StarFox Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Well we have been having some agressive behaviour problems with Zebra the last few days. Sunday he was in his crate and my brother was talking to him and went to pet his nose threw the cage and he snapped at my brother. My brother imidiatly said "bad! No!" and Zebra just lowered his head and that was that. Now my brother has pet him many times this past week and a half threw the cage so I thought zebra was just rather grumpy. Yesturday my mom let him out of his crate and let him lie in front of the stairs in my room (his cage is in my room). Well my mom was sitting on the stairs petting hiim and he snapped at her hand. My mom said "No" and kept petting him. Today zebra groweled at me when I went to put his cone back on. And just right now my mom took him out again and he started to growel at her but his tail was wagging. Then he just kept stairing her down and groweled. I keep telling my mom not to pet him when he is nasty like that but she INSISTS and pets his head! I always tell her that one day he is going to growl and just bite her, his growling is a warning and I don't think she understands that. He has not been the same happy dog ever since we put him in that awful crate. Could that be why he is acting all agressive with us? I don't think he is in allot of pain because I give him his pain meds every day. His tail is never up anymore, not even when I let him out to go the bathroom. He constantly gives me this funny look that says "I will bite you"...he use to have this look when he was a pup but I thought we got over all his agressive behaviour! This is so frusterating! By the way sorry about all the spelling mistakes, It's 2:30am here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pei obssessed Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Starfox, I think the operation Zebra went through is probably the cause--not necessairly because of the pain (as you say, he's taking pain meds), but because of the stress. For a young, active dog, it must be hell to be crated all the time... I know when Hippo was spayed she was pretty psychotic--and that's just from not excersing a few days. Also pain medication can have side effects and mess up your head to a certain extent (that's why I hate to take drugs--they have weird side effects). That's my little explanation. Good luck with him, Starfox.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Kat Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Star, he sounds bored! If he isn't licking at his wound then scrap the elizabethan collar. Most dogs are very good and don't bother too much with their wounds. The collar just adds to frustration as you can imagine from what we have seen in work. Jolly Zebra along and make sure he is stimulated loads with stuffed kongs, roasted dog bones etc. Also I know you have been told to crate him, but let him lie quietly with you in your room or in the living room while watching tv. Keep his spirits up :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Star, I would have the vet check him over. There may be some underlying cause of the sudden aggression. It may be nothing, he may just be cranky from the collar, the cage and little exercise, but better safe then sorry. There may be some pain he cant tell you about... And definitely tell your mom to stop petting him when he growls, that's only reinforcing his bad behavior. A stern NO!!! and then turn around and ignore him completely, so he doesnt feel gratified with his growl. Tell her to stop doing whatever it was and just leave him on his own. good luck!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseatthebusstop Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 nothing to add you have already had the best advise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malamum Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 I'm a little torn between telling your Mum to stop patting him or to continue doing so. Courtnek is right - normally patting a dog after it exhibits bad behaviour gives the message that you are rewarding the bad behaviour. However in this case since he is growling because she is patting him then by stopping she is telling him that growling gets him what he wants. As an example - Indy doesn't really like having his rear end brushed so he sometimes has a bit of a grumbly growl however I tell him NO and keep on brushing - if I stop it lets him know by growling he can dictate what I do. He can't!! I decide when I brush him and not him. I know it's hard because poor Zebra is probably quite uncomfortable after his surgery and bored from being confined, however try not to let him get into too many bad habits because you feel sorry for him now. He will remember them once he is 100% and still expect things to work that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 good post Malamum, and I see your point. Myself I always err on the side of caution with a growling dog, since they can bite 5 times faster than we can react...but you may be right. Maybe letting him know his growling is NOT having an affect would be better. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarFox Posted November 21, 2003 Author Share Posted November 21, 2003 Thanks for the info. I let him out about 3 times a day and sit with him and take his cone collar thingy off. He seems allot happier when the cone is off. This saturday we get the stiches removed and so he won't have to whear the cone again. It was weird today becuase i was petting him and he was growling so I stopped and then he kept pawing at me (that is his way of saying "PET ME!"). So I was petting him and he kept growling. So I think he is just a very werid dog. :roll: I think you all are right though. I think he is uncomfortable, he has never been in a crate then all of a sudden he has to be in one 24/7. I think he is lonely because he use to spend all his time with the family and now he dosn't have that. :( Poor baby I can't wait till he can have run of the house again. Not to mention that food is collecting on the floor under the kitchen table and there is no vacume to clean it up anymore. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosebud Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 :lol: Caleb growls when he scratch his ear is just the right spot, it's more of a moaning growl and took some getting used to. Maybe Zebra is growling a "oh that feels soooooooooo good growl" :angel: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted November 22, 2003 Share Posted November 22, 2003 thta's what I was just thinking....not really growling,. but "crooning".... maybe he's just so happy to be out of the crate he's trying to make noise about it, and it sounds like growling.... :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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