One of our dogs hates us.... need help

In My Humble Opinion
1

There are two small dogs in my home, both Chinese Cresteds. One is a little male dog named Gizmo (he’s mine), who we (my flatmate and I) are having no problems with. He is very obedient, goes to the toilet where he is supposed to, doesn’t chew, and is very affectionate and loves being picked up, cuddled, and tickled. He also loves rough housing, and knows not to become too aggressive while playing rough.

Our female, Amber (my flatmate’s dog) , however, is a completely different story.

She will eliminate anywhere and everywhere but where she is supposed to go. If we let her out of our sights for even a minute she will either chew our furniture to shreds or get into the garbage bin. She hates being picked up or cuddled, and will growl and show her teeth when you try to do so, unless you have food. She will snap her jaw at you when playing and growl in the back of her throat. And she will not listen to anything we say… she thinks she owns the world. However, with strangers or with people she doesn’t see often, she is the perfect dog. She is affectionate, calm, and very, very sweet. She is also very good with other dogs… just not with us.

Both these dogs came to us when they were only very small (8 weeks old). They have both had identical training. We have never “favoured” either dog. They are from the same litter. Our little Gizmo was the runt of the litter, so we naturally assumed there would be more problems with him. Not so.

We have been crate training her for close to a month… and it’s not working. A months long session in puppy school didn’t help. Consistent training from 8 weeks is either forgotten or ignored. This hurts… it is seriously like she hates us.

Has anyone else had these kinds of problems with their dog? What kind of training did you use to with him/ her? Is this kind of behaviour “normal” in a dog?

(Both of these dogs are 8 months old tomorrow.)

2

She still needs several more months in the crate. I lived for many years with a breeder and handler of poodles, and lived through 3-4 litters a year.

The crate’s the way to go, and at 8 months, the pooch has still got time to socialize. Discipline the elimination when it happens (if the bitch can’t associate the discipline with the message, it’s for naught), and continue to spend daily play time with her.

We had a few with “attitude” who came around between about 12 and 14 months.

Good luck!

3

Ringo just said to discipline her when it happens, which yes you do need to do. When you catch her in the act, give her a strong NO! (don’t hit, or rub her nose in it), and then pick her up and take her to the place she should go and leave her there for a little bit. If you punish her too aggresively, she will only try harder to hide her “accidents” (she will do the same if you don’t show her where to go too). When she does go where she should, give her A LOT of praise. Treats too. Our chihuahua was almost impossible, but that is what our vet told us to do. Good luck!

4

She doesn’t hate you. It sounds like she just may be an agressive dog, and that’s something that can be fixed, but it will take a lot of patience.

Try this little test: Roll her over onto her back and hold her down, gently but firmly. If she struggles wildly, and won’t give up, you have an agressive dog. (Passive ones give up almost immediately, and mid-range dogs struggle for a few moments and then surrender.)

An agressive dog needs more firrm, authoritative training, and reminders of its status in the “pack.” Make her sit before you feed her, don’t let her up on the furniture, and occasionally do the little test that I told you about. This speaks very loudly to her that you are Alpha Dog, the biggest and strongest in the pack, and thus, boss. Continue to do it every now and then until she surrenders. In a lot of dogs, the time it takes will quickly taper down.

Be very consistent in your discipline, or it’s useless. Never let her “slide.” Always make sure any punishment is IMMEDIATE. Dogs have a very weak understanding of cause and effect. Even a few moments can dissasociate her actions from the punishment.

Imagine you’re the dog for a moment. You’re chewing peacably on a shoe when you suddenly hear your human jumping up and racing across the room. You focus your attention on that human, totally forgetting the shoe. When the human reaches you, it grabs the shoe and shouts those strange sounds at you. Why is the human acting like this? The human must just be mean, and you should be on your guard.

If you catch her with the shoe in her mouth, and firmly say “NO!” the dog understands that what she is doing at that moment is what caused your reaction. Punishment also loses its association very quickly. If you, say, put her in her pen for an hour, she’s not spending that time thinking about what she did. Within a few moments, her actions were forgotten, and all she’s thinking about is that she’s been restrained from being with the pack.

She may benefit from water pistol training. When you catch her misbehaving, shoot her with a water pistol, but don’t let her see you do it. She’ll soon associate the bad act with an unpleasant experience, and will avoid it. (Use only plain water in the pistol to avoid burning her eyes.)

If she doesn’t really like cuddle-time, spend it playing instead. Cease immediately once she gets rough, and praise lavishly when she “plays nice.”

I think once she recognizes who’s boss, you’ll see her come around. Keep us posted.