I have some serious issues with my almost 2 yr old Aussie Sadie. It seemed to start back when Sadie was around 6 months old. Sadie just started to randomly attack my other Aussie Bailey, I didn't see a reason, it always happened so suddenly. I didn't know what to do, Bailey would just run and hide from her. He is not a dominant dog. Eventually he started to fight back. This just killed me, my sweet, innocent Bailey, who is not a fighter, getting attacked for no apparent reason. I could see the look in Sadie's eye when she was about to attack. Her eyes changed, in a very evil way. I was being torn up inside, thinking, where did I go wrong? I have had dogs my entire life and have never encountered household dogs just attacking eachother. I was at my wits end. I didn't know what to do.
Last summer my sister did a blog post on Sadie. I contacted a fellow blogger and got some very useful advice. One of the first things I did was get a vet check done to make sure Sadie didn't have any physical issues. The results came back negative. Sadie was a very healthy dog. I was given a couple names of some dog behaviorists to contact. I found one who would travel to my house. This is what I wanted, someone to come into Sadie's territory. She had not shown any signs of aggression towards any other dog but Bailey.
In October of 2008 the dog behaviorist came out. He watched my dogs interact with eachother inside and outside. While we were discussing Sadie he closely monitored Sadie's reactions to everything. He figured out pretty quickly what her issue was. It is very interesting what he had to say. Sadie has a combination of social dominance and possible protective behavior, Sadie gets anxious, especially in social situations. In Sadie's case, she releases by redirecting aggression towards a nearby target, which is Bailey. Sadie seems to be very protective of me. Most of the attacks have occured when I am around. A couple have happend while I was at work. Sadie is also dominant, which I knew. He said she actually was dominant over me. So I had to change what I do when I am with Sadie, like hand feeding and going out a door before Sadie.
The dog behaviorist said there was a difference between redirected aggression based on anxiety and a truly aggressive dog. He said Sadie has not shown any true aggression, to me it was true aggression! But what do I know? He told me that if she was truly being aggressive she would go for the neck. The only injuries so far have been to Bailey's nose and leg, small cuts. Sadie has had cuts in her ears. To watch these fights tears me up. I can't take it. I feel bad because Sadie has this socially anxious problem and I feel bad because Bailey is just the sweetest thing and he does nothing to aggravate her and doesn't deserve it.
I was given a list of things that I needed to start doing right away. I immediately started hand feeding, making Sadie wait while I went out a door, keeping a treat bag on my hip and rewarding every good thing she did, she now knows me as the treat lady! I was very motivated to do everything right, I needed my dog back!
I have learned to read Sadie's body language very well, I know when she gets that look in her eye that she is about to attack, I know when she moves her head in a certain way that she is uncomfortable with Bailey being so near, I know when she has had too much excitement and that I need to put her away. Sadie is very insecure and will seek me out for reassurance and when she does this I need to not move away from her at these times, it would be very stressful for her. She will come to me and sit on my feet and lean on my legs when she is unsure about something.
I had great success with one of her issues right away. It took a few months for another one to improve to the point where I could get Bailey into the garage. Sometimes I put Bailey in the house so I don't have to risk an attack.
Since the behaviorist was here, Sadie has had her ups and downs. We can go over a month without an incident, than all of a sudden she will attack, I have stopped numerous attacks from even happening because I can tell when she is going to do it and I can get her to sit and stay with her attention focused on me now. Unforunately this does not always work.
We had a setback a couple weeks ago. I was alone when Sadie attacked Bailey. I had never been alone before, if I had been alone when she tried to attack I was always able to get her under control before she actually did it. It took over 5 minutes, maybe close to 10 to get them to stop. I was pretty sure I was going to have to make an emergency trip to the vet. After getting the hose hooked up, I sprayed them until they quit. This was also 11:30 at NIGHT!
I would also like to add that Sadie is good about 95% of the time, Bailey and Sadie play very well together. This isn't something that happens all the time, if I see Sadie get that look in her eye I can usually stop anything from happening. I knew I would have setbacks, everything doesn't go just how we want it too.
I am bound and determined to get Sadie to live a normal dog life. No matter how stressful or emotional this whole process has been, I will not give up on her!!
16 comments:
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I have a very dominant dog. Fortunately for you, your girl does not have half the random, stupid, annoying issues my dog does.
