baelfiredd
New member
My Jack Russell(?) mix I rescued (no information on his history other than he was found in Madrid) about 2 months ago, ABSOLUTELY LOVES EVERY SINGLE PERSON, but doesn't whine or bark to get at them, just pulls until I correct with a leash pop on his gentle leader. But he's very inconsistently reactive to other dogs. Sometimes he'll see them across the street and will growl and bark, ignore chicken/other high value treat, and mostly ignore commands, until we walk away. Not interested in balls or toys - doesn't understand them really. Sometimes he'll pass a dog and only care about getting pets from the owner.
When we go to the dog park, he's usually the best behaved dog - good recall even with distractions, to the point other owners come up and comment on it - but then for whatever reason, that one dog walks in that he just targets, even if he/she is very submissive. Not consistent with dog size, breed (60% German Shepherd but we live in Germany....so we run into them the most), or sex (60% male). But loves staring at himself in the mirror and will play bow and jump around with his reflection.
But then I took him to a nursery (he loves smelling the plants) and there were animal sculptures about his size, and he was terrified of them. Didn't growl or lunge, just shirked away and pulled away from them. He's also lived with other dogs overnight for weeks at a time with me, and has no resource guarding (actually even defers his own food and toys to omega dogs), and in fact is less reactive to other dogs around them.
He even became BFFs and stayed overnight with a dog (in my house) who I've watched for 3 months in my house (so she considered my house/me as her own) with extreme anxiety and has attacked other dogs (including the other dog she lives with) multiple times. He even kept looking for her for weeks in the room she claimed as her own after she left.
I've tried clicker training, but he's actually scared of the clicker for whatever reason. He's not reactive to loud noises/cars/bikes/strollers/hats/unusual clothing, ZERO resource guarding, very very smart. He goes to daycamp x2/wk with a GREAT trainer - mostly does his own thing and ignores the other dogs, but has occasionally gotten into fights - mostly with alpha dogs. I also take him to group training with the same trainer, and he's great at agility and decent at informal rally courses. Recently at daycamp he latched onto another dog twice in a row and had to be pried off. He always has had a very very soft mouth (can't even figure out how to rip open soft toys - though I've seen him try) - but the trainer told me he drew blood after he took a closer look. I know it's gonna take a lot of work, but his inconsistency with distance/types of dogs/etc and lack of food motivation makes it difficult for me to think of anything else but exposure training, moving closer/further in each situation and trying high value treats as much as possible. I think it's just stress of moving from Spain, to Germany, to a new home, then I'm deployed as of about a week ago, so he's staying with a friend he knows (very experienced with rescues, but not dog training). I don't think it's a dominance thing or an aggression, but the trainer thinks he's dominant. Maybe a trial of CBD oil?
When we go to the dog park, he's usually the best behaved dog - good recall even with distractions, to the point other owners come up and comment on it - but then for whatever reason, that one dog walks in that he just targets, even if he/she is very submissive. Not consistent with dog size, breed (60% German Shepherd but we live in Germany....so we run into them the most), or sex (60% male). But loves staring at himself in the mirror and will play bow and jump around with his reflection.
But then I took him to a nursery (he loves smelling the plants) and there were animal sculptures about his size, and he was terrified of them. Didn't growl or lunge, just shirked away and pulled away from them. He's also lived with other dogs overnight for weeks at a time with me, and has no resource guarding (actually even defers his own food and toys to omega dogs), and in fact is less reactive to other dogs around them.
He even became BFFs and stayed overnight with a dog (in my house) who I've watched for 3 months in my house (so she considered my house/me as her own) with extreme anxiety and has attacked other dogs (including the other dog she lives with) multiple times. He even kept looking for her for weeks in the room she claimed as her own after she left.
I've tried clicker training, but he's actually scared of the clicker for whatever reason. He's not reactive to loud noises/cars/bikes/strollers/hats/unusual clothing, ZERO resource guarding, very very smart. He goes to daycamp x2/wk with a GREAT trainer - mostly does his own thing and ignores the other dogs, but has occasionally gotten into fights - mostly with alpha dogs. I also take him to group training with the same trainer, and he's great at agility and decent at informal rally courses. Recently at daycamp he latched onto another dog twice in a row and had to be pried off. He always has had a very very soft mouth (can't even figure out how to rip open soft toys - though I've seen him try) - but the trainer told me he drew blood after he took a closer look. I know it's gonna take a lot of work, but his inconsistency with distance/types of dogs/etc and lack of food motivation makes it difficult for me to think of anything else but exposure training, moving closer/further in each situation and trying high value treats as much as possible. I think it's just stress of moving from Spain, to Germany, to a new home, then I'm deployed as of about a week ago, so he's staying with a friend he knows (very experienced with rescues, but not dog training). I don't think it's a dominance thing or an aggression, but the trainer thinks he's dominant. Maybe a trial of CBD oil?