Posted on by Jacquie Biggar

Where have all the good dogs gone? #ilovemydog #mgtab #amwriting


Where have all the good dogs gone?

My dog is driving me crazy!

Seriously, she barks if she so much as thinks there’s another dog in the neighborhood. And it’s not a cute little yap, yap type bark either. She’s a German Shepherd, when she barks you listen.

 

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Don’t let that sweet face fool you. She’s evil incarnate!

Okay, I exaggerated a wee bit. A lot.

Truth is, she’s normally a sweet-tempered, loving, smart-as-a-whip much-loved addition to our family. But she has serious issues with other canines and I can’t seem to break her of it.

Which is bad, very bad. We live in an area where there’s a 2-1 ratio of dogs to humans, I swear! And she is an eighty-five pound, four-foot monster who wants to eat them all. You can see where this can be a problem.

Her name is Annabelle, Annie for short. We took her in as a rescue when she was a five-month old, scared of her own shadow, pup. It took DH a week of countless hours laying outside in the grass waiting her out before she finally got brave enough to check him out. That patience won him her undying devotion. She’d do anything he asks of her- except leave other dogs alone.

We’re not sure if she was the runt of her litter and picked on, or what her problem is, but it is definitely frustrating. Walks are an exercise in restraint, on both sides! I have to keep her in heel whenever a dog comes near, and she has to hold herself back, which she hates and tells me all about. 🙂

I remember when I thought dogs were cute, lovable little critters like 101 Dalmatians:

 

 

In the first book I ever wrote, I used Annie as my inspiration. The Title is Tidal Falls and is the story of Nick Kelley, an animal handler with the US Marines.

Nick Kelley spent years working as a dog handler in the U.S. Marine Corps. His sole focus, to keep his team alive in the midst of chaos. When he fails to notice an IED in time and loses most of his teammates, Nick shuts down. It takes meeting and falling in love with a woman in danger to make him realize life’s worth living.

JacquieBiggar_TidalFalls_POD

 

 

I love her, I really do. I just wish she’d outgrow the need to dominate her fellow mutts.

Any advice appreciated!

18 Replies to “Where have all the good dogs gone? #ilovemydog #mgtab #amwriting”

  2. She looks like a queen 🙂
    My brother has a dog that is very friendly with anyone it encounters but turns into a crazed berserker when he sees another canine.
    I wonder if Annie knows she inspired a book 🙂

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  3. My friend has a golden retriever with the same problem. A dog trainer taught her (my friend, not the dog!) to get the dog’s attention by giving him a treat every time another dog came near as they walked. She did this for several months, and it did help.

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      1. Annie ignores treats when she’s in Alpha mode. All she sees is another dog on her turf, whether that be the road or a baseball field! Funny thing is, we have a calico cat and they’re best friends!

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    2. Annie knows she’s doing wrong. She growls and barks then looks up at me and whines! The only thing I’ve found that helps, is water. When we’re in the yard and she starts her hijinks, all I have to do is pick up the hose and she knows! She’s like a kid, she hates bathing, lol

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  4. I had a Border Collie since she was a puppy and she was extremely dog aggressive too. But her was from fear, she would bark and try to make herself look bigger. But if the dog started coming closer she would want to go the other way. My Australian Shepard will bark if dogs are walking past the property but we will for bicycles and motorcycles too. He is extremely protective of me if we are walking somewhere someone else has to take him because he does not even like strangers getting near me. It is the same in the house with strange men and dogs. He will keep himself between them and me. My German Shepherd may bark once but if you tell him it’s OK he relaxes right away. There are so may thoughts on how to stop the dog aggression but I tried a lot of things and the BC did get better but I didn’t stop it completely. The important thing is to try and distract her attention before she escalates in energy. Things you can try are treats, making a noise, tapping her. or toy. There are many techniques. I would do some on-line research and just try different techniques but like I said the important thing is to intervene before her energy level get so high. We are really having good success with tapping Yogi on the side to stop indoor barking. Good luck.

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    1. Thanks, Gina! It sounds as though you have a mixed bag with your pets-some barking for aggression, some for protection. Annie knows she’s doing wrong, she looks at me and cowers right after she does it because she knows it upsets me, but when she’s in aggression mode not much can stop her. I have found that a shot of water to the face will shock her enough to get her to quit, I just hate that I have to use those extremes.In all other aspects she’s amazing, smart, sweet, lovable, but stubborn!

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  5. We hired a dog trainer to help with this problem years ago. The best thing for us was desensitizing our dog to other dogs. We did this by walking along the outside of a huge dog bark (with a cyclone fence) and walking around the pound (with permission) and a dog kennel (also with permission). Took a month of nearly daily work, but changed him – made it easier to walk in our dog filled neighborhood twice daily without all that aggression.

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    1. That’s a brilliant suggestion! At least that way the other animals are safe. Annie get so upset she vibrates. She wants to please me, but at the same time she aches to show her dominance. Thank you!

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  6. hm, well I volunteer at an animal shelter and they have dog pairings. This means that dogs are actually “friends” with each other. Basically there are dogs that only get along with certain dogs. My own dog is that kind that can get along with any of them (if they aren’t too big), and then there are dog aggressive dogs. At the shelter there are a few dogs that are extremely dog aggressive but I see them able to play well with certain dogs. It does shock me when I see someone go and allow the aggressive dogs to play with others, but it turns out that any dog can be socialized as long as it is with a certain dog. My advice is to have two dogs on a leash and slowly let your dog meet other dogs until you’ve found one she likes. Then if they play with each other for awhile and are nice to each other you can maybe try some other dogs. No guarantees, so I warn you to be cautious.

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    1. Yeah, that’s the problem. She’s a sweetheart as long as we keep her away from other dogs. I’d truly hate to take the chance of having to put her down because she bit one. It’s one thing for a small dog to bite, it’s another entirely if an animal like Annie was to do so. Funny thing is, we have a cat and they’re best friends!

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