Feeling a bit down

[*Theresa*]

We were round the neighbours last night to bring in the New Year and I had a bit of a horrid night to be honest. One of my neighbours told me the only dog they were scared of was Glen and then another backed her up and said he was a bit snappy  .

When I spoke to the 1st one she said it was his bark that frightened her and I have to admit he does have a really deep bark and does bark at her when she goes past with the wheelie bin, I would say that is more startling than frightening but I can not argue with her but as for him being snappy.....I can not work out where that came from at all as Glen has never bitten or even went to bite anyone in his life.

The second neighbour was very drunk so I didn't bother trying to find out what she meant as she was making very little sense but I would hate Glen to be tarred with a snappy brush...she said it in front of all my other neighbours too.

I am really upset about it as not sure what I can do and feel I have let him down somehow.

He does jump up at people which we are trying our best to stop and when he does he is such a happy lad that he is often doing it with his mouth open so maybe if they feel his mouth near them she think that he is snapping but he honestly isn't.

The only thing I can think to do is try our hardest to beat his jumping up habit. People tell us to knee him in the chest but I really don't want to go down that route. What should I do.

[MegandMolly]

I would have thought kneeing him in the chest would encourage him to snap!
Could he be trained to learn 'feet down' and 'quiet' or similar - clicker training might help?
Maybe Mark or someone else could advise.

[Penelope]

Aww Theresa, don't feel bad.
Maybe the best way is to let your neighbours see more of Glen so they realise he is not snappy, just being friendly?
We had problems with Josie jumping up and have discovered that you have to be totally firm and consistent and eventually she has learned.

In fact, my brother (who rarely has a good word to say about any of our dogs!) recently commented on how well behaved she is now!

I am sure someone will come along with some top tips, but don't ever feel you have let Glen down just cos of some stupid comments from people who don't know him!

[Mudmagnets]

Seems a bit of a shame they chose a party to upset you, I would not take too much notice to be honest,  one was evidently drunk and the others may well have been under the influence and wanting attention.

Let the New Year die down then ask the peeps individually, they may have well have forgotten they said anything in the first place. . I would think most dogs bark when they see people or dogs don't they??

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and try not to worry too much

[Jan/Billy]

aaww am so sorry Teresa 

Seems a bit of a shame they chose a party to upset you, I would not take too much notice to be honest,  one was evidently drunk and the others may well have been under the influence and wanting attention.

Let the New Year die down then ask the peeps individually, they may have well have forgotten they said anything in the first place. . I would think most dogs bark when they see people or dogs don't they??

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and try not to worry too much

Agree with smudgies mum. Leave it a day or so then go and see them and ask them what they meant. I'd say that if your Glen has snapped then you really need to be made aware of it and exactly when it happened and what was happening at the time. I'd expect like you that he hasn't snapped and they are just being stupid.

Are they dog owners themselves? I often find that non dog owners can often say the most stupid things and really haven't got a clue about how much upset their comments cause.

Don't worry, you know Glen better than anyone, if there was a big problem then you'd know 


I'd never do the kneeing in the chest thing, never ever. I'd just simply turn my back on him and freeze until all fourpaws are on the floor, then turn around again. He'll soon learn that to get your attention he needs all four paws to be on the floor.


try not to worry 

[PennyB]

are your dogs in the house when this is happening or outside and are they not with you when this is happening

[*Theresa*]

They are in the garden I assume as that is the only place they ever are without me. I know that is where they are when they bark at the one neighbour for definate but have no idea where they are when he was meant to have been snappy.....the way she said it to was like it was not a one off and was a regular thing  . I know if he has snapped I need to know so I wish if it had happened she told me at the time but I swear to you I have seen him react to other dogs.....very very rarely...possibly 5 times, but I have never ever seen or heard of him reacting in any way snappy to a human being....I have spent alot of time today checking with other people if they have ever seen anything but nothing 

[PennyB]

This can often be a problem with dogs as the fence can provide a territorial barrier --- is there any way of putting another barrier so they can't reach the fence (especially if he's close enough to be snappy) or may be not having them out there when your not there.

[Sarah.H]

I would be upset too if someone said something like that about Charlie (Millies a different story). Perhaps it would be best to tell her to ignore both the dogs in future so there is no chance of him 'snapping' at her  . My friend in works makes comments about Millie as she growled at her once when she was in the back of my van. I just make a joke of it now and call her killer dog when my friend is about, looks pretty silly when she's wearing a pink coat and is being cuddled by all the other staff  .

[ludo]

I'm sorry this is a bit long mods but hope it will be of help.  I can understand you being upset but try not to pay too much attention - your dog sounds like a very friendly one who just doesn't like bins   

I don't know how old your dog is but I think he can be trained that if he wants a fuss his four feet should be on the floor simply by not giving him the reward he is looking for when he jumps up.  I know you don't want to go down the knee in the chest route and I think that is very wise.  It would be unkind - the dog simply doesn't know that you would like him to do something different and is getting rewarded for jumping up at the moment so its a case of breaking the cycle.

Mark is a good trainer as we all know and I have no doubt he will have some good tips for you if he sees your post We have followed the APDT training advice re teaching Dax what we want from him re not jumping up and we have found it to be simple and clear for the dog 

He must have all 4 feet on the floor before he can be stroked - if he jumps up we turn our back on him and don't give him eye contact - move away slightly.  We have taught our nephews to do this and it works with children and adults. We took him to my MIL nursing home the other night and he was excellent with the old folk many of whom are frail - he sat at their feet to be stroked (he was on lead just in case) and was stroked and fussed to his hearts content    It was nice to see the older folk going down memory lane about their own dogs and seeing their eyes light up!

BUT He completely forgets when he is excited and it all goes out of the window until he realises that jumping up doesn't give him what he wants.   

Where we have found it difficult is that people find him so appealing that they often totally ignore us when we ask them not to stroke him until he sits down and encourage him to jump up  .  We know this is because he is irresistable  and wouldn't give anyone a hard time for it; but it gives him mixed messages.  But because we have persevered he is getting better and I've noticed with some people who don't rush in to stroke him his bum hits the deck at the speed of light    Then I ask the person to give him a food treat or to stroke him if they are willing to. 

I love clicker training but for this we didn't use clicker - we just gave him what he wanted when he picked up four feet on the floor was how to get it 

I am not an expert - I'm just like you - learning as I go but I do hope this will be of some help 

Good luck with him

Have a lovely New Year.  You know your dog and he sound great!   

[johndoran]

if bonnie is out in the back garden and she hears or sees the neighbours she allways has a little bark and run around but when she meets them she is so friendly to both sets of neighbours.have your neighbours actually met and fussed Glen? they might feel different if they do
But i wouldnt worry about it

[lisalh]

Aw Hun, Dont let them get you down, Any time I have been to your house Glen has run over to the fence and gate had a little hello bark then wagged his tail and waited for the attention the gorgeous one feels he rightly deserves.  I have never seen him be snappy with other dogs or people an I think your neighbours might be exaggerating (easily done with a drink in them) and after you have let it die down a little in your own mind try speaking to them-if you have other doggy minded neighbours you can use for back up use them or give me a call ( I am more than happy to character reference the wee man xxxx)