Khaelo
02-04-2006, 03:37 AM
Help! Milo, my family's two-year-old Australian Shepherd, wants everyone in the family to stay home at all times.
He barks at anything that arouses his suspicion that someone might be leaving. This includes: touching jackets, wearing jackets, touching or carrying purses, approaching the front door, picking up car keys, unplugging cell phones, announcing "Bye!," putting on high-heeled shoes, etc. When a family member is in the actual process of going out the door, Milo tries to herd them away. He often lunges and bites between barks. He takes "cheap shots," primarily aiming for pants, loose bits of clothing, and any object the person might be carrying. Purses and backpacks are a favorite target. He's clearly not going for the kill, so to speak, but he can do serious damage. :eek: Once the human has escaped, Milo goes to the window to bark until he sees the person get into their car. He used to go jump on Polo, the older Aussie, but Polo got wise to that pattern and is now nowhere in the vicinity when Milo goes nuts. Milo also used to destroy things when left alone, but he grew out of that. Once the person is out of sight, the tantrum is over. He returns to his normal self, plays with his toys, sits near Polo, seeks out humans still in the house, sleeps, and so on.
One thing that I have found effective is to praise him continually for being quiet ("quiet! good doggie! quiet! no bark! good doggie!", etc.) while I prepare to leave. However, I have to start praising before he even suspects that I'm leaving because once he starts barking, he doesn't stop. The routine is iffy because Milo stands there staring and quivering while I praise him. Sometimes, he starts to bark anyway. He always begins barking the instant the door shuts behind me. He's barely under control, and I have doubts as to how long that method will last.
He can also be distracted with another person willing to play, but that's not practical every time someone wants to leave.
For obvious reasons, the biting is our primary concern. However, the whole behavior complex needs to be addressed. The problem is, we don't know what's causing it. The family has been tossing around two theories:
1) Milo thinks he runs the place (dominant aggression).
2) Milo is excessively attached to pack members and has anxiety about being separated (fear aggression?).
I've looked around online, and Milo's behavior in general matches neither the profile for a dominant dog nor the profile for a fearful one. The one thing that's certain is that he is extremely people-oriented.
* He likes toys, but he lets people take them away even while he's using them. He only has chew toys and balls; we've never played tug-of-war with him.
* He allows Polo take his food and/or treats -- in fact, he manipulates Polo using his food -- and he lets humans to do so, too. He occasionally begs for food when he thinks the target is soft but goes away when no food is forthcoming.
* He lets people roll him over, cuddle him in awkward positions, hold various body parts (including paws and lips), and do basically anything. You can bug him when he's sleeping, you can bug him when he's awake...
* He is admittedly spoiled; he gets petting more or less on demand. When petting is denied to him, his first course of action is to pet himself on any convenient human body part. If that's taken away, he just lies down as close to the humans as possible.
* If you stare him in the eye, he looks away but wags his bobtail and edges closer for petting.
* He's friendly with strange humans. If they're willing to pet him, he sometimes rolls over for a tummy rub. He's particularly pliable with children.
* He's nervous with strange dogs. An English Springer Spaniel puppy visited our house this summer. The puppy was a quarter Milo's size and still managed to spook Milo and chase him around the kitchen. This was on Milo's own territory. When taken to the Ren Faire, he sniffed objects eagerly but hid behind his human when confronted with other dogs or strangers in groups.
* He doesn't like the vet as Polo does, but he's not overly fearful there. He's shy but doesn't threaten the vet at all.
* He mounts legs like crazy, which some websites said is an act of dominance. Sometimes he air-humps. :confused: He was neutered as early as recommended: four months, I believe, something like that.
* He barks at the telephone, timers, and whenever someone yells. Some websites indicate that this kind of barking can mean a fearful dog. ???
* He's not heavily trained. He knows "sit" and does so on command. He also knows "out" (of this forbidden room) and exits immediately. That's about it. We're teaching him "stretch," so he stretches as often as possible for praise, but he hasn't grasped the command yet.
The Alpha Boot Camp program is tempting, but we're not sure if Alpha Dog-ism is the problem. Once we figure out the root cause of this barking & biting routine, we can find a training program to make it stop!
