Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this forum,and I've seen some really great advice given on these message boards-maybe you guys will have some suggestions for us.
We have had our little girl for about a month. She's a year old. She came from a rescue and spent a couple of months with a great foster mom before coming to us. Her original situation is that she was with a backyard breeder-she was pregnant at about 6 months. She wasn't in a good situation, but I don't think she knew it.I don't think anyone ever hit her.(thank god) She is very loving and docile at home. I can take food from her, play with her ears,mouth, paws etc.We take her everywhere with us and are in a Petsmart training class because we want her to be socialized.The problem is that she is unpredictable in public. I'd say that about 85% of the time she is just perfect. She seems comfortable with her surroundings and lets people pet her and doesn't mind other people walking in our direction. But the other 5% she suddenly decides to growl and bark ferociously at people that approach to pet her. I make sure that her interactions with people are positive, but if they make eye contact with her it's all over. I understand that to dogs this is a sign of aggression, and I try to turn her sideways and warn people, but I don't always catch it in time. Also, some people can make eye contact with her without any problems.How do I convey the message that I am in charge, and if I let someone pet her they are o.k.? I think she might be trying to protect me. Also, once she starts barking at someone or something she won't stop and I don't have a command for it. I can't squirt her with water or rattle a can of coins because she's usually right next to me, and like I said it's very unpredictable.
I know there are worse problems out there, but it is very important to us that other people see the sweet loving dog we see and not a yippy mean little dog!
Thanks for your help!
Michelle

Congrats on the new rescue! It sure sounds like you found a gem!

A month is not a huge amount of time to assess the true personality of a dog- especially a dog coming from teh situation you described. Be patient, caring, and continue your classes. Once she gets more confident and understands her role in your life, a lot of the "unpredictability" shoudl be reduced. It can take a year to fully understand a new dog and even longer sometimes.

Welcome to the forum and post pictures when you can.
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PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.

Thanks for the advice. It's true I forget we've only had her a month because we bonded immediately and it feels like she's always been with us! But I do wonder what I should do when she starts growling or barking at someone. She's usually in my arms when she does this (or in the car) Should I just put her down on the ground? I usually try to cover her eyes with my hand to break her eye contact with the person, but she squirms out from under, resumes eye contact and keeps barking. She's startlingly loud! Any advice for when we're out and about?
Michelle & Boo
P.S. loved the Dear Dog letter.

Barking can be very self rewarding and in your arms she may getting some mixed messages.

If she starts barking, I would just put her down on the ground and walk away from the situation casually. It sends a fairly clear message to her that 1) it's not her job to "warn" you of the people approaching and 2) it doesn't reward the behavior with any of your attention. 3) Don't let others touch her or circumvent your training during this proccess as well.

If that doesn't work after a few tries (sometimes it gets worse before it gets better), you may want to Talk with your trainer and get a private lesson and address this issue.

This is kind of a "small dog problem" that many encounter. You may want to slowly work on desensitizing her to strangers as well, but only after you've found where her comfort level is first.
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PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.

In addition, I'd watch her body language. She might be giving warning signals before she starts really barking, and you might be able to walk away even more she gets upset.

Chihuahuas have been in my family for as long as I can remember. While the two varieties are smooth coat and long haired I joke that it should be "shiverer" and "ankle biter."

My girl LaVie was neither, she was the best companion and travel dog. At one point she accompanied me on business trips and everyone loved her, she was such a great dog to take everywhere. But this took a LOT of training.

First, don't carry and hold all the time. She is a dog and dogs are ment to be on their four paws.

Next, socialize. Socialize in safe and controlled situations. Start in small (extremely short) increments and in controlled situations. Get her used to going someplace and nothing happening. Then slowly build up the events that occur. Always finish on a positive note - a key piece to do this is to do your best to avoid putting her in a position she can not handle yet. Slowly build these up, frequency, duration, etc.

Be very sure to reward the behavior you are trying to mold.

.
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tabitha
Kayo, Kahla, and Dante'

Thanks for everyone's advice. I don't carry her all the time, but I do when we are in stores where she's not allowed to walk on a leash. I recently met some of her foster moms, and I learned that when the rescue first got her, she would not let anyone near her at all. So at least it's nice to know that she has come a long way. It varies, but I've noticed that she starts barking ferociously at spanish speaking kids. (I think this has to do with the household she was originally in). It makes me sad for her, but it's also difficult for us if we're out and about because when it's happened, the kids weren't being threatening in any way to her. And recently she went nuts about-what a cliche-the mailman! We weren't at home we were in the parking lot. I've tried some advice I've read previously about turning the dog over onto her back, but it didn't work very well. She seems very determined to have the last bark! I guess this is going to require more time being exposed to the outside world, and more patience on my part! I will keep the tips here in mind, and if anyone has any further advice-we're all ears! (no really, you should see her...)
Thanks,
Michelle & Boo

here's what I mean by being all ears..
(I'm not sure if I'm doing this right)

You did great posting the pics!

It's not uncommon for dogs to take a dilike for a certain population. One of my dogs does not like African Americans. It's a bit embarassing at times to have a prejudiced dog. I've worked with her over the years and now she still is a bit uncomfortable, but unless you knew her, you would not think so.

To do this, I just went to a fairly ethnic part of our neighborhood and sat on the ground with tuna and fed her hunks of tuna every time a person came into her view. I then got her to look at the person and then at me to get her treat. This progressed fairly fast and by me controlling where her eyes wandered, I could control her emotion. I also was very protective of her and did not let people pet while I was training this.

You have some homework to do, but it won't take long. Find some treat your dog jsut loves. I bet it will work fairly fast.
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PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.