[ultimatek9]

When we had a lady visits our dog school with her very fearful dog, the trainer asked that she kept the dog leashed and just walked around ignoring the dog, same at home, pop her on a leash tie her to your waste walk around ignoring her no eye contact. He was very persistence that she did not allow the dog to hide. After a few lessons she never returned, she was able to handling the problem herself.

This is called the umbilical cord method. I use it with all of my puppies and new dogs. I would definitely recommend using it.

I just took in a Chihuahua last Monday. He is a severely insecure-dominant with a major fear aggression problem. His owner said that he had not been socialized when he was younger, and then started becoming aggressive toward people. So she "sheltered" him. He stayed inside, never went on walks, and was crated when anyone else was around. The past six months he has now turned his aggression towards his owner and her mother. Therefore, she decided she didn't want him anymore. None of the rescue groups would take him in due to his aggression and the fact that he has drawn blood.

Anyway, I agreed to take in the reincarnate of Satan and see what I could do with him.
His owner told me that his aggression triggers are: anyone trying to pet or pick him up, putting a collar or harness on him, trying to make him walk on a leash, trying to put him in his crate, trying get him out of his crate, going near him when he is eating or chewing on something, trying to bath or groom him, messing with his feet, messing with him when he is sleeping, and other animals.
Once I got him home, I started by dumping him out of his crate and then cornering him to slip a leash over his head while trying not to get bit. I took him outside for a bathroom break. Then I took him back to his kennel for the night. His owner said that Georgie basically lived in his crate; because she was afraid of him. He was terrified to go back in. He turned even more aggressive, but I refused to let him win. He finally went in after biting me 20+ times, and realizing that I wasn't backing off.

The next day I "umbilical corded" him to me, and ignored him. Every time I walked toward him or stepped over him, he would growl and bear his teeth. I just kept on with what I was doing. The only time I corrected him was if he snapped at me or lunged at one the other animals. I also required my husband to ignore Georgie. We did this all day Tuesday and Wednesday. By Thursday, he was craving attention and would jump up in our laps or paw at us. We would just ignore him or brush him off of our laps. We have now had him just over a week, and he is showing very little aggression toward us or the other animals. He is also going with the other dogs on their daily walks, and is doing great.

I am socializing him with other people, by taking him out in public and asking people to ignore him. The same way my husband and I did. This allows him to check out the new people in his own time without feeling threatened by people reaching at him. Once he gets more comfortable with them, I have the person squat or sit down while still ignoring Georgie. Then I have them calmly offer him food or treats, but never try and pet him. Once he gains enough confidence to approach people I have them calmly pet him on the chest and under the chin, never on the head (this can be very threatening). This process has worked very well in the past and is working beautifully with Georgie. In the past week, four new people have pet him without him biting or growling. Three of them were guys, which he supposedly hates.

You said that your puppy is food motivated, I would use this to your advantage. When you go to put her in her room use a stuffed kong or one of the "Premier" food dispensing toys. This will make it more of a positive experience. Also, try putting her away before you start getting ready or start stressing out.

 

[ultimatek9]

ULTIMATEK9
What a great post.... it is SO wonderful to see some positive advice.
You can tell you are an expert.
It's so good to see that it's never too late to change a dog...

Thanks. :thumbleft: I believe that most dogs can change in time when given the proper guidance.

 

[ultimatek9]

but I know Nala -- and she's not going for any leash methods right off the bat

So who is in charge, her or you?? You're dooming her by this attitude. I would not give a rat's ass if my dog didn't "go for leash methods", they are A DOG and her life literally hangs in the balance from the sound of it. You need to take over and be in charge or this isn't going to work.

msvette, that in no way implies that Nala is in charge. This implies that she is afraid of the leash. And forcing her to wear it, is not beneficial to anyone. I don't know about you, but I think it's much easier to train a calm, content dog, than it is to train one that is fighting, kicking and trying to escape with every fiber of their being. Common sense here, not a battle of "who's in charge." I said I WILL re-introduce Nala to the leash, but it's going to take TIME before she is comfortable enough to just leisurely walk beside me with it on.

Start getting Nala used to the leash slowly and positively. Have her wear it durring positive, enjoyable times; such as: put it on her just before feeding her, have her wear it while calmly petting her and massaging her, and put it on her while feeding her treats.

Use a very light weight leash and just let her drag it while following you around getting fed treats. Be sure to make certain the leash never get caught on anything, that could really tramatize her. Once she gets accustom to the leash being on her, start picking up the leash (while putting no tension on it) and let her lead you around. As long as she is acting calm about it praise and treat her. Just make sure if she freezes or gets nervous that you don't talk to her or pet her. Just slow it down and give her a chance to work it out, once she starts moving again give her praise. Make sure the praise is happy but calm. Too much enthusiasm could cause her to panic.

 

[ultimatek9]

Lisa, you asked how old Nala is... she will be 7 mos old on the 6th.

I'm already seeing some improvements in her.. just baby steps. She isn't running away from me so much. But she still tucks her tail quite a bit. Not all the way under, if that makes sense.. but she holds the proximal end close to her body, if you can picture what I'm saying. And the peeing has to stop. She jumped on my son's BRAND NEW mattress today and dribbled out of excitement.. Oh that makes me so angry because her urine is extremely strong-smelling.

OMG... I just noticed something. I can't remember the last time I saw Nala take a drink of water. Maybe that's why her pee stinks so bad... or what if she has a UTI? Maybe that's why she's peeing all the time. I know she is a submissive urinator, but maybe she has some medical issues to top it off.

Also, one of my patients and I got to talking, and she was telling me about an anti-anxiety pill for dogs. She said her dog takes it during thunderstorms and he hasn't been afraid of one since. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

Submissive urination only gets better with time and confidence. You'll have to manage having a pisser by doing things like not letting her jump up on your son's new mattress. Getting mad at her for doing something you know she does and can't help is unreasonable.

I got a ridgeback returned to rescue for being nutty and sensitive and her owners put her on chlomicalm - anti-anxiety drug. When I got her I was supposed to foster her until we had a behaviorist re-evaluate her adoptability. She settled right in to my household. She's soft, but she's not crazy and she is not on chlomicalm. so I kept her. She was not in the right environment with those people so I guess they drugged her to fit. She isn't drugged at my house.

Here's my thing; granted there are probably some dogs out there who need chlomicalm, if you consider putting this puppy on an anti-anxiety drug you need to rehome this dog. You cannot drug this dog into your world view. It is not fair to the dog.

Paula

We tried chlomicalm many years ago for a Great Dane/Komondor mix that we had, for severe seperation anxiety. Kuma was only on it a couple of days before we stopped using it. It made him really aggressive. He started lashing out at the other dogs, cats, and us; which he had never done before.

There are a couple of herbal calmers that you can use. Ark Naturals makes one called Happy Traveler. It contains St. Jon's Wort, Kava Kava, Valerian Root, and Chamomile. It is good for stressful times (i.e. fireworks, traveling, storms, etc.), but I don't recommend using it for prolonged periods of time. The one I prefer is made by a Canadian company named Holistic Blend, and is called Herbal Calmer. It is a liquid containing Skullcap, Passion Flower, and Chamomile in a base of cod liver oil. It is a lot safer for frequent use.