Showing signs of aggression

[legend1983]

I need some advice, today I bought a kong for my 7 month old rotty, and before I gave it to him I made him sit and stay then gave it to him. Then went to gently pet him and he came at me as if he was going to attack showing teeth and barking. He has never done that before, I always make him sit and stay before feeding him. Now my question is was I wrong trying to pet him while he was trying to get his treat out? If not how can I correct this? I will be taking him to training class this spring right now my work hour does not allow me to. Any feedback would be appreciated

[brunie's mom]

This often happens when a puppy gets a very valuable item ...such as pig ear, raw bone, treat filled Kong,etc. You stop this behavior by teaching the dog to trade....give the command "drop it" or "out" and show them an even better treat..such as a piece of chicken or small piece of hotdog,etc.
When dog drops special item, to get the treat...praise....and give the special item back. This way they know something good is coming when you take away their special item. Keep repeating this through the day once in awhile and soon the dog understands the command after awhile.

IF a dog has a special treat...I would not be bothering it. Sometimes you must take it away from the dog though, if the dog is choking or breaking off pieces,etc.

Your puppy should have been in classes all this time...by the time spring rolls around he will be close to a year in age....when you've missed so much important time in training and socialization.

Gina

[Shelby427]

I agree with everything Gina has said - I don't usually pet or bother either of my dogs when they have a high value item - I let them enjoy it, however, that being said, I have taught both dogs to "drop and wait" and I used the technique Gina is suggesting, I just taught it by trading a piece of hot dog or cheese for the item.

I only practice this once in a while, maybe 1-2 times per week if they have a marrow bone or a treat filled kong.

[legend1983]

Thanks for your advice, Gina the puppy was in obedience training with the previous owner, and i will do my best to take him back to training asap. So I should teach him to drop and wait, but not pet him while they have high value item?, because honetly i dont get scared too easily and last night he scared the daylights out of me they way he growled and came at me.

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by legend1983

Thanks for your advice, Gina the puppy was in obedience training with the previous owner, and i will do my best to take him back to training asap. So I should teach him to drop and wait, but not pet him while they have high value item?, because honetly i dont get scared too easily and last night he scared the daylights out of me they way he growled and came at me.

You need to trade him for the high value item and then give the item back. I use "drop and wait" because my dogs ALREADY know the commands. Follow Gina's advice in her previous post.

[Crazy Joe Davola]

This is what I did with Gracie. She was protective over her pig ear.

First, I'd give her the pig ear and let her chew on it for a minute or so. I then would approach and tell her to 'drop it', and when she did, I would give her a special treat. Whie I gave her the special treat, I would take away pig ear. Because she was busy with the treat she didn't really care that I was taking away the pig ear.

I'd then praise, and give her back the pig ear.

I repeated this over and over again for a period of a week or so.

After a week or so, when she was given her pig ear, I would approach her and make it slightly obivious that I had a special treat in my hand. Without having to tell her to 'drop it', I would approach her and simultaneously take away the ear and give her the treat. Then praise and give her back the ear.

Now it is to the point where I can simply walk up to her and take away the pig ear without nothing more than a 'can I have a treat, please?' look in her eye.

This is what has worked for me, anyway.

[Ostory]

Owners can get away with mistakes with submissive dogs. However, when faced with a dominate dog the same mistakes will sometimes cause a conflict. Understand that dogs are governed by Canine behavior, not humane behaviors. The act of petting a dog can be a submissive one. Many people give dogs conflicting signals all the time concerning the relationships between the two.

Rule of thumb, the submissive one goes to the dominate one. By petting the dog, you went to him showing submissive behaviors. You should only pet your dog, after he has touched you in some fashion. If your dog is not coming to you, then the relationship has a problem in the first place.

[alice's mommy]

Ostory: by only petting the dog AFTER he has come to you, you are petting the dog when HE is demanding it, thus showing submission. As the dominant person in my household, I will pet my dog when I want, not when he requests it. You are actually saying the OPPOSITE of what is true! NILIF dictates that you pet the dog on your terms, not the dog's terms.

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by alice's mommy

Ostory: by only petting the dog AFTER he has come to you, you are petting the dog when HE is demanding it, thus showing submission. As the dominant person in my household, I will pet my dog when I want, not when he requests it. You are actually saying the OPPOSITE of what is true! NILIF dictates that you pet the dog on your terms, not the dog's terms.

Very true AM. I pet my dogs when I want to pet them. I don't allow them to bother me for attention. Mind you, Ostory is also the same guy that says "playing is the same as fighting" and "If the dog can do the work, then it should regardless if the hips are bad or not the dog should do it." So, since he has very different views on things, I'm not paying attention to it.

[Ostory]

If you are going to quote me do so correctly. I said playing is a form of fighting. It is a manner in which dog's test their strenghts and weakness against each other. It is obvious that you are not paying any attention.

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by Ostory

If you are going to quote me do so correctly. I said playing is a form of fighting. It is a manner in which dog's test their strenghts and weakness against each other. It is obvious that you are not paying any attention.

No, I am paying attention and I quote "Playing and fighting are the same. Dog "play" only to figure out which dog is actually the stronger. Only when the two dogs are equal does it become a fight."

If you would like to look up the post yourself, it's right there. Please be cautious when you give suggestions.

[Ostory]

No need to look it up. You have corrected it. There is a difference betweenn the quote, "playing and fighting are the same", and "Playing is the same as fighting". You may not understand the difference, but never the less it has a different point. I would attempt to explain it, but I doubt you care.

[jaxnvilleguy]

I would like to hear you explain it!!

[Ostory]

Inside the pack strength or weakness is determined through play, only when the dog dogs are close to equal in both determination and physical strength does the the play escualte into a "fight" where both parties are not holding anything back. Obviously, when dogs are playing they are not going all out, but they are testing each other until one party submits. This was the context of the quoted comment.

To take that out of that context and to quote me to say across the board that "play is the same as fighting" is incorrect. This is why when the proper rules of quoting a person is to referrence the text from which a quote is taken. This is even more important when changing the quote.

The is a big difference between fight and play. My point was that the behaviors of play and fighting do the same thing determine strength and weakness. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the least amount of play it takes to determine the strongest dog, and 10 being an all out fight there are many levels inbetween. At which point both dogs realize which dog is in fact the most dominate depends on the characteristics of the two dogs. And these change as the dogs mature.

[Ostory]

"verbal diarrhea"?? If anything it would be written diarrhea, would it not?

My advice is to understand, canine behavior. My advice is understand that the handler's behavior is understood by the dog based on Canine behaviors, not based on his/her intentions.

When a dog shows aggression towards the handler, there is a problem with the relationship. My advise is to correct the relationship, and to understand how to keep it correct. The handler must do more than to just assume they are the dominate one. The handler must always exhibit dominate behaviors, and not give mixed signals by expressing submissive behaviors. I gave petting as an example of this. If a handler goes to the dog instead of vice versa, this is giving a mixed signal.

I am sure you will not agree with me, and my verbal diarrhea. That is fine, you have the option to differ with me. All I can do is offer my opinion, it is up to you to use it or not.
(Wipe, Wipe, Wipe) I don't want to be accused of being unsanitary.