Hey everyone.
I have yet another question about Sarge and what do to with him. For those who may not recall, I posted a thread about him biting my child. Sarge is now 11 weeks old.
New problem, or more of the same.
I cannot explain this dog. He is sooo wonderful most of the time, and then for no reason at all it seems he snaps.
To explain what we have been doing with him. He is on the NILIF program. He has to sit before he gets anything, and I am also teaching him the "down" command, to sort of mix it up for him a bit. He sits to go outside, come in, get petted, etc. The only time he's not required to do anything for something is when we are all in bed sleeping. He sleeps with my husband and I, as we both work and cannot tolerate the endless howling he does in a crate. If this is a major contributing cause to his behavior, his sleeping with us can be remedied..it'll just be a few nights without sleep for us!
Here are the issues: first, his growling at us when he's sleeping continues. Though it does seem to be primarily when he is on the couch. If he is sleeping with my husband and I at night, he climbs right up by our faces, and has no issues sleeping nose to nose with us. He seems to have the biggest issue with my daughter, who is four. This confuses me as she is the quietest and calmest of my three children. So for this we have been working with him enjoying us in his 'space' by use of treats. It goes great one time, and he growls the next. He is a different creature!
Second: Yesterday, Sarge was on the floor of the living room chewing on a pen, my husband ( I was at work) told him NO and took the pen away. Sarge growled. He then whopped him on the butt, and Sarge grew more aggravated and growled louder. My husband then picked him up and put him outside. I've spoken to him about striking Sarge, and how we cannot strike him it only encourages aggression, he said that it was his first response, and he did it without thinking. We're working on that.
The weird thing about this dog is he'll do these type things, aggressive/dominant behavior at one point, but then be the best little pup ever all the rest of the time. I have worked with Sarge to make sure he's not toy/food aggressive, and he's not been. This pen incident is the first sign of this, and he's been fine with both toys and food since. I'm confused.
Also, this may or may not be anything, but want it noted if it helps. When he plays with my older matriarch basset hound, he has his hackels up the whole time. Like no other puppy play I've witnessed. Like he's taking the "play time" seriously...only when she says they're done, he respects that and goes on to chewing on his toy or doing whatever he was doing before and is not overly rough with her. Just has his hackles up the whole time he play fights.
Here is my question. We really don't want to give up on this pup. We really like him (when he's not being aggressive) and when he's "good" he's really good!! But, is there a chance that this behavior is perhaps a mental thing. Like he's maybe got a screw loose? Or if we keep on keeping on, will it take care of these issues. I am willing to put the time and effort in to him, if he winds up being a respectful adult dog, but I cannot justify the time, energy and further love for this dog, if I will never, ever be able to trust him from one minute to the next.
I have been trying to find a behaviorlist in our area, and so far have come up empty. There's a vet's office I want to try tomorrow, so there may be some hope there. In the meantime, I appreciate any and all advice on this matter.
TIA
I have yet another question about Sarge and what do to with him. For those who may not recall, I posted a thread about him biting my child. Sarge is now 11 weeks old.
New problem, or more of the same.
I cannot explain this dog. He is sooo wonderful most of the time, and then for no reason at all it seems he snaps.
To explain what we have been doing with him. He is on the NILIF program. He has to sit before he gets anything, and I am also teaching him the "down" command, to sort of mix it up for him a bit. He sits to go outside, come in, get petted, etc. The only time he's not required to do anything for something is when we are all in bed sleeping. He sleeps with my husband and I, as we both work and cannot tolerate the endless howling he does in a crate. If this is a major contributing cause to his behavior, his sleeping with us can be remedied..it'll just be a few nights without sleep for us!
Here are the issues: first, his growling at us when he's sleeping continues. Though it does seem to be primarily when he is on the couch. If he is sleeping with my husband and I at night, he climbs right up by our faces, and has no issues sleeping nose to nose with us. He seems to have the biggest issue with my daughter, who is four. This confuses me as she is the quietest and calmest of my three children. So for this we have been working with him enjoying us in his 'space' by use of treats. It goes great one time, and he growls the next. He is a different creature!
Second: Yesterday, Sarge was on the floor of the living room chewing on a pen, my husband ( I was at work) told him NO and took the pen away. Sarge growled. He then whopped him on the butt, and Sarge grew more aggravated and growled louder. My husband then picked him up and put him outside. I've spoken to him about striking Sarge, and how we cannot strike him it only encourages aggression, he said that it was his first response, and he did it without thinking. We're working on that.
The weird thing about this dog is he'll do these type things, aggressive/dominant behavior at one point, but then be the best little pup ever all the rest of the time. I have worked with Sarge to make sure he's not toy/food aggressive, and he's not been. This pen incident is the first sign of this, and he's been fine with both toys and food since. I'm confused.
Also, this may or may not be anything, but want it noted if it helps. When he plays with my older matriarch basset hound, he has his hackels up the whole time. Like no other puppy play I've witnessed. Like he's taking the "play time" seriously...only when she says they're done, he respects that and goes on to chewing on his toy or doing whatever he was doing before and is not overly rough with her. Just has his hackles up the whole time he play fights.
Here is my question. We really don't want to give up on this pup. We really like him (when he's not being aggressive) and when he's "good" he's really good!! But, is there a chance that this behavior is perhaps a mental thing. Like he's maybe got a screw loose? Or if we keep on keeping on, will it take care of these issues. I am willing to put the time and effort in to him, if he winds up being a respectful adult dog, but I cannot justify the time, energy and further love for this dog, if I will never, ever be able to trust him from one minute to the next.
I have been trying to find a behaviorlist in our area, and so far have come up empty. There's a vet's office I want to try tomorrow, so there may be some hope there. In the meantime, I appreciate any and all advice on this matter.
TIA
