a dog for hours on end. When I took him on his first walk as a 10 month old puppy, he ran away from anything that made a noise.. but new people he was happy to see.
I have to say around the one year mark was when I saw signs of aggression, he barked at people that walked and ran funny, large men and men with boots made him hysterically bark at them until either they or him were removed from the situation, and the scariest bit to me is... he's barked at children before, just because their movements are very sudden and quick.

With dogs he's just... rude. Super dominant even with puppies that will basically roll over for him. I correct his behavior all the time but it just makes him plop on his butt and look at me funny. It doesn't help that most of the dogs I live near are dog aggressive too, but there are some that are super friend towards Mylo and he just tries to dominate them. There was one time Mylo spent the weekend with my stepfather's nephew, who he snapped at as soon as the poor man reached into the car to get him, but apparently got along surprisingly well with his dog, Tyson, another shih tzu cross who is a nervous wreck.

I'm the only one who trains the dog because my parents believe the best way of training him is throwing things at him or yelling at him, and positive reinforcement seems to work. I've been told by trainers that he has some form of anxiety and needs to be put of medication, and that the best hope for him was to be put to sleep. But I know there's so much more to Mylo than people see... most people in my apartment complex are scared of him now. He responds well to positive reinforcement, he's smart, he's food, praise and toy motivated... I just don't know where to start with this, even though it's gotten a LITTLE bit better I know he can improve. I can't really put him in a stereotypical dog training class because of his behavior, but I just want to know where to start with tackling these big issues.

HELP!

-Tia

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Pawz4me

How does he try to "dominate" other dogs?

What are his aggressive behaviors besides barking? Barking is annoying, but it's not necessarily aggressive. Sometimes it's a lot more frustration than anything.

What kind of training have you done with him -- what commands and tricks does he know?

Would you be willing to implement something like Nothing In Life Is Free?

Have you discussed Mylo's behavior with your vet? Sometimes medication really is needed, at least for awhile so you can work on retraining. A stressed, anxious dog doesn't learn well.

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My dogs all bark whenever something is different. It's NOT agressive, but more like fearful or unsure. There's not an agressive bone in their bodies.

Is Mylo actually trying to attack or is he just barking?

Vicki

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Missysmom

Tia, do I remember correctly that Mylo had several owners before you?

His barking at the men in boots and children's sudden arm movements reminds me very much of several of our rescues who had been abused in their past lives before we got them.

He could very well be reacting to something from his past that was extremely unpleasant. In which case avoidance has been the only answer I have found, unfortunately as much as we would like we can't make what happened to them in the past go away we can only give them the love they never had..

Edited by Missysmom
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Sophie's Haven

Mylo is not a jerk......he is only acting out in a defensive way, the only way he knows how. He needs to be worked with one on one and it can not be a part-time thing. When he misbehaves be firm.......with a NO. I know you work and have school but when you are home with him tether him to your belt so he has be be with you at all times and you have control of his movements. I would keep a leash on him when he is not tether to you so when he does misbehave you can grab the leash and give him a pull and do the firm NO........Short commands and frimness.......I am not a crate fan but when you are not home I would crate him since it sounds like he gets negitive fibes from those around him and release him when your home under your watch. Work on correcting one bad behavior at a time, not every thing at once. One thing that I have noticed that when a dog does not use up pent in energy they tend to be out of control. Take him for a walks everyday to wear him out but keep him under control.......your the boss, treat when he does well. Get him outside for fresh air and get him to chase after a toy in the yard.......keep him busy. It is going to be a learning process for the both of you. Take the time and go to Petco/PetSmart and talk to one of the dog trainers.........some will work one on one with your dog. I have a rescue Bailey that I have worked with for 4 years he has improved so much and it has been a lot of work and I have learned alot along the way. Bailey does not like strange men he is scared to death of them so my hubby just ignored him like he was not even in the house and I was the person in charge. After 31/2 years he is now goes off with the hubby on his own...... I can just imagine the abuse Bailey must have went thru by the hands of his previous owner. Mylo has to know that you will be there for him and he can trust you. It does not happen over night........it takes work. I am not a fan of medication......in most cases it is not needed plus all it is.....is a quick fix......does not correct the problem........Mylo needs you 100%.......just give him a chance. If I did not already have a FULL HOUSE I would take him in a heart beat........keep posting on how he is doing and use this site to vent your fustrations. Mylo is going to be a wonderful dog.........he just needs you to help him!!!! You will have a FRIEND for life in Mylo as I do in my Bailey.

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Rather than responding immediately to your thread, I decided to wait and see what else would be revealed.

I don't think Mylo is a jerk. I think he is a very confused dog who may (or may not) have been abused before you got him. I think that right now he is receiving mixed-messages.

Paws4me mentioned NLIF, and I abide by this completely. Our dogs may not be the best-behaved dogs on the block, but they DO listen when I tell them what to do (they do NOT listen to my husband, which is an issue but not a big one). You need to decide on a proper training program for Mylo and get your parents on-board.

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Thanks for all of the tips you guys!
The NLIF plan actually sounds perfect for Mylo, and I've actually been implementing some of this plan into my training with him without even realizing it. Since he arrived at our house, he's always had to sit to put his leash on (because he used to jump all over the place before going out, and it was impossible to put the leash on then). When I feed him his meals, I make him sit and stay until I put the bowl down, stand up and tell him to "go eat". He does this every morning with me, as well as my mother and stepfather and has done it since he was about eleven months old.
He knows sit, stay, lie down, roll over and "give me paw", a command I taught him back when he was a puppy to get him used to having his feet touched while grooming him (he wasn't used to having his feet touched and would try to nip you if you did touch them).
We live in an apartment and he barks at the door whenever he hears someone in the hallway, even if its our neighbors. When we go into the elevator he'll usually try to tentatively sniff people BEFORE barking at them (and sometimes he'll sniff and not bark at all, I guess he rules them out as "okay"), and there's a few people he completely ignores and doesn't bark at at all, but I believe it's because we see them at the same time every day, they know him to an extent, so they're not even phased by him and he by them. Then there are people that are afraid of dogs and they're nervous around him, so they're hesitant. Usually he'll pick that up and he'll start barking at them.

I guess it's harder for me because I have the only dog that barks at people, so I tend to bring him out for walks earlier in the morning. I've also noticed that if there is someone walking behind us while we're on a walk, Mylo looks over his shoulder constantly to see if they're still there. More than once, he has turned himself around completely to start barking at the person who was walking behind us. Is this because he's afraid the person is going to come up from behind and hurt him? I've never seen a dog do that before.

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