Re: Is this a good idea??? Of course not kate, i need all the help i can get! Yea i get what you mean about not making allowances, my husband keeps saying hes safe now. Something i am debating is whether i have the time to give him as much help as he needs, as he is nervous etc. I think ideally he needs to be the only animal in a house and get all the attention he needs, i have said to the rescue it would be worth them look for someone for him. I am so soft with them, as i write this murphy is asleep across my lap! We are off out for a walk in a min
Re: Is this a good idea??? Like others have said it will hopefully improve as the days go by. Its only been a day and must be very confusing for Ezra, Murphy and Harry the cat. Even if you decide he'd be better in a home on his own you have helped him with his new start and you should feel very proud about that. Fingers crossed everything settles down quickly.
Re: Is this a good idea??? Quick question, when i want to have a rest, and not be on edge with Ezra and Harry, i am putting him in his crate. Now, should I leave his crate in the kitchen so hes in there on his own or have his crate in living room with us so he can see us all? I feel bad because Murphy isnt crated. Also Ezra has snarled and Harry again and harry is just intrigued by him and gets closer to the crate! X
Re: Is this a good idea??? I would have him where he can be with you and watch the interaction, he may feel castigated if left in another room . Like I said before, if the cat issue gets too full on and you feel unable to continue with him , don't feel bad please . When I returned the terrier we rescued , I felt shocking, really guilty , felt a complete failure until we had a good chat with the rescue people who assured us that we had helped enormously as we had provided them with vital information that they didn't have prior to this , she went to a new home as an only dog with no visiting children and all was fine , they said to look on it like it was a fostering . I know its very early days for you, but rest assured, you are at the very least building a good picture of his needs , good luck whichever way you go x
Re: Is this a good idea??? Thanks Kate, il keep him in with us. Its so annoying about the ct, when he was in the clinic in Bucharest having is cancer treatment there was a cat there who he was fine with, but because of the snarling i just cant relax if they are in the same room, i am stood up ready to pounce if something was to happen, i know thats not good really coz they can prob both feel my tension, but i cant help it. Just whilst writing this, Harry went over to the crate and ezra snarled and snapped at him. Its so annoying because hes such a sweetie other than that. He walked perfectly on the lead earlier and theRes been no accidents in the house or anything. Earlier he snapped at Murohy because he went to look in his crate and I shouted hey and he stopped and cowered a little and then i ended up crying because i felt bad for scaring him
Re: Is this a good idea??? Does he only snarl at the cat when he is in the crate and the cat goes near ? What happens when he is loose and the cat is in the same room ? I know he is nervy and will be finding things very confusing to begin with but he still needs to learn manners and how to behave in a family. If something like that happens again and you have to intervene you could then ask him to do something to earn a reward like sit or coming to you for a treat. He possibly snapped at Murphy for going near his crate because he sees that as his. That's a good thing he sees it as his den so he will feel safe. It might be an idea to try to keep Murphy away from the crate until ezras settled in more and won't feel as protective of his space. It's very difficult though because you don't want to encourage resource guarding but I think some rescue dogs that have been in kennels have had to learn to guard there resources.
Re: Is this a good idea??? Thanks Jen. He has also snarled at harry through the baby gate. When they were in the same room with me stood between them and my hand near ezras collar he was just staring at Harry. I umderstand about Ezra snapping at Murphy being near his bad, and he also did it when Murohy went to pick up a stag bar that was on the floor. I am feeding them eitherside of the babygate to stop anything happening. He has growled a few times at murph but for no obvious reason i can see. Its difficult. I dont want to give up yet, but its exhausting being on edge constantly and Harry doesnt get the hint so I do worry that he might put himself in danger. X
Re: Is this a good idea??? I can imagine it must be very difficult and exhausting. Ive just been thinking that Murphy also needs to learn how to behave when sharing with another dog so the occasional growl or snap from Ezra as long as it doesn't get out of hand is probably normal. The stag bar is something that my dogs might growl at each other over. All it means is 'get off its mine' . Dogs communicate through body language which is difficult for us to spot or interpret. For example when Ezra growled at Murphy for no obvious reason it might have been because Murphy was looking/staring at him. Maybe Murphy doesn't know that's a no no in dog language. My two have been known to grumble at each other because they've ended up in a position staring at each other usually lieing either side of me. I tell them to stop being daft and one will move their head and all is well again. I'm sure they will get to know each other but feeding separately is a very good idea.
Re: Is this a good idea??? Thanks Jen, you make a lot of sense , I suspect I might be over reacting about the growling and snaps, and I agree that murphy def needs to learn some manners, he's not used to sharing in the house. I think one issue that makes me worry is because murphy is a bit of a wet fish and since being done is really submissive. He's never growled at any dog in his life and so I worry that being growled at makes him feel worried and I don't think that's fair in his own home. But he is overly wimpy so prob needs to toughen up a bit!
