by About four years ago we found a 10 month old rat terrier in a garbage
container. The dog is neutered, and we have had him ever since. For about
the past three years, he has had a very big attachment to my mother, and any
time any one else goes near her, he launches into a fit of barking and
aggressive behavior. He has bitten me, my brother, and my father several
times in the past, and lunged for us on countless occasions. The dog even
does it to our other dog, a one year old Dane mix. He does it whenever my
mom is in her bedroom, on the couch watching TV, or in the kitchen cooking
dinner. He follows her constantly the entire time she is home... as I write
this letter and she sits next to me, he is at her feet. I guess, for some
reason, he feels as though he must protect her. He will launch into barking
frenzies over the slightest things, such as me walking into the same room my
mom is in. We are not at all a *** family, my brother and I do
occasionally get in fights, however I can't see any reason why he would feel
a need to protect my mom. All of us have, at one time or another, lost our
patience and grabbed the dog, but once again... this only happens once in a
GREAT WHILE. If it helps to know, we also have an 11 year old female lab
mix, she is obviously the more *** of the three dogs. Although he will
growl and bark at the Dane mix, as I explained above, he NEVER shows
aggressive behavior towards the lab mix.
What we've tried: When it first started, my mom used to just push him
off the couch, etc.... telling him no. That didn't work, so then she started
pushing him away, telling him no, and squirting him with water from a spray
bottle. This worked to no avail as well, so we bought a "shock-collar" that
goes around his neck and shocks him when he barks. This has helped, but has
by no means cured the situation. He almost never barks when the collar is on
(although he will growl), but as soon as we take it off, he's back to his
normal self. We have used the collar for almost about 3 months, but we have
been inconsistent with it's use. We hate to leave it on him all day because
it will accidentally go off when he wrestles with the Dane mix.
Any help on this situation would be helpful. Is there anyone who has
gone through a similar experience? Is there anyone who knows about dog
psychology and can offer some help? We don't want to give this dog up,
because we know he will almost certainly end up being put down. However, our
home-lives have revolved around this dog for three years, and if we can't
correct this, we will have no choice.
Thank you for your time, and responses would be appreciated,
Sterling
P.S. As we sit writing this letter, I moved my foot slightly. The dog
barked, and tried to jump into my mom's lap.