Post by blender on Sept 21, 2012 1:43:14 GMT -5
Hi everyone
I guess the subject says it all.
Going to be a bit long .. lol.
Yes - I am a new dog owner. Although I have been raised around dogs all my life, I never had one of my own. Been looking for a small one for a while.
A little history...
Just got a male shih-tzu/pom about a month ago.
He is not neutered (yet)
He is about 1 year old & just over 10 pounds.
He has never seen a vet until I adopted him.
He came from a home where there were several other dogs & children, tons of visitors etc.
Owner wanted to get rid of him because they had 2 females in heat & he is not neutered...
The previous owner carried him wherever. I don't think they took him out much.
I don't think he was socialized around other dogs other than his own pack.
When I arrived to the house to view him it was a mad-house of barking, screaming kids and total caos..
The dog was super excited. (running in circles, panting like mad, jumping on every living being (animal or human) and licking faces everywhere.
Previous owner told me I could NEVER leave him. To even take him with you when going shopping etc...
Well I can't very well bring him in 100 degree heat, stuff him in my car & let him cook in the car while I go get his (and my) kibble.
And I can't afford to hire someone (that I really don't trust) to babysit doggie while I run errands. (sometimes several x daily)
I basically told them OK that I understood.
I hung around chatting for about an hour chatting (and trying to get a feel for the owners) & still then the place was total chaos.. barking, kids screaming, people in/out steady etc. The dog I was adopting was still in a massive excited state... (jumping, licking, panting, humping PEOPLE, etc)
NOONE made any moves to correct ANY of this behaviour.
The other dogs were carrying on almost as bad.
LET ME TAKE THIS POOR LIL THING OUTA HERE!!
So - I figured once I got him home where it was nice & quiet he would (eventually) calm down.
I am a fairly quiet person, have my own home with a yard (not fenced), work from home (have my own business) and don't have a ton of visitors.
I live in a small town so resources are few (as far as choice of vets, trainers, decent dog food, etc)
I am not super active but do like my walks, some hiking, gardening and so on. I would say my activity level is medium.
Ride home:
Dog super excited still -- jumping all over the place to the point where it was severely hampering my control of driving.
Jump, lick lick lick, jump , jump, pant pant, lick ....
" down""no"etc - forget it.
Pulled over, hooked his harness through the passanger side seatbelt to keep him there. (eventually he'll slow down... right??)
LOL!
Store:
Pull into shady parking spot, lock car, go to the store, get kibble, dog bed & a few doggie toys & doggie dishes.
Get back to car & he is a nutcase of barking, whining, panting and so on.
I get in the car & ignore him - drive home. He finally calmed down when I would not respond to his whimpering and other excitement.
Home:
Get in (dog pulling like mad)
Let dog explore while I set up his bed and such & get him a drink.
Let him finally calm down a while then out for a walk.
This didn't go to bad .. some pulling but he sort of stayed with me.
Friends:
I had a couple friends come over, meet doggie & of course they are all over him & it was fine with them to let him attack them with licking, humping and so on.
Visit to friends:
Went to visit them with my dog to see theirs (they have 3 small dogs too)
They have fleas (massively)
Of course my dog got them & I can see he was alergic to them (massive scratching/rash etc)
Got rid of the fleas & treated the house as well.
Vet:
I took him to the vet for checkup, shots (our by-laws demand it) and working on scheduling him to be neutered.
He still needs to get his booster shot then about a month after that he can get his goodies snipped.
Got doggie on "Advantage"
While at the vet - when he saw the other dogs he went NUTS - to the point where it sounded like I was strangling him. (I had him in one of those harnesses because I was afraid I would choke him with a collar and his pulling)
He was OK with the vet handling him - no problem.
He is healthy, been de-wormed, de-fleaed & most of his flea bites are cleared up now.
Other things...
He is great with grooming.
I can bathe him, blowdry him, brush him, clean ears, clip nails, do whatever with his feet including get between his pads and so on.
He knows when its grooming time -- he gets up on the ottaman when I point to it with the brush in my hand.
He knows basic commands (sit, no, dance, up, down, etc)
He is fine on the leash most times as long as there are little distractions.
Someone walking another dog (even when their dog is very calm-submissive or avoidance) he goes NUTS.
