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I have a dog walker 3 days a week for my rescue mutt (beagle/retriever mix. 35 pounds.) We have had him about 6 weeks and she has walked him since he came to us. I introduced them and all was well.
Recently he has been doing some guarding behavior with the door. We have a trainer coming to work on it and do basic obedience-- he can sit, lie down and shake on command, and we are working on "stay" and "leave it" as well. I ask daily for updates after the walk as he is still new to us. In the last three days she says she feels "bullied" and "intimidated" by the dog. Yesterday he wouldn't "let her sit on the floor with him"-- apparently he had put his head in her lap for pets and she obliged while seated, but when she tried to get down on his level, he gave her a warning growl. The day before he growled when she tried to detach his leash from his harness. He was still wearing it when we came home.
She has not been taking him on the full 30 minute walk as a result. They go around the block and then she says "he wanted to turn for home." I keep saying "he wanted? You are in charge!" But the walks get shorter. Of course she charges the full amount.
This woman is highly recommended in my community. She is hinting she wants to quit. I have called a few others and if I say anything about this situation, they do not want to walk my dog, either because they have such respect for her, or "that sounds like an aggressive dog."
This dog NEVER behaves this way around me after or before a walk.He sits quietly and if he is excited we don't go anywhere until he is calm.
Erm, this is all pretty normal stuff for a rescue. You need to find someone who's going to build a relationship with the dog rather than freaking out at a little growling. Not knowing firsthand the dog's exact reaction, I'd hesitate to recommend anything specific but generally, I'd back off the dog growling at me, determine what was triggering the reaction and then habituate the dog to accepting the action that caused it.
When my first Catahoula used to freak out whenever a door closed on him, we just worked hanging out by opening and closing doors and focusing on me, rewarding calm behavior when he didn't react.
Maybe speak to the trainer. It's possible they could take him for a walk and see how his behavior is when you aren't the one doing the walking. If so it could be something they could start working with him on as well.
And I would consider discontinuing using her services. I wouldn't want someone who is intimidated by my dog to continue walking them.
I have a dog walker 3 days a week for my rescue mutt (beagle/retriever mix. 35 pounds.) We have had him about 6 weeks and she has walked him since he came to us. I introduced them and all was well.
Recently he has been doing some guarding behavior with the door. We have a trainer coming to work on it and do basic obedience-- he can sit, lie down and shake on command, and we are working on "stay" and "leave it" as well. I ask daily for updates after the walk as he is still new to us. In the last three days she says she feels "bullied" and "intimidated" by the dog. Yesterday he wouldn't "let her sit on the floor with him"-- apparently he had put his head in her lap for pets and she obliged while seated, but when she tried to get down on his level, he gave her a warning growl. The day before he growled when she tried to detach his leash from his harness. He was still wearing it when we came home.
She has not been taking him on the full 30 minute walk as a result. They go around the block and then she says "he wanted to turn for home." I keep saying "he wanted? You are in charge!" But the walks get shorter. Of course she charges the full amount.
This woman is highly recommended in my community. She is hinting she wants to quit. I have called a few others and if I say anything about this situation, they do not want to walk my dog, either because they have such respect for her, or "that sounds like an aggressive dog."
This dog NEVER behaves this way around me after or before a walk.He sits quietly and if he is excited we don't go anywhere until he is calm.
Thoughts?
How silly. If she can't handle this, just find a walker more experienced with handling dogs. The dog does sound like he is bullying her but only because she is allowing it. OTOH, if I were just walking dogs for a job (not billing myself as a trainer or experienced dog person), I would expect to be able to walk the dogs without any issues with aggressive behavior. In the meantime, keep working with the trainer (hopefully a balanced trainer) and get it sorted out. I assume you can walk the dog without issues? This may be why the dog was surrendered. Almost all second-hand dogs come with some baggage that has to be worked through.
How silly. If she can't handle this, just find a walker more experienced with handling dogs. The dog does sound like he is bullying her but only because she is allowing it. OTOH, if I were just walking dogs for a job (not billing myself as a trainer or experienced dog person), I would expect to be able to walk the dogs without any issues with aggressive behavior. In the meantime, keep working with the trainer (hopefully a balanced trainer) and get it sorted out. I assume you can walk the dog without issues? This may be why the dog was surrendered. Almost all second-hand dogs come with some baggage that has to be worked through.
The trainer says that she does offer dog walking, so we may just switch to her. The dog was a neglect/abuse case that was picked up with all the other animals from the home. The owners were given the choice of going to jail or letting animal control take all of their pets. He's got baggage, sure.
My late dog, Jazz was good at intimidating people she did not want touching her, mainly vets. Her regular vet finally realized what she was doing and he started not backing down to her and she began to behave for him but most of the other vets at the clinic were afraid of her. The exception being the semi retired vet who worked with a lot of herding breeds as he was a vet at local herding trials. He knew how to behave around her and he from day one could do anything to her and she never even tried to intimidate him.
The female vets were the worse as they would walk in and make eye contact with her and even I could see they were nervous when she would stare back at them and everything between them and her would go down hill fast. When I had to leave her once and pick her up later the female vet saw me walk in and told the front desk girls to let the owner go back and get the dog out of the kennel as she was a" Vicious dog". One of the kennel staff that knew my dogs was out in front and said "I will take her back" and as we walked back she said " Oops I did not get the memo Jazz was vicious and have already been in the run getting some love from her" The kennel staff actually loved her and knew her well as she boarded there so they found it funny that some of the vets had such a hard time with her.
