A Few Questions, Opinion/help

[Emma88]

my ambull bella is 2, she went to puppy preschool as a pup and usto play 2-3 times a week with my friend dog or my brother dog, she was also walked daily. and was fine to walk, when we moved 3 hours south she turned into a nightmre, pulling on the lead, she gets really excited when you walk her and people/dogs go past and sometimes growls at other dogs, but mainly if they start it.

a few weeks ago i had mums group at my house and one of the ladys brought her dog over without asking, so we put the dogs on each side of the gate and they were fine so we put them in the back yard togther they were fine with each other, they didn play just walked aorund/sunbaked together, bella was fine with that dog and is fine with another dog who she hand with on the rare occation(when she stays at the ILs house my OH's sisters bf dog is there sometimes, i just made that really confusing didnt i)

now im starting to think maybe bella is nervous away from home?? she if fine with people and dogs in her own environemnt, but not out? how can i help her get usto dogs out of the 'home' environment?

i have got her undercontrol on walks now, she walks by my side, i do have to occationaly remind her she needs to stay there but shes 200%better than when she changed into a naughty dog, apart from when people/dogs go past she complettly ignores me... i THINK it's a mixtue of excitement and being nervous(excited around people, nervous around dogs)

i do admit it's probably my fault, but i have learnt and i am fixing it.

i have found out about a lady down here who does training groups on sundays, so i may call her and see if she will meet with us before, and then we can introdue bella to the situation of other dogs. its just a little strange she is fine with a dog coming into her back yard but not walking past a dog on a walk

shes a inside/outside dog and knows when shes inside she has to be calm and gentle. we have a 8months old daughter who just seams to LOVE having bella around, she will squeel and flap her arms and legs around and bella will just look at her or be alseep lol.

she NEVER usto bark untill we moved down here, but now she does, she only barks when someone comes past the fence and at the little yappy dog next door. do you think he could have something to do with it? he sounds very very nasty, sounds like he would attack if there wasnt a fence between them/ bella just barks back at him, she gets told off for barking for no reason tho.

i was using a martingale collar on her but it wasnt working the greatest so i swapped to a choker/check? chain and she has come along great. just need some help getting her great with other/strangers dogs and people around.

oh and when i walk her i do walk her off lead sometimes bt i have to be carefull incase anyone is arond as she will BOLT up to them and not listen to me, she just wants to say HI to them, so i dont let her off very much, when when i do she will walk/run off about 20meters(max) and wait for me, or when i say wait she will wait till i get to her then walk off again.

we have lovley bush tracks here and a weir, close to our house, but i have been walking on the streets at the moment to get her past more people and dogs to get usto them

[dogdude]

My advice is to see a behaviorist. A "Sunday trainer" is not who you want to see, unless they are qualified. You need to let us know what area you are in to make a recommendation.

"Game" type dogs are commonly dog aggressive. My advice is to stick to the bush tracks until you have seen somebody about the problem, otherwise you may be doing more harm than good.

[Emma88]

thanx i will see if she has any quolifications, if she dosent i will look around for someone who does, i live 3 hours from perth so trainersd are far and few between down this way i havent been able to find many.

shes getting better with walking past people, not getting so excited and pulling to try to get to them to say 'hello', i am very happy with how she is calming down and listening. getting better every day

she pulls to try to get to other dogs, i think i will stick to the tracks atm because nearly every day a dog has come bolting up to as barking at her, people dogs out the front of their house (with or without owners around.. why let your dogs rome around your front yard(expecially if your not there, and if you are there how about calling your dog back instead of ignoring it?) if they are likley to run up to bark andd growl at other dogs walking by, give me the effing sh*ts) these were 3 differnt dogs on the same half an hour walk 3 days in a row, shes not showing anyh agression to these dogs, she pulls to try to get to them tho, i pull her back and ask her to keep walking forward adn try to get away and looking away from the other dogs

[luvsdogs]

You may find a qualified trainer here, but they won't allow check chains.

http://www.apdt.com.au/trainers/directory.html#wa

Edited December 6, 2008 by luvsdogs

[Emma88]

You may find a qualified trainer here, but they won't allow check chains.

http://www.apdt.com.au/trainers/directory.html#wa

thanx very much i will have a look, an hopefully find someone.