Last Saturday we picked up an 11 month old Australian Shepherd / Shih Tzu mix after being spayed. She is a huge handful. Do you think she is the wrong dog for us?

Question

You came highly recommended by a coworker and I could really use your advice. Last Saturday we picked up an 11 month old Australian Shepherd / Shih Tzu mix from the SPCA after being spayed. I have two girls one 8 and one 12 and a 13 year old cat. So far the cat and dog definitely do not get along and the dog has gone from constant submissive urination to becoming aggressive, hyper and even destructive. Unfortunately, I have had her crated all night and then again during the day while we work.

    Last night she was jumping on me trying to rip my sleeves and just being completely defiant. My children are not able to get her out of her crate when they get out come home from school because she will growl and bark at them. She does sit, give her paw and lay down if I have a treat but otherwise she is no good on a leash or listening to anyone. I have enrolled in a beginner class at Pet Smart beginning tonight but I am not sure if it will help. After spending a full night crying due to fear I will need to take her back to the SPCA and just plain frustration at her behavior I thought I would ask your advice if you think there is a chance for her. I am willing to do the work but I do not have a large fenced in yard or a farm. I live in the Phila suburbs and my children have a very active life. If her behavior improves I would love to bring her with us to soccer games etc. Do you think she is the wrong dog for us?

    If there is a possibility that she will calm down and be the good family companion I am searching for I would love to purchase some of your videos.

    Thank for in advance for your help,
Tara

Accepted Answer

Tara,

There are a number of things I would recommend. You need a crash course in pack structure and obedience.

Read the free ebooks on my web site. Especially the ones on pack structure and "My Philosophy of Dog Training" You need this information.

Frankly the Pet Smart obedience program is a complete and total failure. Fact is it's a joke. They don't teach people about pack structure when 99% of the behavioral problems dogs have relate back to that - yours certainly does. They don't incorporate corrections into their training program (read my free ebook on this) and as a general rule their so called instructors completely lack experience and training skills. But then you will find this out.

If you choose to keep this dog get these DVDs:

Basic Dog Obedience
Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Dog

Start this dog on marker training. Study the details (become a mast of the details) on this program. They are outlined in a training article on my web site.

Keep this dog crated in the house. When its out of the crate keep it on a leash while in the house. The leash needs to be tied to you. Where you go this dog goes. When your too busy for it - back into the crate. (pack structure training)

Read the article I wrote titled PREVENTING DOG BITES IN CHILDREN. It is in a free eBook on my site. It will help you.

After you have gone through the obedience work you should finish your training with a remote collar - Read the description.

There is a learning curve to owning and training a dog - if you choose to learn then you can make this work.

Kind Regards,
Ed