frustrating situation

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jane123

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Hi All, I have not posted here before but have seen lots of helpful and insightful advice so here goes. (sorry in advance for long post)

My sister has a chiuaua bitch who is aprox 2yrs old. The dog is insucure, sufferes from passive urination, has no manners around other dogs or most people and is quiet frankly not a pleasure to be around. I understand this is most likely due to poor management and training by my sister. When you enter the house she says to ignore the dog, but will not correct it or keep it on a leash and it very hard to ignore a dog climbing on you, trying to lick your face and simultaneously peeing on your lap!!

I have urged her to go to training classes, try agility, etc. and told her her dog needs to know its place so it can be happy/secure. So far no change. She is now thinking of having a litter and keeping one...

so question, how would you go about trying to make her see sense or would you just walk away and ignore it and ban her from visiting with the dog in tow?

Incidently when myself and others have been left in charge of said dog, it has recieved appropriate diciplin and boundaries and has responded well, only to revert back when reunited with owner.

Thanks for reading :-)
 
I think your last sentence says it all, if she isn't prepared to make the changes, all the trainers and advice won't make a lot of difference.

If I am in someone else's house and their dog jumps up at or on me, I gently, but firmly, put it back on the ground again. I don't like my own dogs jumping on me unbidden so I don't take it from other people's either.

I do agree, the dog will become much happier with routine, direction, consistency.

Could you take your sister along to a class without the dog, do you think she would be inspired by seeing better behaved dogs?
 
Thanks, I do put her dog on the ground. To which I am told I am not following the 'ignore it' rule. (pointed out am not happy with wet patches on my clothes or face).

I am not sure how her brain is functioning. We grew up with well behaved dogs, and many friends and other family members have them. She just has a huge blind spot with her own. She seems to think small size = no harm done when it starts fights. We have so far been able to break it up with other dogs, but only as the other dogs involved are so responsive and hers is small enough to be physically removed.

I did give her info re. adult dog trainers/ behavourists in the area to which the enthusiastic reply was 'oh, I might get into being a behaviourist'.

reading myself back it seems I am just banging my head against a brick wall!!
 
I am not sure I agree with absolutely everything in this link (the dominance theories go a bit bananas in parts), but I do think it is worth a read! Print it out!

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/smalltoydogs.htm

It is a big problem with people who think Rover or Princess is perfect...there's a bitch I would love to take for a couple of weeks, but I know once I handed the lead back over they wouldn't do a thing differently and she'd end up back where she started.
 
argh, that is frustrating. sounds like its the owner that needs ignoring, not the dog!
I always feel for the dog in situations like this, troubled dogs usually get their problems from their human and it isnt fair.

but like CC said, if your sister isnt willing to make changes then its not likely that she'll upkeep any training in the dog anyway and if anyone does help the dog will just go back to its old ways. I see it all the time with the wealthy gun types who buy their fully trained dog and by the end of the season are selling it on because they havent kept up the training and reinforced them and its got slack at even basic commands. there are not enough rolly eyes for people like that.

but no way should your sister expect you to get pee-d on, hell no! if that were me id end up taking it into the garden and shutting it away from me if her owner wouldnt do anything about it!
 
I'd love to find one of these dogs who wake up in the morning and think 'Ta da! I'm fully trained!'

Even the people I know who compete at world level do at least a little bit every day!
 
i know, so many people are so quick to blame the dog.

my friend had a very badly trained retriever, would jump up, growl, get above his station and thought he ruled over everyone in the household. he bit a mutual friend and snapped at me but it was brushed off as one offs. i said to her if she didnt do something it would be curtains. anyway long story short the dog ended up being destroyed because it attacked a small child, thankfully only causing a scratch to his eyebrow because the childs mother pulled him out of reach in time, it could have been so much worse.
 
Oh dear, I could see what she meant with not fussing it at the door so to keep the whole visitor event as uninteresting or stressy as possible... but it sounds like it goes a bit deeper than that.
I agree with what CC said, despite the fact that you have had the dog in your care and seen improvements... if she still wont seek help then there really isn't much else you can do. Unless she feels a bit embarrassed and can't ask for help.
I would think taking her and the dog to some classes could be an eye-opener for her. If her dog is the only one sat there going berzerk whilst the rest do a perfect sit... it might make her realise that some more training is in order!
 
I think the owner is misinterpreting what is meant by 'ignore' the dog. It means don't do anything in the form of communication. As much as I despise CM his 'no touch, no talk, no eye contact' works.

I had a dog that was a manic bouncy thing and it was hard when people came round as they didn't 'get' it when I said ignore the dog. In the end I changed this to - turn your back to the dog. Far more effective!

What you should do when the dog jumps up on you is to stand up and let the dog drop to the floor - this in itself is disciplining the dog. Picking the dog up to remove it is reinforcing the behaviour because the dog does get touched - no matter how briefly.
 
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