Where do I start

[franklinshauna]

Oh my goodness. I have read this entire program and while I believe it could work, I have some questions.

 

I have a 12 year old shih tzu, 8 year old basset hound and my trouble maker who 10 month old Malshi (half shit tzu half Maltese). His name is Harley

 

Harley is a bully to the older dogs. He jumps on them, puts his legs on their backs, growls if they come near me. Even if Harley is on the couch resting (which is rare) and the other dog enters the room he will jump down to growl at them from a distance. I've read about the time. My question is if it happens on the other side of the room from me do I get up and go get him saying oops and putting him in time out? How long should time out be?

 

Also, he barks at everything. Walks and car rides are difficult. I understand the desensitization and the behavior correcting. Harley goes everywhere with me. Our biggest issue is at the gas station or picking up my son from school. He is an absolute freak barking non stop. I have gotten to where I ignore it as he usually goes to the back of the SUV. Should I not take him for awhile until we get him out of this habbit.

 

And last question. When I arrive home he is a bully to the other dogs. I've read the sections on that about ignoring him until he settles down ect. My issue is that he is with me. When I come inside I usually sit on the couch to greet the other two dogs and Harley goes phsyo growling and biting the other dogs. He isn't attacking them, but he is definitely not happy they are around me.

 

He resource guards me like crazy. No other dog or even my husband is able to approach me with him getting excited. He doesn't get mean, but he gets hyper and growls and barks. He also does this if my husband and I are starting to talk.

 

Harley belonged to my daughter, but she left for college. I work from home so I have been with him all day every day. He was given to us way to soon in my opinion.

 

Harley is my buddy. He came to me a low time in my life. My daughter moved 3000 miles away and my dog of 14 years passed away. Harley is extremely important to me. He goes everywhere with me, but it he also causes a lot of stress for me.

 

Where should I begin in this training course. He knows nothing except his name. I've taken him to see a professional, but that was $60.00 down the drain. Only advise I got was to ignore the barking. Oh did I mention, my husband sleeps days?

 

My husband is not a big fan of Harley at this point, but I know that could change. He is a 7 pound dog, I mean how hard can this be? I will say his behavior is my fault. I've tried tried to give him what he wants every time he barks in order to keep him quiet. Please help.

[JMFS]

I've tried tried to give him what he wants every time he barks in order to keep him quiet. Please help.

 

That clever boy has you trained! I know it's easier to give him what he wants, but to nip it in the bud you're going to need to do adjust when the reward is given. When Harley is Quiet he should be rewarded. Eventually he's going to figure out silence = reward. I've conditioned Gertrude to expect good things when the waste collector comes by, for example. Instead of her barking at them she now watches them silently. I did this by using Adrienne's "look at that" game. I sat at the window with Gertie and when the waste collectors came by I'd ask her, "who's that?" When she looked at them I put a treat on the window sill so she could eat it while still watching them. It took time but she couldn't care one lick about those guys now.

 

That's a place to start - think of a situation where you could have Harley look at something he'd normally bark at and when he's about to bark, give him a treat. Timing is key. You don't want to do it as he's barking or he'll think bark = treat. If you miss the cue you can treat him after he's been quiet for a couple seconds. I follow up with "good quiet!" Gertie has a little cheek puff and head lift that happens when she's about to bark so I watch for that and give her a treat before she can get the sound out.

 

There's a post around here somewhere about a time Adrienne had to help a gal with her dog barking at her boyfriend. By ignoring the behavior he's getting to rehearse it, which reinforces it so it becomes more and more ingrained. I have to dash now, but if Adrienne doesn't beat me to it I'll dig up some posts for you because I know there are a couple specific to your situation with the barking.

 

I'm leaving the bullying issue up to the expert. :)

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

 

It can be tough when we have older dogs and a younger dog who is full of energy and acts like a bully. Younger dogs are notorious for pestering older dogs and sometimes it can help draining these youngsters' energy a bit so to take the edge off before allowing them to be all together. If the bullying is excessive, it may be worthy also keeping them in separated areas so that your older dogs can relax without worrying about Harley bothering them. At their ages, they deserve some peace and quiet. I would consider erecting a baby gate or pen to allow them at least some moments of relax. This should also prevent Harley from excessively rehearsing the protective behaviors you describe.

 

Protective behaviors where a dog reacts aggressively to other dogs and people approaching, requires behavior modification. This often requires the intervention of a dog behavior professional in person for safety and so to correctly implement the most suitable methods based on observations. When owning two dogs, the addition of a third dog often triggers changes in a social group and these dynamics can sometimes be complex. Based on personal observations, a variety of methods may be employed.

