Hello all,,,
I have an issue that is really worrying me. I have a six year old Lhasa Apso. He has traveled extensively with me and been in the show ring where he finished his championship at age 3. He is well socialized and has never displayed aggression to another dog or human. ( He is skeptical of strangers, but not aggressive). Until 8 months ago I lived in a studio apartment which was basically one large room so he and I were together for all but the 5 hours a day I work outside the home. I work as a computer graphic and webdesigner from home.
Eight months ago I made a move into a home ( business partner and friend) so we could share resources. At that time there were 3GDS's in the home and my dog bonded with the older (12yrs) male. They were constant companions until he passed in January 2010.
Shortly after that a new GSD male was adopted from a rescue and introduced to the home.. My Lhasa instantly disliked him and challenged him at every turn.
We are able to seperate them so now my dog spends a lot of his time in my rented bedroom while I work in the office. I have taken in two foster Lhasa females and he has bonded with them and they co exist in the bedroom and hallway. Admitidly he doesn't get as much attention as he did prior to the move but I take him with me in the car, play with him and devote at least 3 hours in the afternoon to him.
He has became increasingly protective of the bedroom to my room mate. First growling if she attempted to sit on my bed ( he sleeps there most of the day if I'm gone). We worked with that and it seemed to get better.
Today he charged my roommate and snapped at her as she entered the hallway to the bedroom. She was tossed some water on him and closed him into the bedroom in order to make her escape.
I really need help on how to address this.. he shows no aggression to her when I am in the home.

"Dogman" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 15 May 2010 20:16:02 -0400, whiskermouse22
wrote:

I have an issue that is really worrying me. I have a six year old Lhasa
Apso. He has traveled extensively with me and been in the show ring
where he finished his championship at age 3. He is well socialized and
has never displayed aggression to another dog or human.

Has he ever had any obedience training?

If not, why not?

Shortly after that a new GSD male was adopted from a rescue and
introduced to the home. My Lhasa instantly disliked him and challenged
him at every turn.

And what do you do when that happens?

We are able to seperate them so now my dog spends a lot of his time in
my rented bedroom while I work in the office. I have taken in two foster
Lhasa females and he has bonded with them and they co exist in the
bedroom and hallway. Admitidly he doesn't get as much attention as he
did prior to the move but I take him with me in the car, play with him
and devote at least 3 hours in the afternoon to him.

3+ hours of individual attention per day is more than enough, don't
you think?

He has became increasingly protective of the bedroom to my room mate.

Why is your roommate in your bedroom?

Heh.

Just kidding!

First growling if she attempted to sit on my bed ( he sleeps there most
of the day if I'm gone). We worked with that and it seemed to get
better.

What do you do when he growls at her?

And if you allow him to sleep there all the time, he probably just
assumes it's his bed, too, don't you think?

Today he charged my roommate and snapped at her as she entered the
hallway to the bedroom. She was tossed some water on him and closed him
into the bedroom in order to make her escape.

And where were you when this happened?

And could he have been sleeping when she entered the room?

Maybe she startled him?

I really need help on how to address this.. he shows no aggression to
her when I am in the home.

I'd recommend some good obedience training for your dog, at the very
least, and I'd invite your roommate to join in.

I'd also recommend that you quickly intervene and correct your dog
whenever he growls at your roommate.

In the interim, I'd use some management. Not knowing anything about
your place's layout, find some way to keep the antagonists separated
on a more or less permanent basis, through the use of barricades,
gates, doors, crates, etc.

I'd also sit down on a couch, along with your roommate, and discuss
among yourselves, all the things that may be going on here that would
make your dog not like or respect her. Does she tease him? Does she
ever play with him? She's already doused him with water, and closed
him in the bedroom. Does she ever take him for walks? Does anyone ever
take him for walks?

This probably boils down to two things.

A lack of obedience training for your dog.

and/or

A lack of leadership on your part.

But without knowing much, much more, it's hard to give you any real
advice.

So how about some more information?

Or you might just want to seek the services of a good
behaviorist/trainer, who can visit with the both of you, at your
house, and actually observe the interactions between all the parties
involved.

--
Dogman

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In addition to Dogman's comments, I would wonder why you have brought two
more dogs into your home to live just in one room. That alone could causing
some of the stress in your dog. Your dog went from having your whole house
to share with just you, to a mixed bag of human roommates, more dogs, and
now two fosters thrown in for good measure. Add to that, he's now confined
to your bedroom with the two fosters, no privacy and no room of his own.
Perhaps your roommate coming into your room was just one too many bodies for
your dog to tolerate in his space. I'm not really trying to be flip, nor am
I making an excuse for bad behaviour, but perhaps your dog just wants a
little peace.

Phyrie

On Sat, 15 May 2010 20:16:02 -0400, whiskermouse22
wrote:


Hello all,,,
I have an issue that is really worrying me. I have a six year old Lhasa
Apso. He has traveled extensively with me and been in the show ring
where he finished his championship at age 3. He is well socialized and
has never displayed aggression to another dog or human. ( He is
skeptical of strangers, but not aggressive). Until 8 months ago I lived
in a studio apartment which was basically one large room so he and I
were together for all but the 5 hours a day I work outside the home. I
work as a computer graphic and webdesigner from home.
Eight months ago I made a move into a home ( business partner and
friend) so we could share resources. At that time there were 3GDS's in
the home and my dog bonded with the older (12yrs) male. They were
constant companions until he passed in January 2010.
Shortly after that a new GSD male was adopted from a rescue and
introduced to the home.. My Lhasa instantly disliked him and challenged
him at every turn.
We are able to seperate them so now my dog spends a lot of his time in
my rented bedroom while I work in the office. I have taken in two foster
Lhasa females and he has bonded with them and they co exist in the
bedroom and hallway. Admitidly he doesn't get as much attention as he
did prior to the move but I take him with me in the car, play with him
and devote at least 3 hours in the afternoon to him.
He has became increasingly protective of the bedroom to my room mate.
First growling if she attempted to sit on my bed ( he sleeps there most
of the day if I'm gone). We worked with that and it seemed to get
better.
Today he charged my roommate and snapped at her as she entered the
hallway to the bedroom. She was tossed some water on him and closed him
into the bedroom in order to make her escape.
I really need help on how to address this.. he shows no aggression to
her when I am in the home.

He's had a lot of changes in his life in the past 8 months. It sounds
as though he may be becoming space aggressive due to confinement in
your bedroom and the general stress and tension of not getting along
with one of the GSDs. I have multiple dogs, so I'm not going to tell
you that six is a lot of dogs to have in one house - but it is a lot
of dogs if they don't all get along.

You don't mention how you worked on the problem of him growling if
your roommate sat on your bed.

It's hard to offer advice without being able to see the layout of your
house and get a feel for the general atmosphere. I think it's always
a good idea to get help in person when there are aggression problems,
whether it's dog-dog or dog-human aggression, and I'd suggest looking
for a local behaviorist.

"whiskermouse22" wrote

Hello all,,,
I have an issue that is really worrying me.

Dogman has some good questions there on this and without answers, I suspect
he cant't help more.