# First dog training session



## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

I hope this is in the right section.

I have my first behavioral training session tonight with my dogs. I think I have posted this story a few times in different places, but here is a refresher. Sorry it’s long and if it starts to sound familiar just skip to the end.:wof:

I have two dogs, a male Catahula mix, Stoli and a female mutt Bella. Stoli came first I got him at about 5 months. Bella came about 3 months late and she was about a year. I NEVER had a problem with the two of them. Even with my exes family’s dogs they all got along great. We did the Beginning Dog Training at PetsMart and Bella was fine with the other dogs and a little sketchy with the humans. Then about a year into having her, a stray black lab Lola wandered in the yard. After putting flyers, checking for chips and even adds in the paper we never found her owner or someone to adopt her. We think she was dumped in the woods behind our house. So, we kept her. At first it was fine, a few tiffs here and there but nothing major. About 4 months after Lola arrived the ex and I broke up and I moved out with Bella and Stoli. About a week after moving out I came back to get the rest of my stuff and brought the dogs with me so they could play in the yard. I wish now I never would have done it. I was in a room alone with Lola, when I opened the door to come out Bella went straight for her. I thought they were going to kill each other. It took me at least 15 mins to break them up and one nice bite on my hand. I thought they were going to kill each other. There was blood and hair everywhere. Bella had to have stitches on her leg and has several scars all over her. Lola had 32 puncture wounds but no stitches. Ever since then, Bella has hated every other dog in the world except Stoli. She does get a little aggressive around bones with him, but if they get into it a stern “Quit It” stops it immediately. 

Fast forward a few years and a new house and Bella has developed Hip Dysplasia this prevents her from running and playing with Stoli. To help keep him in shape and socialized (and some other reasons) I decided to start fostering. Sam my very first foster dog who I have had for about a year now, is hyper but submissive. Bella bit his nose on their very first into. They have had one fight since then. But they are never alone together and if they are out at the same time Bella is muzzled. She has gotten a lot more tolerable of him lately. But every time a new foster comes in she acts like they are dinner. 

Since Sam has been here so long and he and Stoli get along great, we decided to adopt him. But first I wanted to get some training in how to control certain situations. My dogs are by no means perfect and semi well behaved. But I don’t want to always separate them, it’s not fair to them or to make her always wear a muzzle. I have never fully recovered from the fight, I have anxiety with her around other dogs and am terrified of having to break up another one. I am hoping this will empower me and show all of my dogs I can and will control the situation.

So tonight is our first session and I am so excited but also worried I have gotten my hopes up. As of late, we will be out in the yard and have Bella off leash and Sam on one and she act’s like she does with Stoli. She comes up and sniffs him, hangs around him and never makes an aggressive move. Crossing my fingers this goes very well. We have fallen in love with Sam. He is just super sweet and LOVES everybody, human and dog.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

What is going to help out Bella the most is for you to get over your anxiety around her. It is great your going back to dog training. Hopefully this will bring you more confidence and give Bella more chances to meet other dogs.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

Does the rescue you are working with know you are putting a DA dog around their fosters? I'm sorry but that seems extremely irresponsible, not only are you putting the foster in an unfair situation but you are forcing a dog who clearly doesn't like others to interact and even worse be muzzled around them. Why add another dog if you don't want to deal with a fight but aren't willing to keep them apart? Dogs fight, even dogs who get along and no amount of training can stop that risk. I have a DA dog, we foster, he's just never around them, we have gotten him to the point of not spazzing around other dogs but he is never going to be dog friendly and that's ok. I usually don't have my friendly dogs around them for awhile or at all depending on the situation. I think you need to reconsider some stuff, first off you don't seem to understand what socialization means, you are leaving high value items around with a dog who has gotten into serious fights and is guarding them, you are relying on a muzzle to keep dogs who aren't yours safe, you need another dog to keep one of yours in shape? You are setting everyone up for failure and I hope to god you have a good trainer and not someone who is going to use force or shock collars on your girl. Seems like she is doing ok with your one dog, why not leave life as it is? You are looking out for one dog and not the other.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

