You guys all remember the furry beast who does not like to be touched?
Well, he is starting to seek out people and pets at the dog park, even
from complete strangers, which is a Very Good Thing. Problem is that he
growls (low, grumbling kind) at any other dog that attempts to butt in
while he's getting petted. Most of the time, the dog that approaches
the person is their own, and of course, the people don't appreciate it
much. I've been telling the petters to stop paying him attention when
he does that, but especially the people who have known him for a long
time, and know about his past issues, generally tell their own dogs to
buzz off and continue to pet him. He has raised his lip at Zoe and
Izzy, when they've really butted in while I'm petting him (attempting to
push his head away and put their own head under my hand), but it hasn't
ever gone further than that.

First of all, is this a problem? I take this to be some form of
resource guarding, and am not sure if he is within his rights to do
this. If it is, what can I do to correct him? I don't want him to
think that approaching people and asking for pets is a bad idea, and
removing the reward (petting) while he is being overly reactive is the
only way I can think of.

Suja

Suja wrote in :

If it is, what can I do to correct him?

Now, keeping in mind that I am not a trainer... I am wondering if you could
attack this in the following manner.

Find out at what distance he starts growling as the dogs approach.
When another dog is approaching, give him a slow but steady stream of
treats. When the dog gets past the "boundary", give him a jackpot. Continue
until his boundary has been shrunk a bit. Repeat as necessary.

Remember, I am not a trainer, so my suggestion may be worth what you are
paying me for this.

--
*******************************************
Marcel Beaudoin & Moogli

*******************************************
'Gene Rodenberry, 1921-1991 - Shakka,
when the walls fell.'
*******************************************

Marcel Beaudoin wrote:

Find out at what distance he starts growling as the dogs approach.
When another dog is approaching, give him a slow but steady stream of
treats. When the dog gets past the "boundary", give him a jackpot. Continue
until his boundary has been shrunk a bit. Repeat as necessary.

Ever take treats to the dog park? There are *really* good reasons not
to. Conceptually however, this is a good idea.

Suja

Suja wrote in :

Ever take treats to the dog park? There are *really* good reasons not
to.

Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Due to Moogli's size, I try to avoid our dog
park if there are more than 3 or 4 other dogs there.

Conceptually however, this is a good idea.

IIRC, Izzy belongs to close friends of yours. Could you do it at your place
or at their place?

--
*******************************************
Marcel Beaudoin & Moogli

*******************************************
'We're not making this up just so we
can take over the world!' - Brain
*******************************************

Krishur wrote:

I wonder if he'll associate the sudden turn off from the petter as having
something to do with the intruding dog he's now focused on.

If the person stops petting, he just moves on. So, I don't think he
makes the association. I don't know how strong a motivator the petting
is for him yet, and based on his prior history, would think that it
isn't that strong.

Perhaps the petter should attempt to get his attention on them and off the
intruding dog--praise when s/he gets the attention back and he stops
growling?

This is worth a shot, because there is really no correction involved.
The only problem I foresee (and it is a big one) is that he only really
listens to people he cares deeply about (especially with something like
'Watch'), and right now, there are 3 or 4 of us that are on that list.

Suja

Subject: Is this a problem?
From: Suja
Date: 7/25/03 5:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time

I suppose with some dogs it could be a potential problem. Shilo doesn't like to
be sniffed AT ALL. She greets on her terms. And a dog that intrudes too long at
the nether end gets a most nasty sounding growl. But it has never progressed,
and there has not been a dog that has attacked her because of it.


Deb
Shi the Survivor
Georgie the Kid-Snarker

Subject: Is this a problem?
From: Suja
Date: 7/25/03 5:30 AM Pacific

Sorry, Suja, my reply was a bit off-base with the problem presented. (as Gilda:
'never mind')


Deb
Shi the Survivor
Georgie the Kid-Snarker

Suja wrote:
First of all, is this a problem? I take this to be some form of
resource guarding, and am not sure if he is within his rights to do
this. If it is, what can I do to correct him? I don't want him to
think that approaching people and asking for pets is a bad idea, and
removing the reward (petting) while he is being overly reactive is the
only way I can think of.

IMHO, the sticky issue here is that you don't want to inadvertently teach him
to inhibit his warning signals. So I wouldn't correct in any pro-active way.

What I've done with Kenzie and Maddie, who started out really snarky about my
attention, is to pet the dog who comes to me while I continue petting the first
dog. If the first dog gets snarky, I immediately ignore her and continue to
pet the second dog. As soon as she's behaving, I go back to petting both.

The other dog doesn't affect the reward. Only her behavior affects it.

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Last updated June 27 at 10:00 a.m.