# growling jack russell



## missyt (Feb 28, 2009)

Hi just wanted to see if anyone had any advice for me i have a 7 year old jack russell who has always been quite dominant but only when shes in her bed and only with my kids and husband and not me.
However over the past year or so she has become aggressive to my 12 yr old daughter who has always been great with the dog.
she has bit her or anything she just growls at her all the time except when my daughter feeds her or gives her a treat. I have to stop this growling as i want them to be able to play ball etc. any advice on how to stop this would be appreciated. also i have put the dog outside when she has growled but only just started to do so.

thanks


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## gtmanning123 (Dec 23, 2008)

Hello Missyt, thanks for your post.

Ok firstly I want to address your use of the "time-out" punishment with the dog, unfortunately it means nothing in the animal world, all your dog knows is that at that moment, it is outside, and probably with some pent up energy.
Ok I have a few questions, what is your general attitude with the dog? What is your lifestyle and what does the dog get in terms of exercise? Before any other problems can be addressed exercise must be applied, a worn out dog is much much less likely to want to do any unwanted behaviours. What kind of structure is there within your family? I see that she is dominant over your husband and children, this can be 1. posessiveness - your dog sees your husband and children as toys or play-things and does not allow others to approach (notable signs of posessiveness are indirect eye contact, where the eyes face the possible threat and the nose faces another direction) or 2. dominance - your dog sees your husband and children as weaker energies, which might come from - over pampering/loving the dog, being fearful or nervous or anxious around the dog or just plain doing whatever the dog wants, dogs pick up on all of these weaknesses and realize they must take over in that area in order to try and make sure the pack (family) is stable in that area. Remember that aggression differs from dominance and posessiveness etc. Can I ask specifically what you mean by aggressiveness? Has your daughter been bit? Or has the dog learnt through snapping or yapping at your daughter to make her back off or become fearful (which is a form of submission in the dog world) this is conditioned dominance, which is usually fundamentally caused through lack of discipline and sometimes lack of exercise.

If your dog has always been dominant, then it was only a matter of time for it to escalate, you have to stop the dominance at level 1 (out of 10) watch the eyes, chest and tail of the dog, a glare indicates dominance, a forward body/chest orientation indicates dominance, and as does a raised stiff tail, you want to try and stop the dominance well before it escalates.

On a general note; follow these rules when dealing with your dog, exercise - at least 30 mins walk x 2 a day on a STRUCTURED walk, where the dog walks to heel for at least 70% of the walk, start and finish are the most important for the structured walk, the other 30% of the walk can be reward, which is, whilst your half way through your walk, or near the start of your walk, allowing your dog to sniff and relieve herself.
THEN discipline - this means, always be calm and confident with your dog, don't hesitate to make sure your dog knows its place (don't try anything too heavy to start off with if you are a) unsure about it and b) haven't consulted a professional.
THEN reward and affection - after you've completed the previous two, you can now let loose all the affection you've wanted to give, this comes in the form of, food, water, toys and play/games, and physical affection.

Treat your dog as a dog, nose first eyes second ears last, your body language and scent are the best ways you can communicate with your dog when you want her to actually understand what you want. Be calm, confident and assertive. Make sure you are not angry or frustrated or nervous, this may take time but your dog will tell you just how well you are doing.

Be sure you know how you are acting when around your dog, remember, you are the source, your dog is you and you are your dog.

I'll need you to explain the problems you have in a bit more detail for me to give any real solid advice.

George


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## goodvic2 (Nov 23, 2008)

Fantastic advice gtmanning123! I would have absolutly nothing to add except why do people allow dominance? All member's of the family should be equally respected especially kids. Although you have a jack russell and he is not capable of harming to much, what if it was a bigger dog? So many people end up rehoming their dogs because it "attacks" or bites a family member, when in actual fact it is the owner allowing bad behaviour!

One other thing, because you have allowed this behaviour to continue for presumably the past 7 years, you will find it harder because the behaviour will be so embedded. If after a few weeks of following the advice you have been given it has still not improved then I would advise a behaviourist. Somebody on here should be able to recommend one.

Good luck


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## missyt (Feb 28, 2009)

gtmanning123 said:


> Hello Missyt, thanks for your post.
> 
> Ok firstly I want to address your use of the "time-out" punishment with the dog, unfortunately it means nothing in the animal world, all your dog knows is that at that moment, it is outside, and probably with some pent up energy.
> Ok I have a few questions, what is your general attitude with the dog? What is your lifestyle and what does the dog get in terms of exercise? Before any other problems can be addressed exercise must be applied, a worn out dog is much much less likely to want to do any unwanted behaviours. What kind of structure is there within your family? I see that she is dominant over your husband and children, this can be 1. posessiveness - your dog sees your husband and children as toys or play-things and does not allow others to approach (notable signs of posessiveness are indirect eye contact, where the eyes face the possible threat and the nose faces another direction) or 2. dominance - your dog sees your husband and children as weaker energies, which might come from - over pampering/loving the dog, being fearful or nervous or anxious around the dog or just plain doing whatever the dog wants, dogs pick up on all of these weaknesses and realize they must take over in that area in order to try and make sure the pack (family) is stable in that area. Remember that aggression differs from dominance and posessiveness etc. Can I ask specifically what you mean by aggressiveness? Has your daughter been bit? Or has the dog learnt through snapping or yapping at your daughter to make her back off or become fearful (which is a form of submission in the dog world) this is conditioned dominance, which is usually fundamentally caused through lack of discipline and sometimes lack of exercise.
> ...


