April 28, 2011
My family just recently got a 1 1/2 year old Sharpie/Retriever. He is very fearful of my father. What can we do?
Full Question:
Ed,My family just recently got a 1 1/2 year old Sharpie/Retriever. He knows me very well because I'm home all day and we are constantly together, but now he is very protective with me. He will not let me out of his sight and is always keeping guard of the house. Now he tends to bark at my father who also lives with me but is gone most of the day, he doesn't like it when dad comes near me and always stands between us. He has never tried to bite or charge, if he thinks that dad is going to touch him he quickly moves back barking. We try to make him feel comfortable by letting dad give him treats, it takes about 10 minutes for him to be completely comfortable with him. I'm afraid that when we have guests he will be constantly barking at them. Should I try some kind of barking spray, and how should I punish him. Is there any other way I can calm him down faster when someone new enters the house? Thank you for your patience...
Alexandra
Ed's Answer:
I recommend that you go to my web site and read the article I wrote on my philosophy of dog training. I think you will get some good ideas there.
This fear aggression needs to be dealt with through training. You are doing the right thing but you need to step to the line with obedience training – this is more than a correction at aggression – with that said EVERY incident of unwarranted aggression needs to be met with a correction.
You also need to be using a dog crate with this dog. It needs a place to go that it feels safe when people come over.
You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog. Your dog must go through training steps before it can be considered fully trained.
You will read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. No professional dog trainer would ever take his dog to an obedience class with 15 or 20 untrained dogs and try and train it there. Its crazy. The dogs cannot concentrate with the distractions.
I think if you read the testimonials on my DVD you will see that my customers feel the same way.
If you make the decision to learn to train - get a prong collar. You can read about it on my web site. There is an article I wrote (with a number of excellent photos) on how to fit a prong collar, you can also read about the different types of prongs.
This fear aggression needs to be dealt with through training. You are doing the right thing but you need to step to the line with obedience training – this is more than a correction at aggression – with that said EVERY incident of unwarranted aggression needs to be met with a correction.
You also need to be using a dog crate with this dog. It needs a place to go that it feels safe when people come over.
You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog. Your dog must go through training steps before it can be considered fully trained.
You will read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. No professional dog trainer would ever take his dog to an obedience class with 15 or 20 untrained dogs and try and train it there. Its crazy. The dogs cannot concentrate with the distractions.
I think if you read the testimonials on my DVD you will see that my customers feel the same way.
If you make the decision to learn to train - get a prong collar. You can read about it on my web site. There is an article I wrote (with a number of excellent photos) on how to fit a prong collar, you can also read about the different types of prongs.
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