10 week old puppy growling at my son - need to deal with ASAP

meritaten

sarabe wrote: »

Victoria Stilwell may well have done that in her early programmes but then she educated herself and I am fairly certain that she no longer subscribes to the myth.

In fact - this from Wikipedia

and your point is?????????????????

sarabe

My point is that what you are suggesting re lining up children and dogs and feeding them is silly and that VS would no longer suggest it since she changed her views.

She would also most definately not recommend encouraging children to growl at dogs.

meritaten

but I think that Victoria was right first time! since dogs came to live with humans they got fed on scraps - after the humans! and I never fed my dogs before we ate! they got fed after us and and had tinned food and scraps!
and I am NOT saying this again but, I mean lowering the voice when annoyed with your dog! I THOUGHT I had explained that! not growling as in imitating a dog growling!

sarabe

They may well have beed fed on scraps after we ate but it has diddly squat to do with rank and it is silly to line up children and dogs and feed them.

Encouraging a child to growl, lower their voice or say 'baaaaad dooog' is dangerous advice.

Victoria wasn't right first time. It is why she educated herself just like the majority of behaviour and training professionals have been doing over the years, now that we have easier access to the relevant research.

Raymond & Lorna Coppinger and L David Mech for example

http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/06_02/dogs_review.php

http://davemech.org/news.html

blue_monkey_2

I didn't want to start an argument over it so lets all agree to disagree. Some people have used the growl and it works for them. As I say, I always used said 'AH' at my dog rather than no and it definately had more effect but it could have been co-incidence. As I said before, my friend has recently paid huge amounts of money to a dog trainer/behaviorist (not sure what she calls herself) and she uses the pack method and my friend is happy with the results she is getting.

I've spoken to sarabe on PM and, to be honest, my pup is doing OK, I think we have to get used to have a different dog, with a different personality - this one is more fiesty, she was the more confident from the littler and this is why we chose her. We have recognised when she is feeling threatened and now avoid this, as I type she is sleeping on my sons legs so she is not cross with him all the time - we have recognised why she is doing it and avoid those times. Also, she growls at everyone, not just him, he was on the brunt of the first few times she did it.

She is a baby and I've started giving her more routine too so she does not get overtired.

Our other dogs always got fed after us too, however, she got 'extras' like meat and gravy that the kids did not eat if we did that. I cannot see it has done us any harm to be fair. I guess we had an easy ride with our other dog she is VERY tolerant. The pup hangs off her while she just sits there and the only time she has ever told her off was last night when she had a chew and the pup was trying to get it. She was NOT happy and we have never seen her that cross before - however, she never once tried to bite the pup, just gave her a telling off. Anyhow, this pup is going to be more fiesty and is more outgoing. She wants to play all day and does not like being interupted. I've learnt a lot on this thread though and we just have to get used to a new pup having a different personality.

Oh, and my other dog HATES going for a walk and would rather I didn't, my friend laughs as I get her lead and she goes back to bed or hides behind the chair. LOL. She seems to like it once we are out and I've done everything to make it fun, we go with someone else as well - I can just tell her her eyes - but she has never wagged her tail in excitment about going out. She is also not a morning dog and pretty much spends all morning in her bed, only perking up after the kids have gone to school......

Funny thing is this though, she is a large staffy cross and no-one will approach her and people will move their dogs out of her way, even crossing the road to avoid us, unless I am with my friend who has a King Charles Cavalier! Because they are fine together people are happy to come up to us. And it is always other dogs having a go at her.

blue_monkey_2

Morning everyone. We had a dog behaviourist come to our house last night for he puppy - but he said the puppy was fine and it was our other dog with the problem - the jumping up - because she is so high energy and we have to stop her being like it.

He was here for 3 1/2 hours and, I have to say, it is the best money I have paid out to be told off. I thought that she was fine apart from the jumping tbh, but he said she is really bad mannered, also that a dog is not a human so does not get treated like one, they are dogs.

