I am at wit's end... I have a three year old Rhodesian Ridgeback girl who is always in protection mode whenever we are alone. She acts differently when my husband is with us or when he is the only one with her.

We have had two behaviorists work with us from the time the dog reached eighteen months old. There was a period when no one can approach or talk to me while on walks. The dog is better in that situation. But when she and I are alone at home, it is very hard snapping her out of alert to aggression mode (barking, lunging, teethbaring).

She especially dislikes strange men (ie utility or work men or the postman) in the house or on the property. If I happen to be out when my husband has a friend (male) over, my husband reports she is well behaved but once I come into the house, this guest is now treated as an enemy. She is fine with strangers who are women.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Blood work shows no abnormalities. As the other behaviorists have told us, the issue centers around me and nothing seems to be working. The last behaviorist recommended a shock collar...and I am hesitant to use it unless it's the last resort. Please help!!

My dog Junior was like this and he is getting better...I noticed the more obedience I did with him and showed him Iam in control the better he has gotten. I don't tighten on the lead anymore like I use to when people or dogs walked by. He felt that he was alpha over me and had to protect me, he was not like this with my hubby ever.....I started making him do alot of downs when out in public and around people in the house, this seemed to work alot. The dog feels more vulnerable in the down position and the dog has to put alot of trust into you when they are like this....I would work alot on obedience, downs and make her work for her food as well. Make her sit or laydown ect and wait till you say it is ok for her to eat.....

Obedience class worked great for us and we went onto Novice,agility and hoping to do flyball.

Good luck :)

Hi Dollface,
Was Junior this way in the house, too? What and how did you manage to show him you didn't need protecting? Scarlet went through puppy obedience as well as group obedience during our work with the first behaviorist. After working with two different behaviorists, she acknowledges that I am alpha in public (away from the house) and is pretty good. She's not protective in the car, however, even if it is just her and I. Strangers can stand near or pop their heads in and talk to me with no problem whatsoever.

Our main problem is the house and me at home with her. This is an issue we can't seem to shake. Apparently in Scarlet's mind I need to be protected against male friends, and those in uniform, at home.

Putting her in a down position while a male (other than my husband) is in the house or on our property, even with my husband in the house, seems to put Scarlet "on alert" even more. Treats offered are refused (always a bad sign). She will stay in her down position until the targetted person moves and then Scarlet lunges and becomes single-minded. She seemingly no longer hears or sees me or even my husband.

Fortunately, she is usually on leash and has not bitten anyone. But the uncontrollable barking, circling (if she happens to get away from us), and bearing of teeth is intolerable!

Help!!! This is a bad situation.

If you are near East Sussex at all, i know a good trainer/behaviourist with experience of Rhodesian Ridgebacks who would possibly be able to help :) PM me if you are interested.

I am wondering whether the people you have seen are genuine behaviourists as members of the reputable organisations wouldn't recommend a shock collar. I think you may need to put in place a programme tailored to Scarlet to help her realise that you are in charge and that she doesn't need to protect or guard. There are several ways of doing this, but you do need someone to see you and be hands on.

Lindsay
X

If you let me know what area you live in I may be able to point you in the right direction to an experienced trainer; reputable behaviourists would certainly NOT recommend a shock collar in the particular situation you describe; only see behaviourists that are accredited to a professional organisation like the APBC who will ONLY see cases via vet referral.

Please do not patronise pseudo behaviourists who have bought into a franchise and who have neither the knowledge nor experience to advise you wisely.

RRs, like many breeds, can be overly protective and over attached to a member of a family which is not good news.

HTH

Unfortunately we no longer live in the UK. The behaviorists we used are vet referred and accredited by the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) in the USA. I wish I could say that they did wonders...the shock collar really is not something I want to use...I just thought perhaps someone may have had similar experiences and can offer some words of wisdom

I am the chosen one to overprotect from stranger males in the house and on the property ONLY. Having said that, without the presence of strangers and on our own, Scarlet has never shown signs of dominating me.

Tohme, you are right. Definitely bad news. Scarlet is also well behaved in PUBLIC; on walks, in doggy parks, or in the car, she is perfect with just me around. Despite working with her for a good year and a bit, on two different "tailored" programs (including the use of the gentle leader), she has unfortunately had plenty of occasion to practice her undesirable behavior (the "hated" mailman does come everyday). And other than this (major) issue, she really is a good dog. It's so frustrating!

