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Back from Vacation (sorta long)


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We went on our vacation to the Oregon coast and Mount St. Helens. It was GREAT. Im very concerned about some actions Riven displayed though. She started showing agression against people. Barking at them if they talked to her or showed her any attention. This was only if I wasnt the one holding onto her. If my husband or my best friend had her she reacted like this. A specific incident, I was across the sidewalk about 3 feet maybe from Riven. My husband had a hold of her. She was trying to walk to me and a woman passing by asked to pet her. Riven goes ape because this woman got in her way of getting to me. Another time, a man walked by the car while we are sitting in the hotel parking lot and said hey doggie, and she growled and started barking. In Oregon the attendants would go to put gas in and she'd start growling, a deep throated growl I havent heard before.

 

Also anytime Im not around her she whines and acts annoying to whoever is around. She wouldnt stop barking and would work herself into a fit. She would end up panting for like an hour afterwards and then immediately fall asleep because she wore herself out. She has this incredible fear of being left alone, and it is horrible if I leave her. She'll spend the whole time looking for me, even if my husband is there.

 

She also showing confusing signs toward other dogs. At one point we let her play with a few dogs and once she sniffed them she didnt want anything to do with them. But she barks and barks and barks until they get out of sight, or until she gets close enough to sniff them and do the typical dog dance. She becomes oblivious to everyone including me unless I change my tone and get VERY aggressive (voice wise and making her look at me instead). Like she thinks she HAS to go see them, then once she is there, she has no intrest. I'd prefer to not let her around other dogs because she throws a fit and I know its rewarding to her once she is. But there are only so many ways to go down a narrow path without them sniffing..

 

Anyway, she was SUPER good driving, slept alot, got lots of sniffies in if we were in town and rolled the window down. She was good at camp, I think I could have let her off leash and she'd have followed me. She was perfect except in crowds and if I left her. Sooo advice anyone?

 

I have a ton of pictures to post but I have to resize them. In the meantime here is one

 

small999.jpg

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What a nice picture of Riven! Can't wait to see the rest of them!

How old is she? Are you taking her to the dog park on a regular basis? I'm thinking exposure to other dogs and people. Ouzo made me raise an eyebrow a couple of times when he growled at some people who tried to pet him, him being very friendly all the time. But then I realized that it wasn't his fault, the people in question just jammed their hands in his face without any warnings, without approaching him slowly and at his own pace.

Maybe that's what annoyed Riven too, people being too friendly when she just wasn't ready for them yet...

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Thanks for the compliment on the picture. I will probably post the rest tomorrow. Its gonna take forever to resize and upload to photobucket then post lol.

 

Riven is 1 year old. We've had her since February of this year. She was abandoned when the pound found her.

 

We dont have a dog park here or anywhere close. The only socialization she gets is if I go to the park. Generally no other dogs or people are there though.. I live in a relatively small town so I dont know how to get her exposed.

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One thing that I wanted to tell you last time you tried resizing. I noticed that the pics have to be resized before you paste the URL onto this site. If I put the URL and then resize them, they stay big on this board. To fix this, I delete the first link and paste the new one. It doesn't make sense, since it's the same link, but it does the trick :rolleyes: It's worth trying it

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When I was working and had more money I used to go on vacations with my last dog, Reilly all the time!

 

And Reilly too would get like that. Over protective of hotel rooms, the van-etc. Around people she was overly protective of me and also seemed anxious if anyone got in netween her and I, or if they attempted to touch her.

 

When we got back home she would go back to normal.

 

So, I contacted a trainer and she told me after assessing Reilly, that it wasn't aggression, that it was just we were away from home and she was doing her job, (too well)and also that she was probably not entirely comfortable being so far away from "home base"and so she was on high alert.

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You know thats what my husband thought as well. She is a total doll at home. I rarely ever leave her alone, and if I do its just for a few mintues to run to the store or something. She stands at the window looking out the whole time. If I crate her she barks the entire time. My cat sleeps in the bathroom when I have her crated, I assume cause thats as far as he can get from her barking. What should I do about her being away from me? Should I just start leaving her alone for longer? I dont think it can be healthy for her to get THAT worked up.

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I don't know if this will help you. George is my first dog with separation anxiety. He used to run to the door and knock me aside then grab his leash and start howling to go with me. I started using different doors to exit the house so he could not anticipate my exit. I then stopped greeting him when I came in the door. As soon as I come home I put him in a sit, wait. If he cannot control himself he goes into his crate until I have my shoes off and have quietly greeted the other animals. George does not get any attention until he earns it by behaving. It has been very successful during the workweek. Weekends if I do not take him with me he screams and cries something horrible so I am still working on this. He is a dream to travel with quiet and very even-tempered. He does not like to be approached while on leash period.

Toni

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You may want to actually start a thread about seperation anxiety and leash aggression - I think you may get more replies that way :rolleyes: . That's what the whining when you're gone sounds like to me - seperation anxiety. As for the growling and barking at people on leash, I don't see a problem with not allowing people to pet her on leash until you figure out what's going on.

 

When I first got Ginger, any time someone new would come over, every time they would speak to her she'd bark, and growl quite menacingly. It was a lot to work through (and long before I ever had a Border Collie, or found these boards) and one of the strategies was to ask anyone who came through the door to pretend like she didn't exist - and allow her to approach them on her terms.

 

I'm sure others that have dealt with the leash part of things would have some good suggestions.

 

For socialization, how about enrolling her in a beginners OB class (if you haven't already)? Taking her to the pet food store, out for a walk down town, through the park... maybe up to the local softball field?? Drag her everywhere you can.

 

I'm glad you had a good time, and I can't wait to see pics!!

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