What would he do? Get protective of food, or just race up, body-slam and begin mauling other dogs? Also, good that you had his best intentions in mind. Rough, though.
http://www.koryoswrites.com/nonfiction/dominance-behavior-in-canids/ Just a little explanation of why "alpha" is no longer a valid terminology with Canidae and what dominance is in packs.
He was a sweet, docile, laid-back dog except rarely, when he wasn't. I was never able to nail down the actual trigger; all I know is that it typically happened when he, myself and at least one other dog were in close quarters and food was near or had been near (i.e. this happened once after they'd eaten and the dishes had just been picked up). On a dime, he'd turn violently dominant and he would attack whichever dog was close. I once took an accidental bite on the thigh that remains the most painful physical injury I've had. Accidental, because he was thrashing blindly and didn't realize it was my leg until he started to bite, and once he realized he stopped immediately. He'd latch on and pin whatever dog set him off, but like I said - violently. He never harmed anyone. Apart from that bite I took no one ever needed treatment, which is why I say dominant and not aggressive. If he was aggressive he would have killed someone. The trigger was so hairline that there was no way for me to correct it. The final straw was Friday. Unbeknownst to me, a dead rabbit was in the backyard. I don't have outdoor lights at this house and it was pitch black. I stepped out to let him in. He came over (left the rabbit), I opened the back door and he made a beeline for my terrier inside on the landing. In the dark, so there were no visual cues. Attacked him, and it went on and on because in the course of it they'd managed to get behind the wood door and close it, pinning me outside. Pretty shocking, and I couldn't risk it happening again.
I figured it's time for an Otto update. That's Angie to the left, our guest for the week. She sweet but stupid as fuck.
NEED HELP: Our Basset Hound is coughing at night. Not during the day (she acts normal awake), but when she lays down to sleep she starts coughing to where she almost vomits, or actually does. This has happened for two nights now. Anybody know what's going on?
Dogs with heartworm tend to cough when relaxing or lying down. But you should really take her to the vet ASAP.
Please update. Those of us with fur children feel your pain For instance, I'm trying to upload pics of my old ass one eyed dog, but drunk and tech are conspiring against me...
We have two dogs. One is a lab mix who is one of the sweetest, quietest creatures of all time. Then my wife decided to foster two terrier mix puppies from the shelter and we ended up keeping one. This little dog started off awesome. She still is for the most part. The middle of the night barking when someone is outside, minding their business in front of our house or the 'I had a bad dream' barks are driving me up the fucking wall. At this point it makes no sense for me to even go to bed before midnight because like clockwork she'll bark, wake me up and I'll be awake anyway. I know it is breed that makes her default response to bark and we've been successful in a minor way at curbing some of the barking but not where it counts - nighttime. The fuck do I do about this?
Hounds and terriers have a habit of responding poorly to punishment but better to reward. Catch it in the act of barking. When it shuts up, give it a treat it loves. Hounds and terriers can be stubborn as fuck, Zen is the key. Speaking of stubborn dogs, mine seemed to do better last night. They recommended giving her honey and coconut oil, and her coughing was way less. If it goes away I won't have to have her examined, I'll find out when I get home. Graveyard shift sucks when this is happening. You lose your shit when your dog gets sick, even one that is such a hyperactive pain-in-the-ass like mine. She's a little shit. She does something that piss you off-- intentionally-- and she knows she can get off because she does this: ...she's s little FUCKER, that's what she is. She slaps you across the face with her Godzilla paws when you sleep on your back.
I've learned the following by having many dogs: - When it comes to any crisis or emergency, especially after hours, do what you would do to a baby. Hit up the drug store and buy the baby [whatever] and try that. Eye drops, pain meds, I've even used Benadryl when a dog has been too itchy. My mom's dog years ago took very ill. Throwing up and not eating. Usually, I don't get concerned because dogs handle stuff better than we do but her dog weighs 4lbs. She didn't have any body weight to cushion the dehydration or weight loss. My mom called my hysterical (because you're right, you go fucking crazy when it's a dog), and I told her to go to Shoppers and get PediaLite or some kind of sweet juice. Sure enough, the dog drank it, kept it down and settled long enough to recover from whatever had upset her gut. - You cannot train a dog to not do something that it has a proclivity for. Think digging, herding, barking, etc. If it's in the dog's breed or its individual personality, you're stuck with it. What you must do is train the dog TO do whatever it's doing, but on cue. Get the dog barking to a word, then give it a command to sit and be still. Reward when it does the activity on command (i.e. bark or dig), then reward when it is quiet and still after the stop command. Eventually it figures out what you mean and where it's appropriate to indulge their instinct.
Not sure if being a trash hound is just part of being a lab, but Buck sure loves it. I struggled with trying to curb that behavior before I learned to just put the trash behind a closed door he can't open, and he learned better self control over time too. Also, my brother's coonhound Millie (aka Buck's girlfriend) is over for the weekend. They decided to switch kennels this morning. They're spending the day fighting over the rope toy Buck has at the moment there in between naps. Makes me want two dogs so bad!
Garbage is a really shitty one, because they get such a large reward for digging into it that it's hard to un-train that kind of thing. I start them off as young puppies and try to make them slightly terrified of the bin. It's worked so far; none of my dogs will go into a garbage can. Thank god, because how do you untrain it?
I got Buck when he was 1 1/2 and nothing I tried ever worked to dissuade him from the trash can, so I think he may have had his garbage fetish unchecked from the start. He can be such a sneaky bastard and is very good at detecting when your guard is down. One of my fiance's coworkers just adopted 7 or 8 year old Yorkie this week. Apparently it has been barking nonstop in her apartment while she's gone at work and neighbors are understandably pissed. Buck used to bark and cry while I was gone before he settled down after being adopted, which took months. It just sounds shitty all-around. *Apparently now the dog is going back to the foster home. Bummer.
This fatty has lost a whopping 2+ lbs since last summer! Also, he wants to sit in your lap/purr in your face.