I'm out of my league

[jedimaster91]

I had a feeling this would happen sooner or later. The issues with my big dog, Tag just keep piling on. Not long after we got him, we noticed he had resource guarding issues. But he was only doing it with one brand of rawhides and when we stopped giving them to him, he quit guarding. Then I found out late last year that he's leash reactive. At first, I thought maybe it was the Gentle Leader, so I tried a no-pull harness (60+ lb dog, I need a "no-pull" something). That didn't seem to matter. Quite frankly, if he's going to act like that either way, I'd rather have more control of his head.

He's growled at the furnace repair guy from behind a gate (so possible barrier issues) and an employee at the Bouncy Ball pet store (who he marched right up to, put his nose right in her face, and then growled when she petted him). Although he was ok with another employee when bribed with treats. Both employees were female. Once he got grumbly at Mr Jedi when roused from a nap to go outside. Tag's also gotten grumbly if disturbed when he has his peanut-butter-filled Kong (no peanut butter = not interested).

But he seems to be getting braver, and it's scaring me. The other day, I reached for his empty food bowl--which up until now he hasn't had a problem with--while he was still nosing around with it. Mini warning snap (and by mini, I mean it was more edge-of-tooth-scrape than actual snap. Still not good, though). Lately we've been trying to get him used to the noise of the PediPaw nail grinder. So we'll set it in various areas of the kitchen both off and on. Today I had it on the floor turned off and was encouraging him to check it out by dropping treats near it. When I reached to turn in on, he tried to keep me away from it with another mini warning. So it looks like I might have a bit of food guarding as well. Oddly enough, though, he doesn't seem to have any issues being hand fed. And when the bowl is empty, it holds no interest for him. So it's not the bowl itself.

Believe me, I know the above is not good. I'm painfully aware that as it stands, it's only a matter of time before there is a real bite and Tag is in real trouble. I know I need a professional as this is way beyond my expertise to handle. I've done all I can do. There's just one problem: we can't afford it. The local humane society's "Fiesty Fido" class is $150 (which we don't have) and the next class is already full. Personal trainers--even through the humane society--charge that much per visit. I'm at a loss on what to do. I love my dog, and at the risk of sounding cliched, he really is a sweetheart. All he really wants in life is to be snuggled and petted (off leash) and all the treats his tummy can hold. He even gets along great with other dogs (off leash).

I'm not so much concerned for myself or the hubs getting bitten. We're familiar with his triggers and know how to avoid them. What I am concerned about is everyone else. The neighborhood kids aren't the most dog savvy and a couple of them have been known to ignore an owner (AKA me) about whether or not the dog is nice enough to pet. Running up to an already nervous dog and getting in his face is a quick road to disaster. Mr Jedi's already said he doesn't want Tag in the house period once we have our own kidlet. I don't blame him.

Maybe someone at the humane society would be willing to cut us a break. I do volunteer there after all.

[Seshat]

And I take it you've already grabbed books and other resources from your local library, and checked for friends with animal training skills.

I strongly recommend the book 'Rover, don't roll over', which has helped us tremendously. But then, our dog is small and isn't showing imminent signs of biting.

Beyond that - maybe Draggar will have advice. He's our large-dog expert.

[Megg]

Our dog started doing that, so we took him to the vet. It was odd behavior, after all. The vet told us that he had an extremely advanced case of arthritis in his hips and was just in pain all the time. Is it possible he has developed some health or dental problem recently? If not, I got nothing.

[Treasure]

Since you volunteer at the Humane Society, try talking with one of the trainers there, see if they have any advice.... kind of a "hypothetically speaking" scenario.

[shankyknitter]

My parents' great dane started doing the possessive thing. 250 pound dog giving you warning growls is disconcerting. Here's what I did but! I am not an expert ymmv:

Dogs don't get possessive or give warning nips unless they think they're the head of the household, your job as his human is to remove this notion. If he starts getting possessive of something, take it away from him or take him away from it. Don't let him keep it if he's growling. When he's doing the barrier guarding thing get between him and the barrier and back him away from it. When you go for walks try to keep him next to you or a little behind, if he starts pulling ahead stop him. If he walks in front (until he's better behaved in other areas) its reinforcing that he's the boss which is what you don't want. It might help to keep him on leash in the house just so he gets used to it and realized that you can and will stop his behavior at any time. It'll also help you be able to pull him away from things he may start guarding without getting close enough to his mouth to be in easy nipping range. Also if treats are something he's guarding I'd suggest holding off on them until he's better behaved. They are a reward he gets for being good, not something that he can have if he's going to start going after people.

I hate to suggest it but you may have to muzzle him for some of this to prevent warning nips, he's got to learn that is unacceptable since you're the boss not him. IF you start doing it and all you get are growls (no warning nips) you might be able to keep doing it without a muzzle, but I don't know your dog, I can't say for sure.

