[lit-ideas] Re: RR-Folk: Odd Behavior in 3 Year Old RR
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'Bonnie Polakoff'" <bonnies.boop@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2014 15:51:12 -0700
Bonnie,
I don't see enough in your note to convince me that you girl is aggressive.
If one of my Ridgebacks had done that I would see it more as self-defense -
perhaps misguided self-defense, but self-defense non-the-less. Of course I
didn't see it, so I'm probably wrong, but . . .
Before my present Ridgeback I had two girls, Ginger and Sage. Ginger was
abnormal in the sense of being overly friendly. I was in fact a little
worried that she wouldn't be able to defend herself where we hike off-leash
and where there were coyotes and occasional feral dogs and so I got Sage as
a "body guard." That is, the breeder assured me that Sage would be more
"protective" than Ginger. That didn't turn out to be the case. In fact,
after I got Sage, Ginger turned out to be protective of her in a
Ginger-sort-of way. That is, if there was a large male in their presence,
Ginger would interpose her own body in between Sage and the male dog. She
wouldn't growl at it. In fact she would try to get it to play.
But on two occasions while walking the girls on-leash late at night, large
male dogs (different dogs on different occasions) approached us menacingly.
Ginger, the friendly, wouldn't do anything, but Sage charge out to the end
of her leash with a menacing snarl. The dogs turned and with their tails
between their legs ran off. When we were hiking off leash Sage never had
an occasion to do anything like that. Ginger was the one to go off and try
to be friendly with other dogs, but if Sage was "constrained" and a dog came
up to her in a way suggesting that it wanted to be intimidating, then Sage
would react. In the latter case, Sage was "cornered" in a way. Because of
the leash she couldn't maneuver. She couldn't get away and so she would
"defend herself." If your girl is "constrained" by your commands (even if
she isn't on leash) and doesn't feel free to maneuver or get away, she may
think she is defending herself.
At present we have two dogs. My wife wanted a "lap dog" and acquired a male
Schnoodle named Duffy, who may weigh about 20 pounds. He is a delightful
super-friendly little guy. After losing the last of my girls I acquired a
three-year old male, Ben, who is perfectly well-behaved and perfect in every
other way (at least as far as my experience with Ridgebacks goes). Duffy
was 3 1/2 when I got Ben. They are now 4 and 3 1/2 respectively and get
along very well on our hikes. I've posted photos of them and one can see
that Duffy especially adores Ben, but Ben appreciates Duffy as well.
However, if Duffy is on my lap and Ben approaches, Duffy has growled at him
(which I discourage, and Duffy being extremely amenable does it less and
less as time goes on). And if Ben approached Duffy's food, Duffy would
chase him down the hall. I didn't like that behavior and discouraged it.
Now Duffy will let Ben take his food sometimes and I don't like that either;
so I've gotten after Ben. Anyway, Duffy I'm sure intended to tell Ben "this
is mine; so back off." I never took this as aggression on Duffy's part.
And not so very long ago we were hiking at the (dry) San Jacinto River and I
heard a commotion and some snarling (not Ben's), rushed around a bush and
encountered Ben being chased by a German Shepherd. Friendly Ben wasn't
looking for trouble but he did approach a man walking his German Shepherd
off-leash and the German Shepherd took offense. I got around the bush at
about the same time the German Shepherd's owner called him back. The German
Shepherd then rushed back to his owner. Friendly Ben looked bewildered. I
didn't chastise Ben or put him on leash. I just said calmly, "okay, let's
go this way," and led off in a different direction. I merely hoped that Ben
would be a bit more cautious the next time we encountered someone walking a
dog. We don't see many people where we hike, but it does happen. I noticed
that the German Shepherd's owner put a leash on his dog. I've never owned a
German Shepherd but I didn't see the German Shepherd as doing anything
wrong. A strange dog (Ben) in a semi-wilderness approached him or her (I
couldn't tell) so he did his job and chased it off.
