Help, this is my first post and I apologise for it being so long but I am truly desperate for some solutions. 15 Months ago I adopted a BEAUTIFUL male labrador from the local rescue organisation. Then he was 5 years old. Some other people had taken him but had quickly brought him back. I was told that his original owners had a Kid with ADHD (I think it’s called) who had tormented him with a bicycle. They also had to muzzle him in the car. But now they had a new baby and felt he could not be around the baby. Sad but true. On his papers the vet felt he had write that the dog needed to be taught borders but the owner did not have the time for classes etc. In the house he would go into extreme excitement and sprint around at full speed. All you had to do was reach out and stroke him and it would trigger extreme excitement. If he did not break something by running into it, he certainly wiped it out with his thick tail!!! My own observations of Shandy when I first got him were; Sometimes blinked his eyes rapidly if you reached out to pat or scratch him around the head. Definitely did not tolerate kids or bikes of any description. Lunged at other dogs, with barking and growling. Lunged at other people but was extremely aggressive to somebody on sticks, wheelchair, zimmer etc. Also aggressive to people who perhaps walked in an unusual manner or wore hoodies that were up. As he is huge, he was difficult to hold back but I managed. (I'm 6ft 2!!!) Always hungry. Extremely sensitive to you touching his front paws, will jerk them backwards unless he offers them for a paw shake. Never left my side, followed me from room to room and generally lay down right next to me. The worst issue is he has bitten my wife 6 times in the last 8 months. The last time was serious and I had to take her to hospital. My wife has never hit him in any way whatsoever. To me or my son he has shown no aggression at all. We love him dearly. H e makes us happy in so many other ways. He can be very affectionate as well to all of us including my wife. What puzzles me is he lies down next to my wife’s chair and often goes to her for a cuddle and scratch. So, please folks, we really want to try and get to the bottom of this. It’s not his fault, afterall, it’s most probably humans that made him this way. He does not deserve to be treated as a throwaway item. Any help out there will be hugely appreciated. John
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Oh my goodness, that is really quite a sad story. How does your wife feel about him? I think the best thing you can do would be to get a qualified and recommended animal behaviorist in to see him. This sounds too serious to be guessing about possible solutions over the internet. I really hope that with some professional help you will be able to find out what is causing the aggression to your wife - i.e. what the trigger is, and that you will find a way to deal with it. Really the best of luck to you.
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! I can only echo Karen's comments..... Speak with your vet, check there are no underlying medical issues and ask for a recommendation for a behaviourist. I wish you the very best of luck. You have done a wonderful thing taking this dog in and I truly hope you can help him be a wonderful part of your family.
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Hello! Welcome. What a wonderful thing you have done, to give a troubled dog a loving home - and you are not giving up on him, even when it's tough. Hats off to you. Agree that this sounds like you should call in a pro though - sounds pretty complex to me. I hope you find a solution and you, your family, and your lab, can settle down to enjoy happy lives together without the stress of the biting. Best wishes to you.
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Yes, one for a pro... Have a look here and see if there are any trainers in your area (assuming you are in the UK http://www.apdt.co.uk Poor Shandy has had some bad times in the past, but it looks like he's found a loving family who are trying their best to help him. Full credit to you! I'm sure it has been far from easy.... With the right help I'm sure you can improve his behaviour further. Please keep us posted!
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Hello and welcome Is does sounds like professional help is the way to go. I hope you can work this through - good luck and keep us posted.
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Thanks to everybody for their kind comments. I dont have much experience with trainers. I have had some in and all they have done is tried to turn him into a circus dog in the lounge with various tricks. Then they take my 40 quid. So far, none of them have made me feel confident with them. The other problem is I was recently made redundant so money is tight. Anyway, thanks to everyone so far, we will keep at it. John
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! What exactly did they get you to do? I shouldn't have said 'trainer' as a behaviourist is what I really meant. Have you read about desensitisation? That is, using something positive like food to get your dog used to things that generate fear in the dog. Some of the articles below may help: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/training-your-reactive-dog/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/aggressive-and-reactive-behaviour-in-labradors/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-dog-growling-over-food/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-fears-and-phobias/
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Hi John, a warm welcome to you and Shandy. I don't have anything to add just wanted to say what a great thing you are doing helping Shandy, he is a lucky boy . If I were you I would contact the rescue centre you got Shandy from and explain the difficulties you are having with him, they may have a Behaviourist that should help you FREE OF CHARGE, I am sure would be only to happy to assist. "Professional Behaviourists" can charge £80 for a consultation and they are not all registered which is outrageous. Good luck. Helen x
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! from a teeny tiny black 5 1/2 year old Lab known as The DivaDog and her pet human
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Hi there......you sound like the right family to give Shandy his happy ending,but I can only imagine how difficult and challenging it has been so far for you all.Youve had great advice from some very experienced Members...I'm lacking in experience as Dexter is our first dog,he's just coming up to 2. Good luck with Shandy's progress,keep in touch to let us know how you all manage best Wishes Angela x
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Hi John. A behaviourist would probably be the best thing although they are expensive. I've looked into them for my dogs. I have two labs who are very nervous. Have you taken him to the vet with this problem? I ask because when I read about his reaction when he is stroked on his head I wondered if it could be something medical. I have know idea it was just a thought. Also though if you have insurance and a vet refers you to a behaviourist it can sometimes be claimed for. I think that would be my first port of call the vet. I imagine going to the vet isn't easy. It's not with my dogs I now muzzle them but the vetvshould be able to give you advice. Good luck
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Cant add to the good advice John, just to say welcome and good for you for sticking with it through difficult times, for all of you .
