The Last Straw with Ellie! Rant/vent

I wonder if it did have some thing to do with the weather since she has been better lately. I am sure she is stressed out, but does not excuse her biting. Hope you can find a solution for her. Hope your hubby is okay. That is so very scary for you dealing with tornado's. We have hurricanes down here but they are nothing compared to the tornado's - still scary.
Chris I can't believe Layla bit Brad!!!!
 
I know this is very upsetting,but givin the facts of the horrifc weather ya'll have had,could it be possible that this really has spooked her some.

I am sure she feels the tension,and anxiety of everyone in town.The air is differant,the differant smells of wreakage,they know something is wrong.

In a positive setting,with no weather problems,if she had bit your hubby out of now where,and with not being provoked or scared,I think I would have done just as Chris suggested. And would have taken a firm hold on her,with a very sharp NO,and givin her a wake up call.

I know in Earnhardt's almost 7 years of life,he has been givin a wake up call a few times,and he was at the time 90plus pounds. It did'nt stop me,and he knows who is boss here.I don't nor would I tolerate any agression,from any dog,even if my own.

But the circumstances are so upsetting.I really do think she is scared.
 
OntarioSheltie said:
I'm so sorry Lahree, I can't begin to imagine your frustration. I know how much time and effort you've put into her training and you've had limited success. Believe me, its not from your lack of effort.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it to you, but have you considered medicating her using either natural medicine or conventional medicine? It seems to me that you've exhausted pretty much all of your options, training wise.
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It sounds like Ellie may have really high anxiety levels, esp if you are having limited success with retraining.

I agree with Melissa that you should consider medication. If she has a chemical imbalance there is no amount of training that will help her, and its sad if she has to live her life in a heightened state of anxiety - both within herself and within the family. Definately have a chat with the vet.
 
Well, one thing I am sure of is that she was very excited when we were walking. It was a totally different feeling in the air for sure. She was acting like she had never been on a leash before. When we walked behind the fence line, two dogs came out to bark at her from their fenced yard. Good thing I had tight hold of her leash as she was terrified and tried desperately to get away. She has always handled this type of situation before as fear/aggression--i.e., barking , lunging and growling at fenced dogs who dared to bark at her. This time, it was pure fure. I could easily see the difference.

That may have been a reason to be more understanding of the first bite, but she bit Richard in the security of her own house the second time. Like I said in my first post, I think she thought she wasn't going to be able to go with us and so she was mad OR she tried to stop Richard from leaving. Either way, she bit him hard!

Here's the dilema for me. How do you know if it is right to medicate your dog? How do I know that I really have done everything for her. How do I know I have done the RIGHT things for her? What if it's MY fault and not her that she is anxious? Is she really anxious or is she alpha and I just can't control an alpha dog? Is she anxious/agressive/fearful because of something I am doing or not doing? I always wonder if she would be different with a person who is really experienced with difficult dogs. My other two Shelties were SOOOOOOOOOOOO easy! I had Shelties spanning 30 years! I thought a third one would be no sweat. Boy, was I WRONG!
 
Ellie is what she is, you can not change her being anxious dog with poor impulse controls. You might be able to adjust it some but genetically she is high strung dog and no amount of training going to eliminate it completely.
Dogs bite, you put Ellie in very stressful situation for her, when things have changed overnight, lots of stress coming out of everything and everyone. Ellie lashed out as she is terrified from the stress everyone exudes " Danger, will robinson, danger"... if you were thinking you would have put her in the crate with limited noises among her favorite things, limit input of all stressors, give her biggest raw chewy bone to enjoy and let her be.
I do not think you need a behaviorist consult. Good thing you did not respond to her aggression with your own, it would be the worst. Ellie had a reason for acting as she does, whether you understand it or not. Don't take her aggression personally but take it seriously as important communication from her.
 
SheltieChe said:
.... if you were thinking you would have put her in the crate with limited noises among her favorite things, limit input of all stressors, give her biggest raw chewy bone to enjoy and let her be.
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See? This is what make me worried about owning Ellie. I made a bad choice by taking her out for a walk. Sigh.
 
I think you are doing great by putting a lot of thoughtfulness into the process. Living with Ellie teaches you to be a better human and grow as dog owner/ trainer. Sure it is traumatic for you but how frustrating it was for Ellie, that she felt need to escalate her behavior in order to make the message clear.
 
SheltieChe said:
I think you are doing great by putting a lot of thoughtfulness into the process. Living with Ellie teaches you to be a better human and grow as dog owner/ trainer. Sure it is traumatic for you but how frustrating it was for Ellie, that she felt need to escalate her behavior in order to make the message clear.
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OMG, do you think Ellie bit the second time because she was afraid about GOING out again??
 
That could very well be true - she didnt want to go out again.

The only way you can really tell if medication will work is to try it and monitor her behaviour. Have a chat with your vet because they would see this a lot.

I have a couple of friends who have dogs on anxiety medication and it has made a big impact on how happy and friendly the dogs are. They still had to train out the learnt bad behaviours, but it makes it much easier.

Someone (human) close to me went on anti-depressants a while ago and said to me she wasted 10yrs of her life being anxious and depressed when she could have just taken an AD to balance things up and enjoy life. So I definately support trying medication to improve quality of life.
 
Having been through a tornado, I know the stress it caused me. My border collie/golden retriever cross sensed the tornado coming the day it hit and was acting very unusual for her - very upset, pacing, trying to get me to do something I couldn't figure out. She was never the same after - very edgy, nervous, etc. I blame the tornado. I know it affected me psychologically. I can only imagine how it would have affected Ellie, knowing she has had problems in the past. You will gradually have to work her back up to trusting the neighbourhood again. Just be careful with thunderstorms and wind for the next while with her - she will react.
 
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