No doubt your girl is different from any of my Ridgebacks (I've never had a
barker) but I wouldn't be overly concerned about a dog of mine who growled
at a strange dog coming up to it -- if it didn't feel free to maneuver. If
it did feel free to maneuver then I would expect it to get out of the way,
maybe come over behind me as Ben did after the German Shepherd chased him.
In Ben's case he was probably more like the dogs who came up to your girl.
Also, Ben's previous owner probably didn't take him on the sort of hikes we
go on; so Ben may have some things to learn. In your case, the dogs coming
up to your girl may not be using the best judgment and may need (in your
girl's opinion) to be warned off.
As to wild things, my girls chased coyotes when they were young. Ben, who
may never have encountered coyotes before still chases them. I am
discouraging that, but shoot, he probably thinks, if it runs I'm going to
chase it.
If I had your girl I might try to find an area where there were fewer things
going on, especially fewer dogs. And then not show any reaction if she
growled, just an "okay, let's go this way" assuming that her growl meant she
was made uncomfortable by the approach of another dog. On the other hand
maybe that wouldn't work in a "dog park" situation. Do you just go there
and turn your girl loose? In my case I am hiking and my dogs follow me -
not too close usually but they keep track of me and if I don't see them when
I look about then I call out, for example, "Ben I don't see you," and Ben
then appears. I've never been in a dog park, however.
I once had a Ridgeback named Trooper, who was my perfect dog before I got
Ben. Trooper however was a food thief. On one occasion even after I told
him specifically not to eat some cat food I came back out to the garage
seconds later to find his head in the cat bowl licking it clean. I was
furious with him, chewed him out and (per some dog-trainer's instructions)
rapped him lightly on the muzzle with two fingers. My being furious didn't
take the form of rapping him hard, but it did take to form of going on and
on rather long. At last Trooper emitted a deep growl. I quit. Trooper was
always perfectly behaved and obedient in other ways, and I conceded to him
that while he was out of like for eating the cat food, I was out of line by
going on and on much too long. I told that story several times, laughing
while I did so.
The fact that your girl didn't do this sort of thing when she was younger
may just mean that she is now an adult and more conscious of other dogs
impinging upon her personal space.
I know you said you are an experienced RR owner, but every one of my
Ridgebacks has been different from all the others; so maybe your previous
Ridgebacks were more like my Ginger and this present girl is more in the
direction of my Trooper who was the most protective Ridgeback I've had. If
I'm guessing correctly she may be more protective than my Sage or even my
present dog Ben. I personally don't need that level of protection, but on
the other hand it is a pretty nice thing to have as long as that's all it
is.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: Bonnie Polakoff via RR-Folk [mailto:rr-folk@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2014 10:08 AM
To: RR-Folk
Subject: RR-Folk: Odd Behavior in 3 Year Old RR
Hi,
I'm hoping all of you wise RR people can give me some advice.
I am an experienced RR owner -- and currently have a 3 year old girl who
I've had since she was 8-weeks old. She was very well socialized as a puppy
and the highlight of her day has always been our daily outing to the dog
park (not really a "dog park," per se, but a large multi-use field that's
used by dog owners for off leash play, kids playing team sports, runners on
the track, kids in the unfenced playground, tennis players on the courts,
etc.). I've never, ever had a socialization issue with my girl. She has
always played beautifully with all other dogs, most of whom we know from the
park (know all the dogs by name, know the owners, not always by name!). She
is appropriately wary of human strangers, but not abnormally so. I consider
her to have a lovely temperament -- even though she's very active in the
house (which is not typical in my experience, but I deal). She's very, very
smart -- smarter than any other RR I've ever had, which probably explains
the constant need for stimulation in the house. She's very well trained and
when she wants attention and if I'm busy, I tell her to "lie down," and
that's the end of that -- for about 20-minutes. You get the picture. Other
than not being a couch potato by any sense of the imagination, she's a sweet
and lovely RR in every other way.
