Pippin's person Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 When we got our first dog, we were at wit's end and thought we'd have to rehome him. Then we took one private session with a behaviorist (cost $25), who explained a lot of the behaviors we were seeing and developed a plan with us for working on them. Given how things are going with your younger siblings, this seems imperative at this point. Then we also bought, read and followed Pat Miller's book, The Power of Positive Dog Training (currently available from Amazon for $12.91). In that book, she details a six week program of training that involves all the basics plus some fun tricks. She also has chapters on particular behavioral issues. LIke others, I'd also highly recommend Patricia McConnell's book--it will help you understand a lot more about the ways in which dogs and humans differ in terms of how we approach the world and some of the points of commonality that you can use to build your relationship with Milton. Training is an every day thing and really happens every time you interact with your dog. You can train your dog to trust you or you can train your dog to worry that you will do erratic things to him. For instance, when Milton bows his head and grabs the Frisbee, it sounds like he's playing with you not "mock submitting" to you (dogs initiate play by bowing). If you react to that with frustration, you train him that playing with you may result in punishment for him. By understanding more about how dogs communicate and what they seem to assume about how we communicate with them, you'll have a great foundation to build your training on. Using NILF as well as an approach based on positive reinforcement (dog does what you want, it gets rewarded somehow) and negative punishment (dog doesn't do what you want, something the dog wants doesn't happen) will get you very good (and quick) results. Using positive punishment (dog does something you don't want and something bad happens to him--like being smacked with a magazine, having cayenne pepper placed on his tongue or having you lay on top of him) is the most likely strategy for increasing aggressive behavior and complicating your relationship with Milton. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippin's person Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 p.s. it's hard to tell from your description, but is it possible that Milton has decided that growling is what gets him treats or petting? You say that he growls at the 3 y.o. when he has a treat or is eating. Could it be that he growls and then the 3 y.o. gives him food? Besides growling, does he do other things like snap, lungs or bark as if in warning? You said that the 12 y.o. "fawns" over him--does she do it after he's growled (maybe he's decided that growling is something good to do). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn, Jack, & Kavin Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Another option..just to make things more confusing..might be that he some space issues. This may not be applicable as I adopted Kavin when he was 10 months old and as he became more comfortable with me he became less "friendly" to others. This is most apparent with children and my dog trainer said that he has issues with strangers being near his head. I do a lot of handling of all parts of him, so he lets me do things, but not other people. Anyhow, because the youngest sibling is literally "in his face" it evokes a different reaction. He is establishing boundaries he doesn't need to but he doesn't realize that, maybe. Anyhow, when I learned that it changed my approach to Kavin completely. Also, I had enrolled him a GROUP obedience class so we could work on socialization. He has social issues. It has done him a lot of good. He is still not completely predictable but he has gotten a lot better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoku's mum Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 You have gotten great advise. I will just pipe in to let you know you are not alone. Hoku (now 15 months) is always pushing his boundaries. When we give in or get lazy, he gets horrid. When we are firm and fair (NILIF has saved us) he is an angel. We want through a bad patch a couple of months ago with him blowing us off on recall and getting into the neighbours horses. We went back to kindergarten with recall, and started working with him on a 50' line. I thought the line idea sketchy at best, but was getting desperate (and so mad at our pup) that I tried it. It has been a big help. He can not practice blowing us off, if he does not come, we can enforce the command with the line. His recall is now really good again, and we work on it regularly. Keep it positive, firm and fair. Step up your management (don't let him get into situations where he can get into trouble) Exercise his body AND brain. Teach him tricks, have fun together again. Milton will come around. Good luck, we are pulling for you! Kristin, Hoku and Gussy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydogMilton Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 No, I phrased that wrong.... Milton growls at others when he has a treat... Thanks Hoku's Mom it's good to know I'm not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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