help needed

[laura owner]

hi, my dog is a boxer crossbreed (maybe rottweiler) i am having a BIG problem with her - sometimes when i take her for a walk (3 times in last week) she grabs the lead and starts thrashing around with it in her mouth, jumping and even biting me.. it's VERY aggressive and it comes out the blue and I have tried nearly everything but can't stop it this has been happening for ages. i think it happens more when she needs to go to the toilet. the thing is in my view it just shouldn't happen.. I hate the fact it is unpredictable and the more I tell her off the more aggressive she appears to become - i have tried nearly everything to stop this behaviour: the first trainer i had advocated IGNORING bad behaviour... this did not work but i tried it for a very long time, I tried dropping lead and walking away, I tried saying nothing and tying her to a lamp post for 10 minutes and walking away. I have since tried smacking her across the rump with a newspaper it hasn't worked either infact it seems to wind her up more. I have read the dog listener and tried that. It's hard to describe but she is very menacing when she does this, growling and will just not let go, she gets up on hind legs and takes the lead between front paws. Because of this behaviour I decided on a new trainer. His teaching appears to be all about making your dog understand very clearly that you are the leader... this involves choke chain training.. and this part is going well.. she walks by my side and sits and lies down and stays on command whilst on the chain. However just now for example I put her lead on to go for a walk and she started to jump and bite very aggressively... i was using the choke chain and the command 'no' to get her to let go.. she would not, i am quite strong but I find this very worrying... we really had a fight out there and I was very firm with the chain, i grabbed it in the end and pulled it up above her head so she couldn't get to it. This is really awful.. i hate it and i am really a bit at my wits end because i live in greece and plan to take her to england with me when i leave in one month, but how can i take such a vicious dog? i am venting alot but i am so angry and upset that she does this to me when i spend so much time looking after her and frankly i feel like giving her a good kicking. i do not advocate violence and in the past with my dogs it's been a no need to restrain/hit situation but i feel like i'm changing because of this dog. my trainer who i trust says i need to dominate her more, he showed me a move the other day which shocked me - it involved swinging her around off the floor on her choke chain (keeping the link part at her throat) to make her understand that i am in control. i asked him whether he did this with all the dogs he trains, he said no only about 30% (imagine he probably gets the most badly behaved dogs because they're the ones that need training) - he clearly thinks that she is overly dominant. what can i do please help somebody because as he says it's either do this or she's going to get put down... i love her but i also hate her sometimes because she's so bloody mean and bites and hurts me. i have tried everything on this site and i'm just fed up. any ideas please?

 

[Indy B's Mom]

Oh the Alpha dog-they are a handful. My pit had a very dominant personality, and it can be very frustrating. My husband and I saw a gentleman on the Animal Planet channel-The Dog Whisperer, who is amazing with dogs. I apologize that I do not have a website for him, perhaps someone else will. We watched a show where he took a dog aggressive pit for a walk about 20 feet away from another dog. When she started getting aggressive, he actually laid the dog down and held her there until she calmed down(similar to a Mama dog in a pack). He doesn't hurt the dog, just reestablishes the Alpha position. Maybe you could ask your trainer about this method and see what he suggests, as I wouldn't try this by yourself without a professional there to guide you. Good luck and let us know how things work out.

 

[Lovely Rita]

leave that trainer right now!!! what he/she is telling you to do will most likely seriously harm your dog! choke chains leave irrepairable damage on the dogs throat etc. and it is a terrible form of NEGATIVE reinforcement! "swinging her around off the floor on her choke chain" ???? thats horrible! i sincerely DOUBT that that will do anything except seriously affect her physical AND mental health. frankly, your OTHER trainer had the better idea of just ignoring your dogs behaviour. if this didn't work for you, you should have gone back and TOLD them that it wasn't working, and they probably could have shown you another way to do it.

training methods as violent as this are not acceptable on this board. it is against the rules to talk about choke chains and other such violent, potentially harmful methods of training.

i wish you very good luck in finding a good trainer who can really help you!!

 

[sgbtab]

how about using a diffrent leash like a halter. if it goes around his chest he would not be able to grab it. if you type in leashes on the links site you might find a diffrent type good luck.

 

[Jan]

You need to go back and read the rules. http://boxerworld.com/rules/

I would go back to the other trainer as well. You could try spraying the leash with bitter apple. It often helps. You could also try a chain leash. It will often stop them biting. A Gentle leader will give you more control of the head and often works well. You also might want to try a regular harness. It would be hard to bite a leash that starts from the middle of their back. Last but not least, I would just end the walk every time he does it. Just say "Oh too bad" and take him home.

Good luck!

 

[lafsalot]

You also may want to reinfore yourself as the leader by following the "nothing in life is free' technique. ~ Cathy