Unique dog issues

Sit_Stay

Has anyone else had an issue with their dog that was so strange they were sure nobody else had ever experienced it?

Or, has any dog trainer /behaviorist ever experienced an issue that they never saw before or since?


If so, how do you deal with it since there is really no information out there on such an issue?

klip

Mostly you will find that your problem is not as uniques as you thought

Do you have a particular problem in mind?

Curbside Prophet

If I can't change my dog's behavior, I change mine. That's how I deal with it.

Sit_Stay

Well, for one thing she is not motivated by anything positive in the following situation. I have tried praise, treats, and favorite toys. What I ended up with is a dog that now will not eat, or play when I am the only one home.

How it started was she just goes crazy when my husband gets home. She is very happy to see him. She is also excited if we both come home together. However if I am the only one home, or I arrive home alone, she will not come out of her crate except for perhaps twice a day for potty break. She will eventually eat usually.

But for instance if it is the normal time to eat, I will try to get her excited about it. If she seems to respond happily to 'are you hungry?' I prepare her food. She will be standing nearby licking her lips and wagging her tail, but if I put the food down she runs away, or sniffs it then runs away. Same with arriving home and letting her out of her crate. I offer her her favorite treat after coxing her out. She will take it from my fingers, then set it down and run to her crate with her ears back. If she does come out and act happy, or after a walk, I will try to get her to play with her toys. She cowers and runs back to her crate. Sometimes if she is real excited I will squeek a toy and throw it, and she will actually start to go get it then stop, put her ears back, and run to her crate.

I have closed the crate before so she cannot utilize it. She will find a spot and lay there. However, she will sit or lay by me if I am in our room. (On our bed) or very occasionally on the couch or something. Usually only if the crate is not made available.

If my husband is home, we would actually have to tell her to go to her crate if we needed to crate her for some reason. When he is here she cannot be more than a foot away from him. However, she will play with me, eat fine, and take treats from me if he is home.

That isn't everything, but a start.

klip

How old is she? Has she had any kind of special history like for example - is she an adopted shelter dog?

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Sit_Stay

She is a shelter dog. Returned a few times for various reasons. Doesn't like children etc. She is four years old now. We have had her over a year. She is about 16 pound cocker/poodle we think. No submissive peeing or anything like that. (I say this because I understand it to be a cocker trait sometimes) But she will growl at me when I go to uncrate her when we come home together, or if I have closed the crate prior to my husband coming home and then go to let her out.

klip

Well that does sound very difficult. I'm hoping someone else with more knowledge will help you - I'm out of my depth

What you describe sounds very like my father's shelter dog - who is thankfully, improving rapidly. It sounds as though she has some strong negative association with interacting with humans. From what you describe, she starts out reacting to food and play like a normal dog, and then checks herself as though she is expecting something bad to happen.

Would you say she is a fearful dog? When she growls at you - would you say it could be out of fear? Approaching her when she is in her crate, bending over her etc could seem quite threatening to her.

Its interesting that she does not act like this towards your husband. Is it just because you interact with her more, and so its more likely to happen, or does she truely behave differently towards him?

GroovyGroomer777

Sit Stay - thank you for rescuing! Best of luck I hope you get all this worked out. When you do, it will be so rewarding.

Sit_Stay

Thank you Groovy. She is a good dog, I just feel bad for her being so insecure.

Klip, she actually is fearful in some situations. But in general is smart, and playful. She is doing very well obedience wise. The touch command I tried with her, she did ok at first, then freaked out. I have to learn to watch her body language better so I don't over do it. But she does act different if we are both home. When I am gone but he is home, she searches for me. When he is gone and I am home she mopes. But, even though she wants to be with him the whole time we are home, she looks to me even when he gives a command before she does it. She is checking herself before the toy/food. I just now tried to give her a treat while preparing her food, and she sniffed it and her eyes got big. She tried to leave, but then I offered her a better treat and she took it. She put it down and would not eat it until I looked away. We then played outside. She wanted in, but I made her stay outside and play. And she did. Then she wanted to rush in. But I made her wait. Then gave the ok command. Instead of running to her crate she went to the kitchen, I gave her her food. She ate it all.


But yes in many situations she is fearful, or insecure I would say.

klip

Sit_stay - it sounds like you are doing a very good job with this dog.

