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Wyn & Mary Burch, Ph.D.
AKC's Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Director, Certified Applied Animal BehavioristCitizen Canine Blog (that’s right, this one!) Wins at Westminster!
Every year, on the Sunday before the Westminster dog show, dog writers from across the country travel to New York City for annual writing awards that are the equivalent of “Best in Show” for dog writers. This year, the Citizen Canine blog (that’s right, this one!) won an award as the Best Blog in a writing competition and the Citizen Canine book won the prestigious Maxwell Medallion in the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) contest. For more information on DWAA, see dwaa.org
About the Programs
AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy® is the puppy level of Canine Good Citizen® (CGC). AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy is designed to provide dog owners and their puppies with a great start in training. With more advanced skills than AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy, CGC rewards dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. The Canine Good Citizen Program stresses responsible pet ownership for owners and basic good manners for dogs. The Hartford is a proud sponsor of the CGC and AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy programs.
i have a problem with a mixed bitch i am fostering, so i don’t know much about her heritage or her environmental background. she is wonderful with people and even submissive to the point of exposing her belly for a rub occasionally. she is very active and can jump 6 ft into the air…my problem is that she resides at the present with 2 other dogs and is fine with them, but when i take her in public and she see another dog she barks and seems aggressive toward the other dog…she wants all of the attention. how do i solve this behavioral issue? remember she is a foster and i need to get her ready to be adopted into a permanent home.
Without actually seeing what the dog is doing it is difficult to determine whether the dog is becoming excited or actually aggressive when seeing another dog. In either instance the dog will give subtle clues prior to becoming excited or “aggressive”. While they might be minute it is extremely important to correct the behavior at this stage. Some of these body postures could include; ears going forward, body moving forward, going from panting to closed mouth. These are what I call the precursors to the undesirable behavior. I equate it to someone who drinks. You can reason with someone who has had just a couple, however after 12, they just wont listen to reason. You have to correct and redirect the behavior at the precursor. In this case distance and time is your friend. The moment you see the precursor behavior, give a slight leash correction followed by a stern “No”. You will then immediately perform an about face. This will condition the dog to understand that when I act out, not only do I get corrected but I have to move away from the very thing I want to get close to (the other dog). You continue this exercise until you are able to work up next to the other dog with out the undesirable behavior. Be patient, this could take sometime, however if you are consistent and patient, you will obtain the desired results, which is for your dog to be able to see other dogs and not behave badly.