Any ideas?
He barks at anything that arouses his suspicion that someone might be leaving. This includes: touching jackets, wearing jackets, touching or carrying purses, approaching the front door, picking up car keys, unplugging cell phones, announcing "Bye!," putting on high-heeled shoes, etc. When a family member is in the actual process of going out the door, Milo tries to herd them away. He often lunges and bites between barks. He takes "cheap shots," primarily aiming for pants, loose bits of clothing, and any object the person might be carrying. Purses and backpacks are a favorite target. He's clearly not going for the kill, so to speak, but he can do serious damage. :eek: Once the human has escaped, Milo goes to the window to bark until he sees the person get into their car. He used to go jump on Polo, the older Aussie, but Polo got wise to that pattern and is now nowhere in the vicinity when Milo goes nuts. Milo also used to destroy things when left alone, but he grew out of that. Once the person is out of sight, the tantrum is over. He returns to his normal self, plays with his toys, sits near Polo, seeks out humans still in the house, sleeps, and so on.
One thing that I have found effective is to praise him continually for being quiet ("quiet! good doggie! quiet! no bark! good doggie!", etc.) while I prepare to leave. However, I have to start praising before he even suspects that I'm leaving because once he starts barking, he doesn't stop. The routine is iffy because Milo stands there staring and quivering while I praise him. Sometimes, he starts to bark anyway. He always begins barking the instant the door shuts behind me. He's barely under control, and I have doubts as to how long that method will last.
He can also be distracted with another person willing to play, but that's not practical every time someone wants to leave.
For obvious reasons, the biting is our primary concern. However, the whole behavior complex needs to be addressed. The problem is, we don't know what's causing it. The family has been tossing around two theories:
1) Milo thinks he runs the place (dominant aggression).
2) Milo is excessively attached to pack members and has anxiety about being separated (fear aggression?).
I've looked around online, and Milo's behavior in general matches neither the profile for a dominant dog nor the profile for a fearful one. The one thing that's certain is that he is extremely people-oriented.
* He likes toys, but he lets people take them away even while he's using them. He only has chew toys and balls; we've never played tug-of-war with him.
* He allows Polo take his food and/or treats -- in fact, he manipulates Polo using his food -- and he lets humans to do so, too. He occasionally begs for food when he thinks the target is soft but goes away when no food is forthcoming.
* He lets people roll him over, cuddle him in awkward positions, hold various body parts (including paws and lips), and do basically anything. You can bug him when he's sleeping, you can bug him when he's awake...
* He is admittedly spoiled; he gets petting more or less on demand. When petting is denied to him, his first course of action is to pet himself on any convenient human body part. If that's taken away, he just lies down as close to the humans as possible.
* If you stare him in the eye, he looks away but wags his bobtail and edges closer for petting.
* He's friendly with strange humans. If they're willing to pet him, he sometimes rolls over for a tummy rub. He's particularly pliable with children.
* He's nervous with strange dogs. An English Springer Spaniel puppy visited our house this summer. The puppy was a quarter Milo's size and still managed to spook Milo and chase him around the kitchen. This was on Milo's own territory. When taken to the Ren Faire, he sniffed objects eagerly but hid behind his human when confronted with other dogs or strangers in groups.
* He doesn't like the vet as Polo does, but he's not overly fearful there. He's shy but doesn't threaten the vet at all.
* He mounts legs like crazy, which some websites said is an act of dominance. Sometimes he air-humps. :confused: He was neutered as early as recommended: four months, I believe, something like that.
* He barks at the telephone, timers, and whenever someone yells. Some websites indicate that this kind of barking can mean a fearful dog. ???
* He's not heavily trained. He knows "sit" and does so on command. He also knows "out" (of this forbidden room) and exits immediately. That's about it. We're teaching him "stretch," so he stretches as often as possible for praise, but he hasn't grasped the command yet.
The Alpha Boot Camp program is tempting, but we're not sure if Alpha Dog-ism is the problem. Once we figure out the root cause of this barking & biting routine, we can find a training program to make it stop!
Any ideas?