Once again for those who missed it: I am NOT an expert, I do not claim nor pretend to be. This worked for me, it may not work for you, check with people who actually are experts before attempting any of this.

[jedimaster91]

Dogs don't get possessive or give warning nips unless they think they're the head of the household, your job as his human is to remove this notion.

This is where I'm really not sure what the deal is with him. We don't do free feeding; both dogs are on a schedule and they have to work for their meals. It's simple stuff like sitting or laying down until they are released. So I'm controlling his access to food. He watches me scoop it out of the bag and put it in the bowl. They also have to sit before going in or out of the house (controlling the den). I'm also leaning toward my other dog being the boss of the two of them. Ziggy has this thing where she's been going in his crate and chewing his toy while he lays in the floor looking pitiful. The only reason I can think of for it is a dominance thing. She puts him in his place fairly regularly, which is hilarious seeing as she's half his size. Tag also loves belly rubs, which to my understanding, exposing the belly is a submissive gesture.

He is a shelter dog, so I'm not completely suprised he has issues with food and barriers. He was only 4 months old when we got him and he'd been there from late December to mid March. I know one of the underlying problems might be he's undersocialized. But frankly I'm scared to take him out.

[Seshat]

The shelter you got him from may be happy to help.

And given this extra information, I'm leaning towards 'in pain'. Something's bugging him, and this is his way of telling you about it.

[Andara Bledin]

Yeah, I'm also leaning towards having a vet check him out.

A change in behavior like this from a predator animal is sometimes the only sign you'll get that they've got something wrong with them.

^-.-^

[jedimaster91]

At his last checkup, the vet gave him a clean bill of health. I don't know if I'd call it necessarily a change more than an escalation. Time to go wring more money out of the budget. Yay.

[Andara Bledin]

How long ago was the last checkup, and when did this possessiveness thing start becoming notable?

^-.-^

[jedimaster91]

Annual checkup was end of October. He's always had some guarding/possessiveness things (rawhides, Kong), but guarding the PediPaw is new.

[Solumina]

I don't think a vet visit is really called for, at least not yet but I'd give your vet a call, it could be that the cold weather is hurting his joints and making him cranky, which is something that joint supplements could help quite a bit (did wonders for my old dog, though she would just get lazy in the winter, not possessive, but pain makes different dogs do different things). You could also be right about him needing more socialization and your vet (or the shelter that you got him from, or your friends at the humane society) should be able to help you find a safe way to get him better socialized, after all avoiding socialization because of safety concerns may keep everyone safe in the short term but in the long term it will only make things worse. I hate to use a muzzle on dogs but sometimes you need to in order to be able to safely get them to where they need to be in order for them to be safe without one so that may be something to look into.

Not a vet by any stretch, just going off of my past with experience with dogs.

[jedimaster91]

I'm cautiously optimistic that he's maybe not as bad as I thought he was. We had some friends over for dinner a couple nights ago and of course they wanted to see the doggies. I was a bit nervous and warned them Tag might be a bit nippy so be careful. And wouldn't you know it, Tag behaved remarkably well (as well as a hyperactive hound can act anyway). He even sat nicely and posed for pictures (Friend is a photographer) when bribed with treats and pettings from his new friends. I worked with him on leash a bit the other day in the backyard and he did pretty well. But then he always does well in the yard. It's out in public that's the problem, lol.

[Solumina]

If he is doing fine in the yard and the issue is only when he is out in public (or is clearly worse in public) then it is most likely because he is nervous. Getting him more familiar with the world beyond your home (yard included in home) should help a lot, as should having him meet new people and animals. A lot of people don’t like change and new environments, dogs can be the same way, hopefully he will be able to work through this easily enough.

[jedimaster91]

*headdesk*

And now he keeps peeing in his crate at night. I know the crate's the right size for him (although he does tend to sleep curled up instead of sprawled), so that's not the issue. I'm not sure washing his blanket is enough to get all the smell out. He's *this close* to sleeping outside. He has had the occasional oopsie in the past, but we just washed the blanket, Fabreezed the crate and went on with life. Within the past week or so it's gotten worse. Last night he went twice.

Looks like I might have to make that trip to the vet afterall (*whimper*) to make sure it's not diabetes or something. Frikin dog's always hungry, but he's a hound so I didn't think too much of it. And he drinks more than the other dog, but he's bigger than she is, so I wasn't worried about that either. Maybe I needed to be. But he's not losing weight eating the same amount of food. Mr Jedi is of the opinion it's a territorial issue. Which might be the case. I've been volunteering at the humane society and coming home smelling like all kinds of different dogs. And Ziggy has this habit of going in his crate and chewing on his toys--something I've been working to discourage.