Question:

Hello
I hope that you can help us. We had 2 rescue staffy bull terriers (both de sexed) from a rescue foster home, but the male one came with a warning that he had some temperment issues and needed a firm hand. After 9 months his aggressiveness was getting worse not better so on advice from our vet he was put to sleep. The bitch (Juno) seemed to miss the company so after about one month we have a new rescue staffy (Dover) he is a desexed male about the same age and very gentle. On advise from the rescue home we removed all toys etc so the two dogs wouldnt fight, however, Juno seems really withdrawn as she loved to play raggy and chew balls and bones. We have tried to reintroduce a raggy toy but Dover (normally a very submissive character) got very possessive and snapped at Juno – who let him have it. Now if toys are shown she will go and hide in her crate. I cant leave out nice marrow bones for them when I am out at work as Dover will not allow Juno to share. This is a bit of the behaviour of our old staffy which we wanted to avoid to have a happy pair of dogs – what can we do to introduce bones and toys so they can be left without fear of reprisal. We are not showing favour to either one of the dogs and Dover has shown he is quick to learn new things – it has only been a very short time and I appreciate that we will have to wait a while before we can leave them together with things like this but I dont know what to do to bring this type of stimulus back into the home. Your help would be great – thank you in anticipation.

Leona

ANSWER:

Hi Leona,

Thank you for rescuing these Staffordshire Bull terriers! Staffies make wonderful pets but unfortunately suffer from much of the same bad press as pit bulls and American Staffordshire terriers. Utter garbage but you have all heard that rant so I will not bore you by stepping back onto my soapbox. Advice time.

Until these two dogs become lifelong buddies, I would not leave toys or bones out when you are not able to supervise. I actually take it one step farther and do not leave two dogs alone together until they have developed a strong bond so you are already ahead of where I would be under the same circumstances.

If these were my dogs and I was living under these circumstances, I would find an obedience trainer who specializes in aggressive or inappropriate behaviors in dogs. Where I live, we are fortunate to have Monique Anstee and Naughty Dogge. She is amazing! She teaches owners to be the boss of their dog through mutual respect and communication. I have attended quite a few of her classes, with or without a naughty dog, just to learn how to better interact and understand the canine mind.

Visit Monique’s site and see if you can find someone similar in your area (there are also has some great articles about aggression on her site). Any obedience class is better then none so even if you cannot find someone who specializes in naughty dogs, join a regular class. It will help to teach you about canine communication and how to keep order in your household.

If the problems continue, find an animal behaviorist in your area to come to your house and work with you and your dogs. Aggression is not worth taking any chances as you know.

I hope this helps! If you need a hand finding an appropriate obedience trainer, email me at ann@ohmydogsupplies.com with where you live and I will help you find a class.

Ann

Question:

I recently rescued moose a 2-3 year old possibly Portuguese Sheepdog terrier mix. He is the sweetet, most wonderful, perfect dog. So why am I writing you right? Well he loves me so much and is so attached to me that if I leave him he tries to tear the doors and window apart to find me, I guess. Taking him back is not an option. I have made a commitment to him and I won’t abandon him like others have. I take him with me whenever I can, but there are time we have to leave him. We own a pharmacy and my office is at home, so I’m with him all the time. I can go out and mow the lawn and he’s fine because he can see me. He hasn’t been crate trained that I know of and I’m afraid he’d hurt himself if I put him in a crate when I leave. I need to resolve this before he destroys my house. I would appreciate any advise as soon as you can. Thanks

Brenda

ANSWER:

Brenda,

Sounds like Moose has true separation anxiety. Dealing with separation anxiety in dogs is difficult but not impossible patience is the key word.

Okay for starters, if you have a crate, great if not get one big enough for Moose to comfortably stand up in. Get a doggy bed for the crate so that he knows this is his special place. Get him used to the crate by putting treats and toys in letting him go in and out of the crate with the door open when you are home. When you leave, crate him with toys, a Kong filled with peanut butter to keep him busy (note I do not recommend leaving a dog alone with a raw bone, just in case they choke)

Before you leave crate him. Do not make a fuss about leaving, just leave.

When you come home ignore him for the first few minutes then pet him.
This will show Moose that when you leave it is no big deal and that you do come back.

You will have to work at this. Good luck

Hope this helps

Nancy

Outside of the dog world, Nancy has both a Bachelor of Social Work and Masters degree in Criminology, which led her to become a correctional social worker. For over 30 years, she has been a practicing social worker, working in Children’s Services and Corrections.

“In 2004, I decided to go to the IPDTA conference just to see what it was about. It was amazing, all these dog trainers talking about using operant conditioning,” exclaims Nancy. “I decided that I wanted to be part of that world. The amazing journey of becoming a positive dog trainer had begun. I am still on this new adventure and learning more every day. I did not realize there was so much information and theory to learn about canine behavior and emotions. My social work background has helped immensely as much of the theory I learned at university about human emotions applies aptly to dogs.”

