Need some advice...

[StarFox]

I realy need some advice about what to do with Zebra. He has gotten realy bad the last few weeks. He is a very good dog about 90% of the time but lately he had been misbehaving. He has been very posessive with certain items. THis happend twice today the last time was just a few mins ago. what he does is he gets a towel, sock , underwhere or anything that dosn't belong to him but belongs to me or my mom. Just a few mins ago was the worst I have ever seen him. He got the wrist brace that my mom whears at night and pulled it off the table because it was on the edge. He then ran under the kitchen table and put his head on it. When we reach for it he growels. He won't come out from under the table at all, no matter what. We tried to give him cheese, liver treats, toys, but nothing seems to work. This time my dad woke up and he was PISSED off! he got this long metal stick and tried to get the wrist brace from him but Zebra was holding it in his mouth and he was growling. This was the worst I've ever seen him. I knew that if anyone were to get close to him or try to get it away from him he would attack. I mean he would have litteraly taken off my hand if I tried to touch him. Every time he growled I would squirt him with water thinking that that may stop him but it didn't. I realy don't know what to do anymore. and my parents are ready to give him up or put him down. I know that they don't trust him but after tonight I don't even know if I trust him. I don't know how to break him of this horrible habbit. Has anyone had this problem before?? I would realy appreciate some advice.

Oh and before anyone says that he isn't trained or anything. He is trained, he comes when called, sits, stays, shakes, but for some reason eveytime he is under the kitchen table he ignores me. And he never sleeps on my bed, and he gets his food AFTER everyone eats (although my parents feed him food off the table even though I tell them not too). Zebra never goes into a room before me. I can't figure out what his problem is. And if he does this again I know my parents are going to make me get rid of him. Oh by the way he is a big dog and wheighs 75 lbs so it's not like i can just grab him by the colar or anything. I was thinking about blocking the way underneithe the table by I know my parents won't let me do that. And I was also thinking about keeping him on a leash 24/7 in case he gets like this again. the best way I can describe him acting like this is that he goes Pshyco and is just not himself, his ears go back and his eyes get real big. I don't know if he was abused in the past or if that would make a difference in the way we train him now. So can anyone help me with this problem. (oh and I'm calling our trainer tomarrow and i'm going to ask her if she can come over and help us).

Thanks

[mouseatthebusstop]

HOW OLD IS HE? IS HE IN PUBITY
DID YOU TRAIN HIM YOUR SELF?
DID HE GO TO CLASSES?
IF YOU WENT TO CLASSES TAKE HIM BACK HE NEEDS TO LEARN THE" LEAVE IT COMMAND"

[Pennynewf]

The Book People Pooches and Problems written by one of the Monks of New Skete is fantastic for people have troubles with their dogs.
i also would go back to obedience classes.
we go all the time, even with our 8 1/2 year old newf, it is good for refresher and your dog gets one on one attention that he may be craving.
the attentione he may be craving is different from just that being in the house.

[imported_Cassie]

I had the same problem with my Rottweiler, she would get an object and gaurd it! I got a good animal behaviorist and attended aggression seminars...what they had me do with her is teach her "off" & "take it" they had me hold a treat under my foot, show it to my dog and say "off' every time she lunged for it I would put my foot over the treat and say off...they had me do this until she stopped trying to get it (my dog was persistant and kept at it for 1/2 hour!!!) when she finally looked away or sat down...then I picked it up and handed it to her and said take it...my Rottie caught on real quick...I started doing this with her bones also, before I gave her a bone, or any treat I make her sit...or lay down...once she completes the desired task then I give her the bone...while she was in the middle of chewing a real juicy bone...I would come up and say "off" she would then stop chewing I would take it away, for a couple of seconds...then I would hold it and say take it...I found this helped me...but, then again all dogs are individuals and what worked for me may not work for you...the whole family has to take part in this training...
Another thing I did with my Rottie, is before I fed her I made sure she saw me or whomever else was preparing her meal...I made a big deal of it..then I made her sit or lay down before giving the meal to her...she learned that the food wasnt just falling from the sky into her bowl.
As for your dog stealing items from the house, you could try the "off" and just take it from the dog...and give him a bone or one of "his" toys in return. When you mentioned your dog goes under the table and guards, it sounds like he has made this his own personal den...
I'm sure some one else will be able to offer you much better advice...My dog was a rescue dog also, and had every behavior problem going! she is great now, it took alot of patience and repetitive training...she was quick to catch on....
I wish you the best of luck, and hopefully you can find a great Behaviorist who can work with your dog as an individual...you are taking the right approach by contacting a trainer.
Your dog has to learn that by giving up a personal item of yours he will get a better treat in return...and that food, treats and play are earned.

