Nervous dog - some advice please?

[TheBlackMoth]

Hi, I am hoping someone can help with my problem with one of my JRTs.

Some background. We have two JRTs - brother and sister and have had them since they were 8 weeks old. Bunny, the girl, is bright and intelligent and confident - but very barky. Mumble, the boy has always been a little timid at home but on walks was very aggressive and ran at people barking like mad, particulary little children and runners and also ran at other dogs no matter their size. We had him neutered in the hope that it would calm his aggression and embarked on distraction techniques. So whenever we went out we took loads of treats and every time we saw a runner, a child, another dog we called the dogs and offered them a treat. Now this works most of the time and Mumble has calmed down a lot on walks.

However, in the house we have another problem. We have eight cats, four before dogs and four after. Now the four after dogs are not bothered by the dogs and in fact play with them and chase them. However, the four before cats don't like being chased and hence my problem. Everytime the cat flap goes the dogs go mad and rush into the kitchen to chase a cat. This is not good in so many ways - but mostly because they are often sat on my knee and I am bruised and battered from the scrabble to get off me. So I get a whistle and decided to blow it hard every time they ran after the cats. Now this worked brilliantly with the girl and she stops in her tracks and runs back to the sofa with her tail between her legs and she is starting to think twice before going. A few more days of it and I can see she will stop.

However, I have had to stop because Mumble shakes for an hour after I blow the whistle and is clearly very very unhappy with it. He has started sitting with us in the evening with his tail between his legs and his ears flat back looking so miserable and if I call him he comes crawling over to me as though he expects me to smack him.

I want to stop them chasing the cats in the house - or at least reacting to the cat flap - but I am very worried about Mumble who is obviously very upset. It's funny but in the house he has often behaved like an abused dog - very nervy and shy.

Ok so that's a major essay. Well done for getting to the end of it - any advice gratefully received.

 

[mattilda]

It may be the pitch of the whistle he objects to. My RR hates the beeping sound of heart monitors and beepers on medical programmes and the sound of smoke alarms. She shakes for ages. Maybe you need to find something else to distract them like a plastic bottle with pebbles or a football rattle.

 

[Birker2020]

I agree with Matilda about the pitch of the whistle. Dogs have sensitive hearing and it drives me mad when people think its funny that dogs howl when they 'play' the piano. It is because they are in pain. I have to say I am a big fan of the Dog Whisperer ://www.cesarmillaninc.com and think the programme is very good. He advocates the use of a strong voice aid, anything loud and to the point is suitable, he just goes SSSHHH very loudly and quickly and also points at the dog with index and next finger (this represents the mother dogs mouth when she would reprimand her puppies by pretending to nip them). This noise may help your dog as it is a little less 'violent' than the whislte. Anyway there is loads of advice on Cessar's website. I don't mean to be critical but do you think you may have too many pets, and it might be worth while decreasing the number you have for the sake of the sanity of your dogs. I know dogs and cats can live side by side sometimes very successfully, but you might just find that the sheer volume of animals you have is just too much for your dog to cope with and maybe the kindest thing to do in your situation would be to try to find him another home where he can have a one to one relationship with someone. Not every human likes crowded rooms and constant dissruption, pets are the same. You need to be assertive, calm assertive as Cessar would say, but you also need to have an air of fairness about you. I would say your dog is about at the end of his tether, and I feel a little sorry for him.

 

[Tia]

I totally agree with Applecart re; the "Tssht" noise - this works fabulously! That's what I use with my dogs and all of them take notice when I do this. Recently I've been using it for one of my dogs who was afraid of gunshot noise. Having been doing this every time she hears a gunshot in the past month, she has pretty much got over her fear of the noise and nearly always ignores this sound now.

As to having too many pets .... snigger Naughty Nuala!

.

 

[TheBlackMoth]

Oooh Tia!!!!!!

As it happens I do have too many pets - but they are all staying - so that is not an option. The dog in question is sat next to me snuggled under my blanket at the moment after having a crazy walk in the woods. He is definitely not at the end of his tether - he is a spoilt little boy who is reacting badly to the whistle.

I am not someone who asks for advice and then say ah but I can't do that but telling me to re home him is not exactly a solution!!

Also although there are a lot of animals here it is a big house and there is rarely more than one cat in the room with the dogs. It's the noise of the cat flap they object to, oh and the neighbours doorbell, and anyone walking by the house and the sound of boys playing football and other dogs barking - need I go on?

I will look up the dog whisperer and see what he has to say.

 

[Tia]

I couldn't reply as you were full, but what I was going to say is, I think Bunny is the one you need to work on as she seems to be the ring leader in all of this.

 

[TheBlackMoth]

Yes - I think you are right and that's where I am focusing my attention. I have just taken them out for another walk - the joys of unemployment!!!! Hopefully I will wear her out and then start working on her!!

 

[MrsElle]

Please be careful following Cesar Milans techniques. Many are based on dominance and not respect. I know of someone who was bitten quite badly by her dog after following his techniques. The poor dog was frightened and lashed out and ended up being pts.

Victoria Stillwell uses much better techniques, lots of positive reinforcement.

We have 5 dogs, have shown and breed. Three of our dogs respond to the happy high pitched voice when we are getting them to come to us. However, this has absolutely no effect on the other two. What works with them is a growl. We call them with a growl and they immediately come. Lots of praise needs to be given when the dog stops doing what he is doing and comes.

Victoria Stillwell also uses a loud 'A A', which seems to stop the dogs she works with in their tracks. It also does work with mine, so try that one too!

It can be difficult with lots of animals to train one in particular, I should know as we currently have 5 dogs ages from 11 months to 5 years and two litters of pups, one of 7 who are 8 weeks old and one of 9 who are a week old!

It might just take a little more time with lots of other animals around but you will get there!

 

[Birker2020]

Oh you have suprised me about Cessar Milan, I thought he was the dogs doolies to be honest. I also think he is absolutely gorgeous too! I used to think Dog Borstal was really good too, but now I think the dog whisperer is much better. Dog borstal just seems to be more about physical aspects rather than the mental aspect of training dogs. I like the fact that Cessar has his 'pack' and introduces new dogs into it and tells you about body language and things which Dog Borstal never touches on.