Hello,
New to the boards, but here's a little info about my dog and I will explain my problem following...
Name: Vega, Breed: minurature rat terrier mixed with a terrier mix dog,
Breeder: a child who did it for a 4H project, age when I adopted her: 6 weeks old, size: 9lbs, sex: female, training: some I've done on my own, recently graduated a 6 week puppy course, vet history: current on all vaccination accept diptheria because she has severe allergic reactions to the vaccine, sees vet for regular check ups, on heartguard and feel/mite/mosquitoe routine, age: not quite 1 year, house trained, crate trained, knows the commands "sit", "leave it", and "off", and a few tricks including "up" (walk on hind legs) followed by "give fives" (paws your hand while on hind legs), and "walk" (walks on hind legs). working on commands "stay", "stand", "come", and "lay down" with very little success.
Ok well here's the problem, she was awefully young when I adopted here and I knew it. She pretty much slept, ate, and pooped for the first month I had her. After that her personality started to come out. Very submissive. She has never much liked to be touched. Petting is ok but only if its her head and back. I can mess with her ears but can't come near her feet, belly, neck (underside), or tail without her objecting. I have been working on it but as of yet it takes two of us to clip her nails (one holding her down wraped in a towel with just one foot out at a time, the other to clip as fast as possible). She fights the whole way. The only time she ever "warning nips" (snaps her teeth near but not touching you as a warning, if you dont listen then she nips but never enough to hurt) is when I touch her feet. This has always been a problem. The other problem is that she HATES certain men. It's always men. Usually larger, older men. She snaps at them but means to bite and bite hard. She growls and barks and shows her teeth. Her back hair stands up. You can tell its fear not agressiveness that brings this on. I THOUGHT I had been doing well socializing her and we had never had a problem until we started the puppy class. She's been around all types of people including the men she now seems not to like and the only person she ever growled and nipped at was the vet (also a man). She is getting WORSE not BETTER and I've been making an extra effort to socialize her around larger adult men. Its bad to the point where we can not take her to petco any longer for fear she will hurt someone she doesnt like, we have to take her to a female vet, and when we are on walks I have to pick her up and carry her past certain men for their safety! What on earth am I doing wrong? She has never been hit, kicked, abused in any way and no man has even looked at her meanly. I've been going out of my way to socialize her since I first realized there was the beginning of a problem with the first time she ever growled, at the vet. Is this just her personality? She is no threat to children, and my daughter can touch her anywhere she wants to and Vega just sits still for her. She honestly acts afraid of certain people and when I'm working on letting me touch her paws she acts like I'm going to bite them off. What can I do before this problem because too much to handle?
Meagan
New to the boards, but here's a little info about my dog and I will explain my problem following...
Name: Vega, Breed: minurature rat terrier mixed with a terrier mix dog,
Breeder: a child who did it for a 4H project, age when I adopted her: 6 weeks old, size: 9lbs, sex: female, training: some I've done on my own, recently graduated a 6 week puppy course, vet history: current on all vaccination accept diptheria because she has severe allergic reactions to the vaccine, sees vet for regular check ups, on heartguard and feel/mite/mosquitoe routine, age: not quite 1 year, house trained, crate trained, knows the commands "sit", "leave it", and "off", and a few tricks including "up" (walk on hind legs) followed by "give fives" (paws your hand while on hind legs), and "walk" (walks on hind legs). working on commands "stay", "stand", "come", and "lay down" with very little success.
Ok well here's the problem, she was awefully young when I adopted here and I knew it. She pretty much slept, ate, and pooped for the first month I had her. After that her personality started to come out. Very submissive. She has never much liked to be touched. Petting is ok but only if its her head and back. I can mess with her ears but can't come near her feet, belly, neck (underside), or tail without her objecting. I have been working on it but as of yet it takes two of us to clip her nails (one holding her down wraped in a towel with just one foot out at a time, the other to clip as fast as possible). She fights the whole way. The only time she ever "warning nips" (snaps her teeth near but not touching you as a warning, if you dont listen then she nips but never enough to hurt) is when I touch her feet. This has always been a problem. The other problem is that she HATES certain men. It's always men. Usually larger, older men. She snaps at them but means to bite and bite hard. She growls and barks and shows her teeth. Her back hair stands up. You can tell its fear not agressiveness that brings this on. I THOUGHT I had been doing well socializing her and we had never had a problem until we started the puppy class. She's been around all types of people including the men she now seems not to like and the only person she ever growled and nipped at was the vet (also a man). She is getting WORSE not BETTER and I've been making an extra effort to socialize her around larger adult men. Its bad to the point where we can not take her to petco any longer for fear she will hurt someone she doesnt like, we have to take her to a female vet, and when we are on walks I have to pick her up and carry her past certain men for their safety! What on earth am I doing wrong? She has never been hit, kicked, abused in any way and no man has even looked at her meanly. I've been going out of my way to socialize her since I first realized there was the beginning of a problem with the first time she ever growled, at the vet. Is this just her personality? She is no threat to children, and my daughter can touch her anywhere she wants to and Vega just sits still for her. She honestly acts afraid of certain people and when I'm working on letting me touch her paws she acts like I'm going to bite them off. What can I do before this problem because too much to handle?
Meagan