Need Some Help With Clarice

[Acadianarose]

It's seems like some greys can walk into a new home and fit right in with no issues. My Payton is not that dog. He has space aggression, is very bossy and does not want to share anything. At first, he stole more things than you can imagine. I couldn't believe the crap I found in his bed. We have an 11 year old lab who very laid back. He doesn't argue with Payton for the most part.

 

And toys - Payton loves toys. And he guards them! My lab does not play with toys otherwise we would have some fights. As it is, I have to keep the toys put away and just give out toys when I am watching. When my daughter's greyhound comes to visit, Payton takes all of Charlie's toys, puts them in his bed and lays on top of them. He will growl if another dog even looks at the toys.

 

He is slowly getting better. He is food motivated so now in situations that once caused a growl, like someone near his bed, he now looks for a treat instead.

 

I second the hot dogs. As far as my dogs are concerned, hot dogs are the best thing in the world.

[krissn333]

What's a good way to start with socializing her? Do we first just focus on her being cool with everyone here and then introduce other dogs (like my parents' greyhounds and my friends' greyhounds)? Or should I be taking her out to meet dogs a bunch (muzzled, obviously) with lots of good treats straight away, while she is also working on being cool with the rest of the dogs here?

 

This all makes me feel like such a rube. I've had greyhounds for over a decade. Guess this proves that we never stop learning...but this is just something I have never come across. It's a very humbling feeling.

Edited December 14, 2013 by krissn333

[krissn333]

I will look into some obedience training...there's not a TON of places around here for that but there is one place that my old band director used to take his golden retriever...unfortunately some of the places around here don't use good training methods. When I was looking into some basic stuff for Fritz, one place told me a prong collar was required, another place told me that greyhounds are stupid dogs (yeah let me just come running to your place!).

 

We have a family friend that runs a dog day care. Wonder if they'd let me come out with her and still be there to supervise her. I'm not sure if throwing her into something like that RIGHT NOW is the best idea though, given her fearful reactions? Won't a bunch of dogs at once at this particular point overwhelm her? Or is this something that wlshould be part of "phase 2?"

[krissn333]

After Friday the 20th I am off work until January 2nd so I'm hoping to be able to do some more intense work with her.

 

The issue with doing things in the house that involve treats is that Ozzie wants the treats too. Do I gate him out of the living room and work with her in the LR?

 

Seriously I feel like these are the dumbest questions ever. Have I really been so lucky to just have had super easy dogs for a decade? I've never had a thunderphobic dog or a dog afraid of fireworks either. Have the odds seriously just always been in my favor? I can't believe how stupid I feel.

[MaryJane]

The best way that I have found to get the "we are all one pack" is to walk the dogs at a brisk pace. Doesn't have to be too long of a walk, but no smelling the roses except at designated stops. Helps the bonding experience between the dogs and also between the dogs and the person. Talking to the dogs while you are walking also seems to help cement the bond.

 

How is Ozzie's ear ?

 

edited to add -- don't worry so much about the socializing at this point. Have her get used to you and Ozzie first and then do the socializing. Otherwise, she might get sensory overloaded ...

Edited December 14, 2013 by MaryJane

[cleptogrey]

there is bound to be one instructor who is sensitive and will meet yours and your dog's needs. i have used obedience classes to recondition a dog of mine who was attacked and became very fearful which showed up in aggression. when i spoke to the directors of the schools in my areas the director who gave me a good solid plan of approach was who i went with. this dog was 9 years old and had a good # of semesters of training behind him when he was attacked. it was not easy finding a match.

 

it's extra leg work calling and inquiring about methods and finding the right class, but it's worth while.

[Batmom]

I'd let her get used to how things are at your home -- and get used to working with you -- before I worried about introducing her to other dogs. It wouldn't HURT her to meet other dogs, but there isn't really any benefit to her meeting them.

 

Classes can be helpful because they give you incentive to work on stuff, and they help you gauge progress. Not the be-all and end-all, but can be useful. Wouldn't really be in a giant hurry to start those either. Usually there's plenty of stuff to learn around the house to keep a dog busy for a month or two .

[Guest grey_dreams]

Agree with walking them together, one on either side of you. If the weather and Ozzie's injuries permit, it would be good to do a lot of walking together. For treats, maybe you could set up in a hallway or other kind of restricted space, with you on a chair to help create a barrier, one on either side of you, and offer treats to both simultaneously. If you offer the treats at the exactly same time to each of them (hold your arms out so that they don't hover over your lap), while they are "together" but physically separated with you in the middle, that might work. Maybe set up with a book or your laptop, and just spend time hanging out like that, offering treats now and then. If they eat kibble, maybe you could feed them both by hand at the same time using a similar method (if Ozzie's shyness will permit).

