Home › Blogs › daintith's blog

If my dog was a human, I would say she has a split personality!

Sat, 07/14/2007 - 15:15 — daintith

Hi Aidan.
First I would like to say how much me and my family enjoy Positive Petzine site. We have found some very useful info here.
Just been reading the latest article 'Dogs on the Loose' about the Border Collie, Charlie who got a little ruffed up by another dog. Since we collected Summer (Huntaway Cross) from the SPCA at 10 weeks old, we have had a lot of hard work with various issues, e.g. extreme resource guarding, very very nervous of adults, particularly men, amongst many other things that we manage (not cured) - but manage. The main problem, which we have been unable to get under control is her approach to other dogs. She is now 19months old and after puppy classes, obedience classes, socialisation, positive reinforcement, gradually introducing dogs step by step, as mentioned in the said article, etc, we cannot trust her with other dogs. She is very, very unpredictable. Some dogs she will walk towards and cower. Other dogs, no matter what size, colour, breed, sex, she will go straight in for the "I'll get you first". We cannot, for the life of us, (and we have had many different breeds of dogs over the years), pinpoint what is clicking her buttons. If she was a human, I'd say she had a split personality!. We don't walk Summer with our Border Collie Harley, as she won't allow him to walk anywhere except next to us, while she goes off to explore, and that's not fair on him, particularly as, he too, is a high energy level dog. To make matters worse, she occasionally attacks Harley in the house or garden. Again there seems to be no reason that we can see for the attack (no food/toy guarding, jealousy). Obviously something is going on, but we are at our wits end here, as what to try next. Your input would be greatly appreciated here.

Comments

Tue, 07/17/2007 - 11:29 — Aidan
Aidan's picture

This is clicking her buttons...

What 'clicks her buttons' is other dogs. How she deals with them may vary, but when all is said and done, her fear of other dogs is what causes her to use behaviors which get her away from them or subdue the other dogs somehow.

Remember this - dogs do what works for them.

I have a dog who barks at other dogs. It works very well for her, she doesn't need to deal with them beyond that because if she looks mean enough they go away. If they don't go away, a hard (but not puncturing) bite to the neck usually sorts them out. If they are really slow learners then rolling them over and making them squeal like a pig works really well and they usually stay away for years after that treatment.

Obviously this could land us in trouble, and if the other dog were tough enough there could be a serious fight.

So what I have done is taught her alternative behaviors, heeling, sitting and coming to me. We start at a distance from the other dog, then over time we have been able to move closer and closer and practise this in a variety of locations until it has generalised (to some extent, enough to keep us out of trouble).

There is one other thing, but I'm not sure of it's value unless you can work with a competent professional and have a good supply of friendly dogs to help you - you can set it up so that if you do get unwanted behavior it ceases to "work"; i.e the other dog doesn't go away UNTIL your dog tries the calm approach, then you click and have your helper lead the other dog away.

There are some problems with this approach, firstly you need to be really sure (through functional analysis) why your dog is doing what she does, and secondly you need a good supply of friendly dogs, competent helpers who can follow instructions, and a trained professional to at least get you started.

Walking your two dogs together - at times when you can't walk them separately, walk them on-leash. Allowing her to be reinforced for controlling what your other dog does will only make the problem worse so this becomes a management issue for now.

Fear of men - treated the same way as her fear of other dogs.

Resource guarding - in the free articles menu I have covered this one fairly well with a step-by-step plan. I suspect following this plan to completion might put a big dent in some of your other problems.

It would be worth your while seeking out a competent veterinary behaviorist, particularly with regard to her attacks on Harley. If they can't co-exist peacefully then re-homing is the only fair option for Harley's sake, but it's certainly possible to use training and management to enable a high percentage of dogs to live together even when one is reactive (I know from personal experience). Medication may help, to enable a window of opportunity where you can make big progress with your behavior modification program. Only a competent veterinary behaviorist with up-to-date knowledge will really be able to offer a valid opinion on this.

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com