April 19, 2011
Our dog acts very terrified of people when we go for walks and to all people who come to our house, and is now beginning to act aggressive to kids and people. What can we do?
Full Question:
I just finished reading your articles on dog aggression. It sounds like my dog Meeka. She is a 2 year old Keeshond. We have great concern for her, (at least I do).My husband feels that she will change in time. We purchased her from a pet store back in Dec 1997. The first day was wonderful, she even slept in her crate peacefully that evening. But from there on she has never been the same. She started to show these signs as she got older. It is like she is terrified of other people. Her ears go down and her eyes bulge out showing fear then she'll start barking.
Problems we are concerned about are excessively barking at everyone and everything, aggressive towards strangers, children anyone. EXCEPT our parents. They are the only ones that can visit and we can visit them with the dogs that she is fine with. But, she has now attempted to bite 3 times but I was there to catch her and stop it. My husband says he has never experienced this biting behavior from her. I find it particularly odd as she does display a slightly different behavior with him.
But she still is aggressive towards people, children and barks excessively. We have had her in training 3 times now. And she is like a different dog in that atmosphere, but at home or on a walk she is this crazy dog. We have tried the different barking collars, training methods to stop the barking and the only slight success we get is using the Gentle Leader collar. But once it is taking off she returns to herself. She is not aggressive towards my husband or me and is actually very loving and does well with commands.
But outside the home or if we have friends over or a stranger knocks at the door she goes crazy. I am at my wits end and I am seeking advice from you after reading your articles, in hopes that there is something that can be done to make her a more friendlier dog. We have thought of giving her up but I fear that if this behavior is concerning to us then if in the wrong hands, I am concerned that they will hurt her or beat her because of this behavior
So, if you have any advice or suggestions to help us we would be very grateful. Meeka is part of our family and we love her dearly.
Thanking you,
Darlene
Ed's Answer:
This is not a difficult thing to correct. The question is if you and your husband have the mental strength and determination to fix it. Many people do not. There are a number of issues here:
1. You screwed up and bought a dog from a pet store. This is about as bad as you can get. These dogs come from puppy mills and the genetics are terrible, as you have already found out. Your dog has weak nerves which is a genetic issue. No amount of socializing is going to correct this dog.
2. These kinds of dogs respond to order in their life. A structured life gives them comfort because they understand exactly what is going on. There are no surprises for them when things get un-organized. This is all accomplished through strict obedience training. Read what I have written on how to do this on Basic Dog Obedience.
3. The dog needs to be trained with a prong collar and not one of these stupid halties. It must go through the "learning phase" like every other dog, but when it gets to the "correction phase" and then the "distraction phase" it must have a prong collar. I call this power steering on dogs.
4. The corrections for disobedience must be swift and strong enough that the dog respects the correction more than it fears the ghosts in it's head. It is 100% possible to accomplish this, but it has to be done with strong corrections. In the beginning the dog will throw a fit, but once it realizes that you mean it when you tell it to stop or to go lay down, then it will accept it. Especially when it gets a great deal of praise for doing the right thing.
5. Many people do not have the mental ability to correct at the level that is required when their dog starts to throw a fit after a correction. Rather than increase the level of correction these people decrease or stop correcting because the dog is acting so crazy. When in fact what needs to happen is the dog must learn that the only open door is to do what it is told to do or it will continue to be corrected and it will always be praised when it does what it's told to do.
6. So the dog should have the prong collar on all day (off at night). It should have a drag line, (explained in the tape - I like the street leashes that we sell because they have a "D" ring to clip another longer leash to). You can quickly grab it (and clip a line on it) for a correction when the dog acts stupid.
7. When people come over, the dog can be allowed to smell the new arrival, as long as it does not bark or act aggressive, but once that is done it must ALWAYS be sent to it's crate. This is a learned response (i.e. the command is "CRATE UP") or it can be sent to a rug in the kitchen. If it gets out of the crate, off that rug or barks, it has learned in earlier training that it gets corrected so badly that it thinks it’s going to die.
These dogs need level 10 corrections, (explained in the tape.) They must fear the correction worse than the "demon." Also very important is the fact that strangers or people who come to your house do not interact with the dog. They ignore it. They don't try and pet it or warm up to it. They simply ignore it. Sometimes idiot guests need corrections too when they will not listen.
Once this concept gets settled in the dogs head it will begin to learn that the rug and/or crate are safe places. They will learn to relax when sent there. They feel good because they are doing what their pack leader has told them to do and they get praised for minding.
These kinds of dogs must be 100% compliant 100% of the time. This requires 100% consistency from both you and your husband. The dog can not get by with one instance of being stupid - not one!
If you can't do these things, (especially correct hard enough), put the dog down, because its only a matter of time before it bites a child in the face.
1. You screwed up and bought a dog from a pet store. This is about as bad as you can get. These dogs come from puppy mills and the genetics are terrible, as you have already found out. Your dog has weak nerves which is a genetic issue. No amount of socializing is going to correct this dog.
2. These kinds of dogs respond to order in their life. A structured life gives them comfort because they understand exactly what is going on. There are no surprises for them when things get un-organized. This is all accomplished through strict obedience training. Read what I have written on how to do this on Basic Dog Obedience.
3. The dog needs to be trained with a prong collar and not one of these stupid halties. It must go through the "learning phase" like every other dog, but when it gets to the "correction phase" and then the "distraction phase" it must have a prong collar. I call this power steering on dogs.
4. The corrections for disobedience must be swift and strong enough that the dog respects the correction more than it fears the ghosts in it's head. It is 100% possible to accomplish this, but it has to be done with strong corrections. In the beginning the dog will throw a fit, but once it realizes that you mean it when you tell it to stop or to go lay down, then it will accept it. Especially when it gets a great deal of praise for doing the right thing.
5. Many people do not have the mental ability to correct at the level that is required when their dog starts to throw a fit after a correction. Rather than increase the level of correction these people decrease or stop correcting because the dog is acting so crazy. When in fact what needs to happen is the dog must learn that the only open door is to do what it is told to do or it will continue to be corrected and it will always be praised when it does what it's told to do.
6. So the dog should have the prong collar on all day (off at night). It should have a drag line, (explained in the tape - I like the street leashes that we sell because they have a "D" ring to clip another longer leash to). You can quickly grab it (and clip a line on it) for a correction when the dog acts stupid.
7. When people come over, the dog can be allowed to smell the new arrival, as long as it does not bark or act aggressive, but once that is done it must ALWAYS be sent to it's crate. This is a learned response (i.e. the command is "CRATE UP") or it can be sent to a rug in the kitchen. If it gets out of the crate, off that rug or barks, it has learned in earlier training that it gets corrected so badly that it thinks it’s going to die.
These dogs need level 10 corrections, (explained in the tape.) They must fear the correction worse than the "demon." Also very important is the fact that strangers or people who come to your house do not interact with the dog. They ignore it. They don't try and pet it or warm up to it. They simply ignore it. Sometimes idiot guests need corrections too when they will not listen.
Once this concept gets settled in the dogs head it will begin to learn that the rug and/or crate are safe places. They will learn to relax when sent there. They feel good because they are doing what their pack leader has told them to do and they get praised for minding.
These kinds of dogs must be 100% compliant 100% of the time. This requires 100% consistency from both you and your husband. The dog can not get by with one instance of being stupid - not one!
If you can't do these things, (especially correct hard enough), put the dog down, because its only a matter of time before it bites a child in the face.
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