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[MarkBevBen]

Over the last day or two, our lovely doggy Benny has been misbehaving, in particular whilst on walks when he's been growling at other dogs that are his friends and even starting a fight

 

I can't say enough how much this is out of character for Ben, he usually loves everyone and everything and will happily walk, run and play with any other dogs we meet whilst out and about.

 

The first time it happened the other day when we joined his dog-walking-lady and some of his usual pals who he regularly walks with. He singled out another male dog and was really being quite assertive, showing his teeth in a manner I've never seen before Our dog-walking-lady even said she's never seen him like that before and we've certainly not seen anything remotely like that - Ben's such a placid gentle giant!

 

Then yesterday in our local park, he ran over to another doggy and again started being aggressive

 

Obviously I tell him off, because I won't tolerate bad behaviour and he knows just by 'giving him the look' and my tone of voice he's done something wrong.

 

He's also been a bit naughty today, when we met a dear friend and her dog for a walk and lunch However this doggy was very excited and dearly still wanted to play, when Ben had had enough. Ben then happily 'said hello' to another dog in the pub which I gave him loads of praise for.

 

I'm thinking, could this be anything to do with our chickens? I've not acted any different towards Ben and made sure he gets just as much attention as the girls. He obviously sees me doing things with/for the girls, such as letting them out/in, giving treats, food, cleaning the poop even...... do you think in his mind it's triggered something off perhaps?

 

We've had the girls a week and a day and they've settled in absolutely fine. Ben hasn't tried to lunge at them or anything and he sits patiently watching them, just as fascinated as we are!

 

Have any of you with dogs noticed any different behaviours when you got your chickens?

 

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated!

[Chucky Mama]

How old is he? - 13-18months?

[MarkBevBen]

We don't know his exact age, becuase he's a rescue doggy. We think he's about two/two and a half

[lillybettybabs]

It sounds like a dominance or a nervous thing , There are some things you can do at home but i would advise finding a positive dog trainer and having some lessons before he takes it further.

[Chucky Mama]

He may well be feeling a bit adolescent. Young dogs, particularly male ones go through a period of adolescence where you need to go almost back to square one with discipline to reassert yourself.

[lillybettybabs]

Here's a link to a website which has a great solution centre on there.

http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/guides

[MarkBevBen]

Aww thanks guys, really appreciate your replies

 

I'll check out the website link and I think you maybe right, it's a bit of adolescence coming out.

 

Also, because he's a rescue and we don't know everything about his background it's possible that something has triggered off a bad memory from the past perhaps?

 

We'll do some work with him and also our dog-walking-lady is a trainer as well and I'm sure we'll get there with him.

 

It's just a bit upsetting because he's such a good boy and he's never been a minute's trouble.

[Chucky Mama]

There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to get him back on track if it is adolescence. Is he castrated? There may be a "Ooops, word censored!" in season locally which would get him in a bit of a pickle.

[JS1]

Actually, one of our greyhounds (we just had the one at the time) got a bit whinier when we first got the girls - he was a rescue and had separation issues, and we were spending a lot of time outside putting up fencing and the like, while he was stuck indoors (on account of his fascination with roads ). We were working on the separation stuff anyway so just kept going with that and he seemed to get over it.

Hope your boy calms down soon.

[MarkBevBen]

There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to get him back on track if it is adolescence. Is he castrated? There may be a "Ooops, word censored!" in season locally which would get him in a bit of a pickle.

 

Yes we had him neutered about a month after we got him.

 

Oooh I wonder if that's what it is? Do you think the lady chicks give off some kind of hormonal scent too?

[MarkBevBen]

Actually, one of our greyhounds (we just had the one at the time) got a bit whinier when we first got the girls - he was a rescue and had separation issues, and we were spending a lot of time outside putting up fencing and the like, while he was stuck indoors (on account of his fascination with roads ). We were working on the separation stuff anyway so just kept going with that and he seemed to get over it.

Hope your boy calms down soon.

 

 

Thanks JS1. I'm sure we'll get there with our Benny as you have too. This is it you see, he's such a good boy usually I'm sure it's just a little blip.

 

As for seperation, he's not too bad - every now and then he'll scratch the carpet when we're out but it's nothing major. When we first got him, we prepared ourselves for the worst with him being part Lab and he's not once messed in the house or chewed anything he shouldn't. He even sleeps downstairs and we don't allow him upstairs and he's fine with that!

 

Maybe it's a bit of an attention thing? In that he sees me doing things for the girls and he thinks he's missing out on something?

[sparkysmum]

Bev, Hi. I'm sorry your dog is having problems just now. Do please have a look at www.dogpages.org.uk then go to forums then "training and behaviour" You will find loads of valuable advice on the dogpages forums. A bit like Omlet for dogs. It is a huge online community run by volunteers & esp aimed at rescue dogs & organisations involved in rescue. Good luck Alli xx

[MarkBevBen]

Hiya Alli thanks for your reply, I'm pretty sure we're already members of Dogpages, will have to go and have a looky xxxx