I am wondering now if working with a male trainer would help...both people we've worked with were women. And with both women, who were likely expecting the worse after telephone conversations, Scarlet greeted them shyly at the door. Scarlet never revealed her full and very scary force with these behaviorists. It seems most trainers/behaviorists in my area are women.

Any thoughts?

It sounds to me as though your dog may well benefit from desensitisation and counter conditioning exercises whereby you use a good behaviourist (in your case possibly a man) and start with the person at a distance where a response is not evoked; incremental steps are made very gradually whereby the dog is desensitised to the proximity of people. 

AT the same time you will need to change the association the dog has with others; ie your dog feels tense when a person approaches you at the moment, what we need to do is to change how the dog feels when this happens so that she actively looks forward to people approaching you.

so your person is say 20 metres a way, no reaction from dog, click and treat; proceed in incremental steps; if at any time the dog starts exhibiting guarding signs then retreat and start again where the dog was comfortable.

When a dog is comfortable with one person you then have to start right back at the beginning with a new person and also do the same in different locations; this will take some considerable time; after all she has been practising, learning and refining her current techniques for quite a while!  There are no quick fixes to this and each variable eg person, location, etc

You may be safest to tie the dog up to ensure total control and so you can relax.  The dog will give the cue when it it wags its tail,gets excited etc (only you know your dog) and shows signs of actively saying "yippee" when the previously threatening activity has now become a welcome one.

This is a bit concise but IMHO that is the approach your behaviourists should be taking if your dog is as described.

HTH

ps IMHO this behaviour has nothing to do with trying to dominate you or being alpha or anything else of that nature, you have become a valuable resource that she wants to protect.

Ah, i understand now about the trainers/behaviourists; members in the States can use all sorts of different methods. It's different in the UK :)

Good luck
Lindsay
X

I was going to reply to you when I had a spare minute but tohme has pretty much said everything I was going to say.  Avoid the triggers, desensitise and don't expect miracles. 

Thank you all, especially Tohme. One behaviourist did tell us to try something similar, but in the home. The happy and cooing "stranger" comes bearing treats. Scarlet doesn't take the treats. But we kept trying. Then we were recommended to another behaviourist who said we were putting our "stranger" in danger. A different program. A different set of exercises. Nothing has changed.

I will start looking for a male trainer/behaviourist.  In the meantime, Tohme, I will give your exercise a try (just need to gather up strange men! just kidding. Will call friends for friends Scarlet has never met before).  Is this an exercise to be tried off our property, away from the house?

Start where your dog is most comfortable; it sounds from your post that she is most protective when on her property so you may find some neutral territory that she does not consider her own most helpful.  Remember you are trying to keep the dog on an even keel, relaxed with no sign of tension; if you do it at home the odds will be stacked against you as this is where she has perfected her technique.............

Happy and cooing stranger bearing treats sounds as though it may work on paper but generally does not work in practice. If you practice happy and cooing stranger regime it needs to be altered so that the stranger NEVER approaches the dog, the dog approaches the stranger whilst the stranger makes no voice, body or eye contact; however this approach needs to be relevant to the dog and its underlying reason for its behaviour; generally better on shy dogs rather than protective ones.  Not sure it is the way to go in your particular case.............

regards

Tohme, thanks again. I will give it a try today at the local dog run...going at a different time and see if anyone is about to help out. Do you think protectiveness is a form of shyness? or lack of confidence? Just a thought since the cooing stranger exercise was one we did...

I would say what Tohme said sounds the right way to go

Good Luck :)

I would agree that it is very important that the dog is allowed to go at it's own pace, and so the dog must approach (eventually) the stranger rather than vice versa. If Scarlet feel she is going to be "forced" it will make her worse in all probability. It's very helpful too if the stranger is good with his/her body language, ie not staring etc and not faced straight on towards the dog. Dogs work a lot on body language (so check out yours, too ;) .

It might also be that Scarlet would be happier being taught that you are in control and have the right to make decisions about strangers on the property, but that she is not necessarily expected to greet them and be all over them ..... i was talking to someone the other day who helped a woman with the same problem and it was eventually decided to not actually get the dog to interact so much with the stranger as it got so stressed, but to go and lie in a special place and relax. Again this took a lot of training to achieve. So much would depend on the dog and owner, and the whole situation.

I think you have excellent advice from Tohme, but perhaps be aware that the ultimate goal may be acceptance rather than interaction? :) Just a thought.

Best wishes
Lindsay
X