Aggression towards Garbage can & chair

[birdique]

Ok I need help already. I think this is going to be a longer road than I anticipated.

I got clutch 2 days ago from a shelter. I posted info about him in the rescur section. I know it is a period of adjustment for the 2 of us.

Today he started barking,growling and biting the swivel chair at my desk. It was not a playful bark either. He kept circling the chair trying to bite it. I told him to know it off. He listened for about 10 secondsw and than did the same thing. He would not let up. I just took him away from the situation because I could not stand it anymore.

Than after dinner tonight he started doing the same thing with the garbage can. Barking, growling and biting the plastic. Finally I took a tin cookie sheet and threw it on the floor to create a racket. He stopped for a short while and started again. I did the same thing and he stopped. Now he just looks at it. I could tell he would like nothing more than to start again. But he has stopped.

Could you please tell me about the strange behavior and if I am going about correcting in the right way. I cant wait to see what tomorrow brings.Its a different event every day, but somehow we get through it

Thanks for the help..this forum is the best....

Linda

[Judi W]

good heavens! Nothing in your earlier description indicated that he was crazed. Do you have the impression that he has ever been in a house before?

[scooterjohansen]

We had a similiar situation. He has 2 things that will set this behavour off. The vacum cleaner? Whether it is running or not and the swivel chair in the office. He will bark and bark and bark until the item is removed from site.

We solved the swivel chair problem by introducing it slowlyand bringing it into an open room, tying a rope to it and low and behold the chair holds no interest anymore.
The vacum cleaner we have resorted to the fact thats the way it is. Unless someone has an idea. We don't care though cause thats the only thing he barks at and dogs need to bark right?

Once your pooch get familiar with these items it should settle down.
In case your wondering the barks our boy had towards these items were not playful he meant business.

I think it is a familiarisation thing. Best of luck

[RottiMomCT]

Ben and Baron both hate the vacuum cleaner...bark their fool heads off at it, and usually try to attack it (well, rush up, bite at it and run back). I don't care that they do it...cracks me up and I laugh AT them while they do it.

I also don't vacuum that often (bad Anne!), and they don't go off at it every time.

The chair and garbage can, to you, are nothing...but to him, they are a perceived threat - something to be afraid of for some reason or another - to him.

Tell him to knock it off - and mean it. When he is quiet, praise him, call him to you, have him sit, and pet him. If you are sitting IN the chair, praise when he comes to you. Praise when he sniffs the chair and doesn't appear to want to kill it. Same for the garbage can - no threat there from YOUR garbage can, so tell him to knock it off and praise when he checks it out on his own.

You both have alot of adjusting to do - be patient, don't coddle him like a poor poor shelter dog who had a hard life (thats in the past - no need to dwell on it for him).

Only fun stuff happens in your house - food, play, love, etc...but also rules he needs to learn...including the rules that chairs and garbage cans won't kill him...

[birdique]

Using the cookie sheet (as posted above) has worked. He does not even go near them and could care less about them. When he did attack the chair, it did not matter if I was in it or not he did it anyway. One problem solved.

I also know about the vacuum. I vacuumed up last night and he kept turning it over and attacking it. Most of my dogs did this same thing. The only problem is when he turns it over he keeps shutting it off. Oh well, I figure just dont vacuum...works for me...lol

When does the toddler stage end with this breed? Is he set back because he was in the shelter? He takes everything. All I do is walk behind him and say no that is not yours, that is not yours either, neither is that....all day. OMG he is a handful. But I love the BIG LUG anyway.

Linda

[MontanaRott]

When we got our boy Steve, July a year ago, he was 8, had been an outside dog and was not housebroken and was WAY WAY under socialized. We got him and he was treated like a puppy, we went right to basics in training, socialized him, as if he were a puppy, and made him earn everything.
Housebreaking was a breeze, we used an e-pen and he sure did not want to pee or poop where he had to sleep.
And he freaked on new stuff, the microwave, popcorn popper, vacuum, lawn mower, etc.
We just made a party about it so it was not a big deal for him and he soon learned to ignore all of it. When we get the vacuum out, he bolts for the door and will not come back in until it is put away. He meant business with the lawnmower and a stern "knock it off" brought that to a halt. He is now 9, and still very much like having a puppy around, will steal laundry if it hits the floor, things like that, but he is also ready to try to get a CD!
So i guess what I am saying is, be consistent, be paitent, and train, train, train! You will end up with a great dog!

[debbiej]

He sounds a lot like the dog I got from the shelter. well, not the chair and garbage can part, but the picking up everything part. and the everything in a house is new part. I guess you are excused from vacuuming, but he means double pick up and put away duty! It has been my experience that the ratio of getting into stuff and good consistant obedience training are proportional. the more training you do, the less he gets into. walks, playtime and positive re enforcement of good behavior works wonders. I don't want to knock what may work for you, but I wonder about crashing cookie sheets when he may be barking because of something making him unsure. Can you help him 'make friends' with these strange objects? With my dog, when I couldn't watch him I'd put him in a dog safe place. preferrably a crate. just that helped with a lot of problems.

[birdique]

Oh believe me that was part of what I was trying to do was to make friends out of the 2 things . I turned the chair over let himlook and sniff. It did no good. He just wanted to chew those legs off and kill the beast. I have the same chair in the kitchen and he did nothing to that one. He saw the same can the day before and did nothing. It was clear out of the blue that this started.

Today he has not had any issues with the can or chair. He is not afriad of them as I sit in the chair and he comes over to me. He passes the pail in the kitchen and ha not even glanced at it. Very strange...... Believe me I was trying everything before I resorted to the cookie sheets. As I said I usually used the soda bottles with rocks but could not do that in this case.

So far so good and the day is almost over

Thanks for the tips and encouragement

Linda

[debbiej]

I went back and read your description of Clutch again, and re-read this thread. It sounds like he is fairly well behaved, and somewhat trained but is not listening to you when something else is more interesting or 'important' to him. Here is where the evaluation would come in handy. Here is where getting help with training will be necessary. A solid foundation in training will most likely solve these problems and that takes some time. gradually building up obedience is best, but what has happened is you are having to get him to back out of full blown excitement on command. And you can't very well put everything that might seem strange to him away! Since he is an unknown dog, and his response to correction isn't determined yet (?) you do have to be careful, but I would make sure everything you do reminds him he has no rights or privileges. crate him, take him out on lead, back in crate or kennel. Judi W suggested to me that Boris not have any privleges in the house until he had earned them, each and every one. This was wonderful advice. It got us off on the right foot, giving him a clear message that he was in no way going to come in and take over. right now your dog just needs the basics, not even affection. Dogs just don't understand hospitality, they get an inflated opinion of themselves and their position.

Boris used to bark at the vacuum cleaner like he really meant business. since he also barked at other dogs like that, I was working with a trainer. The first time I told him to STOPIT when he was attacking the vacuum cleaner and he actually stopped it, I was really surprised! I was so used to my corrections being ineffective, I didn't believe it when he paid attention!

I'm glad it sounds like today was better!