The Good Dog Blog welcomes Nancy and her background in both dog-training as well canine nutrition. To learn more about Nancy, visit her website, Devoted to Dogs and her Devoted to Dogs Blog.

Question:

Hello. My husband and I have just adopted a short legged Jack Russell Terrier from the pound here in town. They say he was for whatever brought in by his previous owners but that they left absolutely no information on him including his name. So we brought him home and he was such a sweet dog. We have noticed some issues that we aren’t sure on how to deal with though, its been years since either of us has owned a dog!

Thank you very much for your help!

Felicia

ANSWER:

Hi Felicia,

Question:

My adopted rescue dog, a Kangal a large powerful dog, is uncontrollable when he sees other dogs. I got him when he was about 9 months old and I believe while he was not overtly mistreated he was chained 24/7 and largely ignored. He is now nearly 3 and a lovable dog showing no aggression to humans. He has little concept of play with humans though and does not seem to understand treats. He is submissive to my other dog, a female around the same age but who I had from 12 weeks old and was here first. On a leash he will walk quite calmly with little pulling after the initial excitement but as soon as he sees a dog or cat he will bolt and I have to release him or he will pull me to the ground. Often he will just want to play but has attacked another dog which is allowed to roam free and is also very aggressive towards him. When free in the yard he is well behaved until another dog or cat comes into view when he goes berserk and if not restrained will destroy the fence in order to escape.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

ANSWER:

Hi,

The first thing to do is make sure that you have control of Kangal, in the sense that he can’t attack another dog or a cat. Right now, he’s pulling the leash out of your hand, so you need some kind of harness or head collar that makes it so that he doesn’t have so much momentum. Furthermore, you need to learn how to prepare for the jolt of the leash and to not let go.

That’s the Quick Fix side of things. We definitely also need training and behavior modification to teach Kangal not to pull on the leash or lunge toward other dogs and cats.

For the Quick Fix, I recommend either a head collar or a front-attachment harness. Or both. A head collar looks like the halter on a horse, and the leash either clips under the dog’s chin, to turn his head, or on the back of his head. Some brands I like: Comfort Trainer, NewTrix, and Canny Collar. The mainstream brands are also ok: Gentle Leader and Halti. With front-attachment harnesses, the leash clips at the dog’s chest, so that if he starts to pull, he gets thrown a little off-balance and pivots toward you, instead.

Given the amount of power your dog is pulling with when he lunges, I’d do both. Get a small coupler (a little leash with clips at both ends) and clip one to the head collar and the other to the harness. Clip your leash on the ring between them.

So, now you have enough control for regular walks, but how do you fix the lunging? I recommend you contact a behaviorist in your area who does Counter-conditioning and Desensitization or perhaps Constructional Aggression Treatment. Here’s a short version of CC/DS.

Start at a distance, and every time he sees a dog or a cat, he gets a super-tasty treat, like a piece of steak. The treat should be a special treat that he doesn’t usually get, a surprise that happens just AFTER he sees the other dog. Ideally, feed before any lunging, so you can reach his mouth easily. If your dog lunges, it means you’ve messed up and gotten way too close, so feed your dog anyway and try to do better next time. Don’t worry about rewarding your dog for the lunge. Dogs are lazy and will do the least amount of work necessary for that treat. So you may train a bark, but probably not a full-on lunge. Especially since your dog can just get the treats for free by just looking at the other dog or the cat.

That should last you a little while until you get to a trainer or behaviorist in person, but it’s easy to mess up your timing and other things. Save yourself a lot of time and effort and meet with a professional.

No behaviorist near you? Feisty Fido by Patricia McConnell is a great book. I also do dog training by Skype for people with no local resources, so you could contact me.

Grisha

Grisha Stewart, MA, CPDT, CTP

Voted as Seattle’s Top Dog Trainer by the readers of CityDog Magazine, Grisha Stewart is the owner and founder of Ahimsa Dog Training in Seattle, WA. Grisha is a Certified Training Partner from the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behavior, a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and since 2002, an active member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. She attends several training and behavior workshops each year and is a certified Pet First Aid attendant and evaluator for the Canine Good Citizen program.

For more information on Grisha and Ahimsa Dog Training in the Seattle, Washington area, visitwww.ahimsadogtraining.com.

Question:

I have a 4ish-year-old rescue mutt who I adopted a little over a year ago. She was rescued as a stray and we know nothing of her history with people (or dogs). She is extremely dog-friendly and gets along with nearly every dog she meets, even those that usually don’t like other dogs. Humans, on the other hand, are a problem. When we first got her she would bark at roughly 70% of the people we passed on the street and was supremely shy with new people. We completed obedience classes and have continued daily obedience exercises. I have also tried to introduce her to as many new people as possible under very happy circumstances (doggy daycare and the dog park have been great for this).