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Good question Jen. Did he mean to bite or was it an accident? Is he very excitable? I'm struggling with an excitable teenage dog at the moment and frankly it is amazing that I have not been accidentally Hello. Shandy's luck certainly changed when you and your wife took him on. She. Must be an amazing lady to have put up with so much from him. We are all routing for you here and looking forward to your tales of success.
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Hi there, welcome to the forum from me as well I was thinking the same as Helen (Charlie) - contacting the rescue to ask if they have any expert support they can offer. Wishing you and Shandy lluck jac
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! I've just remembered a book Ive read that might help. I'm wary of recommending books incase they aren't any use but this book covers most if not all of the issues you've described including aggression towards one particular member of the family, home management as well as outdoors, other dogs etc. The book is 'Click to Calm Healing the Aggressive Dog' by Emma Parsons. I don't know if you use a clicker or if your interested in using one but they are very easy to use on any age of dog. You could alternatively use a marker word. If you go on amazon when I bought the book it had a look inside option so hopefully you could look at the chapters and see if you think it's suitable.
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Hi there, and welcome! You have done a wonderful thing by taking on this dog! I agree with the others that a behaviourist would be the best way to go, and I would certainly follow up with the place you got him from to see of they have any free or low cost resources that you can take advantage of. However I also took on a rescue who came with some "baggage", not as much as your pooch for sure but there were definite things we has to work on.for us the most serious being growling and biting in terms of resource guarding. He never bit anyone really badly but did draw blood twice. So I understand how difficult the situation is for your wife (and you), it really puts a barrier between you and the dog in terms or trusting them. We have largely overcome the issues that my pooch had, because of two things, as I see it . 1) a stable environment with routine and people who treated him consistently with kindness (apart for a few rocky bits a the very beginning) 2) Clicker training. I used the clicker as the dog came to us having learned to ignore a "no", and we could not physically pull him away from things (ie forbidden items or food) by the collar as he was very collar reactive and would snap at hands that went for his collar and would react violently to being restrained in any way. So I had to find another way to communicate with him, and using a clicker to show him how to behave was the solution for us. I read the articles on the main site about how to use a clicker and found some very helpful videos in Kikopup YouTube channel that helped me out. I also taught him to swap forbidden items for food, to diminish the need for me to try to physically take something away. All of this worked like a charm, I can touch any part of his body without him objecting (again, used a clicker for this) can stroke his head or touch his collar and even pull him by the collar if I need to (but I try to avoid this wherever possible), can usually take something from him if I need to. I say "usually" as there is still the odd occasion where he will growl if we try to take something away, but it is rather half-hearted and he doesn't snap like he used to. Again, I try to avoid that scenario as much as possible. I would have a good think about what the triggers are for the bad behaviour, for example, the bicycles, people with hoodies, whatever your wife did to trigger the bite, and start to slowly work on those, it takes some time and you can't rush it, you have to go at the pace that is comfortable with your dog. Anyhow this is a long post but just wanted to share my experiences to give you some hope that perhaps you can overcome some (hopefully all) of these issues. If you have further questions don't hesitate to ask.
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! Yes, my wife is really an amazing lady. She has her own pain with false knees and one of them has just come loose. She loves Shandy as much as I do and is still making an effort to pat and scratch him. But understandably, she is hesitant and I am nervous when she gives him a "love up". I try and relax because I know Shandy will pick up on my nervouseness. When Shandy bit my wife the last time, he was lying on lounge floor in front of her chair. She spoke to him in the normal manner and reached forward to pat him and give him a scratch. Shandy was facing her and awake and looking at her. He then let out an almighty growl, latched onto her hand and landed up half on her but holding onto her hand. (I think this was what did the damage) I jumped up and shouted and Shandy immediately went back to the floor in a cowering manner. He could not have got his head and body flatter on the ground if he tried. It was terrible, it looked like Shandy was waiting to be hit, kicked or something in that manner. I commanded him outside and he ran out with no problem. Then grabbed towels to stem the bleeding from my wifes hand. The previous 5 bites were all serious "nips" resulting in broken skin and a minor bit of blood. We think two of the 5 previous bites were because my wife had surprised him when he was sleeping. Another time he was lying on the floor next to me while I was on the computer when my wife came in to give me a hug. First she bent down to love him and that was when he went for her hand and nipped her. The guy at the rescue said Shandy was guarding me and that was why he reacted in that manner?? A trainer that came to the house and gave me about an hour of theory and then proceeded to get him to lie down, sit etc on command which I had already taught him to do. Then a bit of staring into my eyes for food and so on. I've been told that some trainers hit the dog to get results and thats why I insist on being present and involved. I do not believe that will achieve anything. As some of the members have suggested, I'm going to ask for a meeting with the rescue organisation and see what concrete action can be taken. Perhaps further training etc. They will be phoning me this Friday for an update. Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate the help. John
Re: A Sad Story.....so Far!!! [quote author=Shandyboy link=topic=7742.msg108379#msg108379 date=1410290140] It was terrible, it looked like Shandy was waiting to be hit, kicked or something in that manner. I commanded him outside and he ran out with no problem. [/quote] Oh the poor love. :'( Well done you for trying to work through this. I wish I could help. Stay in touch with us, we can offer lots of support at least. I like Jen's idea of finding a good book to help.
