[shahidhaque]

Thanks so much to everyone who has written in with their advice. I have been working with my dog quite a bit since I last wrote. I have been implementing the advice you have all posted and would like to give you an update on what I have had success/failure with. Also, in light of my experiences with Wrigley since the original post, I believe I have more insight into Wrigley's issues and would like to share them with you. Some of you will disagree with some of what I did, but I will explain why I believe it is neccesary.

First things first: Wirgley is now on clomipramine for anxiety relief.

My dog obedience instructor is not reputed to "give up" on dogs, but she observed Wrigley for weeks and ultimately suggested that we seek medication to help him overcome the mental block that was preventing him from further learning. Wrigley is extremely smart and capable of learning, but he experiences extreme anxiety that he truly does not seem to be able to overcome. (This likely stems from the abuse he experienced as a puppy by his orginal owner, but like sarasmom notes, he cannot excuse it.) Wrigley has a lot of potential -- he can do sit-stays and down-stays longer than many dogs in the class. However, he has a major anxiety problem that kicks in when he is around other dogs or out in public walking on a leash (just like Lonewolfblue's blue heeler). He is quite literally unable to calm himself down enough to stop and take notice of the fact that there are no threats around him.

I know that many of you believe that medication is not a solution. I recognize that it only "masks" behavior. However, after talking it over at length with my instructor and vet, we decided that we needed to try anxiety relieving drugs. After Wrigley bit my mother-in-law, both of my dog obedience instructors, myself, and my wife, Wrigley has been put on "thin ice." I love my dog and can't bear the thought of putting him down, but I need to take immediate -- if temporary -- steps to make sure he doesn't do anything that would require me to put him down. Both my vet and my instructor agree that he appears to exhibit a genuine mental problem and is a textbook case for when medication can be helpful. Therefore, I simply owed it to him to try medication in conjuction with behavior modification, and as you will see below, it has been effective in certain ways.

Behavioral modification: working inside the house, but not outside.

I stopped using the prong collar and any other types of training that would cause him to get more anxious and scared. I also started implementing the NILIF method more uniformly. While I am pleased with the results, he only shows improvement when he is in the house.

As a result of the better training techniques in combination with the drugs, he has become a very good dog when we are inside the house. He knows that I am the top dog, and he does not have any dominance issues anymore. There is now very little jumping up on us, and very little of other annoying dominant activities like jumping on the couch, etc. I can touch him anywhere on his body, including opening his mouth to take out something he wasn't supposed to eat. He no longer plays anxiously with his feet. He can now lay quietly on the floor without whining for attention. All in all, I believe he is quite reliable in the house. However, training and medication has not helped with his anxiety and aggression issues outside of the house.

As soon as you step outside, he is like a different dog. I have been utterly unable to get him to stop pulling on his leash using any methods I tried. And believe me, I really have tried everything. I have been clicking and treating when he is in heel position, and I have tried the "stop so long as he is pulling" technique, the "turn around whenever he pulls" technique, and many others. I even got private instruction and my instructor was stumped. So far, he simply won't give up pulling on the leash.

He still goes into uncontrollable panic when another dog barks at him from behind a fence, or (to a lesser degree) when a stranger approaches us. When humans approach, he raises his rough and lunges. But I can keep him under control without too much difficulty. But when dogs bark at him, he simply loses control. He won't respond to any attempts at calming him down. He barks horribly but he also whines, implying that he is both anxious/scared and aggressive. He tries to lunge toward the dogs, and we get into a battle to simply keep our footing. We have a lot of trouble leaving the area to get rid of the stimulus because he is pulling too much.

Last night he got into one of these panics. After struggling for too long, we decided we had to get him under control somehow, so we sprayed him with bitter apple. He bit my wife when she sprayed him. I know that many of you don't believe in corrective techniques like bitter apple, but it is completely unacceptable for a dog to bite you for it. He has a major problem with "redirection" aggression. When he is upset about another dog or person, he might bite us or someone else for it. This is very hard to deal with.

Lonewolfblue: You have a heeler and your dog seems to be most like mine. Therefore, I really appreciate your feedback. However, I'm trying to determine whether Wrigley can be aptly compared to your dog. Has your dog ever bitten you or anyone else? Do you think he ever would "redirect" his anxiety and aggression on you if he was in a fit about another dog or person?

Dogsareme: The calming cap is something that might work, and I am going to buy one. I will also read the book "Click to Calm." I will also start to treat with better treats when we see people on the street (so far I use normal treats). I live in a residential area with very few people walking around (1-2 tops). There is really nowhere in town that is a more quiet and peaceful. However, people everywhere have fenced dogs, and we usually encounter one at least once on our daily walks. It is difficult to see how we can get him his neccesary exercise and avoid even this minimal stimulus.

I know that all of you suggest that I use less corrective techniques on Wrigley and instead use NILIF methods. But frankly, that is not working when we are outside of the house. He is such a stubborn dog that I am considering whether it would be helpful to walk him with a muzzle on him the entire time he is on his walks. I can't avoid any and all stimulus that sets him off, and I can't let him continue to go into these horrible fits.

Friends, family, and my dog instructor are all gently nudging me in the direction of putting Wrigley down. My dog instructor does not believe that Wrigley could ever be trusted around kids. Others are warning me that I am setting myself up for major liability if Wrigley bites someone, which some of them think is inevitable. I understand that Wrigley is on thin ice, but I am not ready to put him down. It would be unbearable for me. Although I recognize that his behavior appears to be uncontrollable, I intend to try some more things first.