she has never bitten or even tried to bite she just growls mainly when shes in her bed at nite which is the only time she growls at my husband and with my daughter she just growls but nothing else. she goesfor a walk approx 1 hour at least per day and my husband takes her as i cannot walk very far. she is brilliant with my niece who is the same age as my daughter i just cannot understand why she is doing this. she never barks at us she is very playful and is very spoilt by us we treat her like a member of the family and shes a lovely dog apart from this one problem. she is very well looked after and attends the vets on a regular basis. She eats well and loves her excersise.


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## gtmanning123 (Dec 23, 2008)

Ok I'm still a little unsure as to exact situation in which she growls, not being there I can't judge the intention or reason for the growling. However, as she hasn't snapped or attempted to bite anyone, it sounds like the growling is just a growl of tension, are you putting her under some sort of pressure? Believe it or not dogs feel social pressures just as we do, and your dog might be representing her tension of the situation through growling, a tense growl is usually quite low pitch and has much less of a rumbly sound to it.

Your dog's behaviour tends away from dominance, however you admitted to pampering her or 'treating her as a member of the family' which, tends towards dominance, she is a member of a family but you need to realize how dogs see families, which differs from the human perception of family, a 'pack' to a dog should have a strict heirarchy and structure, as well as discipline, naturally there is little affection between the pack members.

I'm going to conclude from what you've said that this is a typical case of posessiveness, on the bed, she can either be posessive of the bed or position itself, or of your husband or daughter, either way it sounds like much more of a specific situation where this occurs, because you haven't mentioned her being posessive over your husband or daughter at any other time rather than the bed.

In terms of techniques for fixing the problem with the bed, it sounds like you've been careful so far and haven't tried force or anything like that which is good.

I've seen this sitution before and would recommend you contact a professional before trying anything, because taking action on it could risk a bite. If you really care about the dog and want to understand and solve this situation, seek a professional. Professionals come in the form of, 'positive reinforcement' trainers, who use human psychology and intellect in order to solve the problem, that consists of a mixture of rewards and persuasions in order to distract the dog from the situation and gain the dogs focus and attention, which eventually makes the dog focus on you (free treats) rather than the situation (which is in your case, growling on the bed). The other form of trainer uses a mixture of positive reinforcements, and corrections, this trainer is called the 'natural' or 'balanced' trainer, who use dog psychology and instincts in order to solve the problem, techniques that have been around for a long time, simply because dogs have been around for a long time, because the techniques are simply the techniques dogs would use on eachother, they are natural and instinctual techniques that the dog understands, natural trainers also positive reinforcement but much less than the pure 'positive' trainers, because it is somewhat un-natural, simply because dos don't have or use treats in order to correct other dogs.
Of course I can't recommend a local professional, but I can give you an idea of the best of these two types of professional.
I highly recommend checking out the natural dog psychology expert Cesar Milan, at Welcome to Cesar Millan's Official Web Site his techniques are easy to understand, natural, and he never disagrees with other trainers but accepts them like religions do eachother. He also has a TV show called 'the dog whisperer' where people call him in to help them and their dogs, there are many examples on here of similar cases to your own.
However, if you are attracted to the positive reinforcement idea of human training for dogs, have a look up for Patricia McConnel or Ian Dunbar, you will see the word 'love' come up a lot, a lot of humanization of dogs, and and a quite ferocious attitude towards natural trainers, just ignore these and pick out the useful training tips and you should be fine.

Be sure to find a local trainer before trying anything risky and make sure you agree with the trainers methods.

If you want my personal advice on the situation and possible solutions, I recommend that you do not take it without consulting a professional, but here is my suggestion anyway.

First I must warn you that you are dealing with an animal, animals are instinctual and can be unpredictable, so there is a chance of a bite if you try anything new to solve this problem. I would personally recommend the following; be sure that the problem only occurs when your husband or daugther is on the bed, if this is the case then - when in this situation with your dog, make sure you rid yourself of any nervous, anxious, angry or fearful emotions and be calm, confident and assertive, approach the dog and use a word or sound, together with confident body language, ordering the dog off the bed (note: approach from the other side of the bed to which the dog is closest). If the dog ignores the command, move onto the bed, whether your husband or daugther is there or not, move into the dog, nudging it off the bed, once the dog is off the bed block any attempt the dog makes to get back on the bed and keep doing so until she retreats, this is a very primal process that a dog would do to another dog in order to 'claim' the area, your dog might disagree with what you want, but she will understand it if you really mean it and in the future will be submissive to you in the proximity of the bed.
You also need to recognize how the problem started and make sure it doesn't start again, it would have started when one of you showed a weakness whilst on the bed, whether it be fear, nervousness or just simply catering to the dogs every whim on the bed the dog picked up on it and became what seems to be posessive and controlling over the space.

Don't try anything that might risk your safety.

George


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## gtmanning123 (Dec 23, 2008)

Feel free to let us know how it's going Missyt.


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