 

Here is a read showing several methods:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dogs-fighting-over-owner/

I particularly am a fan of using desensitization and counterconditioning for this case, open bar/closed bar may help. The goal is to create positive associations when your other dogs come near you.

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/

 

So in the case of you sitting on the couch, with the help of a professional, it may help to keep Harley on leash and feed him treats every time the other dogs are walked by on a leash by a helper. When the other dogs are out of sight, no more treats. Treats happen only when Harley sees your dogs approaching. Gradually, over the course of several days, the other dogs are brought closer, until we reach the point where you can pet them and feed treats to Harley simultaneously, sort of what I do in the video in the bottom of the article. Of course, extra care and protective measures are needed if Harley is protective of food as well. Your dog behavior professional may be able to assist with that. At some point, you may be able to pet your other two dogs while Harley enjoys a stuffed Kong at a distance while laying on a mat.

 

When you cannot work on the issue, it is best to prevent rehearsal of the troublesome behavior. This means, that you may have to keep Harley and your other dogs in separate areas and rotate the time you give them attention. So upon coming home, you may wish to keep Harley in a separate area if you wish to give your other dogs attention (make sure he doesn't see/hear you giving the attention) or you may give Harley attention while your other dogs are kept in a separate area. This is temporary until behavior modification starts kicking in and Harley has learned to look forward to giving your other dogs getting attention because he is giving some goodies while you do that.

 

If your dog is showing protective behaviors towards you when your husband approaches, you want to do something similar. Here is a behavior modification plan for a dog who is barking when a person is entering a room.

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/

 

And when you need to start a conversation with your husband, make treats happen contingent upon you starting to talk. When you stop talking, no more treats. If calories are an issue, use Harley's kibble if he likes that. You want Harley to want your husband to come near you, sit next to you and talk because wonderful things happen around him when that happens. When he then stops talking, gets up and leaves the room, all these good things abruptly stop.

 

The Look at that game can turn out handy for the barking you describe if the barking is addressed towards people/other dogs walking by when at the gas station. You can start practicing this at home when Harley sees people other dogs from the window and then you can progress to doing the same exercise in the car, with the car initially parked at a distance from triggers so that your dog is under threshold. Here is the look at that game:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

 

and here is a read about threshold levels in dogs:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

 

I am glad that you have taken the time to read the whole program, that is quite an accomplishment! Now, you need to apply all of that, which is the biggest hurdle, but it's all a matter of taking baby steps for you and your dogs. Harley and your other dogs surely benefit from learning as much as they can. I suggest starting Harley on the LAT training for the car barking, and at least starting the obedience 101 sections. If you can teach your dogs to do a group sit/stay (you first train sits individually, and then add an extra dog and ask two and then three), you have certainly a strong tool for teaching calmer behaviors which can also help a lot in reducing the excessive excitement and overarousal. Training after all, is all about teaching impulse control and lack of impulse control is often what can trigger squabbles in multi-dog households.

 

Now, a disclaimer is warranted here. Since behavior modification may be challenging to implement and there are also risks for aggression directed towards the handler/other dogs/other people, it's important that behavior modification is carried out under the guidance of a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation.

Edited October 14, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[franklinshauna]

Thank you both for taking the time to respond. I'm not overly worried about aggression because Harley is only 7 pounds. He is smaller than the other dogs and he doesn't attack them he just has very loud growls and in fact he starts to play rough with me when they approach.

 

The worst time is when I get home. The problem is I take Harley everywhere so he is always with me. The other dogs prefer to stay home. They greet me at the door, but they are pretty calm because they are old. The instant I put Harley down he starts to growl and jump on the other dogs. I think if I VC were to walk in the house and Immediatly put Harley in another room, he wouldn't understand why he is there. If I continue to hold Harley while I pet the other dogs, he is completely fine and calm, but when I put him down he instantly becomes phsyco.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Thanks for the additional details, they are very helpful!

 

Although Harley is small, we need to consider that even small dogs can bite and that aggressive displays left untreated may potentially escalate. Also, on top of biting, we need to also consider the emotional toll on the other dogs who may develop fear and avoidance behaviors. This may or may not be your case depending on how resilient your other dogs are, but there is surely always some level of impact. So we want to work on this, ideally with the help of a behavior consultant for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification.

