Yesterday we were reminded that isn't going to be so easy! Kylee our 4 year old Great Dane is going to cause some problems. Dozer our 2 year old will only cause problems if you get close enough to be licked to death! His tongue can attack you from 4 feet away, but other than that he is a loving, well behaved guy! Yesterday we stopped because Dozer was crying and he had to go potty, so we stopped in a large country park and Randy was walking them. A gentlemen an his lovely golden retriever came out of the woods and Kylee went ballistic. Thank God Dozer on the other leash took that moment to take a dump and acted as an anchor for hubby! Well after Kylee calmed down we looked at each other and accepted the problem we had been avoiding. Miss Kylee and her aggression!
Now the first two years of Kylees life she was the even tempered sweetie. She still is to us, our family and especially the two grandsons. Mr. Brock, 1 yr old can do his drunken sailor walk through the house and push Kylee out of his way. Xavier is giving her hugs most of the time and she loves them both. But have a child, a biker, a dog or anything walk by the house outfront and she goes crazy. She is even worse in the van, she can rock a full size conversion van and look like she is coming through the windows. We have NO idea what caused it or if any one thing caused it!
Kylee has been to two dog classes, she failed the first, and hubby couldn't understand the instructor on the second, so that didn't work either. She has a electronic bark collar, a remote bark control sound thingy and just lately a citronella collar we can control. But, nada, nothing!!! Miss stubborn will never have mosquites and acts like she is deaf!!
The worst that has happened is we were walking both dogs on a path in Kalamazoo, with Dozer and I out front. When a dog and his owner were going to pass, the dumby let his dog run over at Kylee, she went balistic, and Dozer turned around (we had already passed them) and dragged me over the pavement! She has never bit anyone or even tried to! But we are at our wits end.
So today we started doing research on trainers that we would either work one on one with or actually take Kylee and if need be Dozer to be boarded and trained. We are talking big bucks, but we want this change in our life and we have to do what we have to do to make it happen. We figure we have already spent close to $500 on classes and training crap. Let alone the DVD's and books! Add in the frigging big bucks that we have dropped this past year to keep Kylee healthy. The training is a drop in the bucket! We are changing our life style to end the stress, well some stress is knowing our dog could be a problem, so we might as well nip that one in the behind too!
Hug your furbabies for me!
You're preachin' to the choir here, Dill. We spent hundreds on Augie's training. Actually, she trained us and we trained Augie. It took a lot of time and we got results but we still never allow anyone to try and pet him while he's on leash. When people come to the house we tell them to ignore him and we keep the squirt bottle at the ready. When we started with the squirting (a stream not a spray) our trainer had us put white, distilled vinegar in it. It won't hurt them but we aimed at his face and followed each squirt with a loud "no!"
ReplyDeleteNow all I have to do is pick up the bottle (which only has water in it now; I diluted the vinegar when we first started)and he turns on a dime and goes in the opposite direction.
Of course, Augie is a fraction of the size of Kylee so I can yank him when I need to.
You have your work cut out for you but I believe it's workable.
There is a wonderful dog trainer here in battle creek that Dave took his huge German Sheppard to, Marion has also used him for Trip. I will ask for his name and get the info to you. He is really good with big dogs and has worked with the police dogs for years.
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