Sadie has her sweet moments, but is definitely an insecure, fearful dog. Like you said, I can tell being around her, when she gets that "look." Reading her body language is easy. She gets very uncomfortable and nervous. Knowing that you've raised her in the same loving environment as your other dog, you can rest assured that her issues do not have anything to do with you. Rather, it is just her genetic make-up, the way she was wired. I hope for you that with time and tmaturity on her part, and the behavior shaping on your part, you can get her to live a happy and successful doggie life.
How can any puppy be any cuter than when Sadie was little!
Sadie sure is a beauty. I'm sorry to hear she's having some struggles. I can imagine how scary it is when she gets that look and then when the actual fighting ensues. Dog fights are so unsettling. I wish I had some constructive advice...sometimes doggie dynamics can be so tricky. I'll keep Sadie in mind if I happen to run across any advice relating to her particular issues. I think one good thing on your side is age. She's still pretty young, so hopefully the work that your putting in with her will pay off. I read a book by Cesar "the dog whisperer" that I liked...might not agree with everything, but he has some really good insights. The book I read was "Cesar's Way"...I would definitely recommend it. Good luck with her! She's lucky to have such a good doggie mommy!
Sadie is such a beauty! Hoping with lots of love and patience you will get good results! My Snowflake (CAT) never did get really very tame. All I wanted to do was hold and love her. She was always fearful when you tried to snuggle with her.
I hate to be the one to tell you....but your family has a history of aggressive behavier. Maybe Sadie Is just acting on her female family traits! AGRESSIVELY A BITCH! LOL
I know how hard you have worked with Sadie and how much better it has gotten!!!!
I remember when you sis made that post... my heart was breaking for you. I'm glad that you've worked hard on this and that you (and Sadie) have made soooo much progress. Kudos to you - a responsible owner that didn't just give up on the dog! :)
Also, I caught up on your posts and got quite a giggle over the one where you introduced your OH. He and my hubby Pie have a very similar story! Two decidely non-horsey guys get hooked up with horse crazy girls and then they start to be infected with horse fever! They then buy horses that are "theirs" but are actually their girl's. lol Oh and like OH Pie can catch and brush but not saddle and bridle! But we're working on that.
Hope you don't mind, I added you to my blogroll :)
Both cats and both dogs are rescues. I don't know how, but we have always been lucky they all find a way to get along.
God bless you for working with Sadie. All too many folks would have either put her down or put her in a shelter. You have the commitment that it takes to have pets. I've done rescue nearly all my life and have seen such horror stories.
Your animals, all of them, are precious and very lucky to have you in their lives.
Our lives are amazingly similar-horses, goats, kitties and the occassional bad behaviour from one of the five dogs! Never a dull moment!!!
Jen
Hey there Paint Girl!!!
I enjoyed catching up on your blog, and wanted to let you know that I want to move to a place that gets 330 days of sunshine per year too!!! (That was from your sisters blog)
There are several places in Eastern WA that get 310-320 days of sun per year, and I would settle for that too. :)
Sorry that Sadie can still be a snit. My Aussie (and thousands of others!) have similar issues, and that is why he was given up for adoption. I took him on knowing that he had several problems, and thankfully we have been able to work through most of them, but not the fearful, insecure, wanting to attack other dog issue.
Good luck, and keep up the good work!!
That sounds so very frustrating! I'm sorry you have to go through all that. Hopefully you'll get it all worked out.
On a positive note, great pictures! :)
(I'm finally here! I kept misplacing your link to add to my blogroll. oops!
I can tell I'm going to be enjoying visiting, though. I'm so glad you're blog is open now. :)
Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you want to keep working with Sadie. It sure is challenging, especially any kind of aggression. It does sound like you know her very well and know when she's going to act up. The photo of the two of you on the sofa is just precious.
Sadie is a beautiful girl. I hope her signs of aggression fade away with time :)
~Lisa
word verification: bitied
weird!
Wow how sad for you, Bailey, and Sadie. I think that it is great that you have put so much effort into helping her!! Most people would just give up. So kudos's to you and it sounds like your on the right path!!
I have never had an aggresive dog before but it looks like you have done the right things. She is such a beautful dog and obviously loves Bailey as evidenced in the Easter video. Keep up the work and she will be fine I'm sure.
Aw, I just wrote the longest post and blogger threw it all away!
