April 19, 2011
My dog strips the bark of trees. What can I do?
Full Question:
Mr. Frawley,I have a 6-year-old German Shepherd named Caro. About a year ago, we sent him to be professionally trained over the course of a month. When Caro came home, his behavior was excellent. We also got two other dogs a few months ago - a Lab mix and an Italian Greyhound - both are puppies.
Lately though, Caro has been up to his old tricks again - only at a worse level. He likes to run around and bark at trees, but sometimes he will bite the bark off. Recently he de-barked a 4-foot wide area around the entire tree - the tree may die because of this.
Also recently, Caro wondered off and got into a fight with the neighbor's dog - a gentle Golden Retriever. Caro has always played too rough with other dogs showing his dominance. However, he is good to the dogs we own. Is this because he knows they are puppies?
We feel that we need to send Caro for another month long refresher course with the trainer again. Do you have any thoughts on this? Would medication help? I have heard there is a Prozac type drug for canines.
Thanks for your help,
Bruce
Ed's Answer:
I can not help you through emails on this.
I can tell you that I am 100% against sending dogs away for training. The dogs must learn to mind you, not a trainer. These home away from home sessions are short-term solutions that never last. In other words they are a waste of your money.
If this dog has a behavioral problem that can be solved with obedience then you should do it, not an outside trainer.
If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.
But I must say that I wonder what is going on here. A dog that strips a tree of bark is a neurotic dog. It has some mental problems. What I would do is run the dog through an obedience program myself. I would use a dog crate and an outside dog kennel. If I was not living in a place that I could do this I would find a new home for the dog.
I can tell you that I am 100% against sending dogs away for training. The dogs must learn to mind you, not a trainer. These home away from home sessions are short-term solutions that never last. In other words they are a waste of your money.
If this dog has a behavioral problem that can be solved with obedience then you should do it, not an outside trainer.
If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.
But I must say that I wonder what is going on here. A dog that strips a tree of bark is a neurotic dog. It has some mental problems. What I would do is run the dog through an obedience program myself. I would use a dog crate and an outside dog kennel. If I was not living in a place that I could do this I would find a new home for the dog.
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