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We have a Maltese female (spayed). She will be 4 yrs old in August. She is the BEST dog ever, except for one bad habit; she growls at some people.
Some background: we have had her since she was a baby and have done extensive training and socializing with her from the beginning.
She always graduates top of her training classes (lol) and is the star of the class.
She knows my DH and I are 'pack leaders' and listens to everything we say. I can do ANYTHING with her including taking treats from her - she will drop anything if I tell her to (literally spits stuff out if I say 'drop'), ALWAYS comes when I say come, rolls over, hides in her bag (very useful), hops on her back legs, etc, etc.
She doesn't bark and is very quiet. The only dog allowed in the office because people don't even know she is there.
I do a lot of exercise with her - either long walks, or she comes jogging with me (up to 3 miles!). Over the winter she would do 25 - 30 mins on the treadmill if the weather was too bad to go out.
But she growls at certain people and some people who don't know her probably think she's just another snappy little dog which couldn't be further from the truth.
She doesn't growl at everyone. Just certain people with no apparent pattern on reason. She never bares her teeth or snaps, she just grumbles at them. It really annoys me, as it is the only thing that I can't seem to stop her doing.
I took her to another advanced training course and the trainer jokingly said she didn't believe me because she didn't put a paw wrong through the 6 week course. She also never growled at anyone the whole time. Of course. Lol : )
This has come to a head because my good friend has a new boyfriend (it's very serious) and for some reason our girl doesn't like him and growls at him. Then will kiss him, and then growl again.
He considers himself to be a bit of a dog expert and has decided that he doesn't like her.... Or any small dogs. So now I feel awkward for her to go and visit my friend - who has been her baby sitter since she was 10 weeks old, sometimes taking her for up to 2 weeks at a time!
The baby sitter part doesn't matter too much as we have moved far enough away that it isn't convenient to drop her off, but our girl LOVES my friend and considers her condo her second home.
I did suggest that he meet her outside the apartment the first time so that she wasn't feeling teritorial, but he said that he would meet her on HIS terms, not hers. So of course she growls at him.
As it happens, I agree with him on this issue! She is not behaving well and he SHOULDN'T have to meet her outside. BUT I know my dog and I knew this would happen. She is about the best trained small dog I have ever met, apart from this!
Sorry for this being so long - I'm just so sad that I can't seem to fix this issue with her.
I'm just looking at her now, lying on her back with all her feet in the air! : )
I swear most people adore her - people say all the time that they would get a dog if they could guarantee it would be like her. Why won't she listen on this one issue? Any suggestions?
I have to ask have you ever watched the people she is growling at ? Are they making direct eye contact with her? If so have them try turning their face away from her as that is a calming behavior in dogs.
Jazz loves people but years ago when she use to visit some patients in a subacte unit there was one male nurse that she would growl at so I started watching and he even knew he was causing it as he made eye contact and would stare at her. ( it turns out he did it on purpose as he thought her reaction was funny) I also noticed on walks sometimes she would start growling at a person coming toward us and once again it was the fact that they were making eye contact. This is especially true of people that are afraid of dogs. They will tell you dogs always bark at them or growl at them and if you watch it is because they tend to stare at the dog as they pass it. A nurse where I work was telling us this always happened to her. One night we watched as she had to walk pass the hospital's security dog and handler. She stared making eye contact with the dog and he tensed right up but the handler prevented him from growling or barking.
Direct eye contact is a very aggressive behavior in the dog world. Some dogs seem ok with it but it sets many off. with Jazz, I as well as people she considers our friends can make and maintain eye contact without a problem but if a stranger or someone she is a bit leary of does it she goes off.
On the same note my sister has a new rescue dog that tends to stare at other dogs and that sets them off which then sets her off. I watched their obedience class and it was out of control all because of that. I told my sister she needs to prevent Bailey from staring at the other dogs as it is an aggressive behavior. Body language is a huge part of a dogs life and we tend to overlook that .
Dashdog; hmm, I hadn't thought of eye contact - I'll definitely keep an eye open for that!
Shouldn't she stop when I tell her to anyway though?
Sometimes if I really get into it with her, she just does increasingly quiet little grunts like she's trying to get the last word.
Accoding to Caesar Milan, having to have the last word is dominant behavior - again odd because it's so not her in normal situations.
She's normally such a happy well adjusted little soul. : )
All my usual disciplin techniques, don't seem to work while she is grumbling. I just don't get it!
Try to find a copy of Patricia McConnell's "The Cautious Canine, How to Help Dogs Conquer their Fears" and "How to Be the Leader of the Pack and Have Your Dog Love You for It." A hands-off, positive and rewards-based approach will often work better with aggressive behavior and fearful dogs than Millan's dominance-based approach using physical correction. I am in rescue and have had great results with the most difficult dogs using McConnell's positive techniques. This website contrasts the positive approach of Ian Dunbar (used by McConnell) and Cesar Millan: The Dog Trainer's Trainer | DogTime - Ian Dunbar takes on Cesar Millan.
Good luck with your little one. She sounds wonderful!
Leorah; I will definitely look into those techniques. I do think it may be fear based. So many people make loud oohhing and aahhing noises and approach her too quickly. It really must be quite intimidating when you are that little!
I must admit that I am a very strict mother. I don't put up with bad behaviour at all really. Normally a firm NO and a look will do the trick immidiately.
We do lots and lots of play time stuff - chasing toys and balls and she loves to rip apart her toys. She definitely gets lots of exercise and my husband loves to rough house with her - she is a bit like a cat, pouncing on his hand and we play chase where we chase her and then she chases us. She does growl during these games too, but it's play growling and not the same as the other growling.
We do lots of positive reinforcement too - she gets rounds of applause for doing the right things (she loves clapping!), as well as treats for doing tricks and other fun behaviour.
