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Well well well, here I am again. Aggression is the new separation anxiety with Chloe.
For those of you who don’t know, I started taking Chloe to a friend's house during the day (I am a graduate student) so I could take her out for walks or play with her on breaks. This way Chloe is not at home, by herself, all day (30 min away), whining and having neighbors calling animal control on me. For the most part she gets along with the other dog, I’d say 90% of the time. When I am not there, she will sleep next to him on their couch or the bed. It's only when I go to the house or spend time there that she will growl if he (Bailey, the other dog) walks by her or gets too close to one of the toys (we now have three squeakers there to help mitigate that). He is a very docile dog, but he is bigger than she is. I don’t know if she is aggressive because she gets possessive of certain things like toys or the couch or me or if she feels vulnerable since her amputation. Prior to her amputation and prior to her living with me, she lived with another dog, Rocket for 9 years. Chloe was the submissive dog and she never showed aggression toward that dog or others until now. When I take her home, Chloe will show similar aggression to Rocket. When I take her places that allow dogs off leash, she is fine socializing, unless they try to play with her by jumping on her back. I have noticed that the growling toward Bailey is worse when there are people over visiting (more crowded).
And you are probably wondering how I have dealt with this so far:
I do some pack training behaviors with her like growling in her face when she is lying on the ground, so she knows that when I growl at her, I mean business. I have tried growling at her while she is growling at Bailey, even lightly putting her in a lying down position to do so, but it doesn’t work. I have tried yelling at her, she doesn’t care. It seems like she is shutting down all senses and concentrated on growling at Bailey. She just stands in place to growl. The only thing that is a temporary fix is dragging her away to go outside to blow off some steam. In some cases, she just stands by the door waiting to go back inside and if I let her in she will go back to growling. Bailey just takes it and tries to hide, but he is larger than Chloe and I hope he doesn’t decide to react some day.
She gets plenty of exercise and to my knowledge she doesn’t seem to be in pain or have arthritis. Like I said, its not just with Bailey, but with Rocket, the dog she grew up with and was submissive to her whole life. With humans she is perfectly fine, you can take her toys away, etc… no aggression. It is dog on dog aggression only.
And to the admins, yes I have posted this on the MySmartPuppy.com forum and I haven’t heard anything back regarding advice for how to mitigate this situation.
If any of you have advice, books or websites you recommended I read please let me know. As a graduate student I am on a tight budget and so I really can’t afford private training sessions with a trainer, although if it comes down to it, I will do that if I must.
<a title="Chloe and Bailey 2 by nbobco, on Flickr" href="
Chloe on left, Bailey on right.
-Chloe's mom
Chloe became a rear amp tripawd on 7-29-10. Another tumor was removed on front leg 2-20-14. Found 3rd tumor on neck 2-2015, but she's still kicking cancer's butt at age 14. Chloe's blog
11:18 pm
Team Tripawds
Administrators
25 September 2009
Offline
Sounds like Chloe is being protective of you, and compensating for what other dogs may view as a weakness or disability. Here are a couple other posts about new tripawds and their reactions to other dogs and pack-mates...
Tripawd Siblings
Hopping Around Discussion Forum
How Do Canine Siblings React to New Tripawds?
Tripawds News Blog
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
10:10 am
25 August 2010
Offline
Hey,
I wonder if Chloe and Sammy are related?! Sammy used to be fine with all dogs, then the amputation happened. Now, he can't be around any dogs he doesn't know. He growls and throws a fit! My thought is that he doesn't feel like he can defend himself, so he is telling everyone to stay away.
My thought is if he felt more confident that I would control the situation he would chill out and we would go back to our happy zen selves. I get anxious now when I walk him, because I can see him get tense. So, it is a endless cycle. I would suggest Ceasar Milans methods. He has a website where they answer questions if you become a member.
I haven't had the time to work on Sammys issues, I am gone to work 13 to 18 hours a day, so when I get home it is feeding and bedtime. But, some time soon I hope to have more normal hours, and can see if what Ceasar suggests will work on my boy.
Let us know if you find a method that works!
Elizabeth and Sammy
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the right front leg 8/23/10,
leg fractured 8/27/10,
leg amputated 8/30/10
http://sammyand.....pawds.com/
I couldn't begin to say how special Sammy is to us. Living and laughing with and loving this wonderful boy is priceless.
If I could find a way to scare the bajeebers out of her while she does it, I think she might get the message. Hopefully I would only need to do this a couple times, she's usually a quick learner. She hates thunder and fireworks, but I can't do those things on command… I might try banging on a pot loudly to make a scary noise or spraying diluted lemon water in her face. I do pet her and give her treats when she is behaving around Bailey, but obviously that and the other methods (listed in previous post) are not effective enough.
-Chloe's mom
Chloe became a rear amp tripawd on 7-29-10. Another tumor was removed on front leg 2-20-14. Found 3rd tumor on neck 2-2015, but she's still kicking cancer's butt at age 14. Chloe's blog
3:47 pm
25 August 2010
Offline
I think that maybe she needs to feel like you will make her safe. She sounds like she only behaves that way when you are around. So, if you are the safe zone, the only who will for sure be her protector, she won't feel like she has to defend you, but that she can relax and be a dog around you.
That is just my analysis from hours of the "dog whisperer"..
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the right front leg 8/23/10,
leg fractured 8/27/10,
leg amputated 8/30/10
http://sammyand.....pawds.com/
I couldn't begin to say how special Sammy is to us. Living and laughing with and loving this wonderful boy is priceless.
4:08 pm
Team Tripawds
Administrators
25 September 2009
Offline
Chloes mom said:
If I could find a way to scare the bajeebers out of her while she does it...
Put a handful of pennies in an empty soda can and tape the top closed. Give it a good loud shake at the instant of any unwanted behavior. It work for deterring Jerry from certain actions as a pup!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
8:39 pm
6 December 2009
Offline
Whoa, are you sure startling her is the right way to go? I'm no expert, but I've tried to read up on dog aggression and while redirecting is recommended, I think scaring/startling could raise her anxiety and make it worse.
I highly recommend reading stuff by Patricia McConnell (I'm sure she has a website, if you wanted to Google her. Two books of hers that I can think of that probably relate are <a href="