Again - he barks so much and pulls/lunges so much it sounds like I am killing him. It sounds horrible.
He is fine at home.
At first he was barking non stop if someone come near the door but I have that under control.
I am for the most part using the NILIF routine and at home it works.
When I left for the first time (for about 10 minutes) and returned - he went NUTS. Panting, spinning in circles, jumping, whimpering/yelping etc it sort of freaked me out because I thought he was going to stroke out.
As hard as it was to do - I ignored him. It took an hour for him to calm down.
OK - so I worked (still working on it) on de-sensitizing him to me leaving/returning.
This has greatly improved. I can go for about an hour now & he is calmed down in less than 5 minutes.
I am a fairly calm person, no problem with assertiveness (I don't think lol) but this lil guy can rocket from being almost sleepy calm to level 10 I WANNA RIP IT APART NOW in a split second.
He is at that level so fast I don't have time to correct him in time. (otherwise if there is a level 15 - hes there when I try)
Other issues:
Mostly people ...
He is OK with people meaning he don't bite and generally speaking just excited to meet them & get attention.
I think this stems from previous owner constantly giving him attention, allowing jumping and so on every time he so much as moved a muscle.
In trying to socialize with people I try to discourage/correct his behaviour but it is the people that won't listen to me...
No touch, no talk, no eye contact ... (Yes I watch Cesar Millan)
They are stuck on his cuteness & think its cute when the dog acts this way.
If I take him to my parents -- they treat him so much the next day he is tossing his cookies...
They have several friends that come over & think its OK to feed my dog tons of treats.
I can't very well not go to my parents on Sundays .. its a weekly family thing.
They too have a dog (about 50 pounds) and she is clearly the boss. //sigh//
Their & my dog get along OK most of the time.
They have a cat too -- my dog seems not to really care about cats.
They have lots of birds always there -- my dog could care less.
My habits:
When I get up in the morning, I clean up, bathroom, etc then take doggie out for his walk/bathroom.
Back home - give him something to eat & go get my coffee.
Work on some doggie training/game play
Work day -
Noon - out for quick walk/bathroom
Work -
After 6PM - out for another good walk/bathroom etc & some more game play/training after eats.
My quiet time for internets, reading or visiting friends, coffee etc.
Final bathroom check.
Bed.- sometimes dog sleeps near me - most of the time he is in his crate.
So he gets lots of interaction/attention/exercise/love etc.
When I go anywhere in the house he is like Velcro....
Progression:
From going total wacko tornado of swirling whining barking flying furball when I leave/return to calming down from being somewhat excited in just a few minutes.
From free-feeding to having to do something for food 2x daily.
From being treated for just breathing to having to do something (even if it is just sit) a few times a day. Normally treats are given during "cutsie stuff" training.
From always having to be ON me licking/panting to mostly getting on me when I allow it.
From always attacking people at the door with excitement (GIMME ATTENTION!) to responding to my " down" commands and calming down fairly well.
From tugging/pulling on leash, pushing his way in the doors etc to most of the time I go first in/out.
From being a tyrant in the car to mostly staying calm. I harness him in more for his safety now (in case I should ever have to slam on the breaks) rather than a forced control method so I can drive properly.
So .... we are making progress. Not sure if it is slow or good but it is progress. Stages of progress usually come in spikes.
Finally -- remaining issues...
Still MASSIVELY excited - barking, lunging snarling etc towards other dogs while walking.
This can be a dog sitting in the window in someones house, driving by in a car or walking down the street. Other dog can be behind a fence, or walking with its owner.
I have stopped using his harness cus until I did that he took my corrections to mean PULL!!!!!!
Just use a regular collar with a normal leash.
His excitement level rises so quick I almost always miss that split second to pop the leash (or SHHT! or tap him)
Because of this he is past the point where I can snap him out of it and I either have to just keep walking where he has no choice but to follow or if he is strangling himself then I have to pick him up & carry him 50 feet or so then hi finally calms down.
The other dog can be well over 100 feet away when he goes nuts.
No - I can't say it is any fear, hate or whatever towards dogs coming from me - since I love dogs. Don't care what breed.
