I am new, so forgive me if this is posted in the wrong place.

This is a great forum with lots of good information, but I couldn't find anything on my specific problem.

I adopted a rescue about three weeks ago. He is a, (best guess by vet), Boxer/Beagle mix, male,9 months to 1 yr, recently altered and about 30 lbs. He is very smart, and has learned quickly the flow of things in my home. I have three children and work full time. From the beginning, I have brought him to work with me, since that is part of the reason I wanted a dog. I walk him at 5 every morning, and again after dinner with many short walks in between. In this short time, he has become house and leash trained, learned basic comands and been exposed to all manner of things. He has done beautifully. I could not have been luckier.

My problem is this;
ONLY at my work, when someone approaches my door, he gets to his feet and barks...sometimes growls. He does not lunge or try to bite, and he actually moves in front of me, so I know he is being protective. My response to this has been to tell him "NO" and put him in a sit stay, and once when I couldn't get him to break his glare on the person, I made him lay on his back in a submissive postion until they left the room. I have had many dogs in my life and feel confident in the basics, but I've never dealt with this type of thing. I don't want to discourage him from being protective, but I'd like him to not threaten visitors for no reason. Again, this is only at work. There are people in and out of my home all the time. Any suggestions? Anything I'm doing wrong?

Just FYI: All the people where I work are dog people, so they are all very supportive. He is the only dog in the building, and I'm in a quiet part by myself most of the time with quick walk throughs maybe 1-3 times a day. At all other times, he is a big baby who loves people and attention.

Thanks.

Janet

Hi Janet,

Welcome to the forum! Do you have any history on your pup prior to adopting him?

It sounds like you guys are making a lot of progress in only three week. Have you by any chance started using marker training? If not, I'd strongly recommend it as it is very non-confrontational, fun and positive for both you and your pup.

In lieu of forcing him to be submissive, I would continue the obedience work (using marker training with yummy treats - even at work). Keeping things positive, fun and non-confrontational is really important as you build your relationship with a new pup, especially a rescue.

Again, welcome!


Again, welcome!

Well what is you want?
Protective or a submissive happy go luckly with every Tom Dick and Henrietta that walks into his/your space?

He's probably as confused as I am.(Though it doesn't take much to confuse me)

Thanks, Barbara!

The Humane Society said he was found by one of their workers chained to the guard rail on the highway. He has some small scars on his ears that look like bites to me, and some rub wounds from the chain. He's a bit shy about eating, and wont touch anything unless he looks at me for permission first. He is very gentle and constantly looking at me as if to say, "Is this ok?" You have to be very gentle with him and use a soft tone. Oddly, he has no trouble with the children playing and carrying on. He seems completely relaxed with them. (Although I'm still monitoring him very closely around them since I haven't had him long.)

I have not done any marker training, but just watched a video on it, and think he would pick up on it very quickly. I will start right away! Any ideas on what I should do at the moment he starts barking or growling?

 Quote:

I don't want to discourage him from being protective

Yes you do. I'm saying this as someone who has a dog sleeping at my feet at work right now. I've had a dog at work with me everyday for the last 10yrs. Without getting into the whole discussion about how he's not actually protecting you and that you don't want the liability of a dog reacting on his own ideas of whats a threat, you don't even want anyone to trip over him at work, let alone get bit.

Hi, Randy.

I want him to stop barking/growling when I tell him to. These are co-workers and friends. I did not train for or encourage this behavior. I apologize if I was unclear. I'm asking for advise on how to properly train him to back down when there is no threat.

You're right, Steve. I guess what I meant was that if someone would try to break in my house at night, (I'm a single Mom who lives in the country), I want him to bark and growl. Just not in my office. I know the behavior is unacceptable...which is why I'm here.
Any suggestions on correcting the behavior?????

Keep him out and around as much as you can, on leash. Have him lay down while you talk to people and ask them all to ignore him. Look for him to start to become indifferent to people. In your office, I would crate him, at least in the beginning and work on teaching him a place command.

Put some type of a barrier like a child gate in your doorway so that you can teach him to stay back away from it if he breaks the place command. With my rott and two shepherds, I've never noticed any difference in how territorial they feel at home, the time at work just becomes all about obedience and control.

If his down stay isn't solid enough yet keep him in a crate in the office.

Let him see people come and go, and tell people to ignore him.

What you are seeing is not protective. He is either nervous about the people or possessive of you. If it is possessiveness, its a sign that you need to change the order of your relationship.

Either way, a crate will help.

I have a dog that used to react to people in this same manner (at home or at work, so you've got the advantage here , and I can tell you that marker training was a blessing with this case!

I began with teaching my dog to stay at my heel or a little behind me when people came into the shop. The fact that your dog is getting in front of you when people enter your workspace does not lead me to believe he's being protective so much as he feels the need to take charge of these situations ... obviously not a good thing. So the first thing that you want to do is show him that YOU are in control of the situation.

The *only* thing that I gave him a correction for was for moving in front or ahead of me. I never corrected him for growling or barking at people because with my dog, this came from insecurities as opposed to aggression, so I only gave redirection ... this sounds like it may be the case with yours as well. Giving corrections for growling at a person only made Porter associate more negative things with this person, so it was more about my control over my dog, the environment, and the person he was reacting to (preventing them from interaction with the dog and insisting they interact with me until I decided Porter was ready to "meet and greet").

Once we got to the point where Porter could focus on my commands and could be comfortable just existing in the same space as the people that once made him nervous, then we started the fun stuff:
Marker Training!

I have the type clicker that has the extendable baton with the ball on the end and had previously taught Porter to follow and touch that ball for rewards (he loves this game!). I used this to teach him "meet and greet". I would have him follow the ball until it touched the person's leg, when he touched the ball click and treat. This was an instant hit with him (the beauty of marker training)! To this day when I ask him to "meet and greet" someone he does so with barely contained enthusiasm ... then looks to me with bright eyes for his reward! (These days it's just a little party and a booty scratch )

Edited to add: Up until recently, I always kept this guy on a leash around people for the sake of complete control ... think I forgot to mention this very important part.