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new dog...new surroundings



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 4th 07, 10:28 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default new dog...new surroundings

hello,

My name is Tracy and I have just become the owner of a 3 year old
Germam Shepherd nam,ed Dallas. She is a beautiful dog, very
loving,gentle,loyal and extremely cuddly. She will sleep in bed with
me as long as im in bed and wait for me outside the shower. Shes
obedient and playful and will obey even the slightest
command.....until i take her around other people. Whenever anyone
comes over she will bark and growl viciously and will not leave my
side. I had her out for a walk 3 days ago and out of nowhere she
attacked and bit a man just walking past on the sidewalk.
Thankfully,he didnt press charges.
I dont know what to do about this. My friend (who I took her from)
raised her in the country where there was no public and no other
people around other than her and her kids.
I guess what im wondering is, is it possible for me to (safely) get
Dallas use to the city and re-train her into acceptable behavior? If
so, how do I do this? Or should i try and find her a new home where
she will be more suited with comfortable surroundings?

Please, if you have any comments questions or advice i would
absolutely LOVE to hear it...

Thanks,

Tracy

  #2  
Old July 4th 07, 04:27 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
bethgsd
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 526
Default new dog...new surroundings


wrote in message
ups.com...
hello,

My name is Tracy and I have just become the owner of a 3 year old
Germam Shepherd nam,ed Dallas. She is a beautiful dog, very
loving,gentle,loyal and extremely cuddly. She will sleep in bed with
me as long as im in bed and wait for me outside the shower. Shes
obedient and playful and will obey even the slightest
command.....until i take her around other people. Whenever anyone
comes over she will bark and growl viciously and will not leave my
side. I had her out for a walk 3 days ago and out of nowhere she
attacked and bit a man just walking past on the sidewalk.
Thankfully,he didnt press charges.
I dont know what to do about this. My friend (who I took her from)
raised her in the country where there was no public and no other
people around other than her and her kids.
I guess what im wondering is, is it possible for me to (safely) get
Dallas use to the city and re-train her into acceptable behavior? If
so, how do I do this? Or should i try and find her a new home where
she will be more suited with comfortable surroundings?

Please, if you have any comments questions or advice i would
absolutely LOVE to hear it...

Thanks,

Tracy


Tracy,

It would be a very good idea to work with an experienced trainer in person,
one on one with this problem.

Good luck.

Beth



  #3  
Old July 4th 07, 11:53 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
doglinks
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 12
Default new dog...new surroundings

Hi Tracy,

You've inherited a dog with many problems.
This is territorial aggression, from what you've described.

If you want to keep the dog, you will need to work long and hard to
get the dog to be a social dog.
You will need help. You will need professional advice.

You either pay for a dog trainer, or you will pay a dog fine.

However, you can read more about it on the Net.
http://www.positivedogs.com/aggression_start.html

This is a good place to start.

/Natalie

On Jul 4, 9:28 pm, wrote:

comes over she will bark and growl viciously and will not leave my
side. I had her out for a walk 3 days ago and out of nowhere she
attacked and bit a man just walking past on the sidewalk.
Thankfully,he didnt press charges.
I dont know what to do about this. My friend (who I took her from)
raised her in the country where there was no public and no other
people around other than her and her kids.
I guess what im wondering is, is it possible for me to (safely) get
Dallas use to the city and re-train her into acceptable behavior? If
so, how do I do this? Or should i try and find her a new home where
she will be more suited with comfortable surroundings?

Please, if you have any comments questions or advice i would
absolutely LOVE to hear it...

Thanks,

Tracy



  #4  
Old July 5th 07, 04:13 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Many Dogs \(flick\)
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 419
Default new dog...new surroundings

wrote in message
ups.com...
hello,

My name is Tracy and I have just become the owner of a 3 year old
Germam Shepherd nam,ed Dallas. She is a beautiful dog, very
loving,gentle,loyal and extremely cuddly. She will sleep in bed with
me as long as im in bed and wait for me outside the shower. Shes
obedient and playful and will obey even the slightest
command.....until i take her around other people. Whenever anyone
comes over she will bark and growl viciously and will not leave my
side. I had her out for a walk 3 days ago and out of nowhere she
attacked and bit a man just walking past on the sidewalk.
Thankfully,he didnt press charges.
I dont know what to do about this. My friend (who I took her from)
raised her in the country where there was no public and no other
people around other than her and her kids.
I guess what im wondering is, is it possible for me to (safely) get
Dallas use to the city and re-train her into acceptable behavior? If
so, how do I do this? Or should i try and find her a new home where
she will be more suited with comfortable surroundings?

