Dog Behaviour

I adopted my dog and he becomes aggressive at the mere sight of another dog. I hope someone knows an effective trainer who can solve this problem as he gets very stressed every time I take him for a walk. I'd like for him to become able to socialize with other dogs.

Cecar Millan! on national geographic chanel, watch it

I'd appreciate your opinions on this. Do you think this is just 'normal' puppy behaviour that is nothing to worry about, maybe the puppy will grow out of it or do you feel this is a sign of an aggressive dog to come?
My four month old puppy snapped at my childs friend. The child put her face in my puppies face. I asked her to move her face away but before she did he snapped at her. He made no noise as he did this and didn't bite her. The child and her mum were understandably very shaken up. I felt and still feel dreadful. Thankfully the puppy 'only' snapped but I'm worried if this may happen again and next time maybe make contact.
What do you think? Is this just a puppy learning? We are training him with a professional dog trainer and will continue to do so but I feel so terrible that my puppy scared the child and may do it or worse again.
Any opinions are appreciated,
Thanks,
X
In reply to chopping his nuts off we are going to have him castrated as soon as he is old enough. We have been advised at six months to do this.
Thanks so much for all of your answers. Sadly it is a bit of a after the horse has bolted for me as I obviously trusted him too much. Not again.
I did ask the girl to remove her face but he snapped before she did. Her Mum heard me say this. I'm not for one second defending what my puppy did and it has really shaken me up. It has given me concerns as to what he will grow into.
We have done it all by the book, puppy classes from the earliest we could, sociaisation started before he could even walk on the floor. We take him to meet other dogs over the park and this has all gone well so far but it only takes one time and that has scared me. Maybe I'm just looking for reasurance that it is 'normal' for a puppy of this age and with our trainers help and loads of hard work it doesn't mean our pup is aggressive.
He is a large breed yes and this certainly does make people less tolerant.
I am so careful though I wasn't careful enough at this time. Wehn he meets people he must sit. Then they stroke him twice on his head and say good dog. Then that is the end of the greeting. This is how we have been working with our trainer and it helps. He doesn't jump op too much but as he is big it def does seem more of a problem. I fully understand why. It can be intimidating to people and I respect that.
This child had already been introduced to him and was fine for a couple of hours. She didn't pull his ears or anything. I'm not sure how he meant the snap. He didn't growl so I would say it wasn't aggressive but I don't think he was beeing playful either. I thought it was a warning.
I just sent a text message to the Mother of the child asking how the girl is and apologising again. She replied saying the girl has a bruise.
So that means he actually nipped her doesn't it? Does that make it more of an aggression thing?
I'D JUST LIKE TO THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ANSWERS. YOU BASICALLY CONFIRMED WHAT I KNEW. KEEP ON THE WATCH, I'LL DEF BE MORE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE BUT IT IS NORMAL PUPPY BEHAVIOUR.
I SPOKE WITH OUR VET AND HE ASSURES ME OUR PUPPY ISN'T AGGRESSIVE.
THANKS AGAIN- YOU REALLY HELPED WHEN I WAS FEELING VERY ANXIOUS.

Was it a play snap, or was it aggressive? Pups this age still do play fight, a lot - and he may have been playing. He still needs to learn that this is not acceptable behaviour - but it doesn't mean that he is fated to be an aggressive dog who is unsafe around anyone - human or animal.

Children and puppies can be a great combination - but they can also be hell - as you discovered - particularly if you have a child who pushes at the puppy's limits and won't back off. Having a child face off a pup like this is threatening behaviour to a dog - and a snap would be the pup's way of warning the child to back off - without causing harm. Looked at this way, it was actually quite restrained behaviour!

Talk to your dog trainer, explain exactly what happened - but don't panic. Is it a big dog? It seems to me that large breeds are always expected to behave better as pups than small breeds - and that simply isn't fair. Cute nips from a pom suddenly look sinister from a rottie pup… but the intention is exactly the same.

There was a question asked about a dogs destructive behavior,It sounded like a pretty clear example of separation anxiety to me as well as some of the other answerers. One of the other answerers said "Your dog is mad at you and is taking revenge by being destructive" I find that absurd. revenge is a human ,not canine behavior. Though there may be times it seems our pets are acting out of vengence I believe their motivations are something entiely different. I'd like to hear your thoughts**Especially Behaviorists.I must add the asker seems to believe the 'revenge' theory.

Dogs plotting revenge? Never happens. What people mistake for "spite" or "revenge" is usually separation anxiety (as you correctly believe), and a lack of exercise and training. Dogs relieve anxiety by putting things in their mouths and chewing them - the same way children suck their thumbs and adults bite their nails, chew gum or smoke cigarettes.

A dog may look "guilty" when you come home to find the house soiled and torn up, but that isn't guilt in the human sense. It's that the dog has learned that YOU are going to be mad at him when you come home. He doesn't know what else to do while you are out, since you're not there to tell him. That's why it's so important to confine a puppy to a crate so that he can't learn bad behaviors!

A well trained dog knows the rules and knows what to expect and how to please his family. He is much happier and less anxious, since he doesn't have to try to guess which behavior will get him in trouble.

These are the books that I recommend to my students; you can get them on Amazon.com
What All Good Dogs Should Know – Volhard http://www.volhard.com/
Good Owners, Great Dogs - Brian Kilcommins
Dog Tricks : Eighty-Eight Challenging Activities for Your Dog from World-Class Trainers by Haggerty and Benjamin
Don't Shoot the Dog - Pryor
Training Your Dog: The Step by Step Method - Volhard
Dog Problems - Benjamin
Cesar's Way - Cesar Millan
Also, watch the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. Cesar Millan is the best trainer I've ever seen on TV.
http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com/

My 6-year-old Cocker Spaniel has a T4 thyroid level of 0.6 so he's been put on 0.5 thyroxine daily. How long until I see a noticeable improvement in his skin, ears and behaviour (slight aggressive tendency)? Is this an 'overnight fix' like human hormones can be, or will it take a while to build up in his system?

