Mylo's aggression towards Sam

[steve young]

Hi folks, starting to feel a bit desperate here...

Mylo's growling towards Sam is starting to escalate, to snarling.

Most know what he's like, he's the friendliest dog you could meet with everyone except Sam.

I just don't understand it. Fair enough, he's not been getting the exercise because of his foot operation, but this was happening to a lesser extent way before, months before.

Sam's has been doing all his feeding and is starting to take him walks on the lead, but it doesn't seem to be helping.

He does what he's told by everyone, including Sam, but when Sam addresses him his ears go down, he turns his head away from her and then growls. When he does this he gets thrown out the room and often into his crate. She will go back later, let him out and tell him to 'come' for a wee ear rub. If he growls he goes back in. Even if he doesn't growl, you can see he doesn't want to do it.

Sam's approach is quite confrontational, or domineering. She's asserting herself as a pack leader etc. Telling him what to do and taking no nonsense. She doesn't hit him at all though, just incase he bit her.

I've been ignoring him too. Even last night, he was sitting on the living room floor and I sat beside Sam and gave her a cuddle. He glared at me sideways, ears down, facing away. The he sloped off to another corner behind the couch.

Last night I was changing his dressing and he was fine. Sam came over, he snarled, baring his teeth. I hit him and put him on his side.

What can we do? I asked the vet and she said she could put me in touch with a top behaviourist, but this would set me back £300! I'm a bit strapped right now to be honest, even still, a lot of money!

Sam is at home, with the babies and is scared basically. Sam's sister is up now too and Mylo is fine with her.

I've suggested to Sam that when we get back to classes she takes Mylo into the hall to see if that makes him recognise her as a leader and not a subordinate. It's just trying to find the time with 2 babies on the scene.

He gets his stitches out Friday and I'm taking the day off.
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Steve Young
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Dogs: Sasha (10 yr Lurcher, male) and Mylo (1 yr Shepweiler, male)
Pictures Videos

[Alan and Lynsey]

Hi Steve,

Sorry to hear this is happening to you and sam, like you say mylo is a very friendly dog and i have pictures from a walk to prove it lol.

i think if it was meg i would do the same as you, but if it was meg or bella i would leave there prongs on and if they growled i would use the prong and give a strong correction and in force it with a strong NO.

this is just what i would do, im sure someone would be able to help you out.

Cheers,
Alan

[Janis]

so sorry to hear this steve and i feel for you as you do have a lot on your plate no matter how organised you are with twins.

i would say in general you are doing everything right the only thing i would pick you up on and it might just be me but i never use the crate as a punishment............if my girls do wrong yeah they are told off in no uncertain terms pinned and sent out of the room ..............i like to keep the crate as a pleasurable place very much like my son's bedroom ...........it's his sanctuary.............if he does wrong his privileges are taken away......not used the naughty step for a while.

i think the idea of sam bringing him to class could be an idea..............otherwise i think keeping pack order is essential and staying firm and focused may pay off in time!
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[Lisa/Colin]

hi Steve

I'm sorry to hear you are having problems with Mylo just now.
I dont have any bright ideas, I havent tried to deal with this but it sounds to me that you are dealing with this the way I would too.

Hopefully John can help you out and once Mylo is back to getting big walks and attending classes things will improve

Lisa

[steve young]

Thanks guys.

It's really exaggerated because Mylo is a big dog.

If I do the correcting, like putting him on his side, then he's getting what he wants... attention from me. I've tried shunning him, or walking away from him, but that's not always working because I then have to leave him where he could be a danger.

I'll try leaving the prong on Allan and a short leash so that when i correct him i'm not actually touching him.

Re the crate Janis, we leave the door open and he goes in no problem, likes it in there. It's just that if he growls when Sam passes it just seems a lot safer to cage him because she is scared he'll snap. It's not so much the crate is the punishment, but the exclusion from the pack and me.

I asked Sam to feed him by hand, as I think that would help build the bond, but she's just too scared he'll bite and I don't blame her.

I really hope its just a developmental phase or something and we get over it, but Sam's is running out of patience and i'm getting really down about it.
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Steve Young
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Dogs: Sasha (10 yr Lurcher, male) and Mylo (1 yr Shepweiler, male)
Pictures Videos

[Suzanne H]

He's maybe picking up on what she's subconsciously feeling ie she might sound like she's been dominant but if she doesn't feel it or is truly confident in how she's dealing with him, he'll see through it.

