Re: several ! growling, marking, jumping, dragging

In Reply to: several ! growling, marking, jumping, dragging
Category:   Behavior Problems
Posted by:  nada
Posted on:  April 26, 2003 at 17:08:26

: I have a male parson jrt,3yrs old, wonderful off lead (trotts along!)but on lead he drags me if he sees a dog in the distance. He also marks his way around furniture and the net curtain, and jumps only on my mum ("the food lady"). His final problem is he growls when you try and put his halty on, when telling him off and sometimes when guests stroke him (is he being protective of me?) but after I stop saying "bad boy" he either furiously licks me (guilt?) or wags his tail as if nothing had happened! Can you suggest anything i could do to correct this behaviour? Greatly appreciated.

Response:

Dear Nada,

These are all symptoms of the same problem -- your little guy thinks he's top dog in the household. Dogs who understand their place do not lead, they follow; they also don't growl at humans. As for marking...that's just another way a dominant dog shows "ownership."

The first thing you need to do is to stop telling him he's a "bad boy" and then allowing him to lick you; you're essentially rewarding him for doing something wrong. Next, you need to take him to an obedience class to learn how to properly train him to obey your commands. I think it's great that he's wonderful off lead but unfortunately, that doesn't mean that he's trained or that you're in charge.

Finally, you need to teach him that he isn't the dominant member of the household. He is not allowed on the furniture, in anyone's bed at night and must "work" for everything he get's from you. This means sitting before every meal, before he gets a treat or toy/chew, before he's allowed outside, etc -- no exceptions, Nada, and every member of your family has to do this too.

As for the marking -- once a dog gets away with this behavior for a while, it's very difficult to change it. Still, I'm going to recommend that you neuter your terrier; a dog with a dominant personality doesn't really need any extra "motivation" from the testosterone. (LOL!) I also suggest you try tethering him to you so you can quickly correct him when he starts to lift his leg. This is also a subtle form of control since he has to go where you go.

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