In Need of HELP, please!

Some of you may know that I have been caring for my mom's dog Katya for about three months now. She is a Caucasian Ovcharka and is a "natural" gaurd dog (no training, just their instinct). About two weeks ago my mom came to my house to stay for the weekend and we decided to walk the dogs. She was walking Katya and I was walking my two dogs. A man started to walk down the sidewalk towards us and for some reason mom didn't reel Katya's leash in (it's a extended leash) and Katya got close enough to the man to bite him. She tore open the back of his pants and left a superficial bite wound on his upper calf. He called the police, a report was filed, and he was seen at the hospital. He decided that he didn't want to press charges or petition for Katya to be PTS. She was on quarentine for ten days at my home and everything went fine. Mom said she just wasn't strong enough to reel her in and took full responsibility for the bite, it was not the dog's fault, she shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place.
Well this last week my mom was to go home and took Katya with her. It didn't work out and she came back to stay with my aunt as she had been before. She wanted to keep Katya there until Tuesday since I am leaving town this weekend. Well today my uncle's nephew came to the house to fix some plumbing problems, he was told to enter the side door which he did not. My mom then told him to stay away from Katya, which he didn't. She proceeded to bite him on the leg and on the hand. Once again the dog was put into a situation she shouldn't have been put in. The nephew did not file a police report. I arrived at my aunt's house to pick up my boys and was told that mom was at the vet's putting Katya to sleep. I rushed my butt down there and negotiated with my mom that she can come to my house until we figure something out. My mom has been having some mental health issues and I was terribly worried about what the death of her dog would do to her. I also know that I have never had any issues with Katya and that I am well aware of what sort of needs she has, ie. staying away from all people and introducing her properly to new people she needs to meet.
My question is can you possibly de-sensitize a dog that has an intrinsic nature towards gaurding? I would hate to see Katya PTS because of bad decisions on my moms part. It is evident that at this time she is in no conditon to handle/care for Katya but I am willing to put the time and energy into it myself if she can be saved. We are not able to pay for a behaviourist at this time, due to mom's medical problems she has no income coming in currently. If anyone knows of any links, books, referrel systems that I could use to determine if this is a feasible idea it would be greatly appreciated. I love this dog a lot and I know it is not her fault, she was doing what she was bred to do. Is there any hope to teach her new ways?

How old is the dog ??? Has there been any socialization ?? Please fill in>>>> this is sad for both dog and you both !

She is either three or four. In her puppy years she went through obediance training and extensive socialization. Then my mom moved to the country and Katya has not been around many people for the past two years. This breed should gaurd but they should be able to determine a threat from a nonthreat which she doesn't seem to be doing. I believe it is due to a lack of continuing socialization. My mom didn't expect to have to leave her country home so she saw no need to further the socializing, an error on her part I know. I am planning on working with her for the time being, she is excellent with everyone she knows, obeys well, plays with other dogs well etc. She just needs more people time I guess. We will start with checking busy places out from a distance. I plan to get her a wire basket muzzle for when we start learning that people aren't all bad. If we are not able to work with her and have her make some progress in the distant future we will be checking with the breeder about re-homing her or rescue groups for CO's. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Adrienne, I think the key piece of information in your post may be that your Mom is having mental health issues. Her confusion and vulnerability will be picked up by Katya, and Katya translates this as a need for heightened vigilance and guarding. You're right. Katya does not deserve to be in this position. A stable, reassuring and confident hand is necessary for dealing with guardians like the Ovcharka - just like the Fila.

A good place for you to start is going back and reviewing her training from the very beginning. There are, if I'm remembering correctly, some threads with some excellent advice on desensitizing dogs to other dogs and to people.

I saw something at the pet supply store that might be of use to you as well, a nylon mesh muzzle. It looked like it would be much less disturbing to a dog and lessen the distraction wearing a hard muzzle would be to a dog while you're trying to teach.

Orion might be able to help you as well. If you feel the need to have Katya re-homed it should be easier to get her placed in a breed rescue. The rare breed rescues tend to make a supreme effort, plus they don't have as many to deal with.

Anything new on Katya, Adrienne?

Yes you can.

Although, you need to know first off, that Renee has a point. Your mom's mental condition means that there must be someone else to take charge as the leader when she cannot.

You can, however, train the dog out of this behavior. We'll start, trusting that you and your mom walk your dogs often and meet up with other people (and dogs) when you walk or have access to places where dogs are allowed.

You'll need a choke or prong collar, unless she is sensitive enough to her normal collar. I would suggest using the choke myself, unless you find that you use the choke too harshly, in which case, I would switch to the prong, because you cannot choke the dog with a prong.

A choke collar should be fitted around the back of the jaw, behind the ears, and above the head, much like the show dogs in the ring wear their collars. When you snap the choke, it should be light - this is a sensitive area of the dog, and the dog should feel a light pop. If she does not respond to a light pop, you may use more pressure, however, NEVER stall the choke - the object is not to choke your dog. You are not trying to punish her or hurt her. You are trying to get her attention, in which case, she will look up at you, ears back and relaxed. You may just see a flash of it, but when you see it, you need to recognize this. This is the dog saying "I understand that you are the leader, and that you do not percieve what I am doing as necessary."