[StarFox]

Zebra is almost 11 months old and I think he is in his "teen" stage. He's also been to training classes and did great in all of them. But I called our trainer (she is realy good!) and starting next week we are going to start one on one training and she is going to come to our house to help. We were going to wait till the advance class starts to take him to training again but I realized that we need help with him NOW! The strage thing is that he is not posessive w/ his food or his toys or anything else. I can stick my hand in his food bowl and push his head away and he lets me do it. It's just with objects he knows he's not suppose to have is when he gets all weird about it. We've started to call him our Jeckel and Hyde dog. He's good one min and a devil the next. :roll:

[Malamum]

I have had Indy do the same thing. Never any problem with his food bowl or toys but once in a while if he has something he is not supposed to have he will give a little growl when I try to take it off him.

Now I know my dog and know he won't bite. He is testing me to see what he can get away with. As soon as he growls, without a seconds hesitation I reef what ever he has out of his mouth and yell "Don't you DARE growl at me" in the meanest voice I can manage. I then take the object away and ignore him for a while. He knows he is in trouble, his ears go down, hangs his head and the then comes sooking as if to say I'm sorry :roll:
He has done this probably about 2 or 3 times with a fair bit of time in between. Again he is testing me, once he gets in trouble he doesn't dare try it again for ages and I have no problem taking forbidden objects from him.

PS - what breed is Zebra again? Some breeds are more prone to dominance and will try to test you.

The one on one training is an excellent idea. However you can't let him get away with growling. As soon as it gets him the desired result i.e. he gets to keep what he has got, then he will try it again and again.

[Guest roo]

Well, dont give up on him just yet.

He is trying it on and at the moment and he is winning.
Come down on him like a ton of bricks, be firm but fair.

extra training is a good idea.
He must learn to respect you, and at present he knows you are unsure
of him, so he is winning this battle of will.
Dont try to bribe him with treats and things.
Make him do as he is told,
if, when you tell him he does respond in any way that is unacceptable
let him know.
Try to talk to your dad about poking around with long metal poles :o
I always reccomend keeping a diary of things, circumstances around the event etc, often things come to light.

good luck

[StarFox]

Zebra is a German Sheapard mix...we think that he is part Golden Retriver and maybe some Pit Bull becasue of the way his jaw structure is. But we will never be sure because we adopted him and even the humane society and vet don't know what he is.

Roo- There is NO WAY I'm gunna give up on him. He is the one thing that has truly made my life meaningfull and I refuse to let him down. Plus he is my baby and I love him too much....even though he gives me lots of trouble :)

I was thinking about just taking the stuff away from him but I honesty don't know if he would bite me. I would put my money on it that he would. So for right now I think i'm going to go with the intense training. And today I made some rules that my parents have to follow when around him. like no more giving him food off the table when he beggs for it. No more rough play(my dad is the only one that does this). A comand before he gets any treat, be it a toy or food. I think maybe some of his behavior problems come directly from everyone in the house having differnt opinions about how to train Zebra.

Oh and I think last night when my dad was trying to get the wrist brace away from him w/ the metal stick wich had claw thingys on the end (like in thoes lame infomercials where they have that thing called the Gopher). I think it might have reminded Zebra of the Control Stick that the pound captured him with. I think it scared him. :( But I yelled at my dad after that. So hopefully with training and some education on my part eveything will be ok. :D