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What to do??



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 17th 04, 09:41 PM
Pam
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Default What to do??

I've been working on a fear aggression issue with my 1-year-old German
shepherd dog (Lexi) for quite some time now. I've been doing real well with
her after ruling out all medical reasons and then seeing an animal
behavioral specialist. Following her instructions of putting Lexi on the
NILIF program, desensitizing and redirection she’s improved 90% to the point
where she greets my mom with wagging tail and licks. She accepts all people
who have dogs but is still a bit suspicious of those that are dogless.
People that she sees on a regular basis (that have followed my instructions)
have even been able to pet her. My problem now is not so much with Lexi, but
with the people that just won’t listen to me when I tell them to let Lexi
approach at her own comfort level. There’s this one person in particular
that Lexi has encountered a few times that persists on walking up to her
with out stretched hand to pet her. I try to avoid this as it tends to make
Lexi bark and lunge and she has done this with this person in the past so
you would think that they would know better. I’ve told them over and over
not to do this. I always try to keep myself aware of what’s going on around
me at all times and so that I can give Lexi a command to concentrate on when
something is going to happen that I know will make her uncomfortable, but
when this person sees Lexi sitting quietly, they just assume that everything
is okay now and I can see Lexi's comfort level dropping visably. There are
always people who think that they are the special ones that can make a
connection with a problem dog. The only thing I can think of to do now is to
turn and walk Lexi away from this person when I see them coming. This may
look rude to the person, but I don’t know what else to do. Lexi’s well being
is at stake here and I can’t risk her nipping and having to go back to
square one. I thought I would post my dilemma here to see if any of you have
any suggestions as to how to handle people who won’t co-operate. This person
lives in the same building as I do, so it’s not a matter of avoiding them
completely.




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  #2  
Old November 17th 04, 10:17 PM
ceb
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"Pam" wrote in
:

She accepts all people
who have dogs but is still a bit suspicious of those that are dogless.


Well, those people ARE pretty suspicious!!

People that she sees on a regular basis (that have followed my
instructions) have even been able to pet her. My problem now is not so
much with Lexi, but with the people that just won't listen to me when
I tell them to let Lexi approach at her own comfort level. There's
this one person in particular that Lexi has encountered a few times
that persists on walking up to her with out stretched hand to pet her.
I try to avoid this as it tends to make Lexi bark and lunge and she
has done this with this person in the past so you would think that
they would know better. I've told them over and over not to do this. I
always try to keep myself aware of what's going on around me at all
times and so that I can give Lexi a command to concentrate on when
something is going to happen that I know will make her uncomfortable,
but when this person sees Lexi sitting quietly, they just assume that
everything is okay now and I can see Lexi's comfort level dropping
visably. There are always people who think that they are the special
ones that can make a connection with a problem dog. The only thing I
can think of to do now is to turn and walk Lexi away from this person
when I see them coming. This may look rude to the person, but I don't
know what else to do. Lexi's well being is at stake here and I can't
risk her nipping and having to go back to square one. I thought I
would post my dilemma here to see if any of you have any suggestions
as to how to handle people who won't co-operate. This person lives in
the same building as I do, so it's not a matter of avoiding them
completely.


You have my sympathy. I have had similar issues with Zoe, and have been
having her sit and stay while strangers pass by. People on this newsgroup
advised me to be quite blunt with people, announcing clearly that Zoe is
not friendly and does not want to greet them. So that might be the first
thing to try with your neighbor. In my case, no one has approached Zoe
when they see that I am trying to keep her calm by having her sit -- so
that has been good.

If you know which apartment/unit the person lives in, you might want to
drop by without Lexi so you can have a straightforward talk without
worrying about keeping your dog calm. I would just lay it out for the
person as you have here, that Lexi should not be approached and that it's
very very important that when Lexi is sitting calmly she absolutely must
not be approached. There may come a time in the future when Lexi feels
more comfortable with this person (Zoe tends to get used to people after
seeing them a few times) and then the friendship may be able to progress.
But it sounds to me like you are doing all the right things and you
are right to want to preserve your hard work and your dog's trust in you,
and that might mean having a pretty blunt talk with your neighbor.

Keep us posted!

--Catherine
& Zoe the cockerchow
  #4  
Old November 18th 04, 01:13 AM
Diana
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"Pam" wrote in message
...
[..]


square one. I thought I would post my dilemma here to see if any of you

have
any suggestions as to how to handle people who won’t co-operate. This

person
lives in the same building as I do, so it’s not a matter of avoiding them
completely.



Sorry, but this is the bain of my life too - my dog is too friendly and will
really offer 'her all' greeting wise, and I've been 'rude'; been cold; been
argumentative; been subtle; but what ever I've tried, I cannot get the
average person who likes dogs to simply turn & look away if she's being
overwhelming / darn right rude & obnoxious.