Re: Is this a good idea??? I absolutely agree with everything that has been said. It is such an upheaval, that Ezra is probably in survival mode right now, which is why it is good he sees the crate as sanctuary. I can only go by our recent experience, and the advice by our rescue organisation who were fantastic. We had the crate in the front room very early, Benson's crate is in the kitchen and separated by a baby gate at the kitchen door. Casper is fed ONLY in the crate. All treats/food/toys in the early days were given out of sight of Benson, to reduce any natural guarding caused by stress. You could put an additional barrier, eg a towel, cardboard so that Ezra doesn't actually see the cat if Harry comes up to the crate for a nose. Re: being submissive and growled at..I think dogs understand more that we give them credit for, Benson early on has his fair share of growls, and indeed a snap or two, that was horrid! Benson seems to understand now when Casper needs his space, and they are completely inseparable
Re: Is this a good idea??? Thanks Kate, yea i am feeding ezra in the crate and putting treats in there for him to find. Hes feeling a bit more confident this evening in the house and as the cat is out, he is on the sofa! One eitherside of me. His crate is covered over with a blanket on 3 sides. We took him for a walk this morn and hewas fine but took him out this evening in the dark and he was veryscared, panting and shaking it looked like he didnt like the shadows. I wish he was better with Harry, because i feel confident i could settle him in with murphy. Just not harry . x
Re: Is this a good idea??? You are doing good Frankie - its really early days, keep on doing what you are and hang on it there. x
Re: Is this a good idea??? Hi Frankie, don't put so much pressure on yourselves it's very early days. Your doing a lovely thing but if at any time you don't feel it's working out nobody will think you have failed, we are all with you. Keep going and see how Ezra, Murphy and Harry adjust to their new situation. xxx
Re: Is this a good idea??? Hi everyone, so had Ezra (who weve rename george) for a few days, he is very good at night, clean in the house and fine being left in crate. He occasionally snaps at murph, but otherwise they play really well together. George is nervous when out on walks but is better when murphy is with him apart from a night when George goes very skittish and is almost scared of his own shadow! Anyway the issue is the Cat. Over the last few days, George has been paying less attention to the cat, so i have him in the living room on the lead as the cat is about. For about an hour George didnt even hardly look at harry, and then suddenly out of no where he lunged at Harry, luckily i still had hold of the lead (he had lulled me into a false sense of security and id already debated taking it off!). To add to this issue, Harry was castrated today and also had Hernia surgery. He has to wear a cone for 10 days and not go out, and Im now wondering whether i can effectively manage this without being unfair to Harry or George. :/ any advice please folks? Also if i tell George off, he goes really quite and comes over and pushes his head into me- breaks my heart! I actually cried the other day because i felt bad for scaring him after telling him off! And just to add to my hectic life i have just signed up and paid deposit on a trekking trip to india to raise money for a new cancer centre at my local hospital (Bath RUH) and now have the mammoth task of rasing just under £3000. Fun fun fun!
Re: Is this a good idea??? You sound to be doing so well! I don't know about introducing cats and dogs, so will leave others to comment. But it sounds good to after just a few days! He just has to learn, maybe... On the telling off thing, why don't you not tell him off? lots of people train and manage their dogs without verbal rebukes. It takes a bit of getting used to, but you do get into the swing of it.. Pippa just put up a useful article - although it's about gundogs, it applies just as well to pets. It's on the front page of totally dog training: http://totallygundogs.com Best of luck with it all.
Re: Is this a good idea??? I dont tell him off in that sense, i mean that if he lunges at the cat or snaps at murphy in a nasty way i cant help but shout hey! Or something similar. And the fact that i raise my voice scares him. There is no other reason to tell him off. X
Re: Is this a good idea??? No, I know Frankie, I'm not suggesting you are doing anything wrong or bad. But if you shouting "hey!" has that impact on him, it's very punishing for him (and for you, if it leaves you in tears - I try to train positively more for me than my dog, I think). It's not really about the merits of your actions, it's about the impact on the dog. You could shout "hey!" as much as you like at my dog, and he'd cheerfully ignore you, then come looking for a biscuit. It's just about what the dog finds unpleasant.
Re: Is this a good idea??? Yea i see what you mean. Id rather not do it, but its done on impulse as i am nervous of whether George could hurt them :/ i cant help doing it, i do it before i think, if you see what I mean
Re: Is this a good idea??? Oh, yes, I know exactly what you mean. I still do it sometimes, even though I try really hard not to, and have spent ages with a trainer who tells me off for doing it (I don't think she worries about the impact on me ;D ). My only tip, for what it's worth, is work out in advance what you want to do instead. My default is to train a whip round towards me on a tongue "click click" sound. Dead easy - associate super treats with clicking your tongue. Or similar. It's like a "hey!" interrupter but it's pleasant, not unpleasant. Best wishes, you are doing a lovely thing for George.
