Dog Aggression...

[Steve K9Pro]

I have just added a page to my website of the story of a dog aggressive Dobermann that was headed in the wrong direction, with dedication from the owner & my programs we were able to make a big difference to this dogs life, both now & in the future...

Any one who would like to have a read it's here...

[Cheyenne_Fury]

K9 - Very interesting article. It gives people with agressive dogs hope that there is ways with the help of professional trainers.

I have also read several other articles from your site, and they are a great help to people, especially the ones regarding dominant dogs. I think that many dog owners don't realise that their dogs behaviour is dominant if it is not agressive and this sure does help to point this out and helps us to realise that these things need to be addressed and can be done so with the help of a professional trainer and don't necessarily have to be extremely hard issues to correct.

Thanks ;)

Anne

[JayGee]

My girl's a DOL celebrity!!!!

Steve, I'm going to have to stop associating with you. Seem to get this weepy eye problem every time I have anything to do with K9 Force!

Joking aside, I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Steve for his wonderful and expert assistance over the past six months or so. Without your training and guidance, I really don't know what we would have done...... *bloody weepy eyes* Unfortunately, I do get quite emotional when I think about how unhappy Jeddah must have been. As you can see by the photos, she's a very happy little dobe now, and just loves her playmates. We're still working on building her trust in poodles though! She seems to think that they're killers!

We are just two weeks shy of our 1 year anniversary of Jeddah's adoption. She has come such a long way in that time. For us, it is still quite unbelievable. As a family, we celebrate every little achievement. I'm sure our non-doggy friends think that we've joined a cult. ;)

Now you Brisbane DOL'ers know why I don't come to DOL meets! I'm looking forward to the day where she'll be comfortable with a group of other dogs. That's our next step.

Once again Steve, our heart felt thanks, you certainly are a doggy Guru!

Julie & Jeddah

[MonElite]

;)

[Alison1474]

I got all teary reading that too..............

Congratulations to you all ;)

Absolutely fantastic story !!!!!!

p.s...... On ya Steve !!!!!

[Steve K9Pro]

CF:

It gives people with agressive dogs hope that there is ways with the help of professional trainers.

K9: thats the idea, too many people get lost & loose hope.

CF:

I have also read several other articles from your site, and they are a great help to people, especially the ones regarding dominant dogs

K9: thanks for the kind words, when time comes along I will write more.

Jaygee:

My girl's a DOL celebrity!!!!

K9: She's more than that! lol..

J:

Steve, I'm going to have to stop associating with you. Seem to get this weepy eye problem every time I have anything to do with K9 Force!

K9: lol... just refer to it as dust in your eye, works for me..

J:

Joking aside, I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Steve for his wonderful and expert assistance over the past six months or so.

K9: no thanks required, my success is only based on your application of what I give you to work with.

J:

As you can see by the photos, she's a very happy little dobe now

K9: yes, because she has a firm pack position & pack leader to guide & look after her, & tell her when its ok to play...

J:

We're still working on building her trust in poodles though! She seems to think that they're killers!

K9: I think that too, where is Poodle fan when you need her? lol..

J:

As a family, we celebrate every little achievement.

K9: & this is a must! You must always mark your forward steps, or sometimes its easy to think you have made none.

***************************

K9: recognition is very important, so I would like to congratulate Jaygee on her & her families dedication & continued efforts, this is what made the difference, I only spent maybe 30 - 40 minutes in total with Jeddah on my leash, the rest was done by the dogs pack....

There is a section of the vrain, located just at the base of the skull ablove the spine in humans. Its the thing that tells us what we want, or think we want to hear.

Lets say that you are thinking of buying a white Holden, this part of your brain will bring more of those to your attention.

Im sure people have had this happen?

When you believe something is so, like your dog cant be fixed, you have to over rule this section of your brain with trust & dedication. This is not easy, but it must be done to get success.

Knowing this tells me how much effort that Jaygee & family put in, and, the results paid off...

[Steve K9Pro]

K9: Here is a pressie for you Jaygee, the first day I met Jeddah, 15th April 2005...

Look at the expression on her face then compared to now....

The closed mouth of stress.....

Then

[JayGee]

Oooh, there's my princess. ;)

OMG, was it April????? God I'm getting too old.....I'm losing gaps of time in my life!

She's quite a bit heavier since that photo. She was 22 kgs when we adopted her, and now tips the scales at 30 kgs. She's lost her waif super model look, and now looking quite muscular!

I didn't see the photo taken, you see it's not just the dog who is focused on what you're doing.