My cocker mix is on .06 a day. She gets half a pill in the morning and half at night.

You'll notice a change in the energy level in a day or so. The coat takes time.

You'll also have to revisit your vet for more blood work in about a month to see if the level is correct.

My experience with Levothyroxine and/or Soloxane has all been very positive.

I have two male dogs, a 1 year-old dachshund and a 12 year old beagle…On two seperate occasions, the dachshund will bark verociously at something and get really riled up . My beagle will then join him in barking and will run around, which he rarely does because he is so old and then he will run over and smell my dachshund's crotch and bum and give them a nudge with his snout. Does anyone know what this behavior is?

Your dachshund's odor will certainly change in these moments: most likely because of increased adrenaline because he is alert, but if he is barking due to fear, he could release his anal glands and your beagle would smell that. Your beagle is just checking out this new smell. Normal for any dog, but especially a breed that was meant to follow a scent.

What are your opinions on this, how do you prevent the jumping up on furniture, and can there be allowances made sometimes ? Or does that confuse them x

We have a rule for our cats and dogs. They can not be on the furniture without a human. They understand that. The dogs are not allowed up unless invited and they understand that. They get on the bed and the furniture. Personal preference I guess. I love my dogs and I like to snuggle with them and watch TV with them. They're like my kids!

My puppy is 3 months old & I’ve had her a few of days. I’m reading a book on puppy training & it says to use pieces of dried food when she does something right but she doesn’t react to the smell or sight of food the way it says in the book. She has no interest at all so I tried doggy chocolate buttons & again no interest. So finally I tried breaking up a slice of ham & finally I got a big reaction. So I fed her later on (dry food softened with some water) but she didn’t want it. I want her to eat it straightaway rather than free feed & she should be hungry but she doesn’t come running like I’ve seen other dogs do & needs coaxing to eat her food quickly. Right now shes eating a doggy treat shes saved from lastnight but I thought dogs scoffed those things soon as they got them. When outside she tries to eat everything (plants & stones) & now shes started trying to eat coal & my curtains inside, yet shes not that interested in normal puppy pedigree food!! I read online that dogs poop an hour after they eat but although she poops twice a day or so it could be 5 mins after dinner or hours after. The other thing is when shes giddy she makes biting motions. She might be on my lap & kind of nibble & lick my hand or clothes. Usually when shes doing that she rolls around like crazy & lets her tongue loll out. We both discourage it but my boyfriend thinks its playfulness. We were playing with a rope toy today & she was loving it but it seemed like she was jumping up to try to get the side that was in my hand & after a few minutes she got me. Its just a scrape really but I don’t know if it was an accident caused by her getting all excited while we played or if she meant to do it. When I said ow & dropped the toy she ran up onto my lap & started licking me. So does she not like the food & is all this normal puppy behaviour? Should I take the bowl of food away after a certain amount of time to show her she should eat it when its offered? Thanks in advance Shes half sheep dog half labrador. I think she gets enough excersise because she tears around the place until shes exhausted & then sleeps for ages! I'm working on the walk thing though, trying to get her to walk on the lead.
I know she was eating pedigree before I got her. Is there something wrong with pedigree? Some people say its good but most seem to go "urgh". Maybe I'll get her something different today

Leave her fod bowl out for 30 min. If she doesnt eat then pick it up and offer it again at dinner time.
Have you tried cheese? Some dogs are just picky eaters. But she will not starve herselfe to death. She will eat eventually. Just a thought: Can you give her something better then pedigree?
For the biting: as soon as she puts her teeth on your skin, yelp really loud, get up and walk away. You have o do this everytime. Thats what her littermates did when playing gets to rough.

We had to put our older dog down about 3 months ago. We all miss her terribly but no one more, it seemed than our 6 year old schnauzer, Sofie. It has seemed like Sofie went into a depression when Kodiak died. So yesterday we went to the Humane Society to get a new dog. Jet is a wonderful dog. He's a year old so he still has a little puppy left in him. He's very friendly and quite mellow 4 a pup. The problem is that Sofie is terrified of him. Both dogs are pretty submissve but Sofie seems to be trying to be sending a signal to the new dog that we are HER humans. Whenever Jet wants to play Sofie ignores him as much as she can, WILL NOT look and him, and when he gets to close she jumps away from him like a rabbit. Whenever he tries to sniff Sofies bottom, she sits down.

What message is Sofie trying to give Jet? Is there any way to guage how long we should give Sofie to come around before we just say that this isn't going to work out and have to take Jet back to the humane society?

As long as they aren't showing any aggression towards each other then they're fine. It could take up to a month or more for Sophie to accept the new dog. She has lost her bonded friend and now she is confused as to who this new dog is and why he is there. Just give her time to adjust and she'll learn to love the new dog eventually. When i got my new puppy my one Cavalier would run away and growl at the new puppy when ever he wanted to sniff her. I've had the puppy for almost 2 months now and they sleep together on the couch. The actually sleeps on top of her. My adult Cavalier loves to play with the new puppy. They chase each other all through the house.

Just give them time to adjust.

Is anyone else studying it?
Can we form an online study group to discuss the course material?

Rich

Have you done a Yahoo search for a group that may already be doing this??

If not then i would start there.