Canine Compulsive Disorders!

[squashysu]

james

i think we need you at my sisters friends house, she has a Wierarner (cant spell it) that rules the house and is just awful!!!!!! but the owner is totally at fault and it has even been excluded from puppy classes!!!!!!!!

i feel something will seriously happen with this dog........and it wont be the dogs fault!!!

i am thinking now seriously about getting another GSD, especially since this thread, none of my dogs have ever had a behaviour problem, just me ha ha !!

SS

is i need your help, i will just ask - pushy me eh!!

[jamesp]

james

i think we need you at my sisters friends house, she has a Wierarner (cant spell it) that rules the house and is just awful!!!!!! but the owner is totally at fault and it has even been excluded from puppy classes!!!!!!!!

i feel something will seriously happen with this dog........and it wont be the dogs fault!!!

i am thinking now seriously about getting another GSD, especially since this thread, none of my dogs have ever had a behaviour problem, just me ha ha !!

SS

is i need your help, i will just ask - pushy me eh!!

I'm quite happy to help in anyway I can, it does rely on the human owner accepting help (this is my toughest task!) and following through with what I instruct them.

The breed of the dog is immaterial as ALL dogs are born non aggressive and will always (unless a medical problem) return to a balanced state of mind as mother nature intended if the human owners will show them strong leadership.

Dogs crave our affection and being a sole mate, but for a dog strong leadership is what they crave the most, this just stops them being an insecure or reluctant pack leader without the skills to do the job (in the wild pack leaders are born not made) and then they can just relax and go to being a follower and a happy dog, it is also bad for a dog's health to be in a stressed state as a reluctant pack leader as it builds toxins up in their bodies the same it does for us ie if we have a stressful job.

[Snadger]

I personally think there are no bad dogs just bad owners!

And as far as doing things by the book...........when did you ever see a dog that could read?

On a lighter tack someone asked for a picky of my dog ............this is Amber now (six months old) and as a tiny puppy. Cripes can't remember her being that cute! Appologies for photos's btw as I certainly aint no David Bailey!

[jamesp]

The only book as such is the book of mother nature which any dog knows off by heart, its just us humans that have lost sight of mother nature.

One of the biggest problems is that a lot of people humanise a dog, they think it's a human on four legs and treat it as such ie like a child etc, thats normally when all the behaviour problems start.

[kirsty b]

She's a cracker Snadge. Will go on t'other puter later (on himself's laptop at mo) and pop up a pic of Boo and Max. Boo is in my avatar.

Perhaps we should start another Vine dog thread, so all the newer members can show us their hounds.

[Cloud]

OK maybe you are convincing me.Its not the dogs but maybe the owners.

[SarzWix]

Snadger, she is gorgeous Looks like she's going to be a tall girl - she looks as tall as Pads is already!

[squashysu]

thanks for the pics, she is lovely snadger, oh i so need another dog!!!!

SS

ps. thanks james for the help

[terrier]

I have offered my services free of charge to the local dog rescue centres, but they are not interested unless I have a formal qualification even though that the formal stuff they use on dogs in this country simple does not work on dogs with real behaviour issues, they would rather put a healthy dog down than let me rehabilitate the dog, what they have to lose in this scenario is totally beyond me, but there you go.

Maybe you should be turning your attention onto the irresponsible breeders who place these dogs in unsuitable homes with no backup help once they have got their money. Unfortunately there are too many 'healthy', 'problem' dogs in rescue and if they wern't put down they would have to be re homed. Rescues don't have the financial resources to deal with the number of dogs passing through their doors, so they have no option but termination.

[jamesp]

Maybe you should be turning your attention onto the irresponsible breeders who place these dogs in unsuitable homes with no backup help once they have got their money. Unfortunately there are too many 'healthy', 'problem' dogs in rescue and if they wern't put down they would have to be re homed. Rescues don't have the financial resources to deal with the number of dogs passing through their doors, so they have no option but termination.

There is not much I can do about the breeders, but I could help any dog with behaviour problems unless there was a medical reason for it which is unlikely in most cases.

Really the people who get a dog get one for the wrong reasons, most have the best intentions but that alone is not enough.

Also the type of dog is important, not the breed, but in terms of the dogs energy, ie super high, high, medium or low, if the rescue centres just had the slightest clue they would match the energy of the dogs to the energy level of the prospective new owners, that way a lot less dogs would come back to them.

Don't get me wrong rescue centres do a great job on the whole, but they could do a lot better job with more understanding of the dogs in their care, most are dog lovers, which can be the worst thing for a dog, pack leader 1st and dog lover 2nd is a better combination for a dogs behaviour and health.