[Kelpie-i]

Well done JayGee on your time, effort and commitment to Jeddah and her problem. I wish I'd come accross more owners like yourself who are willing to put the effort that is required to achieve the results. ;)

And Good on you Steve for showing Jeddah's owner that there is hope and life beyond fear aggression.

Can I ask Steve, did you work Jeddah on a prong collar during the first consult?

[sas]

Ah I love reading stories like this! One day Steve can share a success story about my Turbo because I know with the guidence Steve has given us we'll get there.

Having a fear aggressive dog is a heart breaking thing and if I hadn't of seen Steve I'm not sure what Turbo's future would have held, I can say I didn't have some very positive senerios going on in my head and felt pretty helpless and hopeless.

We're still a work in progress.

On our walk this evening for some reason every dog in the neighbourhood was out, but we survived with the calming methods Steve has passed onto us.

Anyone with a fear aggressive dog, don't feel like nothing can be done, see Steve, he is a life saver 'literally'.

Edited November 24, 2005 by sas

[Latisha]

Thats a great story and I know with K9 force advice, good things happen.

My ridgeback cross was fear aggressive but I have certainly realised that things can get better. After I attended a workshop at K9 Forces, things got a lot better for me. I got a "special" collar which worked wonders for MY confidence. I actually realised as well that the problem was me. I wasn't relaxed at all when Tish was walking on a leash before. When I loosened up, so did she and nothing seemed to be a problem. She doesn't even need the collar now (well maybe if you read below)

I am devasted at the moment though because I gave Tish to my Ex (long story, did it for personal reasons) but she is doing well although everything I have done seems to be going down the toilet. There is no leadership at all, she is most definitely pack leader (which is a scary thought). I visited her yesterday and my Ex said "She never listens to me" and when I gave the cues etc, she did everything. This was how some of her problems originated, she used to be allowed on the lounge and we would move around her blah blah and she is doing this all again.

Quick Question off this topic:

K9 Force or others, in this situation, do you think I will hold my pack leader status with her in the future when I see her or will the correct actions / responses become extinct even with me? It has taken a while to have some leadership role and would it is sad that she may not have that.

[KOE]

Great site and what a great dobe

On your site I laughed when I read a German Shepherd needs a lead or words to that effect, it reminded me of when taking Kim to the kennels as she got out of the car a man was jogging and as she jumped from the car the leash snapped and she off after him, thank god I obedienced trained her and ocne I yelled at her to drop she did, just as she was about to launch herself at him. I went straight to the saddler after kennelling her and got him to make me a leather collar and a leash from a bulldogging rein now I have no worries of the lead breaking.

So the words on your leash site are as true as written.

cheers

[JayGee]

Well done JayGee on your time, effort and commitment to Jeddah and her problem.  I wish I'd come accross more owners like yourself who are willing to put the effort that is required to achieve the results.  ;)

And Good on you Steve for showing Jeddah's owner that there is hope and life beyond fear aggression.

Can I ask Steve, did you work Jeddah on a prong collar during the first consult?

Kelpie-i - Thank you for your comments. In answer to your question re prong collar, Steve can give further details, but yes, Steve did use the prong collar during first consult. This has been my lifesaver. I used to paddle competitively, so I have dodgy right shoulder. Trying to control a young, strong dobe was virtually a fight from the moment the lead went on. Our previous trainers had Jeddah on a haltie, then check chain, haltie/check chain combination. You name it, whatever the trainer suggested, we tried it!

The morning of my consult with Steve here in Brisbane, I had Jeddah in the back yard. Man walks past with Golden Retriever, Jeddah charges the fence and goes into overdrive!! I slipped my hand through her flat collar to grab hold of her - Jeddah goes into the dobie spin. She rolled my bad shoulder into my chest, and I ended up with my right arm attached to dobe, behind me. At that moment, I can't tell you how close I came to giving up. If I didn't have an appointment with Steve that day, I don't know if I could have continued. I felt absolutely defeated. I was actually a simmering emotional mess by the time I got to see Steve, because I felt if he couldn't make a difference, what decision did I then have to make??? Luckily I was wearing sunglasses on the day, because the moment Steve took control, was the first positive I'd experienced with her behaviour since her adoption, and that was quite a moment.

Having a fear aggressive dog is a heart breaking thing and if I hadn't of seen Steve I'm not sure what Turbo's future would have held, I can say I didn't have some very positive senerios going on in my head and felt pretty helpless and hopeless.

You see Sas, you're not the only one who has harboured these thoughts!