Jazz was actually great with people and was a favorite with residents at the retirement homes that we did agility demos for same with the kids with cerebral palsy so far from being a vicious dog. But if someone wanted to do something to her that she did not want done she would try to intimidate them. If they did not back down she would stop and behave well. Problem was people like some of the vets did back down fast and would not listen to me. In her old age she had to go see an eye specialist and the female vet that set it up warned them she was vicious and must have made her sound like Hannibal Lector as when I walked in the girls at the front desk all said " This is Jazz?" as she stood wagging her tail with a happy grin on her face. Jazz and the eye specialist got along great and she was the one that said " I was told this is a vicious dog so was expecting a dog in a muzzle ready to tear me apart instead she is licking me non stop " she thought Jazz was very sweet.
So yeah some dogs learn they can intimidate some people to get their way and the answer is finding a person that does not put up with that nonsense.
You need a different dog walker. Although, I have to say, I've spent a lifetime with big, strong, tough dogs and I wouldn't walk someone else's dog if the dog was growling at me. Not my problem to fix.
But the dog walker you have right now is just reinforcing the bad behavior. I have no idea. Maybe something about the dog walker's attitude makes the dog feel that he can bully. Or maybe the dog walker makes the dog feel insecure. Dogs will behave differently for different people and it isn't rare for the dog to behave one way around the owner and a different way when the owner is absent.
Dog walkers are generally not behavior modification dog trainers. You aren't going to have much luck retaining a dog walker until the aggressive behavior is gotten under control.
You need a different dog walker. Although, I have to say, I've spent a lifetime with big, strong, tough dogs and I wouldn't walk someone else's dog if the dog was growling at me. Not my problem to fix.
But the dog walker you have right now is just reinforcing the bad behavior. I have no idea. Maybe something about the dog walker's attitude makes the dog feel that he can bully. Or maybe the dog walker makes the dog feel insecure. Dogs will behave differently for different people and it isn't rare for the dog to behave one way around the owner and a different way when the owner is absent.
Dog walkers are generally not behavior modification dog trainers. You aren't going to have much luck retaining a dog walker until the aggressive behavior is gotten under control.
Maybe the best solution for all would be having your dog walker work with you and the trainer as well? They could get valuable pointers and gain confidence for future dogs including yours. I agree....something the walker is doing isn't helping things.
. . . Almost all second-hand dogs come with some baggage that has to be worked through.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kickingthebricks
I have a dog walker . . .
Recently . . . In the last three days she says she feels "bullied" and "intimidated" by the dog. Yesterday he wouldn't "let her sit on the floor with him"-- apparently he had put his head in her lap for pets and she obliged while seated, but when she tried to get down on his level, he gave her a warning growl. The day before he growled when she tried to detach his leash from his harness. He was still wearing it when we came home. . . .
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dashdog
My late dog, Jazz was good at intimidating people she did not want touching her, . . . Her regular vet finally realized what she was doing and he started not backing down to her and she began to behave for him but most of the other vets at the clinic were afraid of her. The exception being the semi retired vet who worked with a lot of herding breeds as he was a vet at local herding trials. He knew how to behave around her and he from day one could do anything to her and she never even tried to intimidate him. . . .
Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke
You need a different dog walker. Although, I have to say, I've spent a lifetime with big, strong, tough dogs and I wouldn't walk someone else's dog if the dog was growling at me. Not my problem to fix.
. . . Maybe something about the dog walker's attitude makes the dog feel that he can bully. Or maybe the dog walker makes the dog feel insecure. Dogs will behave differently for different people . . .
Dog walkers are generally not behavior modification dog trainers. You aren't going to have much luck retaining a dog walker until the aggressive behavior is gotten under control.
That dog walker might have walked dozens and dozens of dogs -and all of them light-weight, low maintenance characters. It is entirely possible she really knows nothing about dog-calming, or listening to the dog. She might be doing something to set off the behavior. I don't think, especially given the growl when trying to detach the leash, that the dog LIKES her. Rather the opposite. And she, apparently, doesn't much like him. I don't see an attempt to sit at the dog's level as calming activity - it can be quite the opposite - an incursion into the dog's territory. If she thinks that is how a human should relate to a dog, she has been dealing with a type of dogs that won't challenge her belief.
I disagree with the "allowing/ not allowing" generalization. Understanding where a dog is coming from, and acting accordingly, is different from "allowing", or not "allowing" behavior. For most people, "not allowing" is often condemned to failure, since the underlying issue remains unaddressed. But take that old vet as an example. I've worked with "old vets". It isn't that they "don't allow" certain behaviors, it IS that the VET behaves in such a way as to calm the dog and prevent the behavior from the moment they first approach. A lot of what they do will go unnoticed by humans, and may even be subconscious on the part of the vet.
Everyone I see posting replies to this thread, so far, knows dogs enough that they will balance their responses to the dogs they meet and deal with, even if they are not fully aware of how they do it. Because they are balancing their responses, some "not allow" restrictions will work for them. I can't say I'm any better. There are times I just flat out "don't allow" certain behaviors. But I also recognize that this is a very poor response to a dog's action, and often takes a lot of repetition before we can get it right.
The problem is, most people don't understand their dogs, certainly not as well as they think they do, and don't really have any idea on how to address issues. And, of course, some dogs just like different people.
Maybe your dog just doesn't like her, I find when my dogs shy away from someone or bark like crazy at them ..they just don't like that person. No different from humans, we like ..dislike people for the vibe they put out.
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