When you say you taught her the touch command, does that mean you do clicker training with her? I know that my dog sometimes freaks out at the intensity of training - I get far too serious and tend to stare at her hard, and go on for too long - so clicker training helped her because it is so much "lighter". The emphasis is on the dog working out what you want, and it works well for dogs who are easily freaked out by the intensity of other training methods.

The precision of clicker training helps a lot too, as there is less chance of there being mis-understandings and the dog gets confident.

Teaching her little tricks will also boost her confidence.

I find that it is very important not to give too many verbal commands when training- a dog can find that very intense. It would be interesting to know if she responds to you better if you interact with her silently?

I would not respond at all to her growling at you - treat it as though it did not happen. Its a bit like a fearful child who tries to frighten you by slapping at you - they are almost as scared of their own daring as they are of you. Reprimanding or backing off would not be apropriate.

She sounds like a sweet dog.

Sit_Stay

Thank you Klip. Yes I have started clicker training. I use hand signals when I give a verbal command. She responds very well to the hand signals. I think you are on to something with my not giving so many verbal commands.

When I approach her crate and she growls, which is only if she is in the crate AND my husband is arriving home, not when I arrive home without him. I turn and walk away. I come back and she is quiet, and I let her out. We do this every time. Every time she growls the first time, and every time she does not growl the second time.

But I do understand that me bending over her crate may be frightning to her.


Anyway, I appreciate any and all advice.

klip

It sounds to me as though you are doing so well . I'm fascinated by how differently she responds to you when your husband is there and when he is not.

Sit_Stay

It just hit us. My husband figured out that I pick up her toys, never him. I put them away in front of her before she goes to bed. Could she be thinking I am saying she is bad for having them out? You know like cleaning up a mess. Perhaps her last home punished her for messes? So when I am home and he is not she fears she will be punished? Did that make sense? From now on I will not pick up until she is in bed.

klip

I suppose its possible that this could be a trigger for her. You can easily test it. But I think its just as likely that its something more subtle. But you are thinking in the right way, looking at things from her point of view.

I was also wondering - do you think it would work better if - instead of moving away from the crate when she growls, you stayed with her, but just looked away from her until she settles? I'm worried that she may be growling to get rid of you, and if you move away, it works, so she does it againg next time. She may find it more rewarding to be left alone than to be let out, and so growls to get you to move away?

Sit_Stay

I'll give that a try. The only reason I go away is because it seems more than anything, what she wants is to get out and see my husband. She doesn't do it when I come home alone and let her out. She just stays there even when I open the door, unless I call her.

klip

Well then its probably not a problem. I wouldnt worry about it. I was just wondering.

Sit_Stay

She's a good girl. I just try to think of ways to make her more comfortable. I don't mind a quirky dog.

Perhaps she needs a pal...hmmm LOL

PeppersPop

How about having your husband pick up the toys?

My dog has some interesting quirks too... the biggest--he totally freaks out if ONE of us leaves and the other stays. He runs around the houses, scratches at the door, major separation anxiety. But if both of us leave, he'll give a couple whimpers and then he's fine.

I would suggest really paying attention to how you both treat the dog... tone of voice, language used, activites that you do around the dog, activities that you do with the dog, commands given... all that stuff. If you usually feed the dog, have your husband do it for awhile. Switch off... see if and how it changes your dog's reactions.

Your dog sounds like a sweetie.

Regards,
Sid

wvasko

You are a woman, I would check out how she handles other women. You could have a similar body structure to a woman/girl that has abused the dog. Do I know this for sure? No, but women do bad things too. It is weird that nobody even brought this up. Why is that? The dog has been returned to the shelter a number of times and please trust me on this shelter people can be rear-ends too. Just my opinion.

Sit_Stay

Oh, we have considered that. She will many times approach men, or let them approach her long before she would let a woman.

But it just hit me. I took her to a pet store, she barked at a woman walking by. She also growled at a woman that came to visit. She usually barks a couple of times and ignores men. Sometimes she just kind of ignores men and goes on with life. So the more I think about it, I think it is women. But when I first brought her home she clinged to me, and even growled at my husband the first couple of days.

Yesterday was a good day, and she played a lot and was relaxed. We had to go out, and I expected the growling and barking thing as always happens when we come home together. She just waited quietly for me to let her out. She has been doing the growling thing for about six months.

I guess she reads this message board. LOL

Anyway, thanks everyone. We will keep working at things and give happy updates.

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