[napsndreds]

Heres the scenario...

My Dog Chavez of 2 years is a great dog...Displays no DA rarely, Not really aggressive towards people apart frombeing overly excited when people come over he chases his tail for hours....

Recently, I went on a 3 day trip. I had my friend watch over the dogs for me while I was gone...

To cut to the chase, anytime I ask Chavez to leave the room he runs away into a corner, if I go after him he makes like hes going to the door then goes into another corner...So, I have been noticing him growling when I reach for his collar pull him out for awhile now and I havebeen letting him know this is unacceptable.. like a Loud NO and a slap on his head.... Anyhow. Last night same situation however I reached for his collar and he snaps at me and I felt his teeth grase my skin.. my girlfriend did the same thing instead she told him to leave and he wouldnt, she reached to grab him by the collar and he growled and snapped at her even more aggressively....

This is a problem that cannot escalate... What should I do? Put him down , give him to the shelter? Or should I try to correct this bevahior. Because I know the minute your dog starts showing people aggression thats a liability and you should get rid of him...HELP!!! what should I do.

 

[napsndreds]

Let me make this clear, He was growling before the trip as well. And myf riend said he growled at him too

 

[jakesmom]

#1 ? i had when i read this is i wonder what was going on at the place he stayed while you were gone??

 

[jakesmom]

oh ok......

 

[MY MIKADO]

Stop slapping him on the head. All this does is make a dog that has aggression issues more agressive. I would put him on a leash in the house and when you want to leave a room you take him out of the room. Praise him for following you. Praise him every time he does what you want him to do. Make sure he has a place to go for his own down time a kennel or a bed in a seperate room. What type of training have you used on him.

 

[napsndreds]

Well when he was younger, He was trained using reward based training.. However seeing he is an adult now I just get fed up when he does things hes not sopposed to and I hit him hard on his rump and I slap him in his face... when he growls I talk real loud and slap him on the head... but when I tell him to leave the room now he doesnt want to leave and he goes into a corner... when I go in the corner to pull him out by the collar he growls and jus recently he snapped at me..not just a lil snap like a real im gonna bite u if u keep doing that kinda snap. i felt his teeth on my skin..so your saynig when he does this get his leash and walk him out the room and then reward him with a treat or jus praise him?

seems like reverse thinking in my head...

 

[MY MIKADO]

What do expect him to do take all your slapping cause you didn't train him right when he was a pup. I would slap at you too if you did that to me. You need to get a handle on your agression problem and not take it out on your dog. I think that you need to start over in training him. If you don't want to do this see if there is a rescue to take the dog.

 

[MetalGirl30]

I would stop hitting him...you are just making it worse. It is not working for you anyways by the sound of it.
Put him through basic OB again. You can still reward with treats, it does not matter how old he is. To teach a dog a new trick would you use a treat reward? Same scenario here!
I would leash him also like Makido said.
Don't get frustrated with him...
You might need to take him to the vet.
Ceaser was doing the same thing.. growling, but come to find out he had a really bad ear infection.
I also use an e-collar, but Ceaser is really bad DA and would rush the door hair raised and teeth showing when someone tried to come over. I used it just for his EXTREME behavior only though. Now we are just using the warning sound on the collar.

 

[BedlamBully]

STOP HITTING THE DOG!

All this does is teach him that when you reach for him it will be a bad experience. No wonder he is snapping at you. I'd bite you too if everytime you reached for me I thought you where going to smack me around. REWARD REWARD REWARD. Lure him with a treat and praise him for coming to you, you always want to make everything you teach him a GOOD thing not something to be feared. Never call a dog to you and then punish it.

Honestly if you can't handle the behavior and are out of ways to correct it go to an obedience class and have a trainer show you the proper way to teach your dog commands. Honestly you are going to make the dog hand shy and hand aggressive.

