Timeline for training
I got a new dog from a rescue exactly two months ago. She is a lab mix about 1 year old maybe 1.5? I had a dog and cat already, the old dog is also a lab mix and is around 11 years old the cat is even older. The shelter knew very little about the dog. They assumed she had already had a litter but were not sure, when I took her to the vet they could not tell either and told me to wait to see if she goes in heat before getting her fixed. She had a couple of deep scars on her chin and was very afraid of me at first. She is quite comfortable with me now, but still is a little bit shy if I have anything large in my hand ( like a bottle of wine), but not as bad as before, she seemed to be better with women. She was fine with the Vet ( a woman) and my girl friend, she is good now at the dog park if not extremely playful and likes being chased or chasing . If i play with her and chase her or have her chase me she was an ankle and calf biter, still is but not as bad and i would not call it biting as much as nipping? She was not house trained ( or maybe she was?) but learned within a week ( she was peeing inside and chewing stuff the first few days). I am not crate training and she is fine alone at home with the other pets. She chases squirrels in the backyard or just about anything which again i am correcting but it seems to be taking a long time? I am training the new dog using a very gentle method that essentially relies on verbal praise and sound distraction, it has been working fairly well. I admit to sometimes putting treats in my pockets at first but not anymore, she was just so thin and afraid at the beginning. I was happy when she would jump up and greet me because of her past fears so I did encourage it initially ( probably a mistake but as i said i was happy that she was more accepting and confident even if it was a possible sign of dominance i did not want to scold her and lose her trust as i assume she was poorly treated at one time?) My concerns with her are that she is barking aggressively when people come over ( i have a lot of delivery people come to the door, i am fine with a little barking if someone rings the doorbell or knocks) she barks when people are at the neighbours property or people walking along the sidewalk in front of the property. At the cottage she was barking and running towards the neighbour when he was walking on his own property and showing her teeth. I had a friend bring his dog over and she was too aggressive for my liking with him ( the dog not the person) biting and trying to bite, making biting motions but not biting hard. (I know my friends dog was in my dogs territory "her" house and on "her" property)I can see she is getting better and more confident but is still "bad" in this way. Now assuming this is something that relates to her being mistreated in the past, how long does it take to "rid" a dog of this aggressive behaviour normally? Or when will they stop wanting to wander off? I know the question is loaded and there are so many variables but I am just curious as to how long some of you may have spent with a rescue dog that had issues. My other dogs i have got as young pups and knew what to expect and i trained and socialized them very young so I never had a "biter". This new dog is more of a challenge.
Thanks