I guess I am big on positive reinforcement, but also don't shy away from giving discipline. I can be very strict, but what I have found is that it means she knows exactly what her boundries are so she very rarely gets told off at all.
She really is a special little thing and we are so in love with her! : )
Ceasar Milan makes a lot of sense to me, although I do treat her a bit like a little person as opposed to a dog sometimes! I'll def look up these books though as there is clearly something not quite right with her (or me) that is causing this behaviour.
I do recognize that we are very lucky with her overall though. She just has a nice nature.
She does fall madly in love with people - again seems to be fairly random who it is, and she can get very over excited when she sees them (friends/ neighbors/ the occassional person from work). Starts to squeak and covers them with kisses. Sometimes if they make too big of a fuss of her in the first 30 seconds she wets herself a little bit. I don't like that either. If they would just let her be for 30 seconds to a minute she would be fine, but they start getting very excited to see her and she loses it.
I think she does well with my DH and I because we are both so calm around her (unless we're having play time). I think she would not do well in a highly strung household.
I wonder if that is normal. I don't see other people's dogs wetting themselves with excitment to see people. Everyone she loves knows how to handle it so that she doesn't do it now, but it always takes one wetting incident before they stop clapping and talking in a high voice right when she's at her most excited to see them.
Ach, I don't know, I guess they all have their own personalities just like people do! : )
She's definitely not perfect, but she's close enough for us! : )
In some strange way, this story is making me feel better. You see, I am the disliked one by my sister's Australian Shepherd. Ever since he was a pup he has growled and grumbled at me with an occasional snap and snarl if I do something "aggressive" like look at him or say hello to him.
I have felt pretty miserable about this as I can't help feeling like I have done something wrong. My sister admits that he has a short list of people who get this treatment, but he sounds like a pretty solid dog citizen otherwise - kind of like your little girl.
My sister has taken him for obediance several times, but it is almost impossible for the trainer to really get the feel for this very selective behavior. Basically over the past three years, I am the one who has changed my behavior. I never, ever make eye contact with the dog, I don't greet him or acknowledge him and I never, ever reach out to touch him. Apparently, he can live with this arrangement and he has pretty much stopped the loud growling though occasionally I hear him make those little grunt noises.
We have finally decided that we may never get to the bottom of this and as the critter who is higher up on the evolutionary scale, I have decided to just live with it.
Sad, though, cause I really would like to make peace...
Katie grumbles [growls] under her breath too! Yes Its a bit anoying...like she back talking me!!
thats funny Katie! Cody talks back when we ask him to lay down. He doesn't growl he grumbles like "man, I don't wanna lay down". We always say "heeeey" and he quits ...I usually walk away because I can't keep from laughing
In some strange way, this story is making me feel better. You see, I am the disliked one by my sister's Australian Shepherd. Ever since he was a pup he has growled and grumbled at me with an occasional snap and snarl if I do something "aggressive" like look at him or say hello to him.
I have felt pretty miserable about this as I can't help feeling like I have done something wrong. My sister admits that he has a short list of people who get this treatment, but he sounds like a pretty solid dog citizen otherwise - kind of like your little girl.
My sister has taken him for obediance several times, but it is almost impossible for the trainer to really get the feel for this very selective behavior. Basically over the past three years, I am the one who has changed my behavior. I never, ever make eye contact with the dog, I don't greet him or acknowledge him and I never, ever reach out to touch him. Apparently, he can live with this arrangement and he has pretty much stopped the loud growling though occasionally I hear him make those little grunt noises.
We have finally decided that we may never get to the bottom of this and as the critter who is higher up on the evolutionary scale, I have decided to just live with it.
Sad, though, cause I really would like to make peace...
I have an aussie too. My dog does this too! I have no idea why either. However, I have now been watching on TV.. the dog whisperer. I have learned much from this program. One thing is eye contact. Dogs don't like it. The other is that you are coming into their territory. So to control this, we the pack leaders need to make a noise.. not necessarily No.. but a some other type of sound to get their attention when this happens. Once you have their attention, you put the dog in the laying down position and roll them on their back. This tells them this is not acceptable behavior. If they try to get up, put them back down until they stay there. Then let them up. I did this on a problem I had with her barking all the time when strangers came into the home. I couldn't believe it worked. But you have to keep doing it. Maybe it will work for you too.
In some strange way, this story is making me feel better. You see, I am the disliked one by my sister's Australian Shepherd. Ever since he was a pup he has growled and grumbled at me with an occasional snap and snarl if I do something "aggressive" like look at him or say hello to him.
I have felt pretty miserable about this as I can't help feeling like I have done something wrong. My sister admits that he has a short list of people who get this treatment, but he sounds like a pretty solid dog citizen otherwise - kind of like your little girl.
My sister has taken him for obediance several times, but it is almost impossible for the trainer to really get the feel for this very selective behavior. .
This really does sound like a very similar case! The behaviour is SO selective that it really is hard for a trainer to help with. Our girl seems on the whole to be worse with 'dog people'. Isn't that strange!
I know how you feel because people get very upset if they are on her short list of people she grumbles at.
Fortunately she doesn't take it as far as snapping - if she did there would be real trouble!
I don't let her 'win' either. If she growls at someone I pick her up and give her straight to them. So she doesn't 'win' in terms of making people back off. When I give her to them she starts giving kisses and behaving well, but is as likely as not to growl at them again the next time she sees them. By then everyone knows she's all talk so people just ignore her and pet her anyway.
I do worry that she might escalate and snap at someone one day. If she does then she will really find herself with a big problem!
Could you maybe take your sister's dog out for a day with just you and him? Maybe he could get more used to you if he's with just you for a bit. That's what I would do for our girl if it was someone important to me that she had taken a dislike to.
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