Any dog experts/dog whisperers on here?

Thanks for all the responses...

Well as she was at the end of her tether we agreed to look after him for a few weeks to give her a chance to train the other one with him not about.

So he came over last night, we insisted she bought a cage though as our house is pretty open plan so there is no way of stopping him getting about.

She is without doubt the problem...I walked him last night and he does not pull, he crosses the road nicely and sits on command, he walks very nicely next to you too.

Then as we had a babysitter in my mum we went out for a meal...long story short, before knocking to be let in after we'd been out for a meal I peered through the window...and there she was on our sofa with the dog despite us earlier getting him off of it.

She left us a list of thing he likes, gravy on his dry dog food and blah blah...none of which he will be getting here. He has apparently been impeccably behaved today and is right now being walked.

I sat my mum down and laid it on the line about us thinking that she is the problem here and that treating them like babies is part of the problem and it looked like I had got through to her.

...and then I just got a text saying "do you think I should take him to the vet to see if there is something wrong with his head?" arghhhh.

So perhaps the question now is how do I get through to her?

Originally Posted by krhall

So perhaps the question now is how do I get through to her?

By telling her she will have to lose the dog if she does not conform to its needs!

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by krhall

Thanks for all the responses...

Well as she was at the end of her tether we agreed to look after him for a few weeks to give her a chance to train the other one with him not about.

So he came over last night, we insisted she bought a cage though as our house is pretty open plan so there is no way of stopping him getting about.

She is without doubt the problem...I walked him last night and he does not pull, he crosses the road nicely and sits on command, he walks very nicely next to you too.

Then as we had a babysitter in my mum we went out for a meal...long story short, before knocking to be let in after we'd been out for a meal I peered through the window...and there she was on our sofa with the dog despite us earlier getting him off of it.

She left us a list of thing he likes, gravy on his dry dog food and blah blah...none of which he will be getting here. He has apparently been impeccably behaved today and is right now being walked.

I sat my mum down and laid it on the line about us thinking that she is the problem here and that treating them like babies is part of the problem and it looked like I had got through to her.

...and then I just got a text saying "do you think I should take him to the vet to see if there is something wrong with his head?" arghhhh.

So perhaps the question now is how do I get through to her?

By telling her that all hid bad behaviour comes from stress. A happy dog does not feel the need to bite or be aggressive in any way.

By treating him the way she does, although banging him, it makes him feel like he is important...in other words...she is his human. He knows this because he can make her do what he wants, not the other way around.

But...with ownership comes responsibility. He thinks he owns your mum and the house. That means he is going to be constantly stressed when with her, believing he needs to protect her, put her in her place, guard her, defend her and so on. That is a lot of stress for a dog and who would want to knowingly put the dog they love through that?

Your mum needs to remember that he is a dog not a human. He has different needs.

Tell her that by carrying on as she is, she is making him live a life full of stress and anxiety.

With you, he doesn't feel the need to look after you as you let him know that you are perfectly capable of looking after yourself as you refuse to acknowledge his pleas. So with you he is free from responsibility and therefore, a happy, peaceful dog.

Good on ya

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by krhall

Thanks for all the responses...

Well as she was at the end of her tether we agreed to look after him for a few weeks to give her a chance to train the other one with him not about.

So he came over last night, we insisted she bought a cage though as our house is pretty open plan so there is no way of stopping him getting about.

She is without doubt the problem...I walked him last night and he does not pull, he crosses the road nicely and sits on command, he walks very nicely next to you too.

Then as we had a babysitter in my mum we went out for a meal...long story short, before knocking to be let in after we'd been out for a meal I peered through the window...and there she was on our sofa with the dog despite us earlier getting him off of it.

She left us a list of thing he likes, gravy on his dry dog food and blah blah...none of which he will be getting here. He has apparently been impeccably behaved today and is right now being walked.

I sat my mum down and laid it on the line about us thinking that she is the problem here and that treating them like babies is part of the problem and it looked like I had got through to her.

...and then I just got a text saying "do you think I should take him to the vet to see if there is something wrong with his head?" arghhhh.

So perhaps the question now is how do I get through to her?

By telling her that all hid bad behaviour comes from stress. A happy dog does not feel the need to bite or be aggressive in any way.

