So, Thor and I met with Howard today. He did an evaluation on him. I have the good news that he can be fixed! Which is great news to me... But will require a lot of work on my part. Thor thinks he needs to protect me, thus I need to become the leader. The morning started, and after a very short time, Howard decided that Thor is a little weak nerved, possibly due to early training by his former owner, possibly genetic. Thor would only bite little 'warning' bites. He also seems to be a 'medium' dog, and is not sharp. I came home, picked up all the toys, and watched the pod cast on becoming a pack leader. I plan to watch it many more times, and hopefully with lots of time on my part, I'll have a normal, well behaved, goofy dog.
For right now, and maybe forever- no dog parks. I'm going to have to locate a feild to play ball with him- for excercise. Im going through doors first- any other suggestions would be great!

Rebekah,

That is good news. Keep us posted on progress!!!!

Are you crate training this dog? I don't recall reading previous posts...IMO, crate has been essential in establishing leadership, consistancy and stability.

I think its great that you are pouring effort into Thor. It will pay off with persistance and dedication, and like you said, learning the leadership role. Keep it calm.

I'd be hesitant to call this dog "weak-nerved" based on this. "Warning bites" sounds more to me like good bite-inhibition and all he thought the situation called for than weak nerves. Not that this is the most important aspect of your update, it was just something that kinda rubbed me wrong. I don't think very many trainers/behaviorists, etc., are truly qualified to judge weak nerves, and even so, nerves are genetic. He is what he is, regardless, and congrats and kudos to you for trying to work this through.

He stood his ground.. just didnt try to bite very hard (which is fine by me!) I have little kids in the neighborhood, and dont need a lawsuit. Howard said he was medium defensive... as at the end of the session everyone could pet him. The K9 handler that came with Howard, thought that maybe because I walked the dog to them.. and they didnt come to the dog- thats why he didnt react to them in an aggressive manner? Eaither way, Im working on being a better pack leader. I broke down and took him to a dog park today. It is one i've never head of (google search) and there werent any other dogs there. Its on the intracoastal.. so they all got to play in the water. I think he'll turn out to be a great dog. The small changes I've made already seem to be affecting his behavior. The only concern I have is he is now trying to bite one of the other dogs on there neck.. I dont think its in anything but play, but Im not sure. He didnt do it until I started to change the way I acted towards him. Could it be frustration on his part that he is taking out on the other dog?

Oh yeah, and he has some avoidence too.. When howard would come towards him he would kind of look away... forgot to mention that.

Jenni,

I staked the dog out to keep the owner out of the equation. Thor showed defensive posture to me at 30 yards. At 20 yards he was going into avoidance. I moved to build him back up then casually approached again. At two feet he began his tried and true method of aggressive posture in a defensive mode. Only a couple seconds passed and he left me. He ran the gamut of body language indicating his weakness.

Rebekah believed Thor would bite me if he had the opportunity. He considered it at one time while I was soothing him and tried to pet him, mainly out of fear. I had a sleeve with me also and I gave him the opportunity to bite. He barely laid his teeth on it. I called those "Go Away" nips.

Again, she thought he would bite if I approached the car with the two in it. He aggresses like a mad man and when given the opportunity to bite he grabbed the sleeve with the front teeth only and there was no pressure or length to the engagement (1 second). Again, defensive bite with no conviction.

When it was all said and done she had Thor out on the field with myself and a handler friend of mine. No aggression whatsoever even though we were very close to her and he had no other real distractions and was quite relaxed. Not sharp in my book.

This aggression is a learned behavour on his part and Rebekah needs to fix it, which I think can be done. Thor already began to show signs that he is fixable before they even left the field. His car aggression was cut by about 60-75% by the time they left as opposed to when they arrived. He's a beautifull dog and will make a great family member as soon as she lets him know she is the leader and he can relax.

Howard

Thanks for clarifying... I'm not so great at relaying what i've learned.. Better student then teacher. He is becoming so much better already. I took him out tonight, and the only time he acted up in the car was when someone came towards the car (on foot). He will be a great dog, and come to find out today, he loves to swim! I'll have to get some pics up of the boys in the intercoastal.

Thank you again Howard! I learned so much, and I was ready to give up on him.. but now have some faith!

Howard, That was real nice of you to help Rebekah out with Thor. I think that thanks to you, she is on her way to sorting out his problems & will be better equiped to read him. You truly are one of the good ones!

Hi Howard,

I just have to say that it is cool beyond words that you met with Rebekah and Thor to try and help them with this problem.

What a wonderful thing to do...and for a stranger, no less! Given how generally self-absorbed people are these days it gives me a lot of pleasure reading things like this.

You rock!