@LilMisfit...you still here? Hows it going?
I see its been two weeks...re-reading and thinking about what
@Aaron56 wrote, setting and enforcing the pack rules...
Hows the crate and separate going?
The pittie has been an angel and the Aussie got a chance recently to attack again...
I have been working on keeping them separated in kennels or when they're in the same room I put the Aussie in a sit and stay, he's smart but he struggles to see me leave his sight so that's been a little difficult, he'll sit til he can't see me and then he tries to reach me again, I just correct him and put him back where he was before.
Recently at some point the pittie accidentally ended up in the same room as the Aussie before I was there to make the Aussie sit and stay, he decided to take his one opportunity and he totally lunged for the pits throat about two feet in front of me, I snatched him up super quick before he could continue biting the pit bull and I submitted him on the ground right in front of the pit bull, my poor pittie immediately hit the ground and begged forgiveness as if he had done something wrong, I made sure to tell him he was fine before I made the Aussie stay submitted on the ground, then he went in his kennel while the pittie stayed out to play.
The Aussie hasn't tried anything else and he has been getting along better with the two other female dogs. He can sometimes be overly dominant towards the male LGD so I'm thinking about putting an E-collar on him because the LGD is about as sweet and submissive as they come, he doesn't deserve all the assertive behavior he puts up with.
I was thinking about typical Aussie behavior I've seen at dogparks (as I've never had one- closest was a border mix, 3 legged rescue who was easy going to submissive with other dogs, except one time he defended me from a pitbull looking stray who charged me from across a field...you know there are bluff charges, and then there are the kind where you may be getting chewed on...
I wasn't sure but just as I was thinking "uh oh"and getting set to give the pitbull a good kick in the snout...
The border cross came charging from behind me where he'd been hunting mice or sniffies as we walked and bowled the pitbull over and over, chased it away
...all the way back to a treeline where a homeless guy was camped out.
So the pittie was doing its job, in its mind.
Anyway, my point id the herding breeds can be fierce and impression is that blue heelers can be real aholes when it comes to what they think is theirs...territory or a resource like you.
Also incredibly loyal...ever see the movie "Red Dog"?
Yes it's been a while since I seen that movie! My great grandfather had a blue heeler who only liked him and would bite other members of the family unprovoked, he was a very disagreeable dog, not meant for a family. He was good at his job though, he worked Hereford cattle every day and at one point he was even knocked out by one, great gramps carried him up from the field wailing that the bull had killed his dog, the dog decided he wasn't done being a menace to society yet so he popped up and ran off like he wasn't KOed just two minutes ago.
Herding dogs are a handful but they're also some of the coolest dogs once they learn the ropes. My last Aussie wasn't possessive of me but she was extremely neurotic and couldn't handle change, introducing any new animal to the farm made her hyperventilate, poop everywhere in the house (she was fully potty trained @14wks), and tear up whole mattresses when she was usually the least destructive dog I'd ever met. She was so much fun though, I loved her to death.
I've definitely got a bad mix of breeds here, one little tyrant and one big dog who doesn't give warnings
Keep at it. I think
@Aaron56 has a good point.
It may be that you need to both give the Aussie what it needs; more play time one on one and
also strict corrections to understand how to get along in the pack.
Yes he benefits a lot from intentional work and play, when he knows what to do he really tries to pay attention and do as he's told even if he gets hurt, just the other day I called him in from doing chores with me but he just looked at me with the most pitiful frown, I didn't see what his problem was so I called him again but this time I was more firm, he reluctantly started forward and got a swift claw to the face, turns out there was a cat in front of him that I didn't see and the poor guy looked at me like I was the one who scratched him
I'm honestly really struggling right now, I feel like I'm a bad advocate for my dogs and I could just cry about it at this point.
I feel like I can't be completely on top of them during this time and they're getting mixed signals and bad training from multiple different people in the house. Like in a recent incident a child came up behind my pit bull and yelled at him and yanked him away from something he was sniffing, the pit bull reacted as he should and left it alone, I was not okay with how that was handled and I told him not to correct my dog like that, if he sees something he doesn't like I will correct my own dog, but the push back I get for that is that
anyone should be able to do
anything to my dog and he shouldn't react negatively at all which is correct and he's the most tolerant dog I've ever trained and I'm very proud of that, but he's a pit bull and I can't disregard that fact just because of his good behavior, his breed has a history of being cool as a cucumber and then exploding with suppressed rage, I just don't want kids surprising him from behind and jerking him around, that's not even necessary. And then there's my Aussie, he's very smart but he gets flustered when I try to correct him and someone else pops up over my shoulder and starts yelling at him, pointing in all directions, and then they yell at him for hiding behind me when he's confused, that sort of thing makes it hard to even set him up for success in a sit and stay while I move dogs around, he's looking to me which is what I want but he's got other people jumping all over him and no matter what I say they won't stop in the moment and let me direct him.
Sooner or later if you dont, one of the other dogs will have to teach it a lesson. And if the pittie triggers, to that breeds bred for purpose...
I wish it were possible to trust the pittie with one good correction but I fear his correction would be a one-way ticket to the pearly gates for the little guy
you may end up having to rehome or BE one or both dogs...
1h 32m | PG
m.imdb.com
That's honestly something I've considered more recently.
The pit bull is my most emotionally stable and well adjusted dog, he's a great guard dog and that's really the whole reason why I have him. His only problem is his prey drive, I live on a farm and he's a danger to all my animals. I've pretty much given up on undoing centuries of breeding, he is what he is and I know how to handle him, he'll never be friendly with livestock which is why he's spent most of his life listed for rehoming, but at this point I've just decided to keep him in a separate yard from the farm animals, he does great going outside to play with just dogs and then he comes inside to follow me around and find squishy things to sleep on.
The mini Aussie is such a good dog in every way except for this newfound obsession with guarding me and bullying other dogs. He could be successfully rehomed and live a decent life with someone else, that's pretty much a guarantee, the pittie isn't so sure of a good home though, nobody who wants him is really equipped to handle him, the only people who respond to his ads are old ladies, weird gangster types, and people who already have an established pack of pit bulls (not the ideal home for a dog who doesn't share food). Rehoming either one would suck so bad, Flynn and Aslan are both my dream dogs, but if I can't be sure that they'll both be safe and happy one will have to go.
For now I'm working on obedience with both and separation, I've cut back on keeping them in the same room until the mini Aussie has a bullet proof stay.
