new_believer
New member
Hey guys,
I'm going to preface with a bit of backstory here. So if you read it all and want to comment on your thoughts, I'd really appreciated it
Not the first time posting here. My dog has bit people 3 times in the past. He's also terrible with puppies on "his" territory ( It's a guess, but he's terrible with puppies is the point). So, I posted a month ago about how he was alone with my mom and she opened all the front curtains ( which we don't do so he doesn't react to neighbours coming into the yard to throw trash). Although, while he was with my mom, he was VERY lethargic. He would lay down in my SO brothers' room. He only does that when he feels sick (I know for a fact when he sleeps there he will have diarrhea / vomit). Anyways, mom opened the door, he ran out barking, other lady ran away, he jumped on her back biting her. From what I was to ld it was a level 3A ( the picture diagram I found on google?) bite. He wasn't latching on , but it was on her back ( so he jumped on her apparently).
Afterwards , my SO and I were completely devastated thinking of putting him down. I posted on here and all the users recommended against it. So I called the behaviorist and took an appointment ( earliest was september 27th). Appointment was so far because we only have 3 in my province that are certified. So, I called one of the adoption center in my city. We of course have the SPCA, but I would never give my dog to them. Then I found this adoption center that specializes in dogs like mine ( saw past dogs through petfinder). She came over and this lady was VERY frail ( think 90 lbs, 5'0). My mom was still over at our house and my dog went NUTS , usually he goes lay down on his bed since my SO and I tell him to. But that night, he went completely nuts, barking, running to her, going back and forth. Now, let me tell you this, this lady who runs the adoption has an odd way of training dog. It isn't "old school" with punishment, but isn't "new" kinda a mix of both without physical punishment. So, we went on to tell her the story and she came prepared and ready for my dog to bite. My dog is very possessive and when there's a new toy, he will growl / show his lips / might jump on it. She went to his face ( against my recommendation but she said if she was to take put him in a foster home for rehab, she had to see his behavior first). Lo and behold, he just gives her the toy. She was able to do whatever she wanted with him and told us if EVER we were to put him down , to call her first ( this is an adoption place where they received dogs that killed other dogs -- not saying those dogs were able to be rehabilitated because they got put down in the end, but I trust her experience).
My SO and I decided then and there to try with our pup for a while. We put him on therabis / E-Z rest ( those natural remedies) and it has seemed to help his anxiety a bit ( he's REALLY anxious). Plus we found out coming through the back door of the house seem to not trigger his anxiety and reduce the trigger stress. My SO parents left for vacation and we took in their shih tzu for 2 weeks. My pup and the shih tzu grew up together ( pup was 8-9 months old when we got the shih tzu who was 2 months old). The shih tzu always has been able to get close to my dog. My dog would show his teeth and the little one would go. Little one would answer to the big one with no problems and we even had to bring the shih tzu away because the big one was trying to walk away. So, we go get the shih tzu and for the first 4 days at the house, they are playing like insane. Running after each other, playing tug of war, you name it. Then, things went back to normal and one day, the little one tried to grab something that the big one had and the big one snapped and shoved him away. Little one went back to try to "bite" him we assume but the SO took him away. Then, yesterday, my SO is home and calls the little one over. He steps over a toy that the big one had in front of him ( and he was "sleeping"). That's when he grabbed the little one by the neck and had his head in his mouth ( no biting, just holding). Little one was squirming like a mad men and ended up taking some skin off the big ones lip. SO broke the fight and little one was afraid for a little while and now they're back to normal ( playing and whatnot).
Was wondering if this would set back our training since things have been going amazingly well ( knock on wood. Seriously though, I'm knocking on wood haha).
Thanks for the advice
I'm going to preface with a bit of backstory here. So if you read it all and want to comment on your thoughts, I'd really appreciated it
Not the first time posting here. My dog has bit people 3 times in the past. He's also terrible with puppies on "his" territory ( It's a guess, but he's terrible with puppies is the point). So, I posted a month ago about how he was alone with my mom and she opened all the front curtains ( which we don't do so he doesn't react to neighbours coming into the yard to throw trash). Although, while he was with my mom, he was VERY lethargic. He would lay down in my SO brothers' room. He only does that when he feels sick (I know for a fact when he sleeps there he will have diarrhea / vomit). Anyways, mom opened the door, he ran out barking, other lady ran away, he jumped on her back biting her. From what I was to ld it was a level 3A ( the picture diagram I found on google?) bite. He wasn't latching on , but it was on her back ( so he jumped on her apparently).
Afterwards , my SO and I were completely devastated thinking of putting him down. I posted on here and all the users recommended against it. So I called the behaviorist and took an appointment ( earliest was september 27th). Appointment was so far because we only have 3 in my province that are certified. So, I called one of the adoption center in my city. We of course have the SPCA, but I would never give my dog to them. Then I found this adoption center that specializes in dogs like mine ( saw past dogs through petfinder). She came over and this lady was VERY frail ( think 90 lbs, 5'0). My mom was still over at our house and my dog went NUTS , usually he goes lay down on his bed since my SO and I tell him to. But that night, he went completely nuts, barking, running to her, going back and forth. Now, let me tell you this, this lady who runs the adoption has an odd way of training dog. It isn't "old school" with punishment, but isn't "new" kinda a mix of both without physical punishment. So, we went on to tell her the story and she came prepared and ready for my dog to bite. My dog is very possessive and when there's a new toy, he will growl / show his lips / might jump on it. She went to his face ( against my recommendation but she said if she was to take put him in a foster home for rehab, she had to see his behavior first). Lo and behold, he just gives her the toy. She was able to do whatever she wanted with him and told us if EVER we were to put him down , to call her first ( this is an adoption place where they received dogs that killed other dogs -- not saying those dogs were able to be rehabilitated because they got put down in the end, but I trust her experience).
My SO and I decided then and there to try with our pup for a while. We put him on therabis / E-Z rest ( those natural remedies) and it has seemed to help his anxiety a bit ( he's REALLY anxious). Plus we found out coming through the back door of the house seem to not trigger his anxiety and reduce the trigger stress. My SO parents left for vacation and we took in their shih tzu for 2 weeks. My pup and the shih tzu grew up together ( pup was 8-9 months old when we got the shih tzu who was 2 months old). The shih tzu always has been able to get close to my dog. My dog would show his teeth and the little one would go. Little one would answer to the big one with no problems and we even had to bring the shih tzu away because the big one was trying to walk away. So, we go get the shih tzu and for the first 4 days at the house, they are playing like insane. Running after each other, playing tug of war, you name it. Then, things went back to normal and one day, the little one tried to grab something that the big one had and the big one snapped and shoved him away. Little one went back to try to "bite" him we assume but the SO took him away. Then, yesterday, my SO is home and calls the little one over. He steps over a toy that the big one had in front of him ( and he was "sleeping"). That's when he grabbed the little one by the neck and had his head in his mouth ( no biting, just holding). Little one was squirming like a mad men and ended up taking some skin off the big ones lip. SO broke the fight and little one was afraid for a little while and now they're back to normal ( playing and whatnot).
Was wondering if this would set back our training since things have been going amazingly well ( knock on wood. Seriously though, I'm knocking on wood haha).
Thanks for the advice