Viewing Single Post From: Help needed for my friend, please

Viewing Single Post From: Help needed for my friend, please
dirtychicken	May 11 2009, 08:11 PM
One of the regulars Posts: 202 Group: Full Members Member #806 Joined: May 3, 2009	I've just posted a photo of Cooper in the K9 Lounge as we're trying to establish his breeding. He's meant to be JRT/Patterdale but is 14" to the shoulder and weighs 13kgs! My friend took him on last September/October time when he was 12-15 weeks old. Cooper has not been an easy dog at all right from the very start :err: As a young pup he would bark continually when he left the house, went for a walk, played in the garden, looked out of the window. He has been taken to training classes right from the very start and his obedience has come on well, but he still has shocking recall and still has a nasty tendency towards aggression. He has been neutered and vet checked (just to make sure that the aggression is not pain related), plus my friend has had a behaviourist out who has instructed her in the ways of the alpha leader. She has been following this carefully and Cooper managed a few weeks without biting anyone. However, he is now back to biting and biting hard :no: Her arms are covered in scratches and bite marks and bruises. Recently, she was taking care of her 5 year old niece who had spent the day playing nicely with Cooper in the garden but when she fell asleep on the sofa, Cooper tried to bite her leg :err: From time to time, Cooper was muzzled with a fabric muzzle, but she now has a baskerville muzzle for him. However, he hates it and will attack both her and the muzzle and the fight to get it on him ends up with both of them being incredibly frustrated and Cooper being very hyped up. There have been issues with my friend's daughter's boyfriend hitting Cooper. In a way, it's easy to see where it started as his young son often stays over and Cooper has growled and nipped on occasion (for no obvious reason), but it progressed well beyond anything resembling appropriate. This has now been thoroughly addressed and has stopped. I have tried very hard to support my friend with Cooper's training but I've run out of ideas. I can't see why he does this. He really is like Jekyll and Hyde. He can be the most loving, sweet, fun dog, but will resort to biting with no warning and over nothing :err: We have discussed the fact that he may be better being rehomed to somebody more experienced with terriers and even to a working home, but she is very torn between loving the very sweet Cooper and being afraid of - and for - the bitey Cooper. She is fully aware that as the biting becomes more frequent and extends to a further circle, he could very easily be faced with a pts order, so really wants to find a way to make this work for everybody. Please does anybody have any ideas or suggestions that might help? :crossedfingers:


Help needed for my friend, please · Training & Behaviour