Hello there everyone! Advice please?

I adopted a Chihuachua / Jack Russell + just over a week ago. He is 2/3 and was in a pound, having been found straying. He was neutered and chipped last week and has obviously had quite a stressful time in recent weeks. We know nothing of his previous life before the pound.

He's a bit of a mixed bag behaviour-wise. Generally very friendly and affectionate with most people. Loves cuddling on the sofa. The pavement seems to be a new/exciting/scary place and sometimes he will stop walking and just want to be carried. He loves my shopping basket - seems to calm him down! But I don't really want him to be a 'handbag dog'.

He is not socialised with other dogs and acts aggressively towards them. Barks, snarls and nips if they come near. Gets so stressed out he starts to nip me or my husband as well, if we try to lead him away or hold him back.

He's really weird and stressed about his collar and lead. He doesn't like his collar or the clip on his lead to be touched. We cannot take his lead off at the moment. He tried to bite me this evening when I tried unclipping it. We were advised to leave his lead on in the house initially, just in case we needed to stop him from escaping out of the front door. But it does not seem right to leave it on all the time for more than a week. He also won't let us clean him (his eyes are very stained and crusty underneath) and he could do with a wash.

He is fully house trained, but nothing else. Doesn't know any basic commands at all. We have taught him NO this week, in order tIo stop him jumping up on tables and work surfaces (!)

Instinct tells me that we need to spend time building trust before we can start to train him and do things like take his lead off. Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice? Thank you.

I'd say your instincts are correct and it is all about building a relationship with him - time and patience as he sounds stressed and fearful at the moment.

Perhaps sitting on the floor with him with a handful of tit-bits and initially just touching the lead and if he doesn't react give him a tit-bit and praise. Then gradually work your way up the lead to the clip, etc.

Unfortunately with rescue dogs, you just don't know whats happened to them previously.

It could help if you clip the lead to a harness instead of the collar; it won't have the same associations that the lead/collar does, and the clip on the back is more out of range of the teeth.

But whatever you do, do it slowly and gently to build trust.

Yes - thank you. Good to know we are on the right track. I ordered a soft harness last week, but it was too small. Awaiting delivery of next size up. He is due booster jabs next week, so if we can't get the harness on, I thought I'd ask the vet to do it for us.
I've had a few people say the opposite though, as in: put on some gloves and show him whose boss. I'm just not comfortable with that approach so early on.
I've booked him onto an obedience course starting in March. The trainer recommended using an extendable lead.
I could do with advice of how to proceed: we are prepared to pay to train him, but Id rather not spend a fortune on 1to1 psychological stuff. I just need sound advice from people who have had rescue dogs really.

Do you mean a retractable lead? Or a long line? From my own experience with 2 rescue dogs who are reactive to other dogs you may find that your dog is too stressed and/or over stimulated by being around other dogs to be able to learn in a class situation. Maybe have a look at the class first see how many dogs and what kind of dogs are going to be on the course...by what kind I mean any other 'issue' dogs ...is there enough room and space for your dog to be around other dogs at a distance with which he is comfortable. You may need to work on changing your dog's reaction to other dogs before he is able to join a class. You have some time before the class starts to start working on this and by March you will have a better idea of how he will react to being in a room full of dogs in reasonably close proximity.

Whover suggested that (in bold) needs their head looking at. A tiny, terrified dog knows all too well who's boss. Indeed, the wrong approach early on, or at any other time.

Edited to add, you might find putting a pair of gloves on gives you more confidence in handling him. You would be able to use slower movements instead of (maybe) jerking away if he snaps at you, which could make him feel safer.

This in conjunction with a harness is probably the best way forward, in the past he has probably had his collar grabbed in order to tell him off or move him in an aggressive manner so he is justifiably worried about it. Keeping a lead attached permanently (or at least until you can touch it without causing anxiety) is not something to worry about in the short term, puppies often have 'house lines' attached to facilitate getting them out from under furniture or remove them from rooms without having to grab the collar.

If a harness and lead training doesn't work you could try a slip collar so you don't have to touch his collar, but I would really persevere with the harness and lead touching, progressing to clip touching first.

Good luck

Yes - more good advice. At the moment there is NO WAY I would attend group training with him. Far too early. He's just too scared/stressed/reactive. Teacher meant an extending/retractable lead, so he could meet other dogs and feel less restricted. Absolute No No right now.

We had a very bad afternoon today. Two dogs off lead at school gates. One 'escaped', ran round us and followed us into the playground. School are letting me carry Bertie in, provided he's well behaved (which he is, when no other dogs around). All hell broke loose. I could not control him, kids and other parents oblivious and trying to touch him. Awful, very stressful and upsetting for both of us. Have decided not to take him on the school run. I'll walk him somewhere quieter when I get back. He doesn't like to be left on his own, but that is preferable to accidentally biting a child in the playground, or me for that matter.

