Dutch Shepherd Forum

With xmas almost here I haven't been paying attention to my dog as much. I have been doing a lot of wood working trying to build something for someone (he roams this forum) and I haven't been paying attention to the you know who. Yesterday he finally snapped and I knew something was going to happen as he was acting off. He forced a stick on the lady last night and when he went to pick up the stick he nipped her. She yelled out loud and I knew he nipped her good. I told him no and he just barked at me and growled(then walked away). I walked over to him and he growled and snapped at me a little. In a heart beat I pushed him to the floor where he decided to fight and try and bite me. I held him there and he finally went submissive. He got up and he went to his room.

I went to check the mail while this happen and notices the glass in my door was smashed out.. blood all down the glass with brindle fur.. I wonder who that could be! He has a habit where if he see's someone walking a dog he freaks out, hackles up and goes berserk. We're going to crate him while we're gone, I hate doing it because he has serious anxiety and my crate is banged up pretty bad. He thrashes around for a few hours and goes to sleep. Few times he has hurt his leg, I figure as smart as he is he will learn(hopefully).

I was furious about the door but I didn't say anything to him, I went to lowes and bought plexi glass, replaced it and he walked over to me.. looked at me working on the door, coward and walked away. I'll have to wait until summer comes to put new glass in it. Late that night I told him "lets go" took him in the truck and ran him tired with his ball. He will do anything with a ball. Worked on heeling and he's finally waiting when I tell him too. I'll be walking and tell him wait and he stops. "here" and he's back next to my heel. He was really good last night actually.

Here is the question(something I noticed), he finally met a friend and it's a female. This was a few weeks ago and she is only a few weeks old "Puppy". She's big enough to play with him and they play for hours. It's nice because when they both play their dead tired. The next day he's back with 10x energy and a bad@ss attitude. Am I on the right path? Should I handle the male/female situation better? I notice he gets frustrated when he can't do both. If he plays with her I say ok.. I'll go do something else. He comes back and wants me to toss his ball and she just chest bumps him and their off again. He keeps looking to me for guidance as they play but in my mind this is great.... or is it? He's played with other dogs but they all come and go. The puppy is the parents dog so they'll play for awhile. Would he be feeding off the puppies bad habits as well? Anyways, I'm going to keep working him mentally and physically, I just need to set an alarm. Once I get into a project time flies.

I don't quite understand the entire question, but I will try to answer.

If you're asking if it's ok for the dog to play, then yes, but you should supervise always since it's just a puppy and they sometimes have puppy manners (i.e. none). I don't think it matters that they're male and female, unless she's in heat or near coming in heat. Since she's a puppy that should be the case. The bigger concern would be who is more dominant and is that role going to change as they puppy ages. Only you can know their play style and what looks like appropriate play.

If you're thinking playing with another dog is going to rid you of the responsibility to play ball and mentally stimulate your dog, it's not. If your dog is returning to you to play ball or constantly seeking reassurance to play, then he's probably getting bored playing with the other dog, or doesn't think it's appropriate behavior in your eyes.

One play session is only good for the time being, whatever it is. You can't bank one days exercise for the next day. 4 hours on Monday doesn't mean you can skip Tuesday, or even that it is the same as 2 hours for both days. As the dog gets used to high level of exercise, you may need to increase it more as they get conditioned and seek more structure and mentally challenging exercises.

What bad habits are you concerned about in particular?

when i first got the beach house for Tracedog [ at age 6], we had nice walks on the beach, he got to lounge in the yard and guard it from critters. i thought his life was more interesting on a constant basis than it had ever been before. indeed he loved his walks on the beach and romps in the water - off-leash as he always was.

but i was a bit busy and did not avail myself [ for TD and me ] of the vast new opportunities, i.e., not just walking on the beach, but playing on the beach, swimming, playing in the water - really engaging with him in a joyous way. this all escaped me, but not TD. for 2 weeks he became a snarling, snapping dog with me and my assistant; he did not even want to share the same space with me. it was getting to be a very serious situation - and a side of TD at which there had been no prior hint.

after 2 weeks of this, one afternoon i was feeling relaxed [ felt i had the time, etc] and decided to go for a swim while on TD's walk. he joined in and was overcome with joy. we had not just time together - we had been having as much time as ever - but we had real quality time that took advantage of the opportunities that had been more apparent to TD than to me.

he was instantly returned to the great dog that he had always been, with never 1 sign ever again in his next 7 years of the monster that had emerged for those 2 weeks.

not sure this is relevant, but sounds like it might be. in TD's case, it was not the amount of one-on-one time, but of quality time as HE saw it possible. TD also had a white bib [ probably more extensive than what you describe] and i find that DS's different visual characteristics often/usually correspond to the different sensibilities the dogs have. your dog may share the extreme sense of right and wrong and of politeness [ in the traditional human sense] that TD had in the most bizarre, extremely human way.

hope you find a way through this, but you may have a dog of extraordinary intelligence and, if so, you do not want to do anything that suggests lack of respect for him.

also, i agree that he may be getting bored with the puppy when he looks to you -- asking you if it isn't time to go -- like for a polite way out. that is not to say that he does not love playtime with the pup - or love the pup - but simply that he has had enough after awhile and looks to you to extract him from the situation without him having to make a statement. again, sounds like a very smart and sensitive dog whose intellectual talents you may be sharply under-estimating.

I hope that this does not come across as completely negative, but I do think it is something important to consider.

Looking back over your previous posts about your dog, and your advice to others about training, it seems as if your solutions have always been correction based - specifically with a prong collar. I am in no way against appropriate correction. But I think that simply suppressing behavior does not solve the entire problem. And I am not a big advocate of teaching through discomfort (referencing your advice on teaching the out).

You mentioned that your dog has some separation anxiety issues. It is scientifically proven that anxiety is something that carries over and is often present in other circumstances. It is very possible that your dog's other reactions to things were based out of fear to some degree, and although correction inhibits the behavior, it does nothing to resolve the stress that caused the behavior in the first place. In these cases, if dogs continue to experience the same level of stress, it builds and although they don't display it (as it was inhibited through correction) it does eventually lead to an escalation of aggression. Also, if a stressed dog learns once that they can remove the source of stress by acting aggressively, they tend to become more offensive than defensive.

I think that you identifying that you haven't been able to relieve his mental and physical needs recently is awesome. Like a smart child, they will act out when they are bored. But I am wondering if taking a more motivational approach with your dog and doing an activity that is mentally and physically stimulating, as well as bond building wouldn't be a wise next step for you. Agility, or even protection sport would let you work WITH him while in drive and hopefully build relationship towards a goal. A continually suppressed dog with no outlet finds one....and it looks like he is starting down that road right now.

He needs to be worked more so I signed him up for tracking school. I've been running him as soon as I get home and he's been exhausted at night. With Christmas next week we have a entire week to bond. I never get vacations because of work but I know he's going to be so exhausted. Especially since he passes right out over three day weekends.

Tracking school should be fun, doesn't start until the spring though.

I just need to balance his energy, until I find that spot I'm going to have a tough time. I think all dog owners are looking for this.