Go on a walk with your mom, but you hold Katya's leash. (She should be wearing the choke) You'll want her to walk right beside you. Make sure that you are holding the choke so that the ring is at the top of her head. Keep her head off the ground. If she goes down to sniff, pop the choke. Same thing if she walks out in front of you. This is your walk, leader. Walk like it.

Throughout this process, you will want to remain calm and relaxed. Maintain the ideal "I am the leader of the pack. Situations happen the way I want them to happen."

When you come across another person, keep the previous in mind, and if your dog alerts to the stranger, snap the leash. Alerting is the first stage in aggressive behavior - where her attention has left you and gone to the stranger. Her ears will perk, and she will not be paying attention to you. You need to snap the choke until you get the response you want - eyes to you, ears back, relaxed. She will keep trying to alert to the stranger. Stay calm and discipline her.

Only when you can keep her focused on you while others are around can you move onto the next step - Socialization.

Have your mom try the same process, but I would suggest placing two leashes on her - you mentioned that you have an extended leash, have her hold a regular leash attatched to the choke, and you hold the extended leash. Until Katya respects your mom, you may have to worry about keeping them together without another leader figure.

Do not use a choke chain to get your dog calm around strangers, this will make matters worse. Not only is your dog wary of strangers, with the addition of a choke chain she will learn "Strangers=pain" not "I should pay attention to you because that is what the pressure on my neck means".

Thanks for the help everyone. As usual I am having no problems with Katya, I do believe that she has more respect for me than for my mom especially nowadays. Katya is walked on both a pinch and a choke collar, the choke to ensure if the pinch slips off (had it happen before) that I still can maintain control. She is a gigantic dog who is not bothered by such trivial things as a pinch or choke collar, she doesn't seem to notice the "pop" at all unless you tug with all your might. She does obey well on leash, knows all of her commands including heel but when there is someone around that could be a possible threat it is impossible to gain her attention without getting in front of her head and holding it where you want her to be looking, even this is a struggle. She is getting better about passing people by on our walks, I just make sure that we stay out of reach of the other people. Sadly she is not real food motivated when she is going into protection mode, seems the only way to stop her from that is to go out of the way of people or to hold her head so she doesn't see them. She almost took me down trying to get a motorcycle the other day , thankfully I am strong enough to handle her and was able to correct her for the behavior. She will be staying with me until mom is 100% stable and until I have had a chance to work on de-sensitizing her a bit more. Thanks again for the input and concern. I certainly appreciate it.

Adrienne, a harness/halter works very well with the Filas. You've got a dog with many of the same guarding drives in an Ovcharka, so it might be well worth a try. It gives you a lot more control and getting Katya used to that could help a great deal when/if you feel your Mom is up to handling her.

An Ovcharka is always going to feel obligated to guard its human, and the more indecisive or vulnerable the Ovcharka perceives the human to be, the more of the burden for guarding decisions the Ovcharka is going to take on. Do bear in mind that this is not an aggressive breed, but a defensive breed. You are knowledgeable and experienced enough to understand the differentiation and that understanding will make working with Katya much more intuitive for you. These dogs really do bond with you and work in concert with you on an empathic level.

I know I'm in this a little late, but I just wanted to agree with Renee on the head harness. I would use a prong collar before a choke chain or slip collar, due to the tissue damage caused by both the latter.

You did so well with Gunnar when he was having problems, I know you can help Katya. Feel free to PM or e-mail me if you need additional help.

Emma, all I've used is a standard chest and shoulder harness Would you believe I've never so much as picked up a head harness, lol! You'll have to tell Adrienne about using a head harness since I have no clue about their proper use except to know that they do need to be used properly or not at all

Thanks guys for the tips. I do own a headcollar that I have used on Gunnar since he was about four months, he no longer requires it most of the time now. I am well aware of the dangers on unproper usage of the headcollar and feel very secure that I am using it properly. I put it on Katya once or twice and it works but she HATES!! it. Most of the walk was spent with her trying to rub it off. I did put it on her at home a few times to get her used to it but it's the same thing, lots of scraping the nose on the floor and rubbing it with paws. Then of course she gives me the most pathetic looks ever. This girl can melt you with her eyes I swear, they are just so expressive.
Anyways, thanks again and I will keep you aprised of her hopefull progress!

You may have caught a break there, Adrienne. It may be that she'll begin to associate having to wear the head collar with the behaviour you're trying to curb and stop the behaviour to avoid the head collar. It's amazing how quickly they pick up on stuff like that. I wish I could remember who it is who taught her dog that one particular leash is the Naughty Leash . . . that was a great training tool!

Renee, I found the posting:

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6074&highlight=naughty+leash