Okay we're getting all over the place. LOL

We've gone to 1 issue I'm not sure about, and 3 I know how to handle.

1) When he is woken up by the ice maker, and runs to the doorway of my room, barking at my roommate he can't see getting ice water in the kitchen, furious. I yell NO at him, walk out there with him, and he sees that its Bobby, he still barks at him for 5 seconds or so then calms down and lets Bobby pet him. Is this fear based or protection? I'm not going to give a scared dog a hard correction, but I have no problem doing it to an aggressive dog.

2) This happened right now actually, as I was typing. He's in my room with me. Lying down on the floor facing the door. He always faces the door. He hears something outside, goes into a calm alertive bark. He gets 3-4 barks out then I say "NO, enough" If he doesnt listen I go tug on his collar and repeat. He doesn't know what "enough" means yet, I'm not even sure about "NO". Once he stops barking I give him a command he knows and praise him when he does it. He goes back to lay down in his spot. I have this under control.

3) I have 2 roommates Pete and Bobby. Bobby loves him and wishes he'd hang out in his room with him once in a while. Wyatt doesnt leave my side so Bobby only see's him when i go up there. Pete has a GF who is always here with a 4lb 3 month old shitzu. She's not comfortable with this dog around Wyatt and I dont completely blame her. Wyatt is good around other dogs, but has warning snapped at this dog once. It's a long story, but I dont blame him. There's not much socialization with the other roommates going on. Im gonna work on this.

4) Tug - I need to get 2 tugs to teach him out, there's no other way to get him to let go. I can handle this.

John;

You are being very specific about what you see as some certain behaviors, and you are describing your attempts to deter them. What you are not hearing is that other posters recognize a gap or deficiency in the groundwork, which is causing not only this behavior, but may manifest itself in the form of other unwanted behaviors down the line. This is not surprising since the dog has only been there for two weeks. The other posters are suggesting not only a groundwork program, but Connie specifically suggested one way to handle the behavior that's troubling you in #2^^^.

IMHO, it is MUCH TOO EARLY to ask this dog to accept your roommates. IMHO, you need more structure in place before putting these expectations on your newer housemate, who seems a little unsure of the others.

Candi, FWIW, that is one of the most referenced articles on this webboard.

 Quote: John Stowe

2) This happened right now actually, as I was typing. He's in my room with me. Lying down on the floor facing the door. He always faces the door. He hears something outside, goes into a calm alertive bark. He gets 3-4 barks out then I say "NO, enough" If he doesnt listen I go tug on his collar and repeat. He doesn't know what "enough" means yet, I'm not even sure about "NO". Once he stops barking I give him a command he knows and praise him when he does it. He goes back to lay down in his spot. I have this under control.

Instead of trying to correct him into being quiet, why not address his fears and teach him that there's nothing to be scared of?

I appreciate everyone's time and help, really. I am very impressed by the marker training. What I need to know is whether this reaction from him is coming from fear or aggression and no one has even touched on that, so forgive me if it looks like I am being closed-minded.

If your foot had a serious case of rot, what would be your main concern? How hygiene can prevent rot in the first place, or healing your foot?

Without more knowledge about the dog and his foundation, many posters may hesitate at trying to diagnose fear or aggression over the internet. In fact, some aggression is based in fear. By doing some of the groundwork, his issues and the way to resolve them might become clearer.

JMO

Fair enough

 Quote: John Stowe

I appreciate everyone's time and help, really. I am very impressed by the marker training. What I need to know is whether this reaction from him is coming from fear or aggression and no one has even touched on that, so forgive me if it looks like I am being closed-minded. If your foot had a serious case of rot, what would be your main concern? How hygiene can prevent rot in the first place, or healing your foot?

I'm no expert here but let me throw in my two cents worth. To answer your question, I don't think your dog is acting from either fear or aggression. You have a new dog in new surroundings and he is simply reacting to strange noises. Our five year old will still react to strange noises in our house or if one of our grown kids decides to drop in. What you want to avoid doing is correcting him over something he isn't clear about why he is being corrected. If we're in the house and she reacts to something, we give her a command such as "Leave It" or "Down". If she violates that, we correct her for violating that command, not for simply barking and running toward whatever caused the disturbance. She is doing her job by reacting to a disturbance and we control the situation by giving her a command. Correct for failing to follow the command, not for her reaction to the disturbance.

Sounds like you may want to consider laying some basic groundwork, as you would with any new puppy, by tethering him to you when you're together. It makes it much easier to control his behavior and apply corrections when needed. JMHO.

I'm following up on a theme presented by several responders here. I don't believe it is helpful to yell "NO" or "ENOUGH" to get your new dog to stop barking at something it perceives as a threat. Rather, try to teach it that the thing it is barking at is not a threat. I'm another one that goes to see what my dogs are barking at, and then I let them know that I have assessed the threat, it is nothing to worry about, and I want them to stop barking. So I will look out the window, say in a firm but reassuring voice something like, "Oh, it's only the neighbors," and then if there is another bark, I give them a calm, "enough" or "no bark." That's about all it takes now, but of course that didn't happen overnight!

He is new to your home, doesn't know the typical routine, doesn't really know your roommates that well yet. Give him time. But consider trying to convey to him why he shouldn't bark at the roommates -- "Oh, it's just Pete" -- rather than a harsh command or a correction at this point, which may have the unintended consequence of convincing the dog that the roommates are indeed something to worry about.

All JMO, and with the caveat that I've never lived anyplace with a dog where people would come and go in the middle of the night, so I'm sure that is a unique challenge.

I'm really glad that comes up often, about checking out the dog's alert bark and then saying it's OK. And I do it every single time. I do want that single alert bark, but just as much, I want the dog to know that my eval ends his responsibility in the matter.

Cheri is right that it takes a while to get it across that YOU will assess the "threat" and YOU will approve it. I exaggerate my face and body language to show a serious but calm "look and see" and then an upbeat and approving "it's OK!"

As Cheri says, "OK, it's just Pete" is good, until he gets to know that Pete is approved. For blanket "approved strangers" at my house, I just use "It's the lawn guys!" for all of them, since the lawn guys and their machines and frequent passes back and forth were a significant challenge, and "lawn guys" was used a LOT over several weeks in an upbeat voice with a smile (after checking!).

"What I need to know is whether this reaction from him is coming from fear or aggression and no one has even touched on that, so forgive me if it looks like I am being closed-minded."


The dog is two weeks in. He doesn't know much about the house. I wouldn't consider the reaction to be any kind of a "fear or aggression" problem. I'm thinking that the dog is being normal and it's your job now to make it clear that you will check everything out and that you will give him the all-is-well.