Ozzy is a 13 year old Pomeranian. About a year ago his Dad passed away and his daughter moved in to take care of Mom. Ozzy was always a little “bitey” but since Dad passed it had gotten much worse. Then recently the other dog in the house passed an it just went totally out of control. He would nip at people as they walked in, then be fine as they sat. He would even come to them to be petted and sit on their laps. However when they got up he would go right back after them. This meant that Mom’s older friends just stopped visiting. The less people that came to the house the more intense his reaction became when someone did visit.
When it comes to little dogs, especially the toy breeds, people tend to pick them up and hold them when people are around. Early on this tends to be so that they do not get stepped on, but then continues when they go crazy and bark or nip. Small dogs have a tendency to be a bit more anxious around people, often because they may have been stepped on before. So people come in, the dog anxiously focuses on them, then the owner picks them up and puts them between them and the people. This sends the message to the dog that not only are they responsible for protecting themselves, but also the owner. Even the smallest dog realizes that if they act aggressive the biggest, meanest person will back away. When everyone is calm and not moving the dog is OK, but as soon as they do move the dog goes off. The entire time the dog is focused on what it views as the threat, never looking at the handler. So here is what we did to begin to modify that behavior with our buddy Ozzy.
The first thing I did, with bite gloves on, was to take Ozzy off of Mom’s lap. His reaction was not unlike that of a Honey Badger. The gloves allow me to be safe and not have any reaction to him. Then I sat down and put him on my lap for a bit. Then putting on the Immediate Correction Lead I put him on the ground and kept him close. This shows not only my dominance but that even when I control his movement I am not going to hurt him. Since nobody has ever done this before it quickly earns his respect and trust. Then onto a silent loose lead walk. We walked down to a busy intersection with lots of traffic. I stood still and every time he would have a response to one of the vehicles passing by and put any tension on the lead I wold gently pop and relax his leash. This was to condition him so that when he was presented with something that made him feel uneasy he would look at me and see that I was not having any reaction to it. Since movement in the house was very limited we used the intersection to fast forward his training. Then Mom took over and did the same thing before walking back home past dogs and people, on a loose leash without a care in the world. Mom said this had never happened before since they got him when he was 8 weeks old.
Once we got back inside we put Ozzy on the floor next to Mom and Frank and I quickly got up to leave. In response Ozzy looked back at Mom, she said “good boy” and he came over to be petted. It will take more work but they are on the right track. Mom is looking very forward to having friends visit again.
Focused Based Canine training comes down to this- getting the dog to identify you as their pack leader through their language of movement and touch. From there you condition them to focus on you instead of distractions in the environment.
So happy that Ozzy’s family did not believe the nonsense about not being able to teach an old dog new…behaviors.