QUOTE:
I just want to thank everyone for the great advise. Here is what I have done so far.

No more prong collar. I found a dominant dog collar and watched the video on it's use. Just lifting the dog slightly off the ground when he is barking at the doorbell

Well .... how did "I am going to crate whenever someone comes over" turn into that? My own leanings would be toward doorbell desensitizing.

Feeding in the crate, no toys or food left around the house.

We are all putting in effort to get him more exercise.

GOOD!

I'm gonna watch the video on pack structure.

Got a private recommendation for a K9 trainer who I think I'm going to try. It seems to me that someone who does bite training maybe able to teach my dog to be less reactive.

I have to jump in here and say that IMO this is a terrible plan for this dog. Can you tell us the reasoning behind it? Bite-work for a fearful dog? K9 trainer for reactivity or fear? IMO, WAY wrong direction. Am I reading this wrong?

I did have him around my young nieces all the time until he was 6 months old. That is when he started to nip at them. In the beginning I thought the barking was out of frustration of not being able to play with them anymore. I somehow feel like my correction gave the dog the wrong idea that the kids were something to be fearful of. I hope I can change that.

I think you can make big strides in it.


Can you tell us in more detail what you mean about a K9 trainer and bite-work for this dog? Maybe I'm misunderstanding. I'm thinking I must be, because I don't understand any merit at all in this ... there must be more info.


Have you read any of the threads here about desensitizing?

I am concerned that a K9 trainer may not have much experience dealing with fearful, reactive dogs.
Their experience is generally going to be with confident dogs.

More info needed about this trainer.

Yeah, be careful with the K9 guys. My personal experience has not been good with these types of trainers.

Obviously, they know a lot about training dogs. However, my personal experience has been that some still use a lot of force in their training. I have seen the two best K9 trainers in my area and they were both like that.

Not to say all trainers that work with police dogs are brutal, but I would be careful to ask a lot of questions about how much motivation they use if I was working with a fearful dog.

Ok, I'm gonna wait on the training and try and work with the dog on my own.

I have been trying get him not to bark at the door for 2 years. I just feel very hopeless in this situation. I am putting him in the crate when people come over.

The problem is if I don't know someone is coming I need a way to get the dog to settle down so I can get him to the crate. I use the collar to get him to the crate. I just feel it is a better option than the prong collar. At least if we are outside or the door bell rings I can quickly get control of the dog and get him to his crate.

As a family we are all putting in effort to help Jasper. I didn't get much help from the kids before but they are taking Jasper's issue to heart and really trying to help me with the training instead of letting him do things I don't want him to do.

 Quote: mary weinberg

Ok, I'm gonna wait on the training and try and work with the dog on my own.

I have been trying get him not to bark at the door for 2 years. I just feel very hopeless in this situation. I am putting him in the crate when people come over.

The problem is if I don't know someone is coming I need a way to get the dog to settle down so I can get him to the crate. I use the collar to get him to the crate. I just feel it is a better option than the prong collar. At least if we are outside or the door bell rings I can quickly get control of the dog and get him to his crate.

Don't lift the dog by the collar. Clip the leash on and lead him back to his crate. If the collar is high on his neck, you should be able to lead him without too much pulling.

If you have been using a prong collar to correct him for his aggressive behavior at the door, you may have inadvertently made him more fearful and reactive. Think about it from the dog's point of view:

Every time he barks at someone at the door, he gets a painful prong correction. He associates that pain with whomever is at the door, not with you telling him 'No!'. So now, he gets more reactive and aggressive because he experiences pain whenever someone's at the door.

You need to work on one thing at a time, using marker/clicker training. Put the prong and dominant dog collar away, unless it's loose enough to slide down his neck a little bit (the dd collar...the prong needs to be put away, probably permanently). If it is somewhat loose, you can use it as a slip collar.

If you want to start working on door behavior, enlist the help of a friend and set up a scenario where the friend knocks at the door, gently, one or two times (but doesn't come in). When the dog runs to the door, block him from reaching it and wait until he calms down. Don't give him any commands, just wait him out. Once he's calm(er) click and reward. Do this several times for a week, or until he can remain calm once he reaches the door. When he can remain calm, you can work on giving him a command when he reaches the door, like 'sit', a few feet from the door.

When you are not working on this scenario and someone knocks on the door, clip the leash to him and gently lead him to his crate. Don't expect this dog to be less reactive at the door without a lot of work on your part.

I don't know if any of this has been said yet, since I don't have the time to read the whole thread before work, but none of the reactive/fearful dogs that have come into my house eat from bowls. They always use Kongs and work-to-eat toys like the Wobbler or twist-n-treat. It's a way to exercise the mind as well as the body while eating, and creates a relaxed mindset in the dog since he has a 'job' instead of just having a bowl shoved at his face 2-3 times a day. You can most definitely use work-to-eat toys with frozen raw, if that's the diet you feed.

I'd be more than happy to go into it more, so if you or anyone else is interested feel free to post here or send me a PM. Gotta run right now.

I do feel I made the situation worse by using the prong collar. I switched to the dominant collar so I could still have a secure hold on the dog. I once had him out on a clip collar and it broke. The dog got loose and chased one of my old neighbor ladies. I'm going to look for a traditional buckle collar and see how that works. I don't really trust the clip ones anymore.

I like the idea of feeding from the kong. I am not sure if I should use it with Jasper because he is protective of his food & toys. Maybe for the morning feeding when it is just the two of us at home.

If he's 'protective' of his food and toys even with you, that's resource guarding and it's serious. There's absolutely no reason why the dog's favorite person shouldn't be able to take away food, bowls, toys, or anything else the dog has possession of. If you're unable to do that DO NOT USE A KONG.

http://www.amazon.com/Mine-Practical-Guide-Resource-Guarding/dp/0970562942

I have three adult dogs who all have some degree of resource guarding (RG), but all of them will willingly release possession of an item or food to trusted adult humans. Since I don't allow strangers to try taking things from my dogs, I really have no idea how that'd work out.

But WHY do you need to bother a dog while he's eating? I'm sure I could take away my dogs food mid-bite... but I don't. Feed the dog, and leave him alone.

 Quote: Kelly Byrd

But WHY do you need to bother a dog while he's eating? I'm sure I could take away my dogs food mid-bite... but I don't. Feed the dog, and leave him alone.

A big DITTO to this.

You are creating the problem. Give the dog his meal & let him be.