Cat and Dog Blog

Why don’t dogs show any aggression towards me on our first meet? (Except chihuahuas)?

Every time I meet a new dog, with or without an owner, they don’t seem to bark or do anything like I’m not a stranger. I just do the same to all dogs: I stick my hand out and let them smell it. After that, they bow their heads and gesturing me to pet it. I always get this comment when I’m with the owner: “Wow, he/she [The dog] don’t usually get along with strangers that fast.” It’s not like I was trained to do it. Is there an explanation for this?

You have yet to meet a truely aggressive dog. Behavior experts actually say you shouldn’t stick your hand out, but keep them at your sides and let the dog approach you. Dogs don’t bow their heads down for people to pet them. Petting a dog on the head is actually rude in dog world. They usually lower their heads to get away from hands invading their space.

You likely are a “natural” with dogs, but don’t get too cocky in your own ability or you are likely to get bit.

What do you do when you have tried every thing to deal with a dogs bad behavior and nothing has worked?

We have been at the vet, he has been on meds, we’ve tried a kennel, chains, everything. He has seperation anxiety and he escapes and destroys doors and windows and siding and car tires and sides of car etc…….we have tried behavior modification techniques and nothing is working. Hes a 100 pound shepard. When we have to go somewhere and he has to stay home I have to go with the fear that he is going to escape out of his kennel and tear apart my house. I have chicken wire on the ground in the kennel and a roof on it. He actuallt bent and destoyed the chain links yesturday and when free proceeded to tear the sliding glass door screen off the house and peel back the siding around the door. I love my dog but I am afraid that I have tried everything to control this, spent hundreds of $ on meds and vets and training and fencing etc…….I am afraid that maybe I may have to find him someone who can be with him all the time or put him down…….I just cant handle him anymore

It sounds like you’ve worked very hard to help him. Sometimes there are issues that require professionals to diagnose and treat and this sounds like one. If you didn’t get the dog until he was older then perhaps there were some issues in his puppyhood that created all this anxiety. If it were my dog, I’d seek professional help from a dog trainer or I’d place him with someone who knows what his problem is and is willing to spend all the necessary hours working with him. Putting him down would be a last resort, obviously, after you’ve tried the other two things. There are people out there who would be willing to work with him, but you can’t allow your life to be destroyed by an animal. We have several pet trainer yahooers who can help you. Check the Internet for some local listings of trainers/behavior modification specialists in your area or ask local vets for recommendations. If you don’t have the money to pay for that, try asking some of your local no-kill shelters for recommendations or ask them if they’d be willing to take the dog to see if they can help him. There are many programs (inmate programs for example) where animals are taken and trained, so maybe you can find something for him. Good luck.

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