What's up with Jojo? :(He has not exactly been the most obedient dog but his behaviour has been quite `ok' lately (besides dashing outside at times and other minor bad habits here and there).
However, I really don't know what's wrong with him tonite!
I had spent time with him while watching TV earlier.. stroking him and removing some hard skin flakes near his neck..
Maybe it was triggered by the fireworks (but it stopped soon). He suddenly ran upstairs into my room and went into the bathroom and started scrambling for things to chew like what he used to do!
From past experience, it was no way that I could coax him out and using force would be worst! I could only `trick' him to come out.
I pretended to want to bring both him and Jelly for a walk. Jelly unsuspectingly became part of my ploy too but even when I tried gently to tie the leash to Jojo's collar, he turned violent and wanted to bite me! His teeth scratched my hand! I was so upset that I almost cried in front of him!
So I took Jelly out of the gate knowing that Jojo would follow. Yep, he did move and went to look for us.. and when he was out in the garden, I asked mom to quickly close both the gate and the door!
I thought that was the end of the drama. But less than an hour later (with no fireworks nor any aggrevating factor) he did it again! When I let Jelly out to pee, he just dashed inside the house, ran upstairs and parked himself in my bathroom under the basin (his territory)
It was even harder to get him out this time and the only trick was the same one. He was a bit slower to respond but he still came out. But then, he ran away into the streets!!
Argh!! I was furious and decided I had to punish him. So when he was waiting to come in the gate, I let him and took the leash into the garden and called him gently. Apprehensive, he came to me. I put the leash on him and he probably thought I was bringing him for a walk again..
Instead, I tied his leash to a water-tap just outside our house, as punishment.
He barked but not for long, probably knowing he did something wrong(?) Sigh, I don't know what I did was right or wrong.. I know hitting him would produce adverse effect. But he needs to be punished.
I will bring him in when I finish this post. Sigh.
2 comments:
I'm not sure if this can help you, but have you heard of Cesar Millan? His book, Cesar's Way (available at Borders and Kino), is about problematic dogs and what needs to be done to overcome the problems. He even lists the types of problems: biting, anxiety/seperation anxiety etc.
It's not a dog training manual but a dog psychology book.
Although he emphasises that it's not a 'how to' book, the book and his series really helped me to relate with my dog. For the longest time, my dog will only walk in front of me. No matter what I did, I couldn't get him to walk beside me. But after watching some of his programmes (he has a tv series called The Dog Whisperer which I downloaded) and I applied some of the principles he taught, my dog now walks beside and behind me! I don't know how to tell u what a miracle that is!
He seems happier too.
But in Jojo's case, you may need to consult a dog trainer before you apply any of Cesar's principles (he always says that in his book). But the book helps you understand why Jojo is behaving this way.
After reading what Jojo is doing, I believe it's because he has a lot of pent up energy and that he needs you to be a more firm pack leader ...
when a dog starts biting, it's time to take it seriously.
Do get the book, I think it helps immensely.
Here's some links you may find helpful:
http://blogs5.nationalgeographic.com/channel/blog/dogwhisperer/
http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com/
Anyway, good luck with Jojo!
Ruth: Thanks a lot for your feedback! Will check out the book and the links. Yeah, think i also need to change some of my tactics and retrain two dogs properly...
btw, Jojo's has been nuetered (as u'd have read) hope this would also help.
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