Dog Community

bad dog when previous owners visit

Posted : 6/6/2006 5:30:30 PM

Hi everyone,

Me and my girlfriend are now the owners of what used to be her parents dog.

He is always very good around us but whenever her parents or brother that used to stay with him come to visit he turns into a nightmare.

His favourite annoyance being picking up stuff and chewing it to pieces. Also today when my girlfriends mum went to give me a cuddle goodbye he jumped up on me and went crazy barking at her.

I think he is enjoying life more now we are looking after him because he gets more walks but I don't know if this has anything to do with his behavior.

Can anyone shed some light why he acts like this

Cheers

jeano

Posted : 6/7/2006 3:52:00 AM

I don't know but it sounds like the previous owners make him very, very anxious! Was he not treated too well by them?

iain Ballingall

Posted : 6/7/2006 5:15:54 AM

I wouldn't say they treated him badly they just didn't take him out very often, as this is his favorite thing in life i suppose this could be the problem.

He is still excited and happy when he first sees them but then he starts acting up.

mrv

Posted : 6/7/2006 6:22:37 AM

It is a default behavior. The behavior that is associated with specific people and situations occurs in those situations. Those behaviors were "trained" intentionally or unintentionally by the actions of the people. The dog is really just doing what he was taught the people wanted. Problem is, what the people thought they were teaching was not was the dog was learning. Have to be careful when trying to communicate between species.

glenmar

Posted : 6/7/2006 6:38:12 AM

Sounds to me like he is behaving as they TAUGHT him to behave, so when they come to visit, he's just acting like he thinks he is supposed to when they are around. A professional trainer can help you get a handle on what YOU need to do to keep this behaviors in check when the old owners are around.