 

[MetalGirl30]

Well when he was younger, He was trained using reward based training.. However seeing he is an adult now I just get fed up when he does things hes not sopposed to and I hit him hard on his rump and I slap him in his face... when he growls I talk real loud and slap him on the head... but when I tell him to leave the room now he doesnt want to leave and he goes into a corner... when I go in the corner to pull him out by the collar he growls and jus recently he snapped at me..not just a lil snap like a real im gonna bite u if u keep doing that kinda snap. i felt his teeth on my skin..so your saynig when he does this get his leash and walk him out the room and then reward him with a treat or jus praise him?

seems like reverse thinking in my head...

He is growling at you because he knows that you are fixing to slap him. It is a natural reaction on his part to defend himself!
It might seem like a reversal to you, but will work wonders for him.
If you cannot handle him or fix his behavior then you need to find a rescue.
You or your girlfriend are fixing to get a rude awakening from this dog..seriously man. Sounds to me like this dog is a ticking time bomb that is about to go off. But he is this way because YOU MADE HIM THIS WAY!!!
You can't hit on a dog and then expect him to follow your command, he is just going to run to what he considers is a safe place.
Your dog is scared and tired of you and that is why he is at the point of biting.
You need to be calm when trying to re-inforce your command. NO HITTING!!

 

[buzhunter]

Honest opinion? OK, you asked for it. If you cannot put two and two together and figure out why this dog is snapping at you then you have no buisness keeping dogs. Plain and simple. Do the dog a favor and give him up.

 

[napsndreds]

You guys act like im just a dog beater. I've been raising dogs for awhile now.. I dont beat my dogs but I do pop them once and awhile when they do things they know is wrong. i.e I dont hit up dog if he uses the bathroom in the house if say hes sick or I jus happened to forget to take him out. But I do pop him once and awhile when he does things he knows is wrong.. especially if I tell him NO prior... Listen, this definately seems to be the problem, however not everyone has an abundance of treats laying around for every action your dog commits... I will stop hitting him and try what you guys have said but I dont need all the extra talk personally..

Thanks though,

 

[MPRO112]

Dont get defensive, when you come on a dog forum and say you hit your dog you should expect people to get on your ass for it. If you want to correct your dog "physically" instead of hitting him why not keep a check (choke) chain on him in the house and correct/discipline him that way. Maybe even a pinch collar or an E collar if really bad(learn how to use both properly!!). Hitting your dog doesnt do anything but create a more fearful and aggressive dog, defeating the purpose of why you were hitting him in the first place. Like others said, start over with him and go buy a bag of training treats. Its $4 and lasts a while. Positive reinforcement will probably correct his behavior more than anything else.

 

[napsndreds]

Dont get defensive, when you come on a dog forum and say you hit your dog you should expect people to get on your ass for it. If you want to correct your dog "physically" instead of hitting him why not keep a check (choke) chain on him in the house and correct/discipline him that way. Maybe even a pinch collar or an E collar if really bad(learn how to use both properly!!). Hitting your dog doesnt do anything but create a more fearful and aggressive dog, defeating the purpose of why you were hitting him in the first place. Like others said, start over with him and go buy a bag of training treats. Its $4 and lasts a while. Positive reinforcement will probably correct his behavior more than anything else.

Thanks for the post. yeah man I guess I figured since I was beat when I was a kid and I turned out pretty good it would work on the dog as well... but people are over exaggerating it like I beat him badly and hit him with stuff, I just pop him on hsi head or on his butt and say no whenhe does something wrong.. and I hardly hit him ...but when I do I do... but I will try that because the hitting isnt working...once again the dog wins..

 

[MPRO112]

Tru. Im not saying you were "abusing" your dog but there is no need for that bc it really doesnt do any good as far as fixing the behavior. I got my ass whooped plenty of times as a kid for doin stupid shit too but the difference is we are humans and can understand why we are getting our ass beat lol The dog has no clue why you are hitting him and probably sees your "aggression" towards him as weakness, therefore making him respect you less, therefore wanting to listen to you less etc. etc. etc. Start over, keep your cool wit him, praise and reward, and re-build the bond with your dog that it sounds like you might have lost somewhere.