GoingPostal said:


> Does the rescue you are working with know you are putting a DA dog around their fosters? I'm sorry but that seems extremely irresponsible, not only are you putting the foster in an unfair situation but you are forcing a dog who clearly doesn't like others to interact and even worse be muzzled around them. Why add another dog if you don't want to deal with a fight but aren't willing to keep them apart? Dogs fight, even dogs who get along and no amount of training can stop that risk. I have a DA dog, we foster, he's just never around them, we have gotten him to the point of not spazzing around other dogs but he is never going to be dog friendly and that's ok. I usually don't have my friendly dogs around them for awhile or at all depending on the situation. I think you need to reconsider some stuff, first off you don't seem to understand what socialization means, you are leaving high value items around with a dog who has gotten into serious fights and is guarding them, you are relying on a muzzle to keep dogs who aren't yours safe, you need another dog to keep one of yours in shape? You are setting everyone up for failure and I hope to god you have a good trainer and not someone who is going to use force or shock collars on your girl. Seems like she is doing ok with your one dog, why not leave life as it is? You are looking out for one dog and not the other.


I think like myself the OP found it easier to keep his dog in shape when they had a playing buddy who they actually got along with. 

To the OP: I would pay strong attention to what GoingPostal is telling you here as I couldn't agree more. I'd be a little afraid of bringing a dog home with a DA in the house. I'd rather them get use to dogs outside of the house first. I haven't seen a class yet that really does to type of training that in my opinion would help a DA dog get over their issues successfully. These clubs/classes do exist so maybe the OP has found one and I hope she did. Though even the best methods aren't going to do you any good until you lower your anxiety with Bella around other dogs. 

As for the bones. Put them away if Bella isn't going to being nice with them. They are a reward. Sounds like that little bit of growling may not be an actually sign of aggression towards Stoli. For Sam it could get a lot worse if he happens to come near Bella and your "quit it" may not work. Nobody here is trying to be mean to you. We just want you to have success and we want your dogs to have success as well.


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## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

Okay first, the instrctor comes to the house. But the foster dog as been living here for 8 mos, he is not really new. The trainer is teaching me how to regain control. I need to "remind" Bella and the boys I am in charge not her. No shock collars were suggested, nor would I use the. I don't even like chokers. 

She hasn't shown any signs of agression toward Stoli in over 2 years. Everything that happened occured in the first few months after the fight. Which was a little over 3 years ago. I should have been more clear on that. As for bones and toys. Bella and Stoli can have them out and there are no problems. Sam (foster dog) and Stoli can have them out with no problem. We play fetch with the boys all the time and there is no agression of fighting over the ball. The one fight between Bella and Sam was over a bone (well I am assuming) Sam go into Bella's area and we didn't know it. The nex thing we know they are in a fight. If the training goes well and we keep Sam, Bella and Sam will not have bones and toys lying around. I should have made that clearer. There was actually a toy bin that they were kept in, but one of the foster puppies ate it. (not under my watch)

I know better that to leave toys around agressive dogs or even new dogs. If a new foster comes in all the toys come up and are only allowed in the crates. Even Stoli can't have one until I am sure there will not be any issues.


As for the fostering with a DA dog in the house. I was very clear when I applied. They chose to leave Sam after he got bit. I had a plan in place for how I was going to handle it if Bella reacted the way she did. She does not attack every dog she sees. She has been to the dog park a few times with no problems at all. Mostly, my anxiety is what stopped us from going more. The what if fear. Stoli is a very active dog and Bella can not keep up with him any more. I wanted to foster for several reasons, Stoli being able to play wth other dogs was one of them. We were the perfect fit for Sam in the energy level department. Sam is also a very submissive dog which helps with Bella. I want to keep Stoli socialized and having other dogs around will help that. I can feed all three dogs in their crates with Bella and Sam's right next to each other and their is no agression at all. 