I find it quite frustrating at times, trying to explain to someone who is giving you the look, "can you just control that mongrel dog". I'm slowly winning over the neighbourhood. I was never one to chat to people going past our house, but I'm collecting doggie support whenever I get the opportunity. It's better to explain your situation to them, rather than have the Council on your doorstep with a complaint because your big nasty dobe rushed at the fence and went off her head at Fluffy. The prong collar is real conversation starter. I whip the collar off and get them to do the feel test.....it's quite an education if you get stuck with me!!!

isaviz, I'm using a lead I got through K9 Force - the armish. Beautiful lead, won't let you down. Sounds similar to what you had made through the saddler.

Once again, thank you all for your kind words and support. If Steve's article can save just one life, then it is all very worthwhile.

[Kelpie-i]

Our previous trainers had Jeddah on a haltie, then check chain, haltie/check chain combination. You name it, whatever the trainer suggested, we tried it!

I asked only because the prong collar is one of few collars that make sense and work. Our pen-pushng bureaucrats decided they were cruel and banned them here in Vic.

One lady at school was using a prong collar with her aggressive dog and was achieving results. She had a severe bad back and hence was not able to sustain any pulling from her dog. As soon as the prong collars were banned, she never returned. So thanks to the Victorian Govt, this dog will never be remedied to it's full capacity.

Good on you JayGee...Congrats! Jeddah, enjoy the rest of your life!

[ninaandted]

what a wonderful story! as usual Steve came through with the goods. And I bet Jeddah was a complete smoocher to Steve too at the sessions you had with him!

We are coming along with our Nina too - although her issues aren't aggression - they are anxiety based but being resolved using leadership techniques, but we improve day by day and ironically her affection for us grows with our leadership - which is such a lovely bonus.

Good on you Steve, Jeddah, JayGee and your family. I think you should be so proud that you have worked through this and given Jeddah such a new lease on life. It might be a bit of an overstated analogy, but these stories often remind me of the way Helen Keller was helped to break free of her prison of being unable to communicate or experience the world in a positive way - you have freed your dog from it's prison of fear and given it a whole new life and way to express itself. good on you!

[phatdex]

At the VIC workshop Steve told us this story yet I still had to read the whole story over again on his site, and it was still as exciting as when he first told us it.

(If that makes sense!)

[Steve K9Pro]

K:

Can I ask Steve, did you work Jeddah on a prong collar during the first consult?

K9: yes I did, you can see it fitted in that pic too.

One of the 4 things you need to work a defensive dog is control, prongs give you this immediately (as you know lol)

L:

in this situation, do you think I will hold my pack leader status with her in the future when I see her or will the correct actions / responses become extinct even with me?

K9: if when you meet her, you walk & talk like a leader, it will all come back fast, however, the learned experiences that she has or doesnt have when yuour not there will be longer lasting...

N:

they are anxiety based but being resolved using leadership techniques, but we improve day by day and ironically her affection for us grows with our leadership - which is such a lovely bonus.

K9: the dogs feel so much security in the correct pack position, this is often underestimated as a driving force.

When the light comes on in the dogs head that your the leader, pack drive kicks in & they are all over you...

[rottmanozzie]

I have a very similar problem with my 3 year old male Rottweiler. I got him at age 18 months after his original owner's couldn't handle him. But it was clear he had been severely bashed and mistreated. The breeder took him back and i took him on from her......He has shown a lot of animal agression when out in public and even in the back of my ute. I have taken him to various trainers, private lessons but had very little success. He has improved but still needs a lot more work. It's been one hell of a time looking after him, more $$$ than i ever thought but i'm not giving up now.........

[Steve K9Pro]

R:

But it was clear he had been severely bashed and mistreated.

K9: many people feel that their dog has been abused as it shows a lot of avoidance, but sometimes the dog is just weak nerved genetically.

R:

I have taken him to various trainers, private lessons but had very little success.

K9: Its not an easy thing to get results with, but certainly worth trying. We have a lot of dedicated programs that have proved a high degree of success, but whilst the dog is making the recovery, you must be dedicated & consistent or it will all fall over...

[Erny]

R:

But it was clear he had been severely bashed and mistreated.

K9: many people feel that their dog has been abused as it shows a lot of avoidance, but sometimes the dog is just weak nerved genetically.

Totally agree, K9. Many people have suggested to me that Kal has been physically abused. I don't think so. She is so incredibly "sensitive" (weak on nerves) that I have to be careful with the use of my voice around her, otherwise she cowers, shakes, shivers etc.

I don't think her previous owners understood this, though - so much work could have been done with her as a puppy to improve on her genetic disposition.