It's not just acting like a leader, you have to feel it as well and to them that's as much about being calm and consistent as it is about swift retribution for stepping out of line. Going from one extreme to another ie shouting at him then petting him may be confusing him.

I am no expert though. I can only speak from my own experience. I have been growled at on two occasions - both entirely because I was ill and let him away with more than he normally gets away with. He wouldn't move - so I made him. And rather than pinning him, I told him to lie down. No issues after that. Ours is not a dominant dog - but he will spot chinks in my armour very quickly.

[steve young]

Totally agree with you Suzanne.

Sam doesn't feel safe around Mylo at the minute. She's also very tired and focusing on the twins, so Mylo will see this as a weakness.
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Steve Young
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Dogs: Sasha (10 yr Lurcher, male) and Mylo (1 yr Shepweiler, male)
Pictures Videos

[John Thomson]

Hi,

is Mylo picking up that Sam is wary of him as Suzanne says? Is he reacting to Sam being 'confrontational'?

john
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[steve young]

Well, it's very odd behaviour. Mylo can just go up to Sam tail wagging, head down, then half way through his head rub or cuddle he'll put his tail down, make a funny groan (weak growl) then slink off quickly, looking over his shoulder at Sam like she's done him a wrong of some kind.

Last night we tried using food. Sam was very friendly in her tone, got him to sit, lie down, do some obedience bits and bobs, Mylo did them no problem and got rewarded with the food. I wasn't in the room but could see. His demeanour was friendly.

Then Sam brought him into the living room and sat beside me, again he came over, sat on command, got a treat but then he'd retreat once he'd got it looking sheepish again. He'd then lie on the floor looking up at us, ears down, head on his paws.

I invited him up to us for a clap. He veered towards me but i didn't put my hands out and i encouraged him to be clapped by Sam. I gave him positive reinforcement when she clapped him, but he still didn't seem keen.

Sam sometimes says his name then opens her arms inviting him to come over for a cuddle, but when she did this last night he just slopped off, head down. So, we thought this action may intimidate him for some reason even though it hasn't before. I tried the same action and he came to me no problems, tail wagging etc.

So we're trying the non-confrontational approach too.
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Steve Young
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Dogs: Sasha (10 yr Lurcher, male) and Mylo (1 yr Shepweiler, male)
Pictures Videos

[John Thomson]

If he wants his own space is it worth letting him have it rather than asking him to come to Sam if he is sensing something not quite right?........just trying to throw ideas around.

john
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[steve young]

Sure, the last thing we want to do is make him react in a bad way. Just trying to show him there's nothing to fear, if it is fear. The growl is a warning that he may bite, don't want to push him past a growl.

Trying to find what the root cause is very hard because sometimes he's ok and sometimes not.

If we could figure out the root cause we can work on that.

Going to keep my hands off him and continue with Sam being his primary care giver. Need to make time for Sam and Mylo to just play together and build up more of a bond.
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Steve Young
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Dogs: Sasha (10 yr Lurcher, male) and Mylo (1 yr Shepweiler, male)
Pictures Videos

[Isabel]

Sounds like he is very attached to you and is jealous of sam, i would think the more bonding she does with him the better. Hope you get it resolved.

[steve young]

Mylo had a good day yesterday but today bared his teeth at Sam when she patted him, so he's spent the rest of the day exluded.

He was due his stitches out today but the vet said he has to wait till Tuesday now, so still not able to exercise him properly.

Nothing we're trying seems to have any effect, in fact, seems to be getting worse.

I've been speaking to a top animal behaviourist I know who's put me in touch with a more local chap who is apparently superb. This is him here

You can actually claim this through the insurance.

Can't hang around on this, need to work fast before things spiral!
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Steve Young
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Dogs: Sasha (10 yr Lurcher, male) and Mylo (1 yr Shepweiler, male)
Pictures Videos

[Trace]

Steve, good luck with the behavourist, you can let us know how it goes.

How did Sam react when Mylo bared his teeth to her?


trace
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Money may buy you a good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail.

[kendal]

let us know how you get on Steve, your right to do everything you can, its probably a combination of his lack of exercise because of his paw and the change in the family with the twins being around.

really hope you can get things all sorted out with him.
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