Suddenly and without warning last week and while in the dog park, she
growled and "warned," a Lab that she had never met before (male, not being
aggressive, and she usually loves Labs because they're willing to run like
the wind with her), to the extent that is was concerning. She did not bare
her teeth, but her ridge was up, she was on high alert, and she was emitting
the deep, low growls that RRs do. I grabbed her by the collar, put her on
leash, verbally let her know her behavior was not acceptable, and left the
park. Her behavior was very out-of-character. I had never seen her do this
before.
She was fine at the park on Saturday. On Sunday, I was walking her on leash
in town and we came upon a woman walking her male boxer. Again, my girl
growled and while she didn't bare her teeth, she was most definitely
threatening/warning the boxer -- ridge up, low growls, threatening posture.
I apologized to the owner of the very sweet boxer (who backed right off),
and walked away feeling very upset.
Yesterday, I took my girl to a "dog park," in the next town over -- one we
don't often go to but one that has more open space than the multi-use field
in our town. The oddest thing was that my previously water averse girl went
wading (up to her chest), in the pond there, although she did not go
swimming with all the retrievers in the water. She was out of the water
when someone showed up with, of all things, a boxer (different one than the
one we had met the day before). Before I knew what was happening, there she
went again -- growling and threatening the poor dog. The boxer backed right
off (a female this time), and because the owner of the boxer was very
relaxed about the whole thing, the two of us decided to see if my dog would
back off as well. Indeed she did and while she was not interested in
playing with the boxer, she didn't threaten it anymore either.
I just got back from the dog park. Someone was there with a 4-month old
(adorable), Boston Terrier. My girl was fine with the puppy and fine with
all the other dogs. And then, out of nowhere, she seriously growled at the
puppy. It was not bothering her, it had not been near her for a while, and
when it came up to her, its tail wagging, she growled and was emitting low
growling, threatening noises. I immediately voice corrected her, apologized
to the owner (who was alarmed), put on her leash and left. I'm
understandably very upset.
I don't believe my girl is experiencing any pain or discomfort. She's
eating normally, she's behaving normally when in the house -- I don't
believe she's sick or not feeling well. I'm at a loss at this very sudden,
aggressive behavior toward selective other dogs. I feel as though I can no
longer trust her in the dog park, and frankly, I need to be able to take her
there. Her activity level is so high and her need for stimulation so
intense, that the dog park is my (and her), daily savior. Long walks on
leash don't do the trick -- she needs to flat out run with other dogs for a
good half hour to an hour a day, in order to get her ya-ya's out and quiet
down enough so that I can get my work done (I work out of the house), during
the day. What do I do -- how do I stop this sudden, aggressive behavior? I
need some training/behavioral tips/suggestions so that I can start working
with her right away.
Two things have happened out-of-the-ordinary that I can think of. The first
is it appears we have a den of coyotes (mother and her babies), living in
the woods, beyond our property line (I'm on 2-acres and the coyotes appear
to be living about 100-yards from my property line, give or take. I don't
have a fenced-in yard (we are prohibited from having a fence as per
neighborhood restrictive covenants), but I do have Invisible Fence and my
girl doesn't ever cross the Invisible Fence line. Secondly, it appears we
have a bear in our yard/neighborhood. The dog was going crazy last night,
barking her head off (I forgot to mention that she's a barker and whiner --
also atypical RR behavior), and when I woke up this morning, my two steel
bird feeder poles were snapped in half at the ground level, and my bird
feeders were all emptied out. I don't know for how long the bear has been
around, but I suspect last night was the first time it ventured into my
yard, otherwise the bird feeder damage would have happened long before this.
All of my bird feeders have been taken down and put away as of this morning,
to discourage said bear from entering my yard again.
Advise and help needed. Sorry if this email is long -- I'm upset and so,
I'm blathering on.
Bonnie
Concord, MA
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