[terrier]

You miss my point I think. It's not the behavioural problems with the dogs that is the problem, it's the number of dogs with behavioural problems. If you approached the rescue centres with a plan of action to help rehome these dogs they would be more inclined to listen to you and work with you.

[jamesp]

You miss my point I think. It's not the behavioural problems with the dogs that is the problem, it's the number of dogs with behavioural problems. If you approached the rescue centres with a plan of action to help rehome these dogs they would be more inclined to listen to you and work with you.

Ah I see what you mean, you are quite correct, although its humans who created these behavoiral problems for the dogs in the first place.

I have approached them in the way you mention, but they are so set in their ways they won't even listen let alone change, most of them also believe that disciplining a dog is cruel, if they cant get a dog to do what is told using food rewards and other techniques (called positive re-enforcement, which is basically using human physcoligy on a dog, thats why it often fails with dogs with fear aggression, insecure or anxiety issues as dogs wont eat in a stressed state to start with) then they just accept the dog is untrainable when in 99% of cases that is simply untrue.

Some rescue centres are more worried about their % success rate of re-homing than anything else and put down dogs that might put that at risk, also a lot of them have their own hidden agendas and power struggles going on within the organisation that is more important to them than the dogs welfare and a lot is just plain ignorance.

Ill give you an example below of what I did this weekend, they would think that what I did is cruel, as I have used the same techniques on other dogs with fear, insecure and anxiety issues.

There was two massive fireworks displays a few hundred feet from our house Friday and Saturday night, £100,000 worth of them, it was like a war zone and the whole house was shaking!

I managed to stop my dog being frightened of them using pack leader techniques, once he took notice of the fireworks I used a short sharp noise, that was not enough, I then used physical touch by prodding him in the high neck area with my hand in a claw shape (my mouth and teeth), that didn't work, so i pinned him down on the ground, one hand in a claw shape on his neck and one on the top of his hind leg, he calmed down in about 10 secs, I removed my hands after 1 min, if he went to get up I used a short sharp noise and he would put his head back down and just relax again, after two mins I gave him permission to get up, after that he largely just ignored the fireworks and if he showed any anxiety like a whimper or bark i used a short sharp noise and he calmed down straight away, in fact in the end on Saturday night he sat on the window sill and just calmly watched the fireworks out of the window!

I strongly believe that this was successful because as his pack leader I was disagreeing with him about being frightened of the fireworks and he submitted to the situation and understood.

Considering he was at a very high level of fear this is an amazing turnaround in a relatively short period of time, its certainly better than giving them sedatives as some people feel they need to do in my view.

I have had a dog in the past who showed the same level of fear, I just wish I knew then what I know now as he didn't even want to go outside for a few days afterwards.

There is no way any positive re-enforcement techniques would have worked in this situation.

I don't advise anyone reading this to try it on their own dog, you really need to know what you are doing as there are signs and body language you need to be able to read from your dog so you don't make the matter worse, its hard for me to explain on here, but basically dog body language can have two meanings...ie like the English language, red and read, by and bye etc and you have to be able to read the differences.

[petal]

My dog is fluent in english. She chases her tail to make the kids laugh when they are sad.I love my dog.

[jamesp]

I think that last statement just sums up the complete lack of understanding of dogs in our care.

[carlseawolf]

hi snadger,
It just sounds like your dog is been a pup and will soon grow out of it , as it seams it may have to much energy to burn off.
We are presently looking for a companion for our 7 year old female gsd , collie cross as we had her soul mate put to sleep in april due to her back legs going ( gsd female of 10 years ).
I don't mean to preach on this one but anyone who is thinking of getting a dog try a rehoming centre before buying a puppy as alot of these dogs are already trained and will be a joy to own , where a puppy will need lots of time and training before it becomes a joy to own.
My last dog tia was 3 when i got her and i was the 4th home due to the energy levels in the breed and people see dog owners that have properly trained there dogs walking them and think that looks good or even worse makes that person look mean / cool not thinking that person has put in time and effort to get the dog to do that.
On our search we have found lots of rehoming centres and quite alot of under 18 month old gsd given up because there owners can't handle them and most likely paid a hefty price for a kc papered dog when there are many older dogs in re-homing centres that are papered and cute and trained so you can enjoy your animal from day one , and free up space for another dog to take it's place.
Dogs arn't like children , they are intelligent , trainable and after abit you can even tell what they are thinking just by looking at them , where my kids i don't know what there thinking even when i talk to them.