Help! Liability on a Leash...

[frogyoga]

Howdy!
I am the proud "mother" of two rescue dogs. I have had a black lab mix named Buddy for three years and he is about 4-6 years old and a 6 year old Rat Terrior named Maggie who I have had for 4 years.

Maggie is my concern. I have hired a behaviorist, have done extensive training with her and have worked on training myself. I believe I have corrected most of my own behaviors influencing her, however people keep telling me I need to medicate her.

She is an incredibly anxious dog with a long history of abuse prior to me adopting her. She is very dog-dog AND dog-human aggressive though she gets along with Buddy beautifully bc she is allowed to be Alpha Dog.

I can't take her on walks anymore as she gets so worked up that she does this "tasmanian devil" turn and will either get out of a harness or collar or throw herself into the street. I am afraid she will be hit by a car as she has had WAY TOO MANY close calls.

She is also a liability on a leash as she will attack other dogs, and people in my neighborhood rarely leash their dogs, thus they invade her space and she attacks.

Does anyone have any suggesions? I'll listen to anyone:)

[Dogwise]

First off don't use harnesses to walk your dogs, use a choke or prong collar. If you stop walking her her problems are going to get worse. If other dogs are off leash and yours is on, then your dogs not the problem. Carry something with you to keep other dogs away.

Question. When she sees another dog and acts crazy, what do you do?

[frogyoga]

Hey thanks for replying! I didn't realize it would make her worse to stop walking her so we will begin again. Thanks! I used to walk her on a harness PRIOR to consulting the behaviorist who also explained that a choke would give more control to me instead of the harness giving her more control. She walks really well when other dogs aren't around and even sometimes with people. I give a brief acknowledgement to them like " Morning" rather than a boisterous "How are you???"

When it comes to her, now that she is on the choke, I try to give her a command and have her focus on me, such as sit. I try to keep my voice calm and even, but she gets so worked up it is unbelievable.

She is ALWAYS leashed. Even with my other dog who really could go without a leash, is ALWAYS leashed. These other dogs are labs, bouviers (sp) etc and come up either in a friendly way or slightly territorial, however she is always more worked up than them.

Don't laugh, but she is eh... 12 lbs. I need two hands to handle her, so this is why I don't have a stick with me to fend off other dogs. I know this is wrong, so do you have any suggestions for what I should be doing when I walk her?

I really, really appreciate you posting back thanks so much!

[catcher T]

yeah,,,I would agree with using a choke chain,,I have never used those prong collars,,,do you know how to properly use a choke chain? that dog aggressiveness may never be corrected enough to be able to trust completely,,rat terriers tend to be on the hyper side,,they are very busy

[frogyoga]

Okay, nope it's a choker, not a prong. I felt weird using a pronged one on such a small dog. The behaviorist showed me how to use the choker, I believe I'm using it correctly keeping it up, her at my side... etc.

Not only is she hyper, but when I adopted her from the Humane Society, they were able to give me a bit of background on her. She was raised with cats, was beaten, and her tail was not correctly cropped. They were unsure whether it was surgically done or...?

She is nervous when we have people over and violently shakes, though if I accept them, she accepts them. Also, when I'm not around, apparently she calms down. This makes me think I'm more of a problem than I would like to admit. She is a great little dog though. I have had my cousins and neices around all under the age of three. I am ALWAYS close ( Iwas attacked by a dog when I was young, so I wouldn't want this to happen to them) and she sniffs them, never barks at them and just lays by my side.

Weird. I just don't want her life to be 24/7 anxiety which I'm afraid it might be. I've been told to medicate her, but I'm a therapist and feel that sometimes we turn to medication for both people and animals before all options have been explored. Thus, I joined this site.

[DiggityDogs]