We have had very similar issues with our inherited dog Dennis Mugu (half Azawakh, a quarter Bernese Mountaindog and a quarter Tervueren), except he used to attack people, which was worse. The reason was lacking leadership, for as long as there was another dominant dog, Dennis was fine and all sweet. But when the dominant dog died, Dennis inherited the same aggression issues as the previous dog (who had to be put down), and started biting guests as they were on their way out of the house.
Some dogs are prone to be more dominant than others, and Sadie seems to be one of those. What we did with Dennis was that we were VERY clear (next to overly clear) on leadership. I quickly made him a place for himself that was out of reach from people coming in and out, and would not bring anyone in until he had gone to lie on his bed and I knew he was was fully obeying me. The reason for this was to give him a very clear time-out on ownership - saying "I own these humans, not you." And that's worked. When we got him, everyone around me wanted me to put him down, and I must admit there were some very challenging days when I was just hoping he would run away, just like had with his previous family. But he took to us despite my firmness and my new sets of rules (which placed him at the bottom of the hierarchy, with two humans and two horses over him) and he never even contemplation running away. :-)
My greatest dog mentor taught me the importance of setting the rank order of the pack, so the dogs don't have to do that themselves. With Bailey being the oldest, make him your second in command and make sure to back him up so that he receives that authority from you. In whatever you do, Bailey gets to go first and Sadie second. If you tell them to lie down only to call them back to you a little later, call Bailey first and Sadie second. When you feed, feed Bailey first and Sadie second. When you get in and our of the door, in and out of the car, bring your first dog first and your second dog second. Anything else is confusing to them, and by you settling the rank order, they don't have to. If you don't like Sadie's attitude, tell her to lie down (and freeze the moment until she does, because if you don't win that battle, she owns you). Dennis gets that look too, and as soon as I see it, I immediately just tell him to lie down. It's a little bit like horses; when they're heading down the road of destruction, just give them a new mission. Be consistent and freeze the moment until the dog is doing what you want it to do, and not the destructive thing it was thinking of doing.
Knowing Dennis can still charge from a lying down position, I send him off to his place, a time-out that gives him a sense of security as he is totally exempted from ALL sense of authority, ownership and even responsibility - which is what I need to do in order to remove the turf he's built to be aggressive. Sometimes, even though we mean well, we pass on a lot of responsibility to our dogs, and in the case of Sadie, she feels that she has the right to charge Bailey, as she is to be the top dog, and perhaps in her mind, even the top pack leader. Only you can show her that this was not the case, she may be dominant but she was not born to rule your pack. You don't have to be the least violent or mean, but you have to be consistent. If you don't like her look, tell her to lie down, or go lie down somewhere a little further away. This rips off all sense of dominance as the dog is passively made to "go lower" than the other individuals. If you still don't trust her (the look is not wearing off), and she still looks as if she is could bolt as soon as you take your eyes off her, tell her to go to the house or to somewhere you've trained (further away), so that any questions about leadership are clear. Call her back when she's settled down and is relaxed again, but start off by giving her a command (if she willingly obeys, you know she knows she is under your leadership and I can promise you she will not - out of respect for you - dare to charge YOUR dog Bailey).
A few tips: don't be afraid to tell Sadie that Bailey is YOUR dog, not hers, in the same way you would if she mistreated your chair or your cushions or grabbed at any riding gear. Bailey is YOUR dog, and no one treats him like that. Also, don't overreward Sadie but rather except her want to follow you. As a working dog, the best treat for her is a mission of some kind, where she gets praised after accomplishment. I am quite sure that Sadie has an amazing talent and may have a special need to work, work, work more than other dogs (after all, they are a working breed!). Is there any activity you can give her which is a fun challenge for her and which really tires her out??
Also, make sure Bailey feels safe as your second in command by backing him up when Sadie challenges him (once again, take on the roll of the top dog yourself and show with your bodylanguage that Bailey is YOUR dog and that no one can belittle him like that). These always start out with little signs of dominance, taking his food or drinking his water or taking a toy, or even just maneuvering him away from his space. To Sadie's defense, I'll say that it's no more than natural for a dog just like a horse to see how far she can get, and will all that dominance, she would probably be a pack leader at the end of her day, had she been born in the wild. But she was not, and top leadership position will NEVER be available to her since you will always be around, and that is the one thing she needs to learn. Once she realizes that she will not be allowed (by you) to climb in hierarchy over Bailey, she will settle down and just be Sadie. Just don't be afraid to be clear with her - she's though enough to handle the truth and she just needs to hear it signed in concrete. :-)
I wish you the best of luck!!
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