By treating him the way she does, although babying him, it makes him feel like he is important...in other words...she is his human. He knows this because he can make her do what he wants, not the other way around.

But...with ownership comes responsibility. He thinks he owns your mum and the house. That means he is going to be constantly stressed when with her, believing he needs to protect her, put her in her place, guard her, defend her and so on. That is a lot of stress for a dog and who would want to knowingly put the dog they love through that?

Your mum needs to remember that he is a dog not a human. He has different needs.

Tell her that by carrying on as she is, she is making him live a life full of stress and anxiety.

With you, he doesn't feel the need to look after you as you let him know that you are perfectly capable of looking after yourself as you refuse to acknowledge his pleas. So with you he is free from responsibility and therefore, a happy, peaceful dog.

Good on ya

that fact its a ****ZU may have something to do it, they do suffer from small dog syndrome as a breed ( which means they always want to be the pack leader )

Small Dog Syndrome or human induced behavior where the dog believes he is the boss of humans. This causes a varying degree of behavioral issues, such as, but not limited to separation anxiety, guarding, growling, snapping, and even biting. They may become untrustworthy with children and sometimes adults, as they try and tell the humans what THEY want THEM to do. They will be obstinate as they take their stand and defend their top position in the pack. They may bark obsessively as they try and TELL you what they want.These behaviors are behaviors brought on by the way they are treated by people around them.


your mother needs to do this

Give this dog rules, and limits to what they are and are not allowed to do. Be their firm, stable, consistent pack leader. Take them for daily pack walks to burn mental and physical energy. Their temperament will improve for the better.

having said that it never full worked for the ****zu my neighbour had, that used to chase the bike and eventually went between the wheels at 30mph ( or at least part of it did)

IMO with what the OP states in #1 and the following posts you seem to have your head on with regards to the situation. You mum should let both dogs go, you could train them yourself and THEN release them to another family but NEVER back to your mum. She's not a suitbale dog owner its a sad truth,but its a full truth.

When training the dog you take from her I recommend you give it its own space, somewhere for it to go to be able to reflect on its behaviour.
Miya (our dog) runs under the dining table, no matter where she is in the house, if shes' naughty she runs straight under the table. This gives you a brilliant oportunity to enforce your dominance, imagine the senario:
I find a torn up letter in the upstairs bedroom and call for Miya, I hold up the letter and ask "whats this?" she instantly knows shes done wrong and bolts for the sanctuary of her under the table hiding spot.
I Follow her too the kitchen and demand she come out "come" "heal" what ever comman you use for him/her to return to you.
Miya now comes out from under the table, head down, tail down barely making eye contact. The dog knows you're boss, this is when I employed the dog wispered tactic of a strike just behind the ear. Miya would instantly drop onto her back and show her belly, some stern words of naughty and bad dog etc followed by "bed!"
She returns to her bed and stays there until I vacate the room, she usually follows me to where ever I am a short while later bringing with her a toy which she offers me I've always assumed this was some sort of appology and so I always accept it and play with her for a bit.

Well she bought the cage we insisted on and that is in the kitchen under one of the counters, so the dog has somewhere a) to go when the kids are being to noisy and b) to be locked in at night and whilst we are at work.

We have clearly in the two days all established our dominance over the dog, with lots of ignoring (difficult for the kids) and allowing him only to investigate on the lead where we stop and not where he wants to.

I took him for a long walk last night, walking him properly and by the end of the walk he wasn't even attempting to go past me, not even when I burst into running a couple of times. He always jumped up at us when we walked into her house, but after day one at ours that has stopped too.

He did growl at someone coming out of their house on the walk, but I quickly nipped that in the bud and it didn't happen again.

I'm not saying that there isn't a problem with it and I am certainly no expert, but I cannot find one, so it all points to her. I have just been on Amazon and bought a breed specific book for her, so hopefully she'll read and take note of what we have done and how different he is.

Sounds like you're getting on top of the situation mighty well, nice one

[dizzyblonde]

I know this might seem a bit daft.....but daft ideas are the best sometimes!...


If its your mum that needs the training, can you not make a video of all the things you achieve with the dog, whilst he is in your care?
This might get through to her.....a little evidence to kind of embarrassing her into realising shes the issue and not the dog?

Yeah, she is in denial though I think. She wants to blame everything and everyone else as that absolves her!

I will make sure I get through though.