getting a trainer

I'm thinking about getting a trainer in to help me out with one aspect of Russell's personality that I can't tackle - if he didn't have this problem I would almost be inclined to say he was perfect!

Some of you may have heard me talking about this before, but it is becoming more frequent now.
I take Russell to the dog park almost every week (since he was old enough) in order to socialise him well, but it seems there are just some dogs that he clashes with and has to bark constantly and hysterically at. When he gets into this mode of barking, he is right up in the other dogs face jumping at it and barking at it (although not biting it but stirring it up enough that a fight could soon break out) while he is in this state, he does not listen to any one or any thing, his eyes are on the dog he has chosen. - its so embarrassing scrambling around chasing after my dog to try and get him latched onto the lead because he wont listen

so far he has done this with say ... 1 in 15 dogs we meet at the dog park. I was trying to find a pattern like maybe a certain breed of dog - but no he's not prejudice he's got problems with Jed the wolf hound (who is scared of Russell) Oscar the border collie X, Scooter the JRT (Ben's mum's dog), a little sharpei X, a greyhound X whippet, Sam... I am at my whits end trying to figure out how to stop him. and it also seems to come out of the blue. I watch him and can't tell when he is about to do it he just snaps!

sorry for the long post... but yeah, this is why im thinking about getting a trainer in - don't know about the cost of these things though I have asked for a quote!

have you thought of going to trianing classes instead of getting a one to one trainer. the training classes keep up the soicalisation get them used to being around others and because its a controlled atmosphere no dog can near another and after about 10 minutes they all settle down and stop barking and get on with the task at hand like learning something new. My Lemmy is a big headed can take on the world kind of dog at the park but in the training school he is lovely (strange creature that one )

I'm a horrid person, russ, so please don't take my advice unless you know your pup won't get hurt. I had my rottie pup, so used to do that, 1 out of 10 dogs or so and he wouldn't listen. One of the these dogs belonged to a friend, so we introduced them and the the Rott went NUTS. The other dog, stared him down, he wasn't taking any nonsense, but the Rott didn't listen.
So I let him go. It was obvious my rottie was just doing off the "I'M BIG IN MY OWN MIND!" shizzam...he got slammed.
We knew the temperament of the other dog, which was calm, yet not stupid or slow. And he was the one that told my puppy off. He just slammed him and held him, not hurting him but he didn't let go until the pup had calmed down.

I let this happen, 1, because thats how packs work and 2, I trusted the other dog entirely.
But, as julie said, training classes might help, just to build his confidence around all dogs.

Yes, btw, the rottie got out of the habit of yelling at every oter dog in a period of 5 days.

Skullkandi wrote:I'm a horrid person, russ, so please don't take my advice unless you know your pup won't get hurt. I had my rottie pup, so used to do that, 1 out of 10 dogs or so and he wouldn't listen. One of the these dogs belonged to a friend, so we introduced them and the the Rott went NUTS. The other dog, stared him down, he wasn't taking any nonsense, but the Rott didn't listen.
So I let him go. It was obvious my rottie was just doing off the "I'M BIG IN MY OWN MIND!" shizzam...he got slammed.
We knew the temperament of the other dog, which was calm, yet not stupid or slow. And he was the one that told my puppy off. He just slammed him and held him, not hurting him but he didn't let go until the pup had calmed down.

I let this happen, 1, because thats how packs work and 2, I trusted the other dog entirely.
But, as julie said, training classes might help, just to build his confidence around all dogs.

Yes, btw, the rottie got out of the habit of yelling at every oter dog in a period of 5 days.

That's all very well, but it's different with a stafford! What if the other dog 'told Russell off' and Russell went berserk? Staffs don't take to being told off too well. You'd just be making the situation worse & risk hurting one or both dogs!

I'd be more inclined to try a training group first to see if the constant close contact & discipline would make a difference before you went to the expense of a one-to-one.

only problem with a training group is that I can't guarantee that there will be a dog in that group that Russell has issues with, thats why I thought I'd get someone to come and watch how Russell behaves at the park with Ben's mums dog, so that they see exactly what he is doing.
I also think, if he gets the training in the place where the behaviour is happening it would work better - if you get what I mean.

yeah I wouldn't be inclined to let another dog tell him off, he is a typical staff and doesn't take too kindly to other dogs telling him what to do.

In my opinion the excited barking may be an indication of some anxiety. He is not comfortable with the other dog's energy. Whether he is fearful or trying to change the other dogs state of mind is the question. Does he have issues with other things like the vacuum cleaner and is the barking behaviour similar?

you could be right about the anxiety thing... the dogs that he does it to are the kinds of dogs that aren't interested in playing with others two are ball obsessed, one just stands with his owner and watches the world go by, but the wolf hound is playful it might just be that he is so big.

he does it with the broom when I am sweeping, but I have almost got him to stop that now, he sits and watches me very intensely and if he goes for it I tell him off.

Skullkandi wrote:I'm a horrid person, russ, so please don't take my advice unless you know your pup won't get hurt. I had my rottie pup, so used to do that, 1 out of 10 dogs or so and he wouldn't listen. One of the these dogs belonged to a friend, so we introduced them and the the Rott went NUTS. The other dog, stared him down, he wasn't taking any nonsense, but the Rott didn't listen.
So I let him go. It was obvious my rottie was just doing off the "I'M BIG IN MY OWN MIND!" shizzam...he got slammed.
We knew the temperament of the other dog, which was calm, yet not stupid or slow. And he was the one that told my puppy off. He just slammed him and held him, not hurting him but he didn't let go until the pup had calmed down.

I let this happen, 1, because thats how packs work and 2, I trusted the other dog entirely.
But, as julie said, training classes might help, just to build his confidence around all dogs.

Yes, btw, the rottie got out of the habit of yelling at every oter dog in a period of 5 days.

they did this in puppy training one day. it was play time and the trainer noticed lemmy was strutting his the big i am stuff so she got her rottie whcih is a lovely dog. anyway the point of the rottie is its an adult and could tell the puppies off for any unacceptable behaviour and basicaly teach them doggy etiquette. well my lemmy picked up his own lead and went to the gate he wanted to go home. he was sick of being the only one in class getting slapped by the rottie. well he was the only one misbehaving. and yes he did pick up his lead and go to the gate it was so funny. he was a good boy after that untill his hormones kicked in

russdogmum wrote:he does it with the broom when I am sweeping, but I have almost got him to stop that now, he sits and watches me very intensely and if he goes for it I tell him off.

I asked this because this behaviour is fear/anxiousness related. Lord knows why they do this with inanimate objects though. Tyson also does it around some people. He gets into such a tizz that it is hard to stop him.

could you take a water spray or bottle with stones in to the park and use them when your dog starts barking? my dog trainer does classes and one on one sessions maybe you could find one that does this so u can show them the behaviour of your dog in the park then classes to help socialise him

He's sound frustrated/having a tantrum because he is not the attention he wants from the other dog, it doesn't like aggression otherwise no matter how submissive the dog might be they would all put him in his place.
Dogs are not unpredictable it doesn't just happen look at the pair of them. the other dog raising its head after a play and walking away might be the trigger, your dog going into a play bow tail in the air but not wagging or wagging slowly.have you tried a high pitch whistle it can work as a distraction make the dogs look at you or the nose, that way when he looking at you, do a habit sign for treats. i know when my lot see me go in a certain pocket of my coat they come bounding over for treats.