April 28, 2011
I have a 7 year old deaf Dalmatian. The dog is very fearful- with men and children. What can I do to help him?
Full Question:
Hi,I have a male, deaf dalmatian that's seven years old. My boyfriend and I got him when he was a puppy - not knowing that he was deaf when we got him. This dalmatian has always lived with two other male dogs in the house. My boyfriend and I broke up a year ago, and he has had the dog. The dog is perfectly fine with either of us (other than some incessant whining). However, he is fearfully aggressive with kids and men. He is also extremely aggressive towards other dogs when he's exercised. He's 65 pounds and is sometimes too much for me to hold him back. He hasn't bitten anybody, but I don't let him get near kids because he acts so confused and scared.
Now I'm moving to a place that allows dogs so I'll be getting him back and he'll be the only pet. It's a pet friendly condo building so there will be lots of people and other dogs he'll be running across. I really want to fix this situation with him, and make it work. I fear my only other option is to put him down before he bites somebody. I will get him the first week in May. Have you seen dalmatians rehabilitated? What is your experience with deaf animals? What recommendations would you make to me? Thanks so much for any help you can give. I found your articles very informative.
Thanks,
Jessica
Ed's Answer:
Nice to hear from you.
Your dog falls under the category of being a FEAR BITER. I do have a Q&A section on this that you can read.
If you want to make this work you should do 4 things:
Your dog falls under the category of being a FEAR BITER. I do have a Q&A section on this that you can read.
If you want to make this work you should do 4 things:
- I would get a dog crate for my home. The dog would go into the crate when visitors come.
- Get one of the wire basket muzzles we sell and the dog should never go for a walk without it on. Make the dog learn to wear it when he is around the house
- The dog should have a prong collar on when it goes outside for walks. Prong collars are POWER STEERING FOR DOGS. They work and they are far more humane than choke collars You need to go back and do better obedience training at home. If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience DVD. 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.
- Many people think they have to train a dog to be around other dogs. This is not a mentality that I can accept. I don’t allow strange dogs to be near my dogs.
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