[Dailydrool] Aggression, collars

[Jane Hay]

First, Debbie, thank doG the DH wasn't hurt badly in the car crash! What a
year it has been for your family! 2013 has to get better for you.

We also experienced one of the hounds jaws getting caught in a collar when
they were playing. Scared the crap out of me and the collars immediately
came off. However, I have Ginger who has aggression issues and we have to
be able to grab her on occasion so her collar went back on but no one else
usually has a collar on. I can't encourage all of you enough to make sure
your hounds are microchipped. The Houndettes wear their collars with their
tags when we're out and about as a back up but they are all microchipped.

Terry, Ginger was with us for almost a year and her aggression escalated to
the point that we had to get a trainer (Dawn Gardner who is also on this
list) involved. Long story short, Ginger is extremely food aggressive and
very possessive of anything she perceives is hers. Toys, the person she's
sitting with, furniture....anything that she thinks she can claim. Dawn
made some recommendations that we still follow even now three years after
she observed Ginger and it has made an incredible difference in her
behavior. First, I would strongly urge you to get a trainer involved.
Preferably someone like Dawn who is very familiar with basset hounds and
whose training methods are based on positive reinforcement, not dominance.
A couple of things that Dawn told us to do is to keep Ginger down off the
furniture, beds, etc. and to consistently crate her when we aren't home and
at night. Even though she was almost three at the time, we started crating
her and still do three years later. We had already figured out the food
issues and Ginger is leashed on one side of the kitchen for her meals while
everyone else eats on the other side. She is never allowed in the kitchen
when I'm doing anything with food, ours or theirs. Dawn's training method
is a positive reinforcement method which is an excellent fit (in my
opinion) for bassets and a good fit for us. The whole dominating thing is
just not for the DH and I. Plus, it works! We did everything that Dawn told
us to do consistently and it was remarkable how quickly we started seeing a
difference in Ginger. She certainly isn't perfect and will always have
aggression issues but the quality of her aggression with our hounds and
mastiffs here at home isn't as explosive or as vicious as it used to be.
Unfortunately, we've recently had to make the decision to not foster
for BaRCSE any longer because Ginger is vicious with any strange dogs that
we bring home and we've decided not to risk having another dog getting hurt
because of her. We really paid attention to what gets her going and now we
know what her triggers are so we can generally prevent an incident before
it even starts. We don't even try to take her to dog parks, pet stores
or into any situations where she'll be exposed to strange dogs. She is
beyond being "socialized" and those situations are just too much for her.
We're also very cautious with her when she's around our small grandkids.
She's allowed to sniff and say hello but, because we know how vicious she
can be with dogs over food and toys, we generally gate her away from the
small kids just to be safe. Ginger has NEVER been aggressive with a person
but who knows what a dogs perception of small children is so we'd rather be
safe than sorry. We do keep spray bottles all over the house because she
hates getting sprayed with cold water and being doused with cold water will
generally take her attention away from something that she is focused on.
She also always has her collar on so we can grab her if we have to. I do
think its a good thing to take your dog to your vet to make sure there
isn't something medically going on. We did the same thing with Ginger but I
have a feeling that you're going to find that your hound's bad behavior
isn't a medical issue. Full anal glands certainly need to be tended to but
I don't think that a dog will become aggressive because of that unless the
glands are grossly infected and the dog is really sick because of it.
Bottom line, once you know there isn't a medical issue for the behavior,
get a trainer involved if at all possible. Dawn came to our home so she
could observe Ginger in her normal surroundings. I think it's really
beneficial for a trainer to see the dog in its home so they can make
suggestions based on what you're dealing with within your personal setting.
Having an aggressive hound in the house is quite a challenge but there
definitely are ways to work with a hound who has issues. Good luck!

The Houndettes are sending heart healing and get well drool to all in need.

Jane & the Houndettes
Jersey, Shadow, Suzy & Ginger
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