Tempermental 2 1/2 Year-old EM - Need Guidance!

[iowa98]

Hello-

We adopted our purebred EM from a military family about a year ago now and he was (and is) the sweetest thing. However, he can be very tempermental, lunging at males as we walk, and snapping at people in our house. He hasn't bit anyone yet, but I'm nervous about this behavior as he is 140lbs. He's graduated from Dog to Human Aggression class, but he still occassionally exibits this behavior. Would appreciate any recommendations on how to break him of this as we love him dearly!

 

[voidecho]

Can't help you, but I'm sure someone here can. Good luck.

 

[Smokeycat]

That sounds like unrestrained mastiff behavior to me. There are others on here much more experienced than I am. I am on my first EM and so far he seems to be soft tempered. What I would do, and others feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, would be to make sure that he has a good grasp of his obedience skills. Skills such as watch me/focus, sit and come have proven to be helpful for me when something distracts my dogs when out walking, one get way too excited by skateboards. When you notice a man walking towards you get him to sit and pay attention to you until the man has passed praising the entire time that he stays put and continues to look at you. I let Jiggers look at skateboard but he needs to keep his butt planted and look back at me if I call his name. Once he gets the whole sit and behave down I'll start walking with him still paying attention to me while glancing at the passing skateboarder.
In terms of inside the house I think you need to teach him that if your there you get to decide who comes in. Step 1 is to make sure that everybody knocks or rings the bell and waits to be let in. Once you have let them in I'd suggest a word/phrase that lets him know that this person is ok. I'm working on a place command with my 2 in hopes that I will eventually be able to answer the door without being rushed.

 

[iowa98]

Smokey, that is very helpful, thank you! Just scary to feel that I have no control over Bruno!

 

[Smokeycat]

Your welcome.

 

[musicdeb]

I've had the same trouble with Titan lunging at men and dogs. There are a number of posts about lunging. Number one thing you can do is to teach him to focus/look at me instead of the distraction.

geisthexe (Deb) has posted the best way to teach this. Check out her profile and her posts. She has posted a video as to how to teach them focus/look at me.

Keep us posted on the pup's progress.

 

[DennasMom]

We're also working on a 'place' command. And, we have a babygate up (still) so we can contain Denna in the living room as we open the door (4 feet away). She knows to sit and wait behind the gate before anyone will give her attention. Once the gate is open, all bets are off.... if she gets too excited about the guest, she gets sent outside.

What did they tell you to do in the class you took? I'd be curious.