So we have lots of exercises that we have to do - it was very long winded to explain here, you reward good manners and my dogs have bad manners and while I had rules for the kids, there were no rules as such for the dogs. I was exhausted last night and fell asleep on the sofa which is rare for me.

So, I hope to be able to report back in a few weeks time after some VERY hard work (hence posting at this time in the morning), I can already see results and wow, last night was like living in a different house. I was even able to sit on the carpet in the front room without one of them coming up to lick me. There is a big of sulking going on from the older dog. I am not for one minute expecting this to be easy and I know it'll take a long time but these will be habits we then have for life with our dogs.

I know we have to change as well as the dog changing but there was a lot of psychology too so it was realy interesting but we are committed to changing this cycle we have got ourselves in as it'll make the dogs better natured and we will have all of this knowledge forever and for other dogs we get in the future so we never get this bad again. I am surprised how most of the stuff my older dog seems to have taken to already - such as waiting at the door to be told she can go out rather than barging through.

I am also booking to go to other training sessions during the day with him so I can get dog walking nipped in the bud. We got our other dog much older and so we have never let her off the lead as she runs around like a manic and will not recall, he has told me that I need to take the puppy out for a 10 minute walk today and I was wondering where I could go but I just this minute realised there is a bloody huge meadow behind our house...... doh!! I cannot take my other dog there as she runs home - only the puppy won't, she should stay by my side. I wish I had known this the first time but it is not too late to change and learn.

Sara, he seems to work the same way you do from our conversations. Fingers crossed please, I so want this to work and to have nice, happy calm dogs that everyone loves.

ermintrudey

I have just read this from start to finish and it's so great that you've continued to update what is happening. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading how things have changed and was intrested at hearing the different training methods too. Some of which I would agree with and some not, but intresting all the same.
I hope this doesn't sound condesending as it's not ment that way, well done blue-monkey for taking the time and effort to retrain both the dogs and people to make life more enjoyable for you all. Some people wouldn't bother making the effort unfortunatly but it's lovely when people do.

ali-t

blue_monkey wrote: »

Morning everyone. We had a dog behaviourist come to our house last night for he puppy - but he said the puppy was fine and it was our other dog with the problem - the jumping up - because she is so high energy and we have to stop her being like it.

He was here for 3 1/2 hours and, I have to say, it is the best money I have paid out to be told off. I thought that she was fine apart from the jumping tbh, but he said she is really bad mannered, also that a dog is not a human so does not get treated like one, they are dogs.

That made me smile. I was told the same by the behaviourist that came to my house. My older one (also a staff) was described as being the one who loads and points the gun, leaving the little'un to fire the bullets, hence being the one that gets the blame.

I agree with you about paying to be told off, some of the stuff is so obvious when it is pointed out!

blue_monkey_2

I didn't take it as condesending - she was my first dog and I went to classes but, looking back now, the classes were not the right ones and while they taught me how to sit, walk and stay, they did not teach me the other things which, I think now, are much more important. This is my time to get it right and change how things are in the house.

He told me to take the pup out this morning for a 10 minute walk around somewhere quite so we went to the meadow and it was funny to see her running along behind me when she realised I had walked a few steps in front. i was always too scared to let the other dog off but I should have and no-one told me that she would not run away!! I also went and bought a travel kennel thing for the car so she is contained - the other one just used to sit there.

Just an aside note. I was walking her and this man was walking past and he said 'ahh, sweet', 'how old is she' and he said 'what is she' and I said 'a SBT' and he said 'hmmmm, they can be a problem' in a 'I've changed my mind about how sweet she is kind of way' and I said 'only if you do not train them and treat them nicely' and then he walked off. Just goes to show the reputation they have - even at 13 weeks old.

Raksha

Playing 'Devils Advocate' here - but why stop a dog jumping up? I'd be more inclined to put it on command, so they can still express themselves when it's safe to do so......