April 28, 2011
Our dog is very nervous around strange's. When people come to the door it goes crazy and tries to bite anyone who tries to answer the door. Should I use an electric collar?
Full Question:
I have a 3 year old neutered male boxer that was bought at a pet store and given to me as a gift. I received him at 8 weeks old to find the next day at the vet that he had a respiratory infection and would need to be hospitalized immediately. I knew then I should have taken him back to the pet store but knew they would destroy him. Well, they paid the vet bills and everything was fine.He has always been skiddish and never been struck. As he gets older the following problem get worse. Whenever anyone knocks on the door or rings the doorbell he goes crazy. He barks, growls, shows his teeth and will try to bite anyone who tries to answer the door. Once the visitor is in the house he is fine and calms down within a minute or so. I have considered a shock collar but don't want to make the situation worse. ANY advice would be appreciated.
Rhonda
Eastpointe, MI
Ed's Answer:
This is classic fear biter. I have a Q&A section on my web site.
A shock collar is not the solution. A collar to just administer punishment for acting stupid will only reinforce the dogs concern and it will make it worse. An electric collar can be used but only after the dog is trained. The dog should be crate trained. It should be trained to go to the crate when told. It must understand this 100% - when it knows that you can introduce it to distractions and told to go to the crate under distraction. At that point you can reinforce the crate command (alone with using a long line as a back-up to the e-collar) to make the dog go to the crate.
If you would like to learn more 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. I think if you read the testimonials on that tape you will see that my customers feel the same way.
A shock collar is not the solution. A collar to just administer punishment for acting stupid will only reinforce the dogs concern and it will make it worse. An electric collar can be used but only after the dog is trained. The dog should be crate trained. It should be trained to go to the crate when told. It must understand this 100% - when it knows that you can introduce it to distractions and told to go to the crate under distraction. At that point you can reinforce the crate command (alone with using a long line as a back-up to the e-collar) to make the dog go to the crate.
If you would like to learn more 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. I think if you read the testimonials on that tape you will see that my customers feel the same way.
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