Please, if you have any comments questions or advice i would
absolutely LOVE to hear it...


As bethgsd said, consult a good trainer. In the meantime, perhaps she
should be muzzled for her walks?

This is another case where I'd be curious to know if she has a comfort zone,
where she will allow herself to be petted by a stranger that's farther away
from you than leash-length. Has she been friendly with other people when
you aren't physically close to her?

flick 100785


  #5  
Old July 5th 07, 10:32 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Michael A. Ball
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 311
Default new dog...new surroundings

On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 02:28:56 -0700, wrote:

hello,

My name is Tracy and I have just become the owner of a 3 year old
Germam Shepherd nam,ed Dallas...


Whenever anyone
comes over she will bark and growl viciously and will not leave my
side...


Just one more opinion here. I really like GSD, and it sounds like you've
acquired a potentially fabulous specimen! Whatever it takes, please,
don't give up on Dallas.

Why did your friend give away such a fine dog? How did you get the dog
to accept you?

As I believe you realize, Dallas is far, far behind on socialization;
and it's going to be a challenge to correct--because everyone will fear
him. I wish I were there to meet him. I don't want to minimize Dallas's
problem, or blow it out of proportion. Dogs do what they know to do.

If you have the resources and a professional trainer is available, use
one. Otherwise, you can probably correct Dallas's misbehavior. I doubt
that Dallas is trained to guard a physical area, and if so, he's away
from it now. So, what's he reacting to? Again, why didn't he react that
way to you? If you know, that's just about what you need to get other
people to do. :-)

Get some of your friends/acquaintances who would be willing to help, one
at a time, to help you retrain Dallas. The three of you go for a walk.
See how close your helper can get to you. Try to decrease the distance
as you walk. Once Dallas appears to accept the presence of the helper,
hand the leash to your helper and continue walking. Slowly drift away
from Dallas and see if he will tolerate the separation.

If he absolutely goes nuts, close up and retake the leash. Repeat the
process until Dallas realizes he will remain safe, in the hands of
people you accept.

We all fear the unknown, to various extents; including Dallas. He just
needs to eliminate a source of fear: strangers.

For what it's worth, a balance of defending and accepting would be my
personal goal for Dallas. I have a Chow Chow, and I don't want Tang to
accept just anyone.

Please, keep us posted. This is going to be a great learning experience!




___________________
A dog's life is too short; their only fault really.
  #6  
Old July 6th 07, 12:33 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Many Dogs \(flick\)
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 419
Default new dog...new surroundings

"Michael A. Ball" wrote in message
...

Just one more opinion here. I really like GSD, and it sounds like you've
acquired a potentially fabulous specimen! Whatever it takes, please,
don't give up on Dallas.

Why did your friend give away such a fine dog? How did you get the dog
to accept you?

As I believe you realize, Dallas is far, far behind on socialization;
and it's going to be a challenge to correct--because everyone will fear
him. I wish I were there to meet him. I don't want to minimize Dallas's
problem, or blow it out of proportion. Dogs do what they know to do.

If you have the resources and a professional trainer is available, use
one. Otherwise, you can probably correct Dallas's misbehavior. I doubt
that Dallas is trained to guard a physical area, and if so, he's away
from it now. So, what's he reacting to? Again, why didn't he react that
way to you? If you know, that's just about what you need to get other
people to do. :-)

Get some of your friends/acquaintances who would be willing to help, one
at a time, to help you retrain Dallas. The three of you go for a walk.
See how close your helper can get to you. Try to decrease the distance
as you walk. Once Dallas appears to accept the presence of the helper,
hand the leash to your helper and continue walking. Slowly drift away
from Dallas and see if he will tolerate the separation.

If he absolutely goes nuts, close up and retake the leash. Repeat the
process until Dallas realizes he will remain safe, in the hands of
people you accept.

We all fear the unknown, to various extents; including Dallas. He just
needs to eliminate a source of fear: strangers.

For what it's worth, a balance of defending and accepting would be my
personal goal for Dallas. I have a Chow Chow, and I don't want Tang to
accept just anyone.

Please, keep us posted. This is going to be a great learning experience!