Dogs would be easy to train, if it weren't for the others we have to share
our environment with... to prove it, now, how much is preached for the 100%
recall??? try it now, but not on your dog - call your partner or nearest
friend, bet they don't drop everything and come running either? :S

Diana


  #5  
Old November 18th 04, 02:09 AM
Pam
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Thanks alot for your support and advice. It's good to know that I'm not
alone with the feelings I have. I was beginning to wonder if I was being
biased towards Lexi's side of the issue and unable to see other people's
sides of this, but after reading your posts I have become reinforced in my
stance to see only Lexi's side. It doesn't matter what other people think as
long as they're not thinking about how much that bite they just sustained
hurt!! Lexi is a loving and gentle dog that doesn't have a visious bone in
her body. I realize her fear is what makes her a possible danger and we've
come a long way in overcoming that issue. She used to be afraid of
everything except us. I don't know what caused this unless it was something
that occured while she was still with her littermates as we have been her
only owners, but that no longer matters. Getting her to be more confident
and happy is the order of the day now. I used to feel so sorry for her as I
couldn't imagine going through life being so afraid of everything. There was
even a point in this ordeal where my husband was ready to give up. He wanted
to give her to a family that lived in the country where she wouldn't be
exposed to people so much, but I couldn't do that. I wanted to do everything
possible to give her every opportunity. I knew she was a good dog and I
would rather have had her put down than to give her to someone else who
maybe wouldn't have been as patient with her. I had visions of her being
yelled at, or worse being hit or beaten. Just for being afraid. I still feel
this way. No one else will ever share Lexi's life. I don't worry about that
anymore though, Lexi now is nothing like the Lexi of even six months ago.
Hurray for Lexi!!!


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  #7  
Old November 18th 04, 12:40 PM
Tracy Doyle
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Default



ceb wrote:

If you know which apartment/unit the person lives in, you might want to
drop by without Lexi so you can have a straightforward talk without
worrying about keeping your dog calm. I would just lay it out for the
person as you have here, that Lexi should not be approached and that it's
very very important that when Lexi is sitting calmly she absolutely must
not be approached. There may come a time in the future when Lexi feels
more comfortable with this person (Zoe tends to get used to people after
seeing them a few times) and then the friendship may be able to progress.
But it sounds to me like you are doing all the right things and you
are right to want to preserve your hard work and your dog's trust in you,
and that might mean having a pretty blunt talk with your neighbor.


Another thing you can do if this is a reasonable person is to explain
that the dog is in training. If s/he thinks s/he's so special, s/he'd
probably be quite flattered if you offered to let him/her help you with
training by doing this or that. Which includes keeping hands OFF for a
while until your dog learns to relax with the whole idea. Might work...

Tracy
  #8  
Old November 18th 04, 02:01 PM
Marcel Beaudoin
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Default

"Pam" wrote in
:

I thought I would post my dilemma here to see if any of you have
any suggestions as to how to handle people who won't co-operate. This
person lives in the same building as I do, so it's not a matter of
avoiding them completely.


This is rather extreme, and a bit confrontational, buut it may be a step
that you have to take. Find some ppictures of dog-bite victims. Ideally as
graphic as possible. If there are visible stitches and lots of swelling
and/or bruising that is great.

Find a lawyer (or notary public) and have them draw up a waiver form
absolving you and all your heirs from any and all damages resulting from
bites caused by Lexi due to them not following the rules you have set out
for interactions with Lexi. Make sure to have phrases llike "Up to and
including death" and "extreme disfigurement" included in there.

Or, if you don't feel like doing that, carry a water pistol or a tennis
ball in your pockets. Any time that the person approaches, wither throw
them the ball to catch it, or shoot them with the water pistol. If they
complain, tell them that you will stop shooting them with the water pistol
if they will stop approaching Lexi.

--
Marcel and Moogli
  #9  
Old November 18th 04, 09:12 PM
flick
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Posts: n/a
Default

Marcel Beaudoin wrote:

This is rather extreme, and a bit confrontational, buut it may be a step
that you have to take. Find some ppictures of dog-bite victims. Ideally as
graphic as possible. If there are visible stitches and lots of swelling
and/or bruising that is great.

Find a lawyer (or notary public) and have them draw up a waiver form
absolving you and all your heirs from any and all damages resulting from
bites caused by Lexi due to them not following the rules you have set out
for interactions with Lexi. Make sure to have phrases llike "Up to and
including death" and "extreme disfigurement" included in there.

Or, if you don't feel like doing that, carry a water pistol or a tennis
ball in your pockets. Any time that the person approaches, wither throw
them the ball to catch it, or shoot them with the water pistol. If they
complain, tell them that you will stop shooting them with the water pistol
if they will stop approaching Lexi.


I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think that such a waiver
would have any meaning.

Squirt-gunning them probably wouldn't be a good idea;
even though it's pretty harmless, it could probably be
called assault.

If I were the OP, I would seriously consider putting a
muzzle on my dog when there was a chance we'd run into
a lunatic like this.

flick 100785



 




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