He is quite the fluffball so it is hard to see his ears perk before he goes to the alert-stiffened stage. (ears> stiffened> frenzy all happens split second)
If I REALLY try & pay attention to every stimulus that might trigger him - I know it WILL so I try my best to just ignore all the (it should not bother us) stuff. (hoping he gets the same energy from me doing this & he should respond the same way... just carry on, nothing to see/freak about here.
I can't very well save walks for only desolate areas at 3AM to avoid him going wacko. (my luck a BEAR would come out lol)
People:
How do I get people to let me tell him OFF or DOWN without obviously ticking them off? (they think of him as a furry little baby with a tail & his obnoxious behaviour is cute)
They get upset with me even when I try to explain why I don't want this.
Anyway - I obviously have a ways to go & progress in some areas is being made.
The biggest thing is the excitement > aggression towards dogs & trying to learn how to catch it in time before he blows his stack.
No - I am not shaving my dog so I can see his ears perk. LOL.
The other stuff - I feel I am making progress.
Not sure on prong collars .. he is only 10 pounds and I don't think there is anyone near my area that knows how to use them on such a small animal. I imagine I could inflict harm real quick.
Last thing I want to do is hurt him. Correct - yes - not hurt.
Most people around here baby their pets like lil humans with fur & they see you giving any sort of corrections to such a cutsie lil doggie baby & they flip out. (yes even leash pops or SHHHT!)
Gentle leader, halti, etc - he is a pom/shih-tzu - very very short snout so that wouldn't work. It would look like a tangle of nylon webbing half blinding him. Very uncomfy = negative walks.
Bark collar ... do they make them that small & have they fixed them so other dogs barking near by don't set them off? Also by the time he is barking - he is past the point where the correction is needed. Zapping/vibrating at that point is too late.
If I try correcting at this point he gets worse.
Citronella collars ...
Ummm no. It is likely not the real stuff so I don't particularly like the idea of spraying chemicals at my dog unless it is absolutely necessary to kill something that is eating him alive (like fleas/mites) (and it is from my vet)
Spray bottles of water ...
Ummm no. Can't be consistant enough - what if I forget my spray bottle?
Thanks! (sorry for the novel)
I guess the subject says it all.
Going to be a bit long .. lol.
Yes - I am a new dog owner. Although I have been raised around dogs all my life, I never had one of my own. Been looking for a small one for a while.
A little history...
Just got a male shih-tzu/pom about a month ago.
He is not neutered (yet)
He is about 1 year old & just over 10 pounds.
He has never seen a vet until I adopted him.
He came from a home where there were several other dogs & children, tons of visitors etc.
Owner wanted to get rid of him because they had 2 females in heat & he is not neutered...
The previous owner carried him wherever. I don't think they took him out much.
I don't think he was socialized around other dogs other than his own pack.
When I arrived to the house to view him it was a mad-house of barking, screaming kids and total caos..
The dog was super excited. (running in circles, panting like mad, jumping on every living being (animal or human) and licking faces everywhere.
Previous owner told me I could NEVER leave him. To even take him with you when going shopping etc...
Well I can't very well bring him in 100 degree heat, stuff him in my car & let him cook in the car while I go get his (and my) kibble.
And I can't afford to hire someone (that I really don't trust) to babysit doggie while I run errands. (sometimes several x daily)
I basically told them OK that I understood.
I hung around chatting for about an hour chatting (and trying to get a feel for the owners) & still then the place was total chaos.. barking, kids screaming, people in/out steady etc. The dog I was adopting was still in a massive excited state... (jumping, licking, panting, humping PEOPLE, etc)
NOONE made any moves to correct ANY of this behaviour.
The other dogs were carrying on almost as bad.
LET ME TAKE THIS POOR LIL THING OUTA HERE!!
So - I figured once I got him home where it was nice & quiet he would (eventually) calm down.
I am a fairly quiet person, have my own home with a yard (not fenced), work from home (have my own business) and don't have a ton of visitors.
I live in a small town so resources are few (as far as choice of vets, trainers, decent dog food, etc)
I am not super active but do like my walks, some hiking, gardening and so on. I would say my activity level is medium.
Ride home:
Dog super excited still -- jumping all over the place to the point where it was severely hampering my control of driving.
