Jealousy?

[CockersIndie]

Sorry ive been off the radar a bit Recently- had a hectic few weeks! I do however want to pick everyone's brilliant brains. For all her good points, indie has got an awful jealous side. I've stopped saying hello to other dogs because she'll tell them off! And also, when walking with either of her 'friends' (ie. dogs she knows and plays with regularly) she'll sometimes stop her friend and the other dog playing by putting herself between them- and then once the second dog has gone, bark madly at her friend. Other times she'll quite happily play with the other dog and ignore her friend for a while. One time, we walked with a friend if mine for the first time, they played beautifully off lead, had a great time, walked on lead together to a cafe and then when the dogs owner came back- he got excited (and jumped up at his owner) and indie went mad, really barked and half growled etc. it's just odd. I don't see her as a confident dog anymore, fearful- but very defensive- so she'll assert herself.

I'm not really sure What to do :s she's certainly tenacious and feisty in character. She was attacked on-lead when she was younger but I don't see at as stemming into this- it seems to be possessive. I don't know what it is, but any advice would be fab. for all who don't know, she's 13 month entire bitch (not had a season yet).

Sorry for the long post

[dottysmum]

It seems like anxious behaviour to me, putting herself between 2 dogs playing is a clear calming signal, she is trying to calm the situation because she feels uncomfortable, she is doing the same thing when she barks at her excitable friend but in a less 'sensible' way. Try to avoid situations where she can feel overwhelmed and work on her confidence so she feels better able to cope. I sympathise as one of my girls is like this but much worse, she is incredibly anxious and will react aggressively if she feels threatened by other dogs. Its a long hard road building her confidence up but little by little we are making progress. Good luck with your baby :-)

[CockersIndie]

thank you for your reply. yes i can see that it could be her being uncomfortable definitely- and it isn't with every dog so that makes me think it's just when she's unsure of someone- but then the type and size of dog she is uncomfortable with doesn't seem consistent (so i guess it's whatever 'vibes' theyre giving off) which i guess is a good thing (in that she's not frightened of a particular size or breed of dog) but difficult (although in her head, rational!)

how do i go about building this confidence then? i always praise with my voice a good, friendly interaction... thank you again. Kate and Indie

[twiceover2]

A dog putting itself between you and another dog can also be the dog's way of protecting you.  Rather than being jealous of the other dog, Indie may think her role is to stop the other dog hurting you. and her friend.  When your friend's dog jumped up at him, she may have been warning off what she saw as an attack on your friend.  This would fit with your description of her being possessive.  I am only guessing from what you have said, but if you think this might be the case, then you need to take this role away from Indie, so she doesn't feel it is her job to protect everyone.  This means when another dog approaches you take charge by putting Indie into a sit and stepping forwards, not directly in front of her to block her view, but just a step forward to greet the other dog.

[dottysmum]

Confidence building is a lengthy process and there is no quick fix (if there is I wish someone would tell me!)I generally make a point of rewarding any behaviour that isn't anxious behaviour, if there is a situation were she may be uncomfortable I keep my distance for a while and watch for displacement behaviour such as looking away from the perceived threat , sniffing the ground and I reward it immediately ( I use a clicker). I also do a lot of attention tasks with her, teaching her to focus on me instead of looking around for things to be afraid of, she knows the 'watch me' command and 'touch' so I can distract her if I feel she may go above threshold.

[elaine.e]

Confidence building is a lengthy process and there is no quick fix (if there is I wish someone would tell me!)I generally make a point of rewarding any behaviour that isn't anxious behaviour, if there is a situation were she may be uncomfortable I keep my distance for a while and watch for displacement behaviour such as looking away from the perceived threat , sniffing the ground and I reward it immediately ( I use a clicker). I also do a lot of attention tasks with her, teaching her to focus on me instead of looking around for things to be afraid of, she knows the 'watch me' command and 'touch' so I can distract her if I feel she may go above threshold.