I wonder if this behavior is more like resource guarding than fear of
strangers, if he's more guarding her. I wonder if he'd accept somebody else
if she wasn't there.

flick 100785


  #7  
Old July 6th 07, 01:24 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Michael A. Ball
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 311
Default new dog...new surroundings

On Thu, 5 Jul 2007 18:33:24 -0500, "Many Dogs \(flick\)"
wrote:

I wonder if this behavior is more like resource guarding than fear of
strangers, if he's more guarding her. I wonder if he'd accept somebody else
if she wasn't there.


Yes, I also wondered if he wasn't guarding her. That's probably the
first thing most folks would suspect. However, I didn't even think about
the "resource" aspect. Do dogs consider us a resource [except maybe at
feeding time]? :-) You know, I just realized, some shelter dogs do come
to see me as a source of security. They become "clingy." I'm certain
most of us have experienced this behavior.

There are plenty of stories where a dog has defended its guardian, but
the motivation is never addressed; and I certainly don't know what
motivates that behavior. Now I'm curious.

Maybe Tracy will tell us how Dallas reacts to strangers, when he is
alone. I suspect his reaction is no different.



________________________
Whatever it takes.
  #8  
Old July 6th 07, 02:15 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Kevin Michael Vail
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 700
Default new dog...new surroundings

In article ,
Michael A. Ball wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jul 2007 18:33:24 -0500, "Many Dogs \(flick\)"
wrote:

I wonder if this behavior is more like resource guarding than fear of
strangers, if he's more guarding her. I wonder if he'd accept somebody else
if she wasn't there.


Yes, I also wondered if he wasn't guarding her. That's probably the
first thing most folks would suspect. However, I didn't even think about
the "resource" aspect. Do dogs consider us a resource [except maybe at
feeding time]? :-)


Toby had just about every form of aggression there is, and one of them
was this. But if someone else had the leash, he became their dog
temporarily as far as this went. We had to train the techs at the vet,
because when they'd bring him out after a procedure, and hand me the
leash, they had better back off because they were no longer magic! It
was like someone flicked a switch. It worked the other way when I
handed them his leash, except that I was always magic. :-)

This behavior never showed up at the shelter because nothing was really
_his_...it wasn't until he got here that any of this developed. Quite a
surprise and quite a lot to deal with, but worth it in the long run. I
still miss him.
--
Kevin Michael Vail | "This is so cool I have to go to the bathroom!"
| -- Calvin

  #9  
Old July 6th 07, 03:25 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Many Dogs \(flick\)
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 419
Default new dog...new surroundings

"Michael A. Ball" wrote in message
...

Yes, I also wondered if he wasn't guarding her. That's probably the
first thing most folks would suspect. However, I didn't even think about
the "resource" aspect. Do dogs consider us a resource [except maybe at
feeding time]? :-) You know, I just realized, some shelter dogs do come
to see me as a source of security. They become "clingy." I'm certain
most of us have experienced this behavior.

There are plenty of stories where a dog has defended its guardian, but
the motivation is never addressed; and I certainly don't know what
motivates that behavior. Now I'm curious.

Maybe Tracy will tell us how Dallas reacts to strangers, when he is
alone. I suspect his reaction is no different.


You're probably right wrt his reaction. But I'm very curious also, as I've
known a couple-three dogs, and owned one myself, that any stranger could
handle (one was a show dog), but they were VERY unhappy if somebody touched
their human.

Some dogs that behave like that maybe are just plain stranger-unfriendly, or
fearful, wouldn't like somebody coming up to the gate, don't care for
visitors, etc. The resource guarders, as I think of them, attached to one
person very, very strongly, but were sociable with other people - as long as
those people weren't too close to their human. Territorial, but their
"territory" was a person.

I'd think general unfriendliness (or fearfulness) and resource guarding
maybe oughtta be approached in different ways. Excellent obedience training
helps manage the RG imo.

flick 100785
---------

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die
from great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon
happens to man. All things are connected. Chief Seattle


  #10  
Old July 6th 07, 06:53 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Paula
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,726
Default new dog...new surroundings

"bethgsd" wrote in
news:C%Oii.8545$vG2.3577@trnddc02:

Tracy,

It would be a very good idea to work with an experienced trainer in
person, one on one with this problem.


Also, it would be a very bad idea to try to rehome the dog without full
disclosure of the bite episode. Even then, I wouldn't rehome her with
anyone who was not experienced with aggressive dogs. Bites are serious and
need to be worked on with someone who knows what they are doing and can see
how what they suggest is working as they go. No one on usenet can fix the
problem for you. Good luck!

Paula
 




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