Now she wants to bark at only about 10% of the people we pass on the street, but it still very very shy, even with folks we see nearly every day, whose dogs she is friends with. Once she trusts someone she will adore them, and once in a great while she will trust someone automatically. The vast majority of new people, though, she automatically mistrusts, and they have to work pretty hard to change that. I can’t figure out a pattern of who she’ll be outright afraid of (that 10%), who she will be wary of and who she will like. I feel like we’ve really hit a wall with her training, and I can’t get her over this last hump. Any suggestions for turning her into a full-time friendly, confident dog?

ANSWER:

First congratulations on adopting a four year old with some issues. Sounds like you have done a lot of work with him. If he is only barking at 10% of strangers rather than 70% you are doing really well.

When walking and encountering strangers that you want your dog to be friendly to give the person a treat to give to your dog. First have him sit and then let the person offer the treat. This should work. Note, some dogs are naturally shy of strangers. Its okay if he isn’t affectionate or even friendly to everyone.

I gather, what you are more concerned about is barking at strangers. The barking part when encountering someone new, have your dog sit, continiously treat him while talking to the stranger. This serves a dual purpose. He cannot bark with a full mouth. More important it shows him that meeting new people is a positve thing.

Hope this helps
Nancy

Outside of the dog world, Nancy has both a Bachelor of Social Work and Masters degree in Criminology, which led her to become a correctional social worker. For over 30 years, she has been a practicing social worker, working in Children’s Services and Corrections.

“In 2004, I decided to go to the IPDTA conference just to see what it was about. It was amazing, all these dog trainers talking about using operant conditioning,” exclaims Nancy. “I decided that I wanted to be part of that world. The amazing journey of becoming a positive dog trainer had begun. I am still on this new adventure and learning more every day. I did not realize there was so much information and theory to learn about canine behavior and emotions. My social work background has helped immensely as much of the theory I learned at university about human emotions applies aptly to dogs.”

The Good Dog Blog welcomes Nancy and her background in both dog-training as well canine nutrition. To learn more about Nancy, visit her website, Devoted to Dogs and her Devoted to Dogs Blog.

Our database of doggy professionals is building! We have recommendations of vets to trainers to groomers to companies that produce to dog specific items from all over North America. Wonderful job!

But we need more!! Before we build this out into a referral website, we need to have a few thousand recommendations of doggy professionals from every corner of this continent and even beyond our shores. We are about a third of the way along in our collecting process so keep them coming in please! Vets, trainers, behaviorists, groomers, dog walkers, kennels, doggy day care, dog parks – whatever you can think of, send it my email at ann@ohmydogsupplies.com.

Thank you!

Starting next week, we are going to have a new format for our Friday post on the Good Dog Blog. Starting with ‘sit’, each week we are going to feature a new training command and how to teach it to your dog in a positive and exciting way for both your and your dog! Once we get through the three basics – sit, down, and stay – we will progress through some more interesting commands such as look, touch, and leave it. These are all wonderful commands that help build a true working bond with your beloved pet and we will make sure to give examples of where these words can be used. You will be surprised how often you end up using the ‘Look!’ command, for example, while walking your dog, playing at the dog park, or hanging out at the local coffee shop!

Look for next weeks post ‘Dog Training 101: Teaching your Dog to Sit’!

Question:

After seeing your post about mental stimulation, what kind of games would you suggest to keep a dog mentally active?

ANSWER:

Hi Marty,

Great question! I am so glad you asked!

Dogs require mental stimulation to remain happy, content, and well adjusted. How much they require is dependent on intelligence, energy levels, temperament, age, and overall health and mental stimulation mixed with exercise is the ultimate combination in wearing a dog out. I could not believe how the first agility class completely exhausted my friend’s Toller that I ‘borrow’ in order to learn the sport – she just laid in her crate the entire way home with a dazed, almost meditative look on her face.

All dogs, no matter what the breed, should not only be exercised daily but also given mental stimulation each and every day. Often owners neglect this in small or toy dogs believing that they do not require the same amount of activity as larger dogs but this is not true. Exercise and mental stimulation is more breed dependent then size dependent i.e. a Jack Russell needs more of both then a Mastiff to satiate their high-energy drive.

More formal activities your dog will love include:

- Obedience training is one such activity. Join a class that focuses on positive training techniques
- Trick training is fun for you and your dog. Some trainers offer trick classes or buy a book on training your dog to do a variety of tricks.
- Tracking is a wonderful way to mentally stimulate your dog. Whether it is done outside in the traditional sense or around the house, simple tracking exercises done once or twice a day are great fun and handy too – you never know when you may want some help finding your keys!
- Agility, flyball, rally-O, field and Frisbee are all great dog sports and are often easy to adjust to even small dogs.
- Working dog breeds are at their best doing what they were bred to do. Search and rescue training and protection training for German shpeherds, earth dog trials for terriers, lure coursing for sighthounds, weight pull for Malamutes, and field trials for hunting dogs are all wonderful activities that enrich your dog’s life, and your own!

