The reason I was called to meet and help Hugo was his aggression to dogs on walks. They now feel they can’t walk him anymore.
However, I soon realised that this was just one symptom of a much wider issue than being aggressive to dogs on walks. The six-year-old Jack Russell’s general anxiety and stress levels.
Consistency
He lives with two young ladies who each do things very differently. One gives him firm boundaries and carries discipline a bit too far in my mind. The other lady, who he actually belongs to, is very soft with him. She does just what he wants whenever he wants. She encourages his general excitement with wild greetings and reinforcing behaviours like jumping up on people, lots of barking for attention and to get what he wants and so on.
Drinking from the same water bowl
Like with many people I go to, some of it’s about getting the people to do things the same way – drink from the same water bowl so to speak, and consistency.
One lady pushes him off the sofa and the other encourages him up. One will entice him to give up stolen items where the other will force things off him then tap him on the nose for being naughty and has been bitten in the process.
Working on calmness and confidence
This little dog needs to be a lot calmer at home before he can have sufficient self-control when encountering other dogs. They will work hard on loose lead walking around the house and garden, and lots of trips down the garden path and no further. They will stand still while he does as much sniffing as he wants. If done many times, the outside world will become less overwhelming and then they can gradually start to go further.
I am trying something a bit different with the manic jumping up and barking, and this is for the sake of his lady owner as well as the dog. I would usually say that from now on he must know that barking and jumping up get no attention at all where feet on the floor and no barking get especially nice stuff.
However, I think they may have to wait too long and meanwhile the frustration could lead to Hugo becoming even more stressed. Because he tugs at her heartstrings, the lady herself will not be able to outlast him. Consequently I suggest they work on it in stages.
When he’s jumping and barking at the back door to be let out, instead of opening it immediately as they normally would, I suggest they wait for a slight improvement – feet briefly on the floor or a break in the barking, before opening the door. They can also use ‘Yes’ and food to mark those moments.
When he’s used to that, they can wait till his feet are firmly on the floor even if still barking, then they can wait for a second of quiet also….and so on.
It will be the same when the lady comes home. Instead of the rapturous and frenzied greeting he gives her and to which she responds in a similar manner, she can hold back for just a second initially. Then gradually over time, day by day, wait for and reward a bit more calm, until Hugo has better control of himself and can greet quietly with feet on the floor. This way the lady, too, will be able to learn different behaviour!