Jump, lick lick lick, jump , jump, pant pant, lick ....
" down""no"etc - forget it.
Pulled over, hooked his harness through the passanger side seatbelt to keep him there. (eventually he'll slow down... right??)
LOL!
Store:
Pull into shady parking spot, lock car, go to the store, get kibble, dog bed & a few doggie toys & doggie dishes.
Get back to car & he is a nutcase of barking, whining, panting and so on.
I get in the car & ignore him - drive home. He finally calmed down when I would not respond to his whimpering and other excitement.
Home:
Get in (dog pulling like mad)
Let dog explore while I set up his bed and such & get him a drink.
Let him finally calm down a while then out for a walk.
This didn't go to bad .. some pulling but he sort of stayed with me.
Friends:
I had a couple friends come over, meet doggie & of course they are all over him & it was fine with them to let him attack them with licking, humping and so on.
Visit to friends:
Went to visit them with my dog to see theirs (they have 3 small dogs too)
They have fleas (massively)
Of course my dog got them & I can see he was alergic to them (massive scratching/rash etc)
Got rid of the fleas & treated the house as well.
Vet:
I took him to the vet for checkup, shots (our by-laws demand it) and working on scheduling him to be neutered.
He still needs to get his booster shot then about a month after that he can get his goodies snipped.
Got doggie on "Advantage"
While at the vet - when he saw the other dogs he went NUTS - to the point where it sounded like I was strangling him. (I had him in one of those harnesses because I was afraid I would choke him with a collar and his pulling)
He was OK with the vet handling him - no problem.
He is healthy, been de-wormed, de-fleaed & most of his flea bites are cleared up now.
Other things...
He is great with grooming.
I can bathe him, blowdry him, brush him, clean ears, clip nails, do whatever with his feet including get between his pads and so on.
He knows when its grooming time -- he gets up on the ottaman when I point to it with the brush in my hand.
He knows basic commands (sit, no, dance, up, down, etc)
He is fine on the leash most times as long as there are little distractions.
Someone walking another dog (even when their dog is very calm-submissive or avoidance) he goes NUTS.
Again - he barks so much and pulls/lunges so much it sounds like I am killing him. It sounds horrible.
He is fine at home.
At first he was barking non stop if someone come near the door but I have that under control.
I am for the most part using the NILIF routine and at home it works.
When I left for the first time (for about 10 minutes) and returned - he went NUTS. Panting, spinning in circles, jumping, whimpering/yelping etc it sort of freaked me out because I thought he was going to stroke out.
As hard as it was to do - I ignored him. It took an hour for him to calm down.
OK - so I worked (still working on it) on de-sensitizing him to me leaving/returning.
This has greatly improved. I can go for about an hour now & he is calmed down in less than 5 minutes.
I am a fairly calm person, no problem with assertiveness (I don't think lol) but this lil guy can rocket from being almost sleepy calm to level 10 I WANNA RIP IT APART NOW in a split second.
He is at that level so fast I don't have time to correct him in time. (otherwise if there is a level 15 - hes there when I try)
Other issues:
Mostly people ...
He is OK with people meaning he don't bite and generally speaking just excited to meet them & get attention.
I think this stems from previous owner constantly giving him attention, allowing jumping and so on every time he so much as moved a muscle.
In trying to socialize with people I try to discourage/correct his behaviour but it is the people that won't listen to me...
No touch, no talk, no eye contact ... (Yes I watch Cesar Millan)
They are stuck on his cuteness & think its cute when the dog acts this way.
If I take him to my parents -- they treat him so much the next day he is tossing his cookies...
They have several friends that come over & think its OK to feed my dog tons of treats.
I can't very well not go to my parents on Sundays .. its a weekly family thing.
They too have a dog (about 50 pounds) and she is clearly the boss. //sigh//
Their & my dog get along OK most of the time.
They have a cat too -- my dog seems not to really care about cats.
They have lots of birds always there -- my dog could care less.
My habits:
When I get up in the morning, I clean up, bathroom, etc then take doggie out for his walk/bathroom.
Back home - give him something to eat & go get my coffee.
Work on some doggie training/game play
Work day -
Noon - out for quick walk/bathroom
Work -
After 6PM - out for another good walk/bathroom etc & some more game play/training after eats.
