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Katy
Soft
Coated Wheaten Terrier
Female, spayed when she was 2 (per vet's advice to help with
aggression), we have had
her for 4 years (she was 4 months old when we were able to get her).
dogproblem: Let me first start off with some history
of our family. My name is Katy Murnan, my husband's name is Bob and we also have a Beagle named Steve. We live in Omaha NE
and we were reviously in Denver, Co. We now have a daughter now 10 months old, Victoria. I first started to research Wheatens
in 2002, as we were excited to have a new family member join us. They were perfect in my heart and met with several people
and attended several dog shows in Denver. I believe her name was Linda who ran the circle - very friendly people. After a
lot of research, we decided to go with Jennifer in Bordeaux, France. We were on a wait list and low and
behold, Karma
was born!!! Jennifer did not know if she would have a pup for us until they were born. We thought that was kind of odd, but
it didn't matter. We flew to Paris in Oct 2002 to meet with her and to pick up our Wheaten to bring her home. I now realize
she was probably the runt of the litter and was skittish from the start, she wasn't 'showing' material. But that was okay
with us.
Karma was VERY skittish off the bat at only 4 months old. It took her 6 months to warm up to us. She has always
hated loud noises, afraid of new people and inanimate objects. Our Beagle is happy and go-lucky, we just figured she would
follow along. We took her to dog parks and obedience classes. She never was good at socializing, always hiding between my
legs. She excels at obedience,
although she is not motivated my treats, she is motivated by love! She was such a nervous
dog that we had a hard time getting her to eat. It took almost a year and me making my own organic dog food after we could
finally found a store bought brand she would take to - Dick Van Pattens. We then moved back to Omaha
NE and it seemed
as though her problems got worse. We had first anticipated to breed her, but since she was so aggressive and nervous, we decided
to get her spayed because we couldn't justify possibly passing those traits on to pups and we thought it could help with her
'issues'. I can ! honestly say it did not help.
She has bitten several people at this point. Once was when a neighbor was
wearing all black carrying trash cans up our driveway at midnight and another was a neighbor mowing his yard. I tried to excuse
these and write them off, as they were odd situations. But, she has nipped quite a few people that suddenly
come into
our house, or knocks carrying items. When she nips or bites she does it and runs away, she doesn't attack. She also HATES
children. I want to believe it is my fault for not socializing her to children in the beginning.None of these things mattered
to me, as she was my baby - she sleept right next to me in bed and I groom her myself. I have learned since then that a dominant
animal shouldn't be on furniture, so we have practiced this for sevearl months
now, they have dog beds and aren't allowed
on furniture anymore. I keep her away from loud situations and keep her away from children. I was very frightened when
I was pregnant, not knowing what was going to happen - if I should consider giving her up. I decided to keep her and introduce
her to our baby. She absolutely loves Victoria, always licking her head and even licks her toes the whole time I try to feed
her. She very much took on a 'mama' attitude.
Well, the loud noises still scare her and it has now come to a point that
if Victoria bangs on a toy, she aggressively jumps forward to bite. This has happened twice and I have to admit to myself
that this is not a good situation. I would be devastated if she bit Victoria at all, or in the! face and scarred her
for life.I cannot simply give her up or try to find her a home to folks I don't know, she is a very needy dog. I tried all
the rescues and talked to Wheaten rescues
litterly around the world, to no avail. I need to find her a home, but she has
a lot of needs. She does not get along with children and I am afraid she never will, she is very territorial, so it can't
be someone that often has visitors that aren't dog friendly and she also is more partial to women instead of men - for a reason
we don't understand, my husband hasn't even raised his voice at her - it took a very long time to potty train her because
she would get so
scared when 'disciplined'. She has never had a hand raised to her in her life, yet she acts deathly afraid
of raised voices and anger, she will shake. Those are her main issues, but I can give you a very detailed outline of her personality,
temperament, likes and dislikes.
I need to work on this sooner than later, please contact me.
Hello Katy,
I can tell you care a lot for your dog and you have thought about your
situation. It is
difficult when you have a dog that you cannot trust around your new baby. It is hard to work with a dog and baby because the
consequences of a misstep could put the child in harms way. Obviously you cannot do this.
From reading your note
I am unsure if you have made the decision to find another home for your dog or if you are looking to work with the dog.
It sounds like you have researched the options for finding a new home. There are no other options really then breed
specific rescues and shelters.
If you are wanting to work with the dog I would suggest finding a trainer to work one-on-one
with you. Ask your vet for a referral. From reading what you said it looks like you need to redefine the relationship.
Many people make the mistake of treating their dogs like babies. The dog on the furniture is not the problem it is a
symptom of the problem. The dog must learn that his social
ranking is below everyone in the family including the
baby. The dog must also learn that it is not your mate, you have a husband... it is a hard lesson for a dog.
A
start would be to have the dog on a leash every minute that he is in the house for two weeks, for a start (while to find a
trainer.) You must have a crate when the dog is not on a leash, watch the selections on the video about crate training.
Obviously you cannot leave the dog and child unattended and as you said it looks like as the child becomes more mobile the
dog is going to react to all of the noise and movement. It sounds like you need to desensitize
the dog to sound
and movement. Many people create their by how the react to the dog. When setting up a desensitization training
your goal is to stop the negative stimuli when the dog relaxes and settles (the moment it does this.) That may mean
having a loud buzzer (or whatever he reacts to, going to 10 minutes. When the dog finds a way to deal with noise you
stop the noise. Then you start adding rewards, the noise means it is time for play or a food reward
etc. It
is a process...
You also seem to working with an issue about corrections. A dog like yours cannot be strongly
corrected because that will make the situation worse. If the negative behavior is caused by anxiety then a strong correction
makes things worse. Look into clicker training and positive reinforcement and calm direct NO's.
Katy there is
a lot going on, you need someone to work one-on-one with you. You are looking at many hours, you may never get to the
point where you will trust the dog around your child. But you may get to the point where you can mange the situation.
I
feel bad for your situation. I will be happy to work through the process with you. I would be happy to have you
bounce ideas from your trainer off of etc., and answer questions. You have to make a decision that is best for your
family, you need to have a clear point where you are willing to go and where you are not.
Just let me know...
Regards
Tara terrier mix female, spayed, 4 years
dogproblem: I hhave an extremely aggressive dog. She is loving towards people
she knows, but will immediately bite anyone she doesnt know with out being
provoked. I love her and have been searching for a solution to this problem
for years. I dont know what to do.
Hello Tara,
Sounds like a difficult situation with your dog. This is something that needs one-on-one help.
Ask your vet for a referral for a trainer in your area. It seems like you need to work on redesigning your relationship
with your dog, I think your dog is running the house. It is common and you can fix it. While looking for a trainer
keep your dog on leash for two weeks while in your house. You control everything it does an when it does it.
Second you will need to work on some socialization both with other dogs and people. An obedience would help
with this.
Please do talk with your vet for a referral, the alternative is not very good. I will be willing to help in any
way I can.
Regards
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