Dog Community

10 mo. old ACD Rescue showing signs of aggression to my husband--Please Help!

Anna

Posted : 6/21/2006 7:24:24 AM

Hank is a 10 month old blue heeler (ACD) and had 3 homes that gave him up. He was scheduled to be euthanized, and then a friend rescued him from the shelter. I saw him with my friend (who was looking to place him with a permanent home), and fell in love. He has been with us for a week.

Hank is not our only ACD, we have Sparky (2 yo. female) and Sister (1 yo. female). Sparky and Sister live half the time at our in laws and half the time with us--but since the in-laws are down the road and I spend all day there with the horses it isn't a big deal. They have never been aggressive at all so this is new territory for me.

Hank's second owners gave him up because he liked the woman but was aggressive when the man showed affection toward the woman.

Knowing this, my husband and I were careful to show affection, play fight/wrestle etc., and Hank has never cared, until this morning. My hubby had to leave early for work, and so Hank and I stayed in bed. Husband leaned over to kiss me goodbye and Hank growled at him (I didn't hear it but my husband told him in a firm voice that if he ever did it again he'd be in trouble).

I have a suspicion that Hank has been abused in his past.... he's very sensitive and if you have a harsh tone in your voice he drops to his belly and slinks along the ground. Yesterday he was chasing the horses and I called him to come, and he didn't. He instead laid down and so I ran over to him and grabbed his collar.... whereupon he made a hissing noise, flipped over, and I felt teeth on my arm.

So I'm not sure what to make of this. I have found NO dog trainers in our very very rural area, and I want to have this work out for Hank.

In every other way he's such a great dog.... Until this morning I was dumbfounded that anyone would give him up.

Sorry this is so long..... but if you have any suggestions or stories that have helped you or a friend in the past, please tell. I'd like to nip this in the bud before it goes any farther.

tashakota

Posted : 6/21/2006 7:45:29 AM

I will be the first to suggest NILIF, Nothing In Life Is Free. And your husband should follow this as well. Hank gets fed by hand by both of you. He has to perform sits, downs, tricks, whatever, to get each piece. Do this for a week or two. NO bed privileges for a long time.

And I agree that it sounds like your summation of him being abused is true. The NILIF program will help to establish yourself in his mind as the benevolent leader and this will help with his fear a little bit. Other than that, a long line and never let him chase horses. Keep a leash on him for a while wherever he goes so you don't have to grab him and scare him (I know you're not doing this on purpose but it does scare him based on your story so best to avoid having to do that until you build a relationship with him).

Others will be along to help with more as well.

Sandy

Posted : 6/21/2006 8:18:58 AM

I agree with using the NILIF with him and Definately keep a leash on him at all times so if you need to remove him from the bed, etc. you can do so by taking his leash and removing him.

I have an ACD mix that was a rescue as a pup. She is a Wonderful, intelligent dog, but I really had my hands full when she was little! The NILIF was the only thing that worked with her. She used to growl if you got too close to her and air snap at us. It was Not acceptable behavior! She still is a dog with an attitude and she will still do her little growl, but then she flips on her back to have her belly rubbed or covers you with kisses.

There are others here who are more knoweldgeable and will be along shortly. Hang in there! ACDs are awesome dogs!

HofmannGestalt

Posted : 6/21/2006 9:06:25 AM

I agree with NILF. Don't take him out to the horses with you because heelers are herders, It's his natural drive to chase and nip at heels of animals.

Many dog bites come from collar grabing incidents. I teach my classes and clients the "gotcha" excersize practiced by saying the word just before grabing the dogs collar and giving the dog a treat
tidbit when you have hold of it, then the dog will have a good outlook on when a human touches its collar. Being a returned rescue, it is likely to not have good experiences with it in the past.
Plus. any thing coming from above a dogs head is very sensitive
issue for most dogs as this is one of their blind spots if you will,
and also a social sign of domination to a dog, on top of the fact
that the neck area being one of its two kill zones.
Give him a chance. No sleeping in your bed though.Floor bed is best. Have your husband feed him meals for a while. He is being possesive of you. A social dominance. Is he altered? If not, I would
make sure that it was done asap.

Anna

Posted : 6/21/2006 1:34:43 PM

Thank you for all of the responses!!!

I am a little familiar with the NILF theory, and we do practice some of them. He never gets a treat unless he "works" for it.... we go through doors first, he has to WAIT before he gets out of the truck (can't just jump out), etc.

After thinking about it, I'm pretty sure that Hank was startled/scared this morning when my husband leaned over. That doesn't make it right, though, so I'll be looking into NILF a little deeper. I'm nervous about not leaving his food down, though, because he's a grazer and eats literally one kibble at a time throughout the day.

Today was a successful day around the horses. He's OK when I ride (follows along quietly, and the horses are fine with that), but when we are just in the pasture or leading or longing them, he is about 50/50.... sometimes chasing sometimes not.

Since he pretty much has to be with me when I'm with the horses, I worked out a plan. I leashed him when I was in the pasture, and when he went to chase one of the horses, I was able to pop him with the leash and say NO in a firm voice. He was immediately respectful and didn't try again. Same when longing, he was leashed and stayed by my side.... eventually I dropped the leash and he just stood by me trying to eat horseflies.

He's a pretty submissive dog, so I'm thinking that his aggression is really fear aggression. There was a man at the farm today to pick up the milk, and he took off his hat and Hank went running.

I think that NILF or most of its components will be very helpful, in establishing a pecking order and showing Hank that we aren't going to beat him up. Poor guy. He's exhausted from all his horse following today!

Yes, to answer questions, he is neutered. I can deal with the horse chasing etc, becuase it is very fixable, but if this aggression thing doesn't get delt with, I can't deal with that. Too many people around for him to be protective/aggressive or fear aggressive.

spiritdogs

Posted : 6/21/2006 11:42:07 PM

First thing I would suggest is to take a class with him. He does sound fearful, and hubby needs to avoid leaning over him - you need to take the advice about the "gotcha" type training re his collar as well.
Clicker training might be a good choice for this dog, since it doesn't involve physical punishment or correction of any kind. Also, once you finish a basic class, taking an agility class might be a good way to bolster his confidence, too. ACD's aren't the easiest breed to own, but they are smart, and learn easily if you train correctly and keep up with it. Good luck!