 

If Harley is with you most of the time, and fights erupt when you place him down, this can be an easy fix through management. The goal of management is to prevent the rehearsal of problem behaviors. When dogs repeat problematic behaviors such as attacking other dogs, these behaviors put roots and establish. Soon, they become default behaviors and part of a dog's behavioral repertoire. In other words, the more dogs rehearse these behaviors, the more they get good at it. Management works well when we deal with aggression manifesting in specific contexts that can be avoided. In your case, here are some options:

 

1) You can have a helper/family member keep the other dogs away from the door area at least for a bit until all dogs are chill. Maybe have the helper keep them in yard. This way you can place Harley on the floor with no other dogs nearby to trigger competition for attention/over excitement.

 

2) You can carry Harley and place him in a crate or another room for a bit. This is to prevent rehearsal of the problematic behavior. Let him have a goodie while there such as a stuffed Kong or a safe chew (with easy access by the door on a high piece of furniture so that your dogs cannot get it) so he doesn't feel like he's being punished.

 

Now, management just avoids rehearsal of the problem behavior. If carried out well, we can reduce incidences in those specific contexts which makes for a happier co-existence, but if we actually want to work on this issue, we would need the intervention of a behavior professional.

 

It would be interesting at this point determining whether Harley's behavior is contingent upon being placed down, or due to your other dog's approaching to greet you or upon you petting/giving attention to your other dogs. It can certainly may also be a combination of several. To test what this behavior is evoked by, we would need to see (under the supervision of a professional for safety) what Harley does when:

 

1) He is placed down from being in your arms at home when your other dogs are nearby in other non-greeting circumstances.

2) He walks though the door with you (without being in your arms but on leash or off leash if you have a fenced front yard) when you come home and your dogs are approaching you.

3) He is placed down from being in your arms when your other dogs are approaching but you give your other dogs zero attention (you just come home, without looking at them, talking to them, touching them as if they were invisible).

 

Depending on what triggers the behavior, behavior modification may consist of the following exercises or a combination of some:

 

1) Harley is not carried but walked through the door (if being at a high level makes him feel more confident and more likely to attack your other dogs, this may solve the issue).

2) You don't give any attention to your other dogs upon coming home (if the attention given to your other dogs triggers the attacking).

3) You walk through the door with Harley and as soon as Harley fights with the other dogs, you quickly exit the door (so there is nothing to fight over, if the attack is due to Harley acting protective of you). You rinse and repeat this exercise several times until Harley understands that, contingent upon his attacking behavior you leave, whereas, when he doesn't attack instead you stay inside and even proceed to walk. At any sign of conflict, you make steps back towards the door. I am personally not too much of a fan of this method, because it means that initially we would let Harley rehearse the behavior for several trials.

4)This is based on desensitization and counterconditioning. You have a helper keep your other dogs on leash. You practice giving several treats in a row every time Harley is placed down and sees your other dogs approaching. The helper then leaves with your other dogs and no more treats. Treats are always contingent upon the other dogs approaching.

5) You create a strong conditioned emotional response (through associations with treats) to Harley seeing your other dog's approaching first with him in your arms, and then with him placed on the floor. This requires a detailed, step-by-step approach using desensitization and counterconditioning. Your other dogs must also learn to stay at a distance especially initially so to prevent fights over food.

 

 

These methods incorporate training, so it may take some time to get fluent responses to the point of him ignoring your other dogs. Your other dogs must also learn too to respect boundaries and understand to not interfere getting into the way as this can provoke fights over food.

 

6) You train Harley to go to his mat (right by the door area) upon being placed down where he receives a safe, long-lasting chew while you enter the home and you are greeted by your other dogs (but you give no attention). You can make this a routine so that Harley looks forward to coming home and your other dogs approaching. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

7) You train Harley some other alternate behavior and reward that with high value treats. For instance, you enter the home and train Harley to do several steps of attention heeling as you hold a cookie at eye level as you navigate past your other dogs and then let Harley enjoy the goodie on a mat or crate. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

 

 

As seen, there are several methods to tackle this issue, and all in all, it really depends on several factors based on what triggers Harley's behaviors, how intense the behavior is, how the other dogs react to his behavior, how adept Harley is learning new behaviors around distractions, dog owner compliance (how committed and how likely you are to follow the instructions given by a behavior professional) and ability to manage the dog's environment. Due to the complexity of all this, this is why the intervention of a behavior professional is always recommended for cases of dogs attacking other dogs or owners due to safety, the need for accurate assessments and correct implementation of behavior modification.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli