abused dog being a terror

1153 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by cshellenberger, Mar 21, 2009

fuzz16

Discussion Starter · Mar 13, 2009

So i am new to the forum, and my first post is not so much a hello as plea for opinions and what help i can get.

i have a puppy, estimated to be about 9-10 months old. mutt, beleived to be german sheperd and maybe pointer or austrailian cattle dog mix. ill post pictures.

anyways, i have had dogstar training and have worked with puppies for a 1.5years at a pet store where we sometimes get behavorial problems with them. i have never had so much trouble with a dog, even the stubbornest poodle i dogsat for.

i adopted him at the shelter, a couple days from his death date. i fell for him, his attitude was perfect with me, also. he was brought in due to in his previous family the son and wife being allergic. well this should have been the first sign of trouble where i should have said no. my roomate came up to see him, the dog, Ty, planted himself in front of me, lowered his head, raised his hackles and growled at him. he was fine after i called him and was still nervous and submissive around him but didnt willingly go up to him when first introductions were made.
i grew up with an abused dog, afraid of men and kids and sometimes aggressive and over protective towards guys if they seemed threatening to my sister or i. i had experiance with this...so i figured hed been abused pretty bad.

got him home and he did fine. perfect with my daughter, good with my cat, little prey drive to the rabbits but no big concern there. he kenneled when told, no accidents in the house.

well now is when the problems started. it has been a little over three weeks since i have had him...a long three weeks.
the current problems:
-growling at my roomate when he walks into the room, even when ty is kenneled.
-wont come out of my room when called, has to be picked up and put in the living room then he runs to his kennel
-cowers in his kennel and wont come out, and when he does, he runs into my room
-freaks out when i grab the collar to put a leash on him, struggles, whines, yelps, barks (he is getting much better though as i touch the collar and around his neck when petting him and tell him good boy)
-caught him eating cat litter, i told him no, he peed and ran out into the corner of my bed.
-wont touch his toys, but rips up my blankets, baby toys, and pillows
-will hold in his poop for a day or two even if we take long walks then go out on the patio when i open the door
-whines and barks continuously when kenneled, even after ignored for a week straight

those are just the major problems...which is odd cause i will take him to my parents or out in public and he wags his tail and loves everyone. a bit weary of guys but still lets them pet him and always goes to kids and loves them. and when he sees my dad he gets excited and runs to him and plays with him

last night was the big thing that really got me worrying.
he was outside on the patio laying down, my roomate walks in and lays in the bed to watch a movie. Ty comes in cowers in front of the tv growling and barking. i ignore it until he stands and was worried for a second he might lunge, i told him no and he laid down and continued growling, tail tucked, ears pressed against his head

spoke to a couple dog trainers.
one told me seperation anxiety, something i assumed. told me to kennel him and ignore him.
another said to not let Ty into my room and when walking him always keep him at my side or behind me, which he does unless he sees another dog or rabbit or the sort. said Ty is aggressive towards my roomie cause his dominance over me feels threatened (even though he rolls over showing his submission to me) by my roomie and the older he gets the more violent he may become to my roomie and possibly attack him.

any ideas, inputs are welcome. i wont give him up, but i have never had this problem with a dog that i needed to seek so much help on. appreciated.

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TooneyDogs

· #2 · Mar 13, 2009

You need control but, the way you're going about it seems to be making things worse. Cowering, fearful, submissive urination and defensive all require a light touch using mostly non-verbal cues/commands/enticements. Stern reprimands are forbidden.
You exercise control with your body posture, facial expression and proximity to the dog. You walk WITH your dog out of the room...you don't call him (not yet...he hasn't learned the Come command). You entice him to come to you by teaching all the attention games you learned in puppy classes. The Attention comes first....everything else follows.
Put the kitty litter behind a barrier or up so he can't get at it. (our's is behind a baby gate).
Praise him when he is quiet and he will do more of it.
Exercise....this breed needs lots and lots of exercise every day.
Have your roomie toss treats...no talking...no looking at the dog....just toss treats.

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skelaki

· #3 · Mar 13, 2009

TooneyDogs said:
You need control but, the way you're going about it seems to be making things worse. Cowering, fearful, submissive urination and defensive all require a light touch using mostly non-verbal cues/commands/enticements. Stern reprimands are forbidden.
You exercise control with your body posture, facial expression and proximity to the dog. You walk WITH your dog out of the room...you don't call him (not yet...he hasn't learned the Come command). You entice him to come to you by teaching all the attention games you learned in puppy classes. The Attention comes first....everything else follows.
Put the kitty litter behind a barrier or up so he can't get at it. (our's is behind a baby gate).
Praise him when he is quiet and he will do more of it.
Exercise....this breed needs lots and lots of exercise every day.
Have your roomie toss treats...no talking...no looking at the dog....just toss treats.

The only thing I can add to the above, excellent post is to put him on a very simple nilif program and start daily obedience training using, for now fun games and very short all positive methods.

And he may not have been abused. This same type behavior could be seen in a soft-tempered, under-socialized dog.

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MissMutt

· #4 · Mar 13, 2009

-gro

wling at my roomate when he walks into the room, even when ty is kenneled.

Going to venture that this is out of fear. Your roomate should be making GOOD things happen to Ty. Throwing treats onto the floor but not making eye contact might be good start, if he is food driven. Do NOT reprimand him. I believe that yelling at a fearful dog who is growling is just asking for that dog to learn to escalate more quickly - ie., he'll think growling isn't allowed, but doesn't know that biting or snapping isn't.

-wont come out of my room when called, has to be picked up and put in the living room then he runs to his kennel

He's scared. He doesn't know what's expected of him. I want you to read this post on the Fearful Dogs blog. http://fearfuldogs.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/can-you-relate/#comments

-cowers in his kennel and wont come out, and when he does, he runs into my room

Again, he's scared. His kennel is as close as he gets to feeling safe right now, so please don't change that for him. You cannot MAKE a dog friendly. It comes with time that he'll calm down.

-freaks out when i grab the collar to put a leash on him, struggles, whines, yelps, barks (he is getting much better though as i touch the collar and around his neck when petting him and tell him good boy)

Work slow. Sounds like you already are. If he's afraid of walking on a leash, you might want to let him drag a leash around the house while you're there so he gets accustomed to having it on. Making walking as pleasurable as possible, and if he's afraid when he's outside, walk at quiet times of day to minimize fear.

-caught him eating cat litter, i told him no, he peed and ran out into the corner of my bed.
-wont touch his toys, but rips up my blankets, baby toys, and pillows

It's your job as his owner to keep those things away from him. My dog loves cat litter too. It's not all that uncommon.

-will hold in his poop for a day or two even if we take long walks then go out on the patio when i open the door

Again I'm going to venture to guess that this is a fearful response but you may want to check with your vet as well. Perhaps he or she can recommend something to you.

-whines and barks continuously when kenneled, even after ignored for a week straight

If he's food driven try placing stuffed kongs with really yummy stuff in them. GRADUALLY work your way up to him being in there for longer periods of time. If possible you may want to consider locking him in a bathroom while you're not home rather than a crate, as he'll still be in a secure place but won't feel quite as confined.

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fuzz16

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 13, 2009

thank you for all of your responses.

we do do training every day when my roomie isnt home, its the only time he will respond to treats-otherwise he wont take them. everyday we go over the tricks he knows then once he learns one i introduce another. he picks up very fast on everything very quickly

after reading some other posts...should i ignore it when he growls at people? or walk away?

and he gets as much excercise as i can give. walk in the morning, walk around noon, goes out between those times, then we go for a run at night. normally he gets to the point where he lays down during the walks or runs though because he gets tired and i have to coax him up and tell him were going home. he is surprisingly a low energy dog...

and he is fine on the leash for the most part now, just putting it on is more of a hassle. he has started going to the door when i grab the leash and i make him beg (sitting with his paws on my knees) so its easier to get the leash on him. so sometimes he will randomly beg when he needs to go to the bathroom.

the cat litter is in the closet in a hooded cat pan, my cat is kinda disabled so she cant jump so i am trying to teach him that the closet is off limits to him.

and he stays in the kennel at night or when im not home, and i am afraid to lock him in the bathroom, im pretty sure he would destroy everything he could get ahold of just out of being upset.

and Ty will take treats from my roomies hands, and he even got him to beg once, but if i leave then he gets fearful, hides in the corner and gets really upset and scared.

