Morgoth, on 13 March 2015 - 01:05 PM, said:
Gnaw, on 13 March 2015 - 12:07 PM, said:
The dog just growled at me. She's still getting used to life without my dad. Apparently Chumbawamba at 8 am is pushing her discomfort zone too far.
I'm thinking some Clash next.
What did you do when she growled?
I've had dogs all my life and I would never have tolerated growling towards a person, no matter what situation the dog was in at the time. To me that's the sort of behaviour in a dog that needs to be struck down without hesitation.
I did what any sane person would do. I laughed at her, scratched her ears, turned the volume down, and put on London's Burning. She growled again. I told her to hush. She wagged her tail, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
My dad in his early years trained German Shorthairs. A couple of Grand National field dogs. He was a firm believer in the 'zero toleration' and 'striking down without hesitation' techniques, so I know first hand what that gets you: a dog that does everything you tell them to do but is scared shitless all the time. Which leads to them growling at anything new, such as a loud stereo.
I'll thump a dog on the nose or pinch its nostrils if needed. But scratching their back right above the tail goes a lot farther. I've only encountered one dog that I couldn't make friends with and it was a seriously abused Boxer/Pit mix that had been "trained" to fight. I did win a 100 bucks from its owner because it allowed me to pet it but it still would have attacked me if I had given it the opportunity by making a wrong move.
Dogs are pack animals. Being the alpha isn't hard. Consistency, trust, firm voice, and a quick thump/pinch when needed lets them know they're not even in the running for alpha. And as long as they know that, they won't even try. You get problems when you let them think there's a possibility that they're a contender.
"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." - Viktor Frankl