The advice you have all been giving is good, and I'm sure it works on most dogs. As I hope you can see, Wrigley is not like most dogs. He really does have a mental problem. I am just hoping that I can find ways to manage and eventually eliminate his anxiety and aggression. I am extremely attached to him and have been working like crazy to ensure that I don't even have to get rid of him. He is great in the house, but I have to be sure he won't bite someone when he is outside of the house. He isn't making it easy!

[filox]

Hello shahidhaque;

I also have an ACD, as stated they are tough dogs blue heelers. But they are also very loyal and intelligent.

As others said, exercise, exercise, exercise, they need to burn the energy and work the mind. What I do with mine is bike about 5 mi. at different speeds. Lots of hiking on the weekends, agility training, etc.

About your dog. I concur with the opinion that it was treated quite badly as a pup. And has issues because of this mistreatment.

My ACD used to be aggressive to other dogs wile on leash; I corrected this with lots of training. If she goes after a dog I will sit, down her and treat a lot. Now she behaves really good 90% of the time and usually wont go for other dogs. Also when I go on the bike, if I see other dog approaching, I will accelerate and she will need to concentrate on the road.

Also I found her a partner to calm her down I got an Australian shepherd (male) and this did work.

The ACD won’t respond well to negative corrections, as some one said they are tough little dogs and for them to feel pain you will have to hurt them, and with a dog that all ready has issues due to mistreatment it will only made things worst.

I he is afraid, and then you do some thing that he sees as an attack (spray his face) Of course he will defend him self.

I am glad to hear that things are getting better in side the house. Don’t give up on him... take baby steps. may be start driving out of town for exercise sessions, no people, no other dogs, so he wont associate the out side world with danger...
Start socializing with a known mature dependable dog (just one) so he learns that not all dogs want to kill him, also he needs to learn how to play with his own species.

Here is mine with some of her pals.


Any way, best of luck and keep us updated.

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by shahidhaque

Lonewolfblue: You have a heeler and your dog seems to be most like mine. Therefore, I really appreciate your feedback. However, I'm trying to determine whether Wrigley can be aptly compared to your dog. Has your dog ever bitten you or anyone else? Do you think he ever would "redirect" his anxiety and aggression on you if he was in a fit about another dog or person?

Yes, she had bitten me twice, and has bit another friend. But the recent bites were when she was triggered by 2 kids on skateboards, but when she bit my friend and myself, she didn't draw blood. Probably because I really work on Soft Mouth all the time, every single day. But the day, a few months ago, when another guy refused to keep distance between his 2 small dogs and Betty, and kept getting closer, I decided to reel her in closer to me and she escalated, then turned and bit me on the leg. She sank all 4 fangs in really deep, and by the time I got home, my shoe was saturated with blood. When this happened, then the guy decided to turn around and walked away. There are idiots out there, so when walking with a dog, you have to watch for them. And I also found another thing that works for Betty too. If another dog is approaching, and the person doesn't want to listen and say their dog is friendly, I don't reel her in anymore. I just turn and walk the other direction, giving her the full length of the leash. That way, when she wants escape, she goes around me and puts me between her and the other dog. What I did before was reel her in, and this creates no escape, so she was in such a state where she turned on me. She's never done this since I changed how I now just turn and give her the full length of the leash, giving her an escape.

Also, if you are into reading, have you heard about Control Unleashed? I'm starting to read this book, and am about 1/3 of the way through, and already have several things to work on. So far it's a Very Good Book.

[Elana55]

I am going to throw this out to you knowing full well it may not be well received.

Think VERY carefully about this dog and his future. There is no question that he has bitten you and has bitten you badly. As you have noted, the dog has some very serious issues regardless of their origin, (Organic or environmental).

While I commend you for continuing to attempt to rehbilitate this dog, be very careful. It may not work and the dog may have to be put to sleep. A dog that bites as aggessively as yours has can truly hurt someone (I am thinking of a child's face). He is a liability issue and has shown he can be a danger. Think of every possible scenario and what might happen (such as him getting loose etc.).

Here is the thing. While I know you love your dog a great deal (as do we all on this forum) he may not ever be reliable about not biting.

With so many good dogs out there waiting out their last days for a home, you might want to reconsider continuing with one that has proven his ability to show aggression (whether it is out of fear or not) as well as his ability to hurt his human handler by biting.

As an aside, I want to also add that I have great admiration for the ACD. I have seen them work cattle and they are very good dogs for the job they were bred to do. I agree that they are highly intelligent and I do like them a LOT.

[Lonewolfblue]

There are a few similarities between your heeler and Betty. But my question is, is his aggression issues the same off-leash as they are on-leash. Also, is there any difference between you being near him or at a distance? With Betty, she doesn't seem to have any of these issues when off-leash. And as for me, even when she plays with the min pin and I walk up to her and pet her, she looks at me like she says thanks for the petting, now I'll play again. But the second she hears the click of the leash on her collar, she turns from a playful dog to a lunging dog. Also, you may want to check into an animal behaviorist as well, to narrow down exactly where the problem is. And if the dog isn't getting enough exercise, both physically and mentally, then it may be tough to find the exact cause of the issues. With working with Betty, I'm starting to narrow things down about her, but I still have a ways to go, and do plan on a visit with the behaviorist when I'm on vacation, as they are 3 hours away. Taking her for a full evaluation. But til then, I'm just keeping away from areas where she's the most reactive, and giving her plenty of exercise.