On Tuesday, We visited Rio, Dana & Darwin. They have two companions, A female German Shepard name Meeko & a male Shiba name Ace.
When we got to their place, we stayed outside. Dana & Darwin already had Meeko & Ace outside from a distance. Yuki got excited as usual, not the good kind. They wanted her to be in the heel position & Dana came over to get her into the position until she calmed down. She was pretty "aggressive" meeting both dogs. Afterwards, we all went for a walk together. It was GREAT!
We came back and chilled together on the lawn. Dana began doing tricks with Ace. Once she told him to speak, Yuki started barking & tried to nip him.
Yuki doesn't get along with Meeko. Meeko is very submissive and calm. Yuki just bullies her & we had to keep Meeko inside. We had to put Yuki in MANY submissive positions when she gets excited or "aggressive". It took Yuki awhile, but she finally started to play with Ace. Then back to being "aggressive". Then began to play. I believe she wants to, but doesn't trust any dogs.
Now on walks, she gets extra "excited" when she sees another dog. We're working on her.
I think there's 2 probabilities. Well, I came to the conclusion that the person who bought her in the first place didn't really socialize her. Kept her inside. Then she became a stray. The Shelter told us she was adopted in December 2008 and became a stray again (don't really know for how long both times). During those times being a stray, I'm pretty sure she just had to fight other dogs for survival.
Wish us luck.
Hi~ I love the blog - and have bookmarked it!
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned on twitter, Brian is awesome. I tried an obedience trainer when I first got Winnie. He gave us great tips on how to socialize her and get her to not be so skittish. Then we went to a puppy class, but we finally had some issues that just weren't resolvable without a behavioral trainer. Brian was awesome. He's a bit expensive (approx. $700 for a "course" of 6 - one hour sessions.)
I took Winnie there (at first) every week, and then he'd give us assignments and we scaled back to once every two weeks.
He is quite regimented in his methods - very "black and white". He can be stern with you and with Yuki - but he is AWESOME! He can come to you, you can meet him at the dog park near him, or by the beach near him, or at his home. He has two dogs himself, and it was a great opportunity for me to introduce Winnie to new dogs in a supervised area.
He will tailor the training approach based on his analysis of how Yuki interacts with his own dogs. I highly recommend him as a trainer - absolutely no regrets here! :)
Good luck...
well....i socialized Akira young and he used to be great with all dogs, then he seemed to only like girl dogs and neutered male dogs, now he's been showing a lot of dog agression at the park and on walks. Shiro wasn't really socialized (aside from Akira) because he got too car sick to go to the training we took Akira to, but now when he meets other dogs he is fine with them. so, i don't really have advice. except if you can get the dog whisperer to come and then send him our way!
ReplyDeletesarah
(sis of akira and shiro)