Less formal ways to keep your dog mentally stimulated:

- Keep your dogs toys in a ‘toy box’ and rotate which toys they are allowed to play with each day. Every evening pick up the toys in front of your dog and each morning give them three or four other ones to play with will help keep the toys new and fresh to your dog.
- Teach them the ‘go see!’ command as well as the names for other people in your house. Then, when your dog is looking bored, say ‘go see Marvin!’ in a happy voice and your dog will run to Marvin (works well if Marvin gives the dog a treat or a toy and a huge welcome – everyone in the house must be onboard for this game to work). Then Marvin says ‘go find Sadie!’ and the dog runs off to find Sadie wherever she may be in the house.
- Teach your dog the ‘go find!’ command and the names of their toys. Then, hide the toys around the house and, again when they are looking bored, say ‘go find mousie!’. The reward is finding the toy and usually after a good search, your dog’s excitement in finding ‘mousie’ will make them want to play with the toy for a few minutes before moving on to finding the next toy.
- Kibble balls are great for dogs that spend time home alone each day. Instead of treats, put their breakfast in the ball and they can spend an hour or so pushing the ball around in order to get their breakfast. This is a great way to combat separation anxiety as well!
- Buy a beginner’s backyard agility course (usually about $70) and teach your dog to run the obstacles!
- When you take your dog for a walk, go a different route each time. Add in fun stuff like visiting coffee shops, banks, and open air malls to add interest.

That is enough for now I think. I will keep adding to the list as I come up with things. As for how to teach your dog these tricks or games, everyone let me know if you are interested and I will make each one into a future blog entry!

Happy playing,

Ann

Question:

How do I stop my recently adopted Chihuahua from growling at my cats when they jump onto bed. The Chihuahua is in a dog bed on my bed. The cats sleep next to me, but come and go. Whenever they jump on the bed Lola (the dog) growls and will even jump at them, Her previous owner had two other dogs and she did the whenever they approached her in her bed. The cats are being good about it, but it wakes me up and I’m afraid she might bite them. Thank you.

ANSWER:

If your cats didn’t come and go during the night, you could get the cats on the bed first, then call the dog up. But we’ve got a little trickier situation with them coming and going.

Sleeping on the bed is a privilege, not a right. So I would approach this from two directions.

1. Cat on Bed means good things. Arrange it so that the cats can jump up at the bottom of the bed and the dog is at the top (or vice versa), so it’s not as stressful for the dog as being jumped on. When the cat jumps up (you may have to help him/her make this happen), the Chihuahua immediately gets a really good treat, like a small piece of chicken, or three. When the cat goes away, the treats and attention. Wait 10-30 seconds and repeat. Don’t do a ton in a row, but as the week goes on, move the cat closer and closer. If you feel there’s any safety risk, have the Chihuahua in a crate, though that will make things a little different.

2. Bed Privileges. In the meantime, the Chihuahua can sleep on a dog bed or in a crate near your bed. Once you’ve done the training above, put the crate on your bed at night. Keep giving the dog one treat immediately after the cat jumps up. If the dog growls, say ‘too bad’ and set the crate on the floor. That can either be for the rest of the night (if you’re done training) or for a few minutes.

By the way, how is your sleep, with the cats coming and going? Another way to fix this would be to keep the cats out of your bedroom at night. :)
Grisha Stewart, MA, CPDT, CTP

Voted as Seattle’s Top Dog Trainer by the readers of CityDog Magazine, Grisha Stewart is the owner and founder of Ahimsa Dog Training in Seattle, WA. Grisha is a Certified Training Partner from the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behavior, a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and since 2002, an active member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. She attends several training and behavior workshops each year and is a certified Pet First Aid attendant and evaluator for the Canine Good Citizen program.

For more information on Grisha and Ahimsa Dog Training in the Seattle, Washington area, visitwww.ahimsadogtraining.com.

Hello everyone!

Our database of doggy professionals is building! We have recommendations of vets to trainers to groomers to companies that produce to dog specific items from all over North America. Wonderful job!

But we need more!! Before we build this out into a referral website, we need to have a few thousand recommendations of doggy professionals from every corner of this continent and even beyond our shores. We are about a third of the way along in our collecting process so keep them coming in please! Vets, trainers, behaviorists, groomers, dog walkers, kennels, doggy day care, dog parks – whatever you can think of, send it my email at ann@ohmydogsupplies.com.

Thank you!