Also not to sound like the DogWhisperer but do you exercise your dog alot? Could be a source of behavior problems. Get out and run that puppy and he will be too tired to growl.

 

[napsndreds]

Tru. Im not saying you were "abusing" your dog but there is no need for that bc it really doesnt do any good as far as fixing the behavior. I got my ass whooped plenty of times as a kid for doin stupid shit too but the difference is we are humans and can understand why we are getting our ass beat lol The dog has no clue why you are hitting him and probably sees your "aggression" towards him as weakness, therefore making him respect you less, therefore wanting to listen to you less etc. etc. etc. Start over, keep your cool wit him, praise and reward, and re-build the bond with your dog that it sounds like you might have lost somewhere.

Also not to sound like the DogWhisperer but do you exercise your dog alot? Could be a source of behavior problems. Get out and run that puppy and he will be too tired to growl.

he exercises moderately. I recently moved into a hosue with a big backyard... everything was great till one day I walked out there and didnt see him in the back yard i called his name and he was in the neighbors back yard, he and my female pup.. she crawled udner the fence to follow him and he jumped over the fence...i jumped over the fence threw him over and when I hopped back over he hopped back again... so now I am walking him in the backyard with a leash for the time being till I get a higher fence built... I also think that when he snapped at me he was very hungry because he didnt eat yet... Who knows.. But I will definately lay off the hitting

 

[lusopitbull]

careful with growling dog, if you can't fix it will explode like some one said.
try punishing without phisical contact and also fool the dog, i mean lots of affection so he regains trust in you...remenber, bad memorys comeback pretty fast

 

[MetalGirl30]

I am not saying you are down right beating the crap out of him. I am just saying that hitting him is not going to help you any. You are doing nothing but making it worse b/c now he has gotten to the point of actually nipping/biting at you.
Maybe I come off a little to harsh, but a dog you cannot get near to correct b/c he is growling and nipping is a potential danger.
He is just reacting to you!
Try to be calm when redirecting him. He has to gain your trust back just as much as you have to gain his.
If you can't get treats just use alot of praise and petting. Do it with a very happy voice.
His behavior can be corrected it will just take time and patience on both parts.
It is not neccessarily that the dog wins, you are just using a different method of correcting instead of using your hand.
The dog was winning anyways b/c he still was not listening to you to begin with.
If you want him out of the room, grab his leash, take him out of the room, if he tries to come back in block his path and tell him out! When he finally gives in and sits or lays down, then praise him. This is how I taught my dogs what "out" means. It does work!!
Just be positive about it! He will eventually get the picture.
If you are frustrated when you get onto him, he can tell. Just be calm and cool.
I know we tend to treat our dogs like people, but they are not. They cannot comprehend like we can. They say it can take up to at least 30 times of a repeated command before the dog finally gets it and will follow it.
But hitting him will only make him fearful of you, and you don't want that b/c then you will have other behavior problems to deal with also.
You can teach an old dog new tricks and he is no different.

 

[DieselDawg]

When you "pop" or "slap" your dog, you become an advisary for him to overcome. You lowered your status to a mid level dog that is fighting to establish dominance. You need to start over and hope it is not too late. Heavy training with rewards is the best way to start (repetition). You are going to have to be very patient...more like a parent instead of an equal that uses force.

I would not let anyone watch your dog for you from here on out...you might get him to respect you and your girlfriend but it might not translate to others. Long walks will rekindle a bond between you/your gf and your dog.

 

[napsndreds]

When you "pop" or "slap" your dog, you become an advisary for him to overcome. You lowered your status to a mid level dog that is fighting to establish dominance. You need to start over and hope it is not too late. Heavy training with rewards is the best way to start (repetition). You are going to have to be very patient...more like a parent instead of an equal that uses force.

I would not let anyone watch your dog for you from here on out...you might get him to respect you and your girlfriend but it might not translate to others. Long walks will rekindle a bond between you/your gf and your dog.

hahaha nice... thanks.