You definitely need to make sure you relax while you're walking her= I know that can seem impossible, but be cautious, just not anxious. Hold your leash in a comfortable position, and make sure there is slack in the leash ALL the time. if you are holding the leash so that the snap is positioned higher than the dogs head, you're holding it too tightly. If she runs out to the end of the leash to go after another dog, pull so that the leash snaps taughtly and then release the pressure immediately. If she doesn't respond on the first one, repeat this over and over, and most importantly, KEEP MOVING! If you stop, you're telling your dog there's a reason to stop. By continuing your walk you tell her that passing a dog is no big deal and is not grounds for stopping in your tracks. I see so many people with this type of problem who stop walking and either put their hands on the dog to reassure him or to pick him up, which is the WORST thing you could do, because at that point you'd be praising him. If you find that this is not helping and you've been using it for some time and the dog still seems very out of control, you can try using a 'high collar', which involves positioning the chain high on your dog's neck, so that it sits in that little divit behind his ear. Using this method, you would want to keep the leash taught, but not tight- you're not trying to choke the dog here, despite the name of the collar you're using. you can still give the same type of 'snap and release' correction with the leash in this position, but it's a shorter, stiffer motion, and the leash should not go back to the slack posision afterward, it should still have a bit of tension on it after the correction. Just make sure you're not pulling so hard between corrections that the dog is unable to breathe or swallow properly.

[DiggityDogs]

Oh- and kudos to you for staying away from the meds- I agree, we tend to overmedicate dogs in a situation like this! I just finished re-training a 6 year old dutch shepherd with separation and crate anxiety who was on prozac when i got him- we took him off the meds the first week, and 6 weeks later he was much calmer and more collected than he ever was on the meds. Not fully recovered, but much better. It can take some time, but meds are definitely not the answer. I would even lean more towards some holistic solutions before that, like rescue rememdy. I don't have firsthand experience with it, but I hear it is wonderful for anxious dogs.

[Dogwise]

DD is correct about the don't pick up or make your dog sit when passing another dog or person. The dog doesn't need to focus on you, it needs to not focus on the other dog or person. One can easily accomplish this by moving the choker high behind the head as DD mentioned, but along with that one must correct the dog for the thaught before it becomes action. And thought always *always* becomes action for a dog (I think it, therefor I must do it).

With the collar up high and keeping the dogs head up during the walk your dog can read your body language which communicates your dog your emotional content (your enegry). So now it doesn't just have it's own reaction to go by in diffrent situations, but it has you, *it's leaders* reaction to go by. And yours should be calm but assertive all the time. So now when your walking and you see another dog or person, the minute you see you dog focuss on them, quickly touch the dog on it's back leg, give a short snap leash correction, and make a firm low assertive correction sound. And just keep walking. While out on walks with your dog try (if you are) not talking , by not talking you find your dog will be calmer. And then when you do need your dog to listen it will. To much talking to a dog is nothing more than ear wash to them. Also, and very important, don't get your dog all excited about going for a walk. I always find it amusing when people say their dogs out of controll while on walks, and yet I watch person after person, whip...their dogs into a frenzy before they even get out the door. Wanna go for a walk wanna go for a walk, wanna go for a walk!? By the time they get to the door, the dogs about to explode. "But there's something wrong with the dog" yeah sure, that's what it is.

Last but not least, in my 25 some years of working with dogs, I find it is a myth that because a dog has had aggression issues the dog can never be trusted again. When infact once actually rehabilitated they can be trusted the same as any other dog.

[catcher T]

when people come over,,hand them a treat at the door,,have them give it to the dog,,this will let her know that everyone at you home is nice,,then after a few times of guests giving the treat,,she will be excited to see ppl,,then move onto making her calm down when ppl come over,,she dosen't get the treat unless she sits pretty, or lays down..also,,alot of people make this mistake,,when the dog is shaking and nervous,,they console the dog and say,,Its alright,,which makes the dog think it is good to act this way,,when she shakes and gets all nervous,,ignore her,,I know it sounds mean,,praise her when she stops,

[Dogwise]

Keep one thing in mind however about letting guest give her a treat. She must be in a calm frame of mind, and until she is, they should just ignore her, that includes not even looking at her. Once she's calm then they can give her a treat.

[frogyoga]

Thank you all so much!
TOTAL WHOOPS, as you guys were right. I do tend to stop mid walk or pick her up if giving a command doesn't work. Apparently I'm also holding the leash too tightly as well. I really appreciate the feedback from all of you.

I also totally understand the treats comment and will take not only the suggestion but will be observant of her temperment at the time and the situation.

I also agree about being able to trust her. Like I said I am always supervising her closely if there are children around, but she's not "aggressive" so to speak as much as it appears she is anxious or afraid... and yes, I too am anxious while we're walking so I'll working on my own breathing and being cautious rather than preparing for worse.

Again, thank you all so much!!!

[DiggityDogs]

....... here it is. (the original post) Gald to hear maggie is doing better!