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Thread: Dog problems

  1. #1
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    Default Dog problems

    I have 2 dogs. One of which is Bella, an adorable black working cocker spaniel of 3.5 years old. She's usually sweet and listens to my commands so well that I got used to let her off her leash most of the time. The only times when I was certain to have her on a leash was if I expected traffic around.

    Another things is that we live in an area with an extremely high percentage of immigrants and people with an immigration background. I would say that easily 50% of the neighborhood is black, about half of them from Africa. And this is a problem.

    What I have learned is that amongst the black Africans there is a big group of people who are afraid of dogs. And I mean really terrified if a dog runs in their general direction. This makes them run away, show they are scared etc. Bella interprets that as something that means it could be fun to chase them. Like she would chase a cat. And even though I tried to correct the behavior as I got aware of the problem, finally resulting in me not letting her run free around the built up area, that has become only worse. Because nowadays Bella starts barking in a rather aggressive way whenever she sees a black person. It's like totally obvious that she reacts to their blackness. She doesn't do the same if she's coming accross people who aren't black (all shades). But the pattern is so obvious that it almost looks like I trained her to be that way.

    It's kind of embarrassing and I have no idea how to make her stop doing this.
    Congratulations America

  2. #2
    That is awkward indeed

    Is it possible to shift walking times to quieter hours when the streets are more empty? Or focus training on reducing barking overall, and take her to some kind of dog playground for off-leash time?

  3. #3
    Can you somehow build positive associations for your dog? Like drop it off in a dog grooming/boarding place in an area where most employees are likely to be of a certain race?
    Hope is the denial of reality

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadnaught View Post
    That is awkward indeed

    Is it possible to shift walking times to quieter hours when the streets are more empty? Or focus training on reducing barking overall, and take her to some kind of dog playground for off-leash time?
    This is what I basically already do, but it's kinda hard avoiding all black people simply going about their lives.
    Congratulations America

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Loki View Post
    Can you somehow build positive associations for your dog? Like drop it off in a dog grooming/boarding place in an area where most employees are likely to be of a certain race?
    Hmm.. Maybe I should look into something like that. Though it may be difficult as chasing away cats and scared people is associated with fun for her.
    Congratulations America

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  7. #7
    I've been watching old Cesar Milan shows ("the dog whisperer") and he would probably say Bella is taking cues from YOU, Hazir.

    You are the alpha dog in her world, and she'll be excited by anything YOU feel; whether it's for fun or protection is something you have to make out first, then teach her what's acceptable. Spaniels inherently love to chase moving objects -- they don't distinguish between squirrels, cats, balls, little kids, or ethnic groups -- unless they're taught/trained by the alpha dog NOT to chase until they've been given a command. That's how "working dogs" that hunt and retrieve game (not the random city squirrel or bird) can also be good family pets that don't chase people.

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    Quote Originally Posted by GGT View Post
    I've been watching old Cesar Milan shows ("the dog whisperer") and he would probably say Bella is taking cues from YOU, Hazir.

    You are the alpha dog in her world, and she'll be excited by anything YOU feel; whether it's for fun or protection is something you have to make out first, then teach her what's acceptable. Spaniels inherently love to chase moving objects -- they don't distinguish between squirrels, cats, balls, little kids, or ethnic groups -- unless they're taught/trained by the alpha dog NOT to chase until they've been given a command. That's how "working dogs" that hunt and retrieve game (not the random city squirrel or bird) can also be good family pets that don't chase people.
    Hmm…actually you may have a point. I may have given her the idea that ‘if it runs, it’s something that needs to be chased’. To tweak that may be difficult though. Because I don’t want her fun in fetching balls spoiled either. It’s half the fun of having a dog like Bella; to see how much she loves doing that.
    Congratulations America

  9. #9
    Hazir, the good news is that dogs are trainable, and can even "unlearn" bad behaviors. But it takes a lot of time and concerted, consistent effort to re-train a dog who's been conditioned to chase *any* moving object. I hope you find a really good dog trainer and get Bella the help she needs....before she attacks or bites a child and has to be put down.

    Speaking from experience here, our beloved family cocker spaniel bit me in the mouth, resulting in 65 stitches and reconstruction of my upper lip and frenulum because he was "guarding" his bone when I went to kiss him goodnight. My parents thought his "guarding" instincts meant he'd guard us kids first, but they were wrong. He was a beautiful black cocker spaniel named Beau, and we loved him very much. I still feel guilty about his euthanasia, and wear the scars to this day.

  10. #10
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    I have kind of chosen the easy way out by adjusting the routine. Rather than a late night walk around the neighborhood, I drive to a dog's walking area not too far away and let Bella and Leona both roam free for up to two hours. They both get a chance of playing, running and swimming there. And the people around aren't afraid of dogs so don't trigger hunting instincts.

    It takes more time, but actually it's nice to see them playing.

    And it made the late night rounds superfluous.
    Congratulations America

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