Love thy neighbour
When Ginger and Pebbles get nervous at the sight of their larger four-legged furry neighbours and think barking furiously will make them go away, it's time for rehab! So what if the two 'fraidy cats are only a little over a foot tall? They're Jack Russells! (What happened to "Big dog personality in small dog's body"? Or "Temperament: bold and fearless"?)
Ginger and Pebbles developed fear aggression after being chased around and mauled by one too many crazy Hong Kong dogs, commonly mistaking them for vermin. Pebbles has seen the inside of a German Shepherd's mouth and Ginger has had her fair share of being humped by the other neighbours. So what do we do when our dogs develop anti-social behaviour? Tails up! We take them out to meet more dogs, of course! Here are some tried-and-tested tips we picked up along the way:
Mental Note No. 1
Always maintain slack on the leash. Avoid "tight-leash syndrome"
Believe it or not, when your dog sees another dog, tightening the lead to keep them close to you only creates more fear aggression. They can FEEEEEEL the fear vibrate from your grip to their little bodies! Ginger and Pebbles translation = "Uh oh, Mummy's panicking! She must be afraid of that big dog. I must protect Mummy! Cowabunga! *bark! bark! bark! bark! bark!*"
Mental Note No. 2
Reinforce obedience training and pack leader status
You are not their pal; you are their pack leader. YOU decide which dogs they can meet and which dogs can meet them.
Ginger and Pebbles have been practicing "Wait!" commands where they have to, you guessed it, wait. When the release command "OK" is given, they are free to go and say hello to other dogs. We've tried to use this approach as much as possible with all dogs for the past 2 days and so far so good. For the most part, it seems to have been quite effective. Other good obedience training commands are "Come!". If Ginger and Pebbles are told to "come" while they're still doing their doggy socialite thing, they know if we start to walk away they are out of the security of the pack and will hurry to catch up to us!
Mental Note No. 3
Do not allow your dog to make eye contact with the other dog, particularly if the other dog looks like trouble!
Block your dog's line of sight by standing in front of your dog and getting it to look at you instead.
Mental Note No. 4
No, it's not okay to behave rudely with your neighbours. Unnacceptable behaviour such as barking and snapping incurrs the wrath of the pack leader and warrants the "evil-I-mean-business-eye", a loud "NO!" and a shove.
Of course you're to do all this with slack on the leash!
If the other dog is relentless and intends to bury its nose deep in Ginger and Pebbles' butts and chase 'em around - and its owner/walker is too dumb to be prevent bad behaviour - well, that's another blog posting altogether!
Ginger and Pebbles are slowly getting back to their usual happy and confident selves. I'm looking forward to ceasing all apologies for their bad temper soon. Fingers crossed!
Ginger and Pebbles developed fear aggression after being chased around and mauled by one too many crazy Hong Kong dogs, commonly mistaking them for vermin. Pebbles has seen the inside of a German Shepherd's mouth and Ginger has had her fair share of being humped by the other neighbours. So what do we do when our dogs develop anti-social behaviour? Tails up! We take them out to meet more dogs, of course! Here are some tried-and-tested tips we picked up along the way:
Mental Note No. 1
Always maintain slack on the leash. Avoid "tight-leash syndrome"
Believe it or not, when your dog sees another dog, tightening the lead to keep them close to you only creates more fear aggression. They can FEEEEEEL the fear vibrate from your grip to their little bodies! Ginger and Pebbles translation = "Uh oh, Mummy's panicking! She must be afraid of that big dog. I must protect Mummy! Cowabunga! *bark! bark! bark! bark! bark!*"
Mental Note No. 2
Reinforce obedience training and pack leader status
You are not their pal; you are their pack leader. YOU decide which dogs they can meet and which dogs can meet them.
Ginger and Pebbles have been practicing "Wait!" commands where they have to, you guessed it, wait. When the release command "OK" is given, they are free to go and say hello to other dogs. We've tried to use this approach as much as possible with all dogs for the past 2 days and so far so good. For the most part, it seems to have been quite effective. Other good obedience training commands are "Come!". If Ginger and Pebbles are told to "come" while they're still doing their doggy socialite thing, they know if we start to walk away they are out of the security of the pack and will hurry to catch up to us!
Mental Note No. 3
Do not allow your dog to make eye contact with the other dog, particularly if the other dog looks like trouble!
Block your dog's line of sight by standing in front of your dog and getting it to look at you instead.
Mental Note No. 4
No, it's not okay to behave rudely with your neighbours. Unnacceptable behaviour such as barking and snapping incurrs the wrath of the pack leader and warrants the "evil-I-mean-business-eye", a loud "NO!" and a shove.
Of course you're to do all this with slack on the leash!
If the other dog is relentless and intends to bury its nose deep in Ginger and Pebbles' butts and chase 'em around - and its owner/walker is too dumb to be prevent bad behaviour - well, that's another blog posting altogether!
Ginger and Pebbles are slowly getting back to their usual happy and confident selves. I'm looking forward to ceasing all apologies for their bad temper soon. Fingers crossed!
posted by geraldine at 1:07 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home