This is going to turn into a long post, so I apologize in advance.
My wife and I have been having this discussion over dog behaviors. To remind you, we have a five year old chihuahua/daschund mix named Cinnamon, and now our Boxer boy Sirius. We have been discussing some of the behaviors exhibited by Cinnamon. She was an adoption for us, and when we got her she was already 2 years old. Many of her behaviors were good, but two are what many dog trainers consider to be "bad" behaviors.
The first behavior that Cinnamon exhibits is barking whenever someone knocks on our door. She goes nuts, stands at the door barking at the top of her lungs. Now, I don't really mind that she does this because twice in the past this has really been a good thing. Once, she was barking when someone started playing with the door handle. I didn't hear it but she did, and started barking. I opened the door to find an idiot trying to break into our apartment. He freaked when he saw me standing there instead of his ex-girlfriend who had lived in the apartment shortly before we moved in. If she hadn't barked, I don't know what would have happened.
The second behavior Cinnamon exhibits is a little bit of fear aggression. Whenever we take her for walks, she is fine until someone comes within 20 feet of her or my wife. Then she goes nuts, barking and growling. Several times she has done this to little children who approach. The thing is, she won't bite unless the person gets right on top of her. One time my brother was visiting and he thought he could approach her without getting bitten. He came right up on top of her and she bit his leg.
So, here is where the problem lies. My wife and I move a lot with her job. We are moving to new cities at least twice a year. We live in apartment complexes, and good ones at that, but there are still creepy people and criminals everywhere you go. We do not have or want kids except for our fur babies, and we don't have friends that come over to our apartment with kids. Any adult that comes to our apartment knows that Cinnamon is to be given a wide berth until she becomes comfortable with them being there. This only takes her an hour or so and then she is in their lap and loving it.
I don't mind that Cinnamon barks when someone knocks on the door. Every now and then she starts growling when someone is talking loudly outside our apartment, but for the most part she only barks when someone knocks on our door. I like this so called "bad" behavior because I feel that she is a good warning system. It does get kind of embarrassing when UPS knocks on the door, but our delivery person knows our apartment well now.
I also don't mind that she barks at strangers while we walk her. I know some of you will call this irresponsible, but I know that sometimes my wife has to walk Cinnamon alone and at night. It is a little bit comforting to know that if some punk tried to approach my wife, Cinnamon might not bite him, but at least she would raise hell and maybe draw attention to the situation.
My wife understands my reasoning behind my view of these two behaviors, but she disagrees with me. She thinks we should get Cinnamon into a gentle leader and teach her to ignore strangers. She thinks that Sirius is going to learn these bad behaviors from Cinnamon and be even worse than she is. I agree with her that he could learn these behaviors, but I guess I think maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing if he did. I do worry that he won't be as reserved as she is, and he will try to bite someone even if they don't try to approach my wife.
I wonder sometimes if Sirius could be taught to growl or bark on command. This would allow my wife to set him off if she felt threatened by a stranger. I don't want him to be a trained attack dog, but I don't want "Creepy Perv" to think he can come up to my wife every time she is out walking Sirius because Sirius ignores him.
So these are the dilemmas we face with Sirius and Cinnamon. I know for a fact we could break Cinnamon of her "bad" habits, but I really don't want to. She is a great dog, and even these two bad habits are good in my mind. I just don't know how to approach training Sirius to be intimidating to strangers, loving to our friends and watchful of everything else. I would love to hear all of your thoughts on these subjects.
My wife and I have been having this discussion over dog behaviors. To remind you, we have a five year old chihuahua/daschund mix named Cinnamon, and now our Boxer boy Sirius. We have been discussing some of the behaviors exhibited by Cinnamon. She was an adoption for us, and when we got her she was already 2 years old. Many of her behaviors were good, but two are what many dog trainers consider to be "bad" behaviors.
The first behavior that Cinnamon exhibits is barking whenever someone knocks on our door. She goes nuts, stands at the door barking at the top of her lungs. Now, I don't really mind that she does this because twice in the past this has really been a good thing. Once, she was barking when someone started playing with the door handle. I didn't hear it but she did, and started barking. I opened the door to find an idiot trying to break into our apartment. He freaked when he saw me standing there instead of his ex-girlfriend who had lived in the apartment shortly before we moved in. If she hadn't barked, I don't know what would have happened.
The second behavior Cinnamon exhibits is a little bit of fear aggression. Whenever we take her for walks, she is fine until someone comes within 20 feet of her or my wife. Then she goes nuts, barking and growling. Several times she has done this to little children who approach. The thing is, she won't bite unless the person gets right on top of her. One time my brother was visiting and he thought he could approach her without getting bitten. He came right up on top of her and she bit his leg.
So, here is where the problem lies. My wife and I move a lot with her job. We are moving to new cities at least twice a year. We live in apartment complexes, and good ones at that, but there are still creepy people and criminals everywhere you go. We do not have or want kids except for our fur babies, and we don't have friends that come over to our apartment with kids. Any adult that comes to our apartment knows that Cinnamon is to be given a wide berth until she becomes comfortable with them being there. This only takes her an hour or so and then she is in their lap and loving it.
I don't mind that Cinnamon barks when someone knocks on the door. Every now and then she starts growling when someone is talking loudly outside our apartment, but for the most part she only barks when someone knocks on our door. I like this so called "bad" behavior because I feel that she is a good warning system. It does get kind of embarrassing when UPS knocks on the door, but our delivery person knows our apartment well now.
I also don't mind that she barks at strangers while we walk her. I know some of you will call this irresponsible, but I know that sometimes my wife has to walk Cinnamon alone and at night. It is a little bit comforting to know that if some punk tried to approach my wife, Cinnamon might not bite him, but at least she would raise hell and maybe draw attention to the situation.
My wife understands my reasoning behind my view of these two behaviors, but she disagrees with me. She thinks we should get Cinnamon into a gentle leader and teach her to ignore strangers. She thinks that Sirius is going to learn these bad behaviors from Cinnamon and be even worse than she is. I agree with her that he could learn these behaviors, but I guess I think maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing if he did. I do worry that he won't be as reserved as she is, and he will try to bite someone even if they don't try to approach my wife.
I wonder sometimes if Sirius could be taught to growl or bark on command. This would allow my wife to set him off if she felt threatened by a stranger. I don't want him to be a trained attack dog, but I don't want "Creepy Perv" to think he can come up to my wife every time she is out walking Sirius because Sirius ignores him.
So these are the dilemmas we face with Sirius and Cinnamon. I know for a fact we could break Cinnamon of her "bad" habits, but I really don't want to. She is a great dog, and even these two bad habits are good in my mind. I just don't know how to approach training Sirius to be intimidating to strangers, loving to our friends and watchful of everything else. I would love to hear all of your thoughts on these subjects.
) yo ucan probably find "Its me or the dog" videos. Look for one with a chinese crested and another with a pomeranian and another little dog.
