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Post by maribel on Jan 8, 2006 20:33:44 GMT -5
Hi, I have a 2 year old Jack Russel Terrier. Everytime I take him for a walk, he barks at every dog and person on the street. He pulls and barks, and barks non stop. However, at home he is the sweetest dog ever. It is very frustrating Any ideas on handling this problem? thanks, Maribel
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Post by Richard on Jan 10, 2006 0:32:45 GMT -5
Hi there,
You didn't give too much background on you or your JRT so I'll be general in my comments here for now.
JRT's by nature are usually a very strong willed and determined bundle of energy in a little package. What comes with this package is a mentality of him thinking he's about 200 times bigger than any other dog he meets. His barking and going after other dogs is his way of exerting that dominance. Another line of thought is with his attitude of "a good defense is a strong offense" you'll get the behaviour you're seeing. If he's barking and lunging at people, that's not good either.
The stuff he's doing is not only embarassing for you but not good for him either. Everytime he lunges, barks and goes after dogs/people, it's reinforcing his "I'm boss" mentality. How do you handle these situations when he does this? When at home, he's sweet because there is nothing threatening him nor anyone to " deal" with. Do you have any kids in the house..if so, how does he handle them?
Part of the solution is for you to take a look at how you are as an handler. If he senses you aren't going to handle this dog that is approaching, he figures he'll handle it. Dogs make lousy alpha when it comes to human/dog relationships. Having said that, have you tried NILIF with him? With a little more information, we can maybe help figure out your other options. Aggressive dogs are not only the big ones but they come in little ones too. This may just be you taking a stronger "alpha" role in your relationship with him....there is tons of info on this site on that and the NILIF program.
One other item, and you may not agree, but perhaps a prong collar (they make them in the smaller sizes) would be a good training tool as well. Once again, that is something you would make the call on but look through the threads here to see how others have handled similar situations as yours and where the prong collar became part of the training solution (not the whole answer, just a part of the whole solution of a balanced training program).
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Post by Richard on Jan 15, 2006 0:08:19 GMT -5
I moved this question over to the aggression topics from training. I'm not sure if you read this reply before you posted again. I guess I should of moved it the first time. Anyway, it's better here and you'll find more answers to your questions.
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