Growling

[Krispie]

I took my 4 month old puppy to the vet today and every time a dog came in, she would start to growl and sometimes bark. When the vet tech came over( in the waiting room with the dogs) she growled at her too. I know she was very scared by all the dogs but the behavior is obviously unacceptable. The last time she went to the vet she growled a couple times at dogs but no people. But no one approached her in the waiting room that time. I made sure that I didn't tell her "it's okay" but instead tried to speak in an upbeat voice about all the other friends. Once we were inside the room, she never growled at the vet( it wasn't our regular doctor)or at the vet tech, even when they gave her her shots. I took her out front and she let several people pet her- no growling. She starts puppy school next week and I hope that will help but does anyone have any other suggestions when we are out around other dogs to calm her? We have another dog, who she loves so she is used to being around another dog. I do have her on NILIF and I gave her treats when she didn't growl when a dog came in. I just don't want this to escalate into more aggressive behavior. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[Vanessa Lee]

She starts puppy school next week and I hope that will help but does anyone have any other suggestions when we are out around other dogs to calm her? We have another dog, who she loves so she is used to being around another dog.

Besides the dog she lives with, how many other dogs/puppies has she met?
Living with another dog will not likely make much difference in how she feels around unfamiliar dogs. She will really need to be socialized to a variety of other dogs/puppies in order to begin feeling more secure around other dogs in general. She may have the opportunity to meet lots of other dogs when she begins puppy school next week depending on the way the classes are set up. Some trainers even offer puppy social groups seperately which would be an excellent way to begin socializing her to a variety of other dogs as well as people.

[Luciann]

Tika will become aggressive when approached by unfamiliar animals or people, she will bark and growl and run at the same time. It sounds like fear aggression. The reason she growled at the tech was that she was already stressed out by the other animals.

When Doggie Door was up they had articles on building the self confidence of your shy dog and how to handle fear aggression. I am not sure if they have those posted here or not. The doggy classes should help her a lot

[Mario Niepel]

Luciann, the idea behind handling fear aggression is fairly simple... however, the implementation can be hard work.

- Find out exactly what triggers fear in your dog.
- Find out at what level this trigger leads to fear reactions.
- Expose your dog to these triggers at a level where they do not elicit fear reactions.
- Treat your dog while the trigger is present and while the dog does not show fear reactions.

Using this, you should be able to combat most any kind of fear aggression. I have been using this technique to desensitize my Sam to combat his on-leash aggression. While it has worked really well in general, we still have a lot of work to do in hallways and elevators. But the progress is there, so we are encouraged to continue.

One thing to really keep an eye on is this: Make sure that your dog is not overexposed to things that trigger his fear reactions. In particular during the puppy class. If your dog is continuously growling, cowering or hiding, then this will do nothing to aleviate his fears. It will only escalate them. The key to the desensitization is to expose the dog to fear triggers BELOW the threshhold level where they cause your dog to actually growl or snap.

[Luciann]

Mario,

you are right, with Tika our daily walks have helped a lot rather than taking her to the dog park. WE meet some animals and people on our walks and I allow her to decide how close to them she is comfortable with. If someone wants to stop and talk I advise them to ignore her (which I have read to do) and let her get comfortable enough that she will approach them and sniff them. I of course will keep an eye on her so she does not try to nip or anything.

She has been doing really well with other animals as well. When she does not growl at the other animal even thou the other is apporaching her and I know she is scared I praise her and reward her when it is over with. She is gettting much better.

Frodo is not near as bad with the fear as Tika is. usually when is acting "aggressive" he goes right for the other animal and i just don't let him get close enough to bit them, Until he settles down. With Frodo he wants to intimidate the other so that he can play with them, and I say intimidate meaning he tries to make them think he is not afraid of them.

Oh and thanks for telling me about the harnesses, they are working wonders, Frodo now only has the harness on and not a harness and a collar