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LONG! Non-Aggressive Dominance issues

927 views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  mylittledeers 
#1 ·
So - our boxer Betty Bacon is about 6 months now.  She's graduated from her first session of puppy classes, is enrolled in another set to start in Oct.  I really feel that we've been doing many things "right" from the beginning.  We've set up clear boundaries for our little pup and for the most part - she can be a little dream.  That is, when she wants to...

There are a few key areas that we are having difficulty with, and I'm hoping that some of you can help me figure out how to deal with these problems:

1) Growling & Mouthing - This is probably the issue that we are having the most progress with. I don't say biting, because she is not doing this agressively.  I can tell that this is clearly her seeking out our attention the only way she seems to know how.  It happens a lot when we are outside in the backyard with her.  She'll get out there and start jumping all around us, growling and mouthing.  We've addressed this by keeping her on a leash at all times in the backyard.  When she displays this behavior, we say a firm NO, hold the leash close to wear it attaches to the collar so she can't bounce around or bite the leash, and make her sit there until she stops mouthing at our hands.  She is allowed to roam around in our (fenced) backyard - but we keep the leash attached (still working on the recall - making progress with that as well) once she has calmed herself.  Like I said, I feel like we are generally making some progress with this issue - but just looking for some feedback/suggestions/commentary from those w/ similar issues.

2) Those Darn Cats - We have three cats.  They all deal with the dog in their own unique way.  Let's go from best to worst.  Cat #1 - HOLDEN - is the only one that can really put Betty in her place.  He doesn't attack or act agressively with the dog, he simply lets her know when it's time to back off/not to get too close to him.  He usually can accomplish this with just a stare and betty will quickly back off, but sometimes he takes a swat at her, but it's gentle and I can tell that he's not trying to harm her.  Cat #2 - HUMBERT - is Holden's twin brother.  Humbert is completely submissive.  He could care less what the dog does to him.  Betty is pretty well behaved around Humbert, she mostly shows her dominance in a calm way, like resting her head on him.  I still try not to allow this as I don't want betty to think that she can control/dominate the cats in anway way.  I want her to be a part of our animal family, not feel like she is at the top of it.  Cat #3 - NICO - this is where the issue lies.  Basically Nico runs from Betty the moment she sees her, and Betty gives chase.  I understand that this is what dogs do - I guess my question is what can I do to stop this?  I've read that we should get Nico & Betty in a room together & shut the door, keep Betty on a leash, correcting her when she does bad things like lunge/chase the cat - rewarding her when she does good things like ignore the cat.  We've yet to try this but I was wondering if anyone else has any suggestions

3) BED-TIME No matter how much we walk/play with Betty during the day - she is rarin' to go at night.  I liken this to a child that refuses to go to bed even when his eyes are droopy and his head is bobbing back and forth from exhaustion.  She will grab a toy and start running all over with it.  We try to take her box of toys away, give her one and try to get her to lay down with it on her bed.  this sometimes works for a little bit, but she almost always gets up and gets going again at some point.  we've tried laying her down on the bed and calmly petting her until she calms down.  this also sometimes works.  things that always work: putting her in her crate or letting her on the couch. but i hate resorting to either of these methods.  she's in her crate for the majority of the day when we are at work & we have a crate in our room that she sleeps in. i would just like it if she would sleep on the floor until it's time to go in the bedroom ( i dont like putting her in there before she has to go in).  i dont mind her on the couch, but we've taken great pains to make sure that she is allowed on the couch when it is on our terms, and i dont want to "reward" her hyper/restless behavior by allowing her on the couch.  any help with this portion would be GREATLY appreciated :)

for those of you that read through this - thank you! i appreciate any/all feedback you can provide, and if you spot this on other boxer forums - sorry!  i'm just trying to get all the help i can!
 
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