As for the muzzle, I didn't start using it untill a few months in. Going on walks is on ordeal. But we did it in the begining to help them adjust. She is comortable around him in the muzzle. They curl up on the couch together. I have been tempted on several occasions to take it off, but I am afraid my anxeity will get the best of me and create a situation. Bella goes out in the yard and plays with Stoli and then Sam and Stoli go out and play. If we have other foster dogs they go out with Sam and Stoli. Bella being seperated isn't as bad as it sounds either. For examle, now she sleeps in an oversize, soft sided crate in our bedroom with a bed and a comforter in there. She doesn't snarl, bark, growl or even attempt to get at Sam who sleeps on the floor in front of her at night.

I do believe her DA is workable. I think it has been made worse than what it is becuase of my anexiety. I was so freaked I gave up after the fight and just sepereated us from all other dogs. I also want to be clear up until the fight, she never had any dog agression issues. So I need to learn to work though my issues so she can feel confident in my leadership and I think that will help. Like I said earlier, she has been off leash, unmuzzled around Sam and never acted agressivley at all. 

I don't thnk anyone is being mean. I apreciate everyones input. When it comes to the fostering, I am very specific in asking for males that are submissive or puppies. Bella has no problem with puppies or smaller dogs. Some people may not agree with me fosterig at all an I am okay with that. So far all the dogs that live here or just "visit" have done well. 

Lastly, Bella did great tonight. She picked up on things aftr very little correction. Now I just have to keep up my end and follow though.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I'm glad it went well. I think changing your energy will help your dogs alot, and it seems to me like you are fearful of a fight - that will carry over to your dogs.


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## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

GoingPostal said:


> Does the rescue you are working with know you are putting a DA dog around their fosters? I'm sorry but that seems extremely irresponsible, not only are you putting the foster in an unfair situation but you are forcing a dog who clearly doesn't like others to interact and even worse be muzzled around them. Why add another dog if you don't want to deal with a fight but aren't willing to keep them apart? Dogs fight, even dogs who get along and no amount of training can stop that risk. I have a DA dog, we foster, he's just never around them, we have gotten him to the point of not spazzing around other dogs but he is never going to be dog friendly and that's ok. I usually don't have my friendly dogs around them for awhile or at all depending on the situation. I think you need to reconsider some stuff, first off you don't seem to understand what socialization means, you are leaving high value items around with a dog who has gotten into serious fights and is guarding them, you are relying on a muzzle to keep dogs who aren't yours safe, you need another dog to keep one of yours in shape? You are setting everyone up for failure and I hope to god you have a good trainer and not someone who is going to use force or shock collars on your girl. Seems like she is doing ok with your one dog, why not leave life as it is? You are looking out for one dog and not the other.


I reread this after I wrote the last post. I don't force them to interact with one another. Everything has been slowly over the last 8 months. I do keep them apart. The muzzle was introduced after a few months and she has actually done really well with it. Over time I have let them have more interaction. It's not that I don't want to deal with a fight. I want to be able to "deal" with it and not have a panic attack. The training is more for me than any ot the dogs. 

Just to be clear too, any foster dog that I keep does not interact with Bella. Sam is the only one. She was allowed around the puppies after I saw how she reacted to them. But ALL of it was supervised. 

I hope between this post and the last it will clear some stuff up.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm happy to hear this. I hope it all works out for you. Keep us updated on what is going on.


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## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

*Training Update*

We had our fourth training session the other night. Wow how things have changed. Bella is by no means perfect but her attitude has done a 180. 

When I introduced Sam (my first foster dog) to Bella she went right at him. Saturday when I introduced her to the new foster she ignored him. I was apprehensive about bringing him home because I knew we were still a work in progress, but I couldn’t believe how well it went. Then at our training session both her and the new foster were off leash in the house together.

I am not naïve I expect set backs and I am not going to take her to a dog park and set her free, but it is a great feeling to know what we are doing is working. After our last session a few weeks ago she went at Sam. It was so empowering to take control of the situation. It was easy to stop it, she calmed down very quickly and we did some exercises with them and by the end of the night they were getting along. Before when a situation would happen I would be shaky and anxious all night. Me staying calm definitely helped.

It will also be nice to take my dogs out in public and have them under control. Next session will be in the yard having everyone out together.


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