Wild Dingo

Loki misbehaved twice over the weekend and each time was because he doesn’t see me as his leader. He didn’t come on recall in an open space. No amounts of treats would work. I had to run away from him to get him to come to me. And before that move, at the dog park, he engaged in fence fighting with an unneutered dog, which he already KNEW and played with before, but because he was so worked up behind the fence (it didn’t help that the maroons with the unneutered dog just stood there, baiting all the other dogs) he was uncontrollable. I felt like the mother of a child throwing a tantrum in a theater. Thankfully he pulled the stunt in front of people who already knew him otherwise he would have been deemed a “bad” dog. No doubt about it, this German Shepherd-Formosan Mountain Dog is definitely a mix of sweet and evil sauce.

So now it’s time to get the big guns out. I signed him up for some one-on-one (me, Loki and a trainer) specialized training for dogs who are stubborn, fear aggressive, dominant or have other doggie-psychosis’. No, the training does not involve shock collars, choke chains, beating the dog or using food. None of these would work with him anyway.  I also threw away the flex leash and got serious about making him heel at my side or behind me, using a regular 4 foot standard nylon leash, every single day during a 45 minute walk. After that, he gets to run off leash on the way home for the last 10 minutes. Then if he’s really good, we play tug or fetch. He’ll still get in big runs and romps at the park. But this daily walk is now his daily job and he’s got to learn how to do it properly. He has no choice. I’m not putting up with his tantrums or his disobedience one more day. Today was his first day at work.

He pulled his usual, “bite the hand that leashes him” move. I was ready. I resisted his futile attempts to control me and said “no.” A few times of that and he was calm ready to walk. I have to say, I’m totally impressed with thwsimple training technique of heeling on a short leash). The act of getting him to stay by my side or behind me while establishing leadership greatly improved his off leash behavior in just one walk. He surprised me with good behavior when I took him off the leash. He stayed on the trail, listened to me and kept checking back to see where I was. I was very proud of him and now he lays at my feet, submissive and calm.

But Loki has been known to outsmart me before. We’ll see how well he learns my techniques and if he finds ways of one-upping me to get what he wants! I’m looking forward to the one-on-one training. He already knows the basic commands, so a group class seems pointless. His behavioral problems are not that he doesn’t know the commands but clearly stem from stubborn and fear-aggressive neurosis. Food doesn’t work when he’s excited or worked up. He’s learned food is a lure and knows to ignore it so he can keep behaving in his own way. Being overly dominant with him also doesn’t work. It makes his behavior worse. He used to be great on recall, until Scott got too dominant with him with the alpha-roll.

Its obvious that proper leadership is really where it starts. But how to establish that is really a fine edge with a dog that has fear aggression. You don’t want him to fear you, on the other hand, you don’t want to use treats as rewards, because they don’t work in a true emergency. I’m looking forward to figuring out how to turn him into a model canine citizen. Our first “frack the flexi” walk this morning feels like the right step.

Who knows? Next week, I may be the one on the leash!