Friday, February 29, 2008

A Problem Student - Please Advise


Recently Jazz has started to become more agressive to other dogs and I'm worried about it. At home Jazz is an angel and never gets aggressive with Dixie, the two of them can eat and drink from the same bowl and they always share the couch or a cushion with no fuss. She is never agressive to people either, quite the opposite as she loves people. However at school or at the dog run Jazz takes on a different role that I don't like much. She is bossy and growls or snaps at other dogs that she doesn't know or like. I tried telling her off or walking away from her to let her know that I'm not pleased with her but it doesn't work. Dog Inc doen't accept aggressive dogs and I'm so worried that if she continues on this path she won't be able to go there anymore. Any advice as to how I can handle this problem would be greatly appreciated.

9 comments:

umekotyan said...

Good evening jazz.
It is a difficult problem.
I think the problem of the priority level of the dog.

from loved ume tyan

Xsara and Tani said...

Maybe letting her run around with a bunch of dogs is becoming too much for her. Try to go slowly. Take dog treats on your daily walks and reward her for friendly behavior around other dogs (don't reward near other dogs or she might try to protect her food). Also use verbal rewards when she is nice to other dogs. Try to recognise the signs before she gets annoyed and try to prevent the situation before it actually happens. Try to slowly get her used to big crowds, starting with only a few dogs and then add more when you progress. Maybe you could start with dogs that she already knows if she is only unfriendly to other dogs.

The Army of Four said...

Xsara (or was that Xsara's mom?) had some GREAT advice! I wonder if there have been any changes in her life lately that are sparking the change? Is she always like this or only if Dixie is there? Is she protecting her maybe? Stormy can be like that with other dogs if the rest of the pack are there. Maybe if she sees Dixie being praised for good behavior, she'll follow her lead?
I'll keep thinking on it!
Mom of the Ao4

Lorenza said...

Sure I hope you find the cause of her behavior.
Like Ao4's mom said maybe she is trying to protect Dixie.
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

e said...

HI Larissa
Long time no chat. Getting quite busy here on my end now that uni has started again.

I was worried about Fei too because she chases and 'kelpie-stalks' dogs when she sees them and then suddenly springs onto them to surprise them.

Fei went through this phase (and probably is going through it still at times) and our dog walker in Singapore re-introduced her to a bigger group of new dogs where she was kinda at the bottom of the pack.
Maybe you can talk about this to Mr. Yamada? He said that Fei was rough at times and liked chasing dogs a lot but I see that in some of the photos, she has been grouped with bigger dogs.

Let us know how things go.
E

Jackson said...

You could try "Dr Harry" remember the Vet on our Aussie TV show try to e-mail him maybe he has a solution. Yes we beagles can be a little aggressive if we feel we need to be leader of our pack it could be that there are too many dogs in her group and she is being protective of Dixie but you need to sort it out with quite and rewarding behaviour I think what xsara suggests is good too. hope you can resolve the problem soon M

cookie said...

We don't have any advice, but can understand. Our Lucy is like that with "nonhousehold" dogs. We are going to try school, and see if it helps. If not, we may try a trainer. Wish we could get ahold of the dog whisperer.

Cookie and crew

Anonymous said...

Are you sure she's feeling ok? If it's happened recently maybe she's got a sore spot or something she's trying to protect? If it is behavioural I think Xsara gave some great advice - but just thought I'd throw a different point of view out there just in case.

Otherwise is she maybe doing it when she's had enough play time? River can get a little snappy when he's over tired so I need to make sure he has his own space when that happens as he doesn't seem able to convey that message to other dogs himself very well for one reason or another.

River

Eddie N Peaches said...

We agree with River. Do be sure she is in absolutely fine health. Our cousin Rance, who is normally a sweetie pie, suddenly started getting aggressive with other dogs, even doggie friends and us, his cousins. They found out after a dogter visit that he has elbow displasia. He has been put on anti-inflammitories to quiet the pain and he's not cranky any more.
Just a thought.
We wish you the best. Their school looks like so much fun, and we know they must love going there to play. We would hate to learn that Jazz was expelled!
Best wishes to you on this matter.
Whoofs, Baroos & big huggs to Jazz.
Eddie, Peaches & Bella