Re: Hunter getting a little mean

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

Carol,

This is great for list conversation!  Bad boy that Hunter, bad
children these,,, Krista and Austin:  No, NOT,,,  just kids and
dogs... <smile> But any of you,,,  when in doubt please feel
free to post me privately and I can and will share if we agree to. 
I am an open book you all know that. :-))) 

Ok: 

Hunter needs to be fed in his crate plain and simple.  You may not
think the kids are "bothering him" but Hunter does. Krista and
Austin are equals to Hunter yet in the pack, playmates if you will his
sergeant litter mates.  He is exhibiting very normal dog
behavior.  IE:  the top dog eats first.  Ok so we have a
food dominant dog here but he is a *puppy*  Yes he has to learn. But
he needs to be able to learn and he is again only 11 weeks
old...   Avoiding the issue is not good and I am not suggesting
we do but this has to be tempered as well.  Krista and Austin 
have to be taught to respect Hunters space and visa versa.  A
cooling off period is in order here and behavior modification in all
parties must take place.  So crate him....  Next step in a
couple of days is to have *you* sit on the floor with Hunters food dish
between your legs and for him to eat his meals there.  Do not hover
over him do not put your head over his back make sure your not
threatening him in any way, don't let him take his food off
either...Austin and Krista need to be quiet too.  They may sit with
you but not behind him nor should they make any movement hand waving
ect...  If they can't do that they need to be removed until they
can.  Once Hunter realizes they are not a threat we can move to them
feeding him.  But also for now they are not to give him a treat nor
allow him to snatch food from them.  Ie if K and A are eating Hunter
is in his crate.  I would also crate him at family meal time too,
but let him see you all eating.  Feed him after the family
eats.  He eats last always from here on out.  The principal
here is again:  TOP DOG EATS FIRST.  GET'S THE BEST PART OF THE
MEAL....  Who is the top dog?  

  
With small children and dominate puppies there are many challenges. 
This is often why breeders won't place pup's in homes with children under
5.  I didn't think Hunter was a dominate puppy but well guess he is
at lest in the food department or has learned to be.  I am sure
Carol will agree that situations like this have occurred at home: 
Hunter has snatched food from both children and gotten away with the
snack.  As well they give him treats too. Sure he has been
reprimanded by Carol for snatching.   He has cowed to Carol but
this has happened more than once...  Yup Hunter respects Carol but
not K or A.   Food control is big in dogs.  They want to
control it...  Hunter really wants to... And Gina says NO! 
Carol says NO!  

In addition:

One very common error we all can make is to come up from behind a dog
when he is eating.  This is to us an ok thing NOT to a dog. It's an
attack.  I have a family who has never had a dog before and they do
not have a lot of dog sense but are a great home and learning.  I
got a call that their puppy at 6 months old ripped up the fathers shirt
and nailed his arm over food.  As it turns out Jesse was eating but
growling while he was eating so the father made big growling noise and
lunged at the puppy from behind to "teach him a lesson". 
All wrong...  Lesson that was learned was it's mine you can't have
it and I won because after the attack the puppy was allowed to finish the
meal while the father went to lick his wounds.  Get the
picture.  Now this pup is ok now with food and even the children can
take his food bowl away from him *if* they approach from in front of
him.  However Jesse still will react if approached from
behind.  They were also feeding Jesse in a corner.  This is not
good with this kind of a dog.  It's a trapped position to be in and
leads to alert eating. Ie the dog is in fear of being attacked from
behind.  

In the wild this is how dogs eat:  The top dog gets what he wants
goes off to a quiet place and eats to his fill.  If he didn't take
enough he comes back for more and the group munching on what was left
moves aside and top dog takes his seconds goes off.  The pack then
go back in to eat.  So in Carol's kitchen she feeds the kids and
Hunter moves in for the "kill", takes what he wants goes off
running with it and we think he knows he was bad and that is why he's
running off with it.  NO he's running off with it because his
instincts tell him to.  

So in sort with Hunter some of it is food related but a bigger part is as
Carol says Krista is a pain.  She is not she is just a fun loving
little girl who is 3.  She loves Hunter to death. <smile> she
grabs at him she tries to hold him still and he gets away because she is
not strong enough to hold him down.  Hunter wins.  He doesn't
want to be dominated by Krista in the way she wants to and he wins. 
In short again Carol your going to have to g back to more supervision
with Hunter and Krista and crate use.  Hey lock Krista up in the
crate if you can't get Hunter in to it.!  <LOL>  Just
kidding...  But Hunter is establishing him self as a dominate over
Krista and some of that is transferring to Austin too.  Austin is
very easy going and sweet with Hunter, so he is an easy target... 

Got to zip.  The place I use for pix is Image Express in Salem phone
number is:  503-588-8063  I only recommend this
location...  They have others but Jody and Barb do the best work and
they only work at this location.   

Gina


At 07:29 PM 6/16/00 -0700, you wrote:
> I don't know if I
> address this to Gina or everyone, but the last couple of days Hunter has
> been down right mean.  If you go to pet him when he is eating, (like
> we all have done since the beginning) he turns on everyone but me. 
> Very vicious growl and has bit Austin and Krista.  I would have
> given the dog the benefit of the doubt, knowing what a pain Krista can
> be, but I was standing right there and they did not provoke him or even
> try to get his food.  He definitely was not playing.  I grabbed
> him by the scruff of the neck and said NO!! then he  went back to
> eating.  But I need to stop this behavior now!!! I need guidelines
> on the best method.  He respects me because I do everything for him,
> but I think he sees everyone else in this family as an equal. He is a
> sweetie and adores the kids (usually) but he should be approachable by
> anyone while he is eating.  He is in his crate in a "time
> out".  
>  
> Other than that he is doing better with the
> potty training, and weighed in at 15 lbs.!!! He is all legs all the
> sudden!! Flip flopping all over his big feet and legs.  He is one
> beauty and we love him with all our hearts.
>  
> Gina, I was wondering if you could give the
> name of that picture place, If you have not gone yet, would you mind if I
> got a babysitter and came along for Hunters pictures?  If not I will
> schedule for next week some time.  We are having our family portrait
> done on Monday Eve, with the dogs and all.  Should be a great
> picture.
>  
> Well, I better go get the little monster out of
> time out.
>  
> Maybe his attitude has changed.
>  
> Carol