 

It seems to me that Clarice might have had a bad experience with a big dog when she was in a fearful stage as a puppy, and so now she has a fear response to dogs getting close to her. It's probably with any dog, not just Ozzie, so you might have to be diligent when introducing her to your parent's dogs. The holiday with a lot people and other dogs might set up a challenging environment for her. You might test her before the holiday at your parent's house with their dogs, and decide whether she might enjoy that event.

 

Zuki had fear aggression toward other dogs that were the same size or larger than him (with a few rare exceptions), but was fine with most other galgos and with all small dogs. It took a while to figure out what types of dogs/different body language he would react to or not, and what distance he needed for comfort with different types of dogs/different styles of body language. It was a long road with a lot of work, but we finally got to a better place, and all the work was worth it.

[PrairieProf]

I can't judge if you should start classes soon, but Beth and I had very good class experiences at Petsmart and she went through Advanced. Of course the trainer we worked with had more real experience than a lot of trainers there, but it's all positive methods -- that's standardized throughout all stores. You can also repeat classes for free. Quite a distracting environment though. They have puppy as well as beginner classes.

Edited December 14, 2013 by PrairieProf

[krissn333]

Yeah, it's not just Ozzie. She was growly with some other greyhounds of her size, one of whom is just 6 months older.

 

Other than initially not loving being sniffed when she arrived, she is just fine with my iggies. Engages in play with them. She's fine with the cats too. She is not going to eat them but has puppy nosiness about what they are doing, and I think she doesnt quite realize she's not nearly as tiny as she thinks she is.

[Riverhound]

Joe and Brees didn't start to mesh until our first family vacation with both of them - GIG, about 4 months after Brees came home. Before that, they were both muzzled most of the time. Two years later, there's still significant snarking, but it's "ok" snarking. I've only had one injury, and that was during play, so the situation is different, but the first few months were frustrating, scary, and hard; and we're all still here!

[krissn333]

Thank you all. You'll be hearing from me lots but I feel like we CAN do this, with your help and encouragement.

[krissn333]

We're going to work on "go to your bed" today. I used to have a clicker, but, I have no idea where it is so for now we may have to do without.

 

We have the Nina Ottoson Doggie Casino too so maybe we can try that. We have negative temps here so walks are pretty much out of the question.

[Guest grey_dreams]

We use "place" for "go-to-your-bed-and-wait-there-until-you-are-released". It seems that single-word commands that don't sound similar to other words they often hear are more useful for eliciting reliable and speedy responses

[krissn333]

Well, I used "bed" and it was a rousing success, but perhaps we should try using "place" instead...I imagine that is a word that gets used less otherwise.

 

First I got her to just stand on the bed. She sits pretty reliably already, so I was able to get her to sit down on the bed. I'd have a piece of hot dog ready in my hand but "hidden" and when she would get up and wander around I'd say, "Clarice, bed." and she'd go to the bed and lay down! Treat and praise. I kept moving further and further from the bed so the "bait" wasn't always right there WITH the bed.

 

We'll keep doing things like this. After we were done I took her back out in the yard to do some zoomies and she went berserk. I'll have to remember to bring my phone next time so I can record it

[cleptogrey]

just read your last post and realized that i have "control unleashed" by leslie mc Devitt under my monitor. it's worth while reading it, i think you might pick up some pointers. spot/ place are excellent names for her safe/down time spot. you might consider throwing a bath mat on it(rubber backed so it won't slide). that bath mat can eventually be brought to obedience classes. greys, (i'm sure you know) have notoriously short attention spans and those "magic carpets" come in handy- not only for "place" but for long downs on cold floors or sit/stays.

 

practicing the down stay is a hoot. i ran across instructions a short while ago- a home work print out. we had to do 3 successful 1/2 hr. downs in a week! that meant starting all over if the dog broke the down at any time before the timer went off at 30 minutes. falling asleep was ok- for the dog but not the human. that exercise was WONDERFUL- but i do remember the homework the week before was only a 15 min. down stay.

[krissn333]

Thanks...I'll look for that book.

 

We do have (somewhere) a roll-up bed that we used to take to meet and greets. We'll use that going forward.

 

It's funny...Ozzie will lay down anywhere there's an item that resembles a mat. I didnt teach him that but I wonder if his old family did.