That's really good advice dottysmum . It's what I try to do with Louis to help build up his confidence around other dogs and it's really helping him when we're out on walks.

[dottysmum]

Confidence building is a lengthy process and there is no quick fix (if there is I wish someone would tell me!)I generally make a point of rewarding any behaviour that isn't anxious behaviour, if there is a situation were she may be uncomfortable I keep my distance for a while and watch for displacement behaviour such as looking away from the perceived threat , sniffing the ground and I reward it immediately ( I use a clicker). I also do a lot of attention tasks with her, teaching her to focus on me instead of looking around for things to be afraid of, she knows the 'watch me' command and 'touch' so I can distract her if I feel she may go above threshold.

That's really good advice dottysmum . It's what I try to do with Louis to help build up his confidence around other dogs and it's really helping him when we're out on walks.

It really helps  that my girl is food orientated and she is a clever little thing, she caught on very quickly what I was asking of her and I found she was giving me a 'watch' or 'touch' when she felt uneasy on a walk before I had even asked, it's hard keeping one step ahead but so rewarding to see them progress and learn to relax 

[CockersIndie]

Thank you!! I'm going to do as much of rewarding confident behaviour and persevere

[dottysmum]

I wish you lots of luck, it's a lovely feeling seeing them grow in confidence :-)

[CockersIndie]

so after speaking to a variety of people and receiving advice, i've put this behaviour down to her being anxious. So i've been trying to improve her confidence with 'watch' and 'find it' (treat or ball in cover- she loves this) when meeting/seeing new dogs - she has tended to bark/stop dead etc when meeting new dogs for the first time and been altogether a bit nervous. so im hoping once she feels more confident off lead with new dogs her on-lead will improve too. The other day i was able to keep her calm when a very boisterous noisy dog walked passed with a nice game of 'find it'- every time she put her head up and worried, i asked her to 'find it' again and redirected her and that worked really well. Today was a fantastic day though, we did lots of 'watch' on the walk and then also whilst 6 strange dogs walked passed (at a fair distance but still in eyesight, very happy with her then). And then we were walking back to the car where lots of people walk up and down with dogs. So i waited for a quiet bit so as not to expose her to anything too much after a good walk (with watch etc to keep her occupied) and she did really well. Put her on her lead and walked far enough behind about 5 dogs- she didn't react at all so really proud of her (sometimes she'd be pulling hard on the lead desperate to check them out and be quite frantic). And then! an offlead dog was milling around behind her (came out of nowhere) and she only checked back twice- with no growling or worries (just more of -who are you). so all very happy! and then at the vets (first year booster) we met a nervous staffie in the waiting room, and where she possibly could've kicked off before, she didnt only once i started paying (groan) did she bark once, but because the dog was nervous anyway, i put her away in the car before carrying on paying.

wow bit of an essay there! sorry guys. just really pleased with how she's getting on at the moment and we have to hold on to the little successes don't we! bit of a ramble but just very excited at these little positives!

[elaine.e]

Well done both of you and don't worry about the essay, it's great to be able to share your success with everyone.

I feel the same when Louis and I achieve peaceful meetings with other dogs. We have setbacks sometimes, but I just have to pick myself up from them and keep positive for Louis.

[8 Hairy Feet]

Yay little improvements are great, that's
what gets you both where you want to be.
With Ellie it took a long time for her to
gain her confidence and be able to be calm
around strange (mostly big) dogs, now you
wouldn't know This came home to
me only a couple of weeks ago when she
quite happily greeted with a huge Rottweiler
and they spent some minutes interacting
nicely.... how far she has come
Teeny tiny steps get you there eventually
steffxxx

[Snoo]

What a lovely update! Keep up the good work, it sounds like you are doing really well.

[Sarah.H]

Don't belittle your achievements 

Indie is lucky to have such a dedicated owner 

[bracken]

Are you showing Indie Kate ?