My husband is getting worried and doubtful things will improve. It's been suggested we could give him back to rescue centre. It's only been just over a week. I will not give up on him,but a different approach is required: school run is just too much too soon.

You are right.. it's too soon to give up on him...it can take months for a rescue dog to begin to settle...sometimes years (don't mean to alarm you!) so you need to be committed: a dog will be damaged more and more if it yo-yos in and out of rescue. You can begin his basic training in the house (which is the best place to begin anyway) before trying to transfer that learning into more demanding situations. If you don't want to pay out for behavioural advice yet there are some really good books which give really good advice on strategies to use with a reactive dogs. Leslie McDevitt Control Unleashed, Nan Arthur Chill Out Fido, Ali Brown Scaredy Dog are all books which I have found useful. As you have discovered, the key is going to be totally avoiding putting him into situations that he can't cope with yet with the result that you both get stressed.

If you have only had him for just over one week, it is still very early days.
He still has to get used to you and a new environment and new things. As he was a stray with no history too you are really working in the dark, but as a rule dogs dont usually just react like he is without having bad experiences, or without something triggering them probably from his past. At 2/3 years old too the behaviour was a long time coming so isnt going to be fixed over night.

As you have said he is affectionate and friendly to most people and loves cuddles, then thats a good start at least. The problem must be therefore when he is taken out of his comfort zone and things happen that he cant cope with, so he needs to be introduced and slowly and gently taught how to cope. The Nipping of you that he does when stressed is just likely re-directed fear aggression, not actually aimed at you.

From what you have said about not liking a collar and lead, being clearly uncomfortable walking about outside, not knowing how to interact with other dogs, its sounds like he has been an inside dog mostly and if he did go out it was probably carried and possibly in a bag.

To try to make him more calmer and more receptive to training. You could try DAP Dog appeasing pheromones now Called Adaptil. They are an artificial version of the pheromone mum emits to calm and soothe pups. They come in a plug in form like an air freshener for the house, a spray form that you can spray on your clothes, his bed, or even a bandana then attach it round his neck. or they actually do collars. Ideally a collar would probably help, as not only should it help calm him, he may accept a collar to walk on easier too. First off though you may be better with the spray you can spray it on your clothes and in his safety bag too. After you maybe able to try the collar, or spray it on a bandana. You can get herbal calmatives too. Scullcap and valerian or KalmAid is good. See Links for further details
Online Vet | Get Cheap Pet Medicine and Treatments Online From Vet-Medic - Vet-Medic Fof the DAP/Adaptil Pheromone products.
Dorwest For Scullcap and Valerian
http://www.nutri-science.net/pets/pdfs/KalmAid%20DL.pdf For the KalmAid



I would start doing some training little sessions 2 or 3 times a day, using treats as rewards when he does it right and loads of calm praise. This should start him focusing on you, help you to bond and also build his confidence.
It should as he learns a few commands too, give you more control over him.
One good thing to teach is Watch me Command, Hold a treat in a position so he has to look up in your face, the minute he does and makes eye contact, say watch me and treat. Later you can pause between the watch me and giving the treat for longer and longer as you keep his focus on you.

I personally would start taking him out in areas that are not going to take him above what he can cope with and introduce him gently. If you have a park or similar near by, I would at first carry him to the park. Start at times when it is likely to be quieter at first with just a few people and dogs. If you go to an area thats also a big space you are going to see people and dogs from a good distance. Start at a distance where he wil be able to see people and dogs coming but a distance that he feels confortable with. Take treats and use the watch me command. The idea is to gradually get closer and closer to the dogs keeping the focus on you and off the dogs until you can pass them at pretty close range. Timing is important you need to get and keep his focus before he gets into the agressive behaviour. Left too late so he gets too far into it it will be harder to get his focus and attention on you. Do this repetitively building up the proximity to the dogs at his pace and as he copes.
He should start eventually to automatically look to you when dogs approach
instead of getting in a stressed state and focusing on them. Then once his training progresses all round and you have control and he has got better, then you can organise controlled introductions to other dogs, in fact training will have probably started by then, so the class will be a controlled situation for introductions to people and dogs.

As regards to getting him road savvy. Starting with the park, in much more stress free situations, he should begin to enjoy going out as it should be an
all round relaxed affair with not too much to cope with. Once he is more relaxed about going out, I would then do little trips getting him to walk for short distances of maybe even a few minutes at first, starting in quiet side roads, where you may only see one or two cars, when he stays calm and copes and keeps walking then lots of praise and give him a treat. When he copes with this and stays relaxed, then gradually you build up to bit busier situations with a bit more and a bit more traffic, a few more people coming along and so on. Also use your Watch me command and treats in this situation too.

Hope that some of these suggestions you can use and start to make some progress. Any fear based behaviours take the longest to modify, but with time and patience you usually make a difference.

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