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MissMutt

· #6 · Mar 13, 2009

I mean, you don't want to ENCOURAGE growling.. what I would do is redirect.

Take the pressure off of him by moving away and then ask him for a command (whatever he knows, sit or something) and then reward him after he listens to you.

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fuzz16

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 13, 2009

mk
and he is one of those dogs that comes when he wants when called...if he has a scent hell ignore me completely. just how he is, or can i break that?

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fuzz16

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 17, 2009

i know most of you who read this post wont like what i did...but it was an idea gven to me by a GSD breeder and suprisingly worked.

my roomie and i took Ty for a walk last night. i started walking him, with my roomate giving him wet dog food, his back to him and not saying anything and i would praise him once he took it.
well then my roomate walked Ty, he stayed by my side for a bit, cowering from my roomie as much as he could, with more wet dog food given to him he eventually walked fine and left lack on the leash. so i stood back and he walked him and he did fine. he would pause tell him to lay down, and Ty would listen, receiving some more dog food each time.
then he picked up the pace and Ty would walk by his side as well as he did with me. but when it came to a slow jog he freaked out a bit, which he did with me at first to so i wasnt that surprised.
he did really well though, and im happy that worked.

anyone think him giving the food and water in the mornings and at night will help him see my roomie as not a threat?

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cshellenberger

· #9 · Mar 17, 2009 (Edited)

fuzz16 said:
mk
and he is one of those dogs that comes when he wants when called...if he has a scent hell ignore me completely. just how he is, or can i break that?

When dog is 'on scent' it's ears are 'turned off'. the only thing that will get a dogs attention then is a high pitched whistle. Get a whistle and 'condition' him to come to it, the whistle is ONLY used with rewards (good things)

I'd train 'touch as well
Targeting AKA "Touch"

Read this and use it to desensitize the pup to your roomy, start outside on 'nuetral' territory and far enough away that the dog has NO reaction to the roomy. You should be sure the roomy is NOT facing the dog, but turned to the side (less threatening). IGNORE fearful behavior, REWARD brave behavior at ALL times

Desensitizing A Dog To Inanimate Objects Or Noises

You have a VERY fearful dog, not a 'dominant' one, I suspect the roomy reminds him of the abuser for some reason (perhaps gender or similar build) so roomy is NEVER to do anything that scares the dog. There is to be NO punishment, only taking away of reward (ignoring). DO NOT allow raised voices until you can desensitize the dog to them.

I would have a FULL tick titre done, as well as a a 6 panel thyroid (sent to MSU, NOT inhouse) and a thorough check on the eyes. Underlying helath issues can be a major cause of behavioral problems and fearfulness.

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fuzz16

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 21, 2009

cshellenberger said:
I would have a FULL tick titre done, as well as a a 6 panel thyroid (sent to MSU, NOT inhouse) and a thorough check on the eyes. Underlying helath issues can be a major cause of behavioral problems and fearfulness.

what are all these tests?

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cshellenberger

· #11 · Mar 21, 2009

A tick titre will detect any tick born disease such as Lymes, erlichia and such.

A thyroid panel will detect any thyroid problems. YOu want a Thyroid test that is sent out ot a lab, NOT an inhouse test because it's not sensitive enough to detect some conditions.

The thyroid can play havoc on anyone, animal or human because it plays a HUGE part in so many body functions, so it affects ALL systems.

Tick born disease can also affect a large variety of functions.

Were the eyes checked for Glaucoma and cateracts?

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