My quiet time for internets, reading or visiting friends, coffee etc.
Final bathroom check.
Bed.- sometimes dog sleeps near me - most of the time he is in his crate.
So he gets lots of interaction/attention/exercise/love etc.
When I go anywhere in the house he is like Velcro....
Progression:
From going total wacko tornado of swirling whining barking flying furball when I leave/return to calming down from being somewhat excited in just a few minutes.
From free-feeding to having to do something for food 2x daily.
From being treated for just breathing to having to do something (even if it is just sit) a few times a day. Normally treats are given during "cutsie stuff" training.
From always having to be ON me licking/panting to mostly getting on me when I allow it.
From always attacking people at the door with excitement (GIMME ATTENTION!) to responding to my " down" commands and calming down fairly well.
From tugging/pulling on leash, pushing his way in the doors etc to most of the time I go first in/out.
From being a tyrant in the car to mostly staying calm. I harness him in more for his safety now (in case I should ever have to slam on the breaks) rather than a forced control method so I can drive properly.
So .... we are making progress. Not sure if it is slow or good but it is progress. Stages of progress usually come in spikes.
Finally -- remaining issues...
Still MASSIVELY excited - barking, lunging snarling etc towards other dogs while walking.
This can be a dog sitting in the window in someones house, driving by in a car or walking down the street. Other dog can be behind a fence, or walking with its owner.
I have stopped using his harness cus until I did that he took my corrections to mean PULL!!!!!!
Just use a regular collar with a normal leash.
His excitement level rises so quick I almost always miss that split second to pop the leash (or SHHT! or tap him)
Because of this he is past the point where I can snap him out of it and I either have to just keep walking where he has no choice but to follow or if he is strangling himself then I have to pick him up & carry him 50 feet or so then hi finally calms down.
The other dog can be well over 100 feet away when he goes nuts.
No - I can't say it is any fear, hate or whatever towards dogs coming from me - since I love dogs. Don't care what breed.
He is quite the fluffball so it is hard to see his ears perk before he goes to the alert-stiffened stage. (ears> stiffened> frenzy all happens split second)
If I REALLY try & pay attention to every stimulus that might trigger him - I know it WILL so I try my best to just ignore all the (it should not bother us) stuff. (hoping he gets the same energy from me doing this & he should respond the same way... just carry on, nothing to see/freak about here.
I can't very well save walks for only desolate areas at 3AM to avoid him going wacko. (my luck a BEAR would come out lol)
People:
How do I get people to let me tell him OFF or DOWN without obviously ticking them off? (they think of him as a furry little baby with a tail & his obnoxious behaviour is cute)
They get upset with me even when I try to explain why I don't want this.
Anyway - I obviously have a ways to go & progress in some areas is being made.
The biggest thing is the excitement > aggression towards dogs & trying to learn how to catch it in time before he blows his stack.
No - I am not shaving my dog so I can see his ears perk. LOL.
The other stuff - I feel I am making progress.
Not sure on prong collars .. he is only 10 pounds and I don't think there is anyone near my area that knows how to use them on such a small animal. I imagine I could inflict harm real quick.
Last thing I want to do is hurt him. Correct - yes - not hurt.
Most people around here baby their pets like lil humans with fur & they see you giving any sort of corrections to such a cutsie lil doggie baby & they flip out. (yes even leash pops or SHHHT!)
Gentle leader, halti, etc - he is a pom/shih-tzu - very very short snout so that wouldn't work. It would look like a tangle of nylon webbing half blinding him. Very uncomfy = negative walks.
Bark collar ... do they make them that small & have they fixed them so other dogs barking near by don't set them off? Also by the time he is barking - he is past the point where the correction is needed. Zapping/vibrating at that point is too late.
If I try correcting at this point he gets worse.
Citronella collars ...
Ummm no. It is likely not the real stuff so I don't particularly like the idea of spraying chemicals at my dog unless it is absolutely necessary to kill something that is eating him alive (like fleas/mites) (and it is from my vet)
Spray bottles of water ...
Ummm no. Can't be consistant enough - what if I forget my spray bottle?
Thanks! (sorry for the novel)