Blue heeler problems

My dog who is now 3 years old used to be a very sweet dog,but now he is so obsessed with food, he kills cats when they try to eat THEIR food. He won't let me older chow eat at all and he bite my father. I don't know what is wrong with him. I don't want to put him down, please help.
p.s. he isn't neutered, do you think that would help?

 

First of all you need to find a place where your heeler can eat alone without cats, other dogs, etc. He has apparently developed some food aggression.

You need to have him neutered regardless. Whether it helps with his aggression, it's hard to say because the trait has already developed. By having him neutered hopefully will slow down his aggressions.

The most serious part is your heeler biting people. You have a real problem there. That's where you will need the help of a behaviorest. Maybe someone here on this board can direct you to one or what you should do.

If he can't get over his people aggression, he just might have to be put down.

When you take him in to be neutered, have the Vet give him a physical to make sure there's nothing medically wrong with him. Illness can change a dog's personality.

Hope someone here can help you better.

 

I am having a brain freeze today but I think Sams has heelers. Hope she comes along with some advice!

 

common problem. One, a heeler has a very strong agressive instinct. Rarely do they get along with cats. His food agression is a HUGE problem. Its going to lead to him becoming more possesive over other things. Biting is definately a BIG no no.

You need to seculde him while eating and while everyone else is eating. Crate him or put him in a separate room.

Biting is a big issue with heelers. They are bred to bite and biting is what they do. When herding they are controling the herd. They use biting to control and get what they want. He's reinforcing this to let you know what he wants and thats not acceptable. Basic obediance and a behaviorist is your best bet. Neutering him may mellow him out a bit against other male dogs. But won't rid the problem.

 

I agree on those points. He needs to be fed separately, the cats need a safe place for their food and it shouldn't be left down. Perhaps feed twice a day, food is down for twenty minutes and then picked up. They will adjust to this and eat at those times . I would do the same with the dogs as well.
Yes he needs to be neutered. Not only because it is the responsible thing to do but because it will help to keep him from straying whenever he smells a female in heat, keep him from wanting to fight with other dogs to a great extent and is better for his health in the long run. He should mellow out some.
When you say he bit your dad...did he nail him breaking skin in an aggressive way? or was he displaying herding type behavior? (nipping..trying to get him to move) What was the situation when he bit him?
It seems as though he has decided he is alpha in your house and is getting away with it very nicely. I agree he should be seen by a vet to rule out any physical reason. Then I think you should do a consult with a trainer. Mine cost me $30 for a half an hour. She evaluated my dog and was able to get me started in what things to change. I can not tell you how well spent that $30 has been. It's important to find a trainer that works positive...using aggression with an aggressive dog will only make him more aggressive and not solve a thing.
In the mean time you can do small things to establish rank over the dog (your dad too). At feeding time, feed him his food one kibble at a time, give him commands that he knows.."sit" then feed him a kibble or two..."down" more kibbles..."sit" more kibble..."shake" more kibble...etc. This tells the dog YOU rule the food, eating is a survival thing..if he wants to survive he has to do what you say to get the food.
If he is laying in the middle of the floor and you are walking past, instead of stepping over or around him...make him move. This may seem rude in human terms, but it sends a clear message to your dog that he definately needs to hear. I do it with my dogs and simply say "excuse me", they move. Keep him tethered to your side for part of the day, I have a leash called the buddy system that I bought and is perfect for this..if you can't find that simply put one leash through your belt loops and connect the ends knot a second leash to that one to attach your dog to. It should be short so he has to stay at your side. It will be akward at first but soon you will move together nicely. While he is attached to you ask for commands randomly, while you do your normal daily stuff. He should learn to wait at doors for you to either tell him "ok" or for you to exit first. No exceptions. Same with getting in or out a car. You first. The idea here is that YOU make the rules, you decide when he eats, sleeps, plays. You decide. This should be the same for your dad. The people in the house have to rank above the dog. The cats need to be safe, you ave a herding type dog who was born with a prey drive you can't change, it's normal and nartural. It's your job to keep it in check and make sure he doesn't have the opportunity to get out of hand or be in a situation where the drive takes over.

Something I learned from my trainer that I didn't understand before going: Dogs have incredible bite control. They have amazing control over their jaws. My dog had jumped several people rushing them and leaping at them..he was very vocal and threatening, he looked like he was going to rip their heads off. I was dumbfounded by the fact that with all that display he barely left a red mark with his teeth. I couldn't understand it. The trainer explained that he felt very threatened in those incidents, or he felt I was being threatened, what he did was a complete warning...he was saying "I can if I have to"....she also told me that each time he got the opportunity to do that he would get a little braver and the "bites" would get harder. I am happy to say that I now understand what issues my dog has, I have learned to read his body language and he is doing much better, But I have been working at it a while . Each dog and situation is different so they hav different needs. You need someone with an experienced eye to help you make a game plan, and you need it fast.

The books I have been reading are more about fear based aggression and I'm not sure that is what your dogs issue is...I think Jimaya has a good link for NILIF program but really you need a good POSITIVE trainer to help you get started.

 

I have toughened up on NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) with my dog. The smarter the dog, the more strict you must be. I give a command (ONE time) before ANYTHING she values - goings outside, eating, playing, getting her leash on, etc. She has 3 seconds to obey. If she does not, I say something like, "Oh, too bad!" and walk away. I come back and we try again. Repeat until the dog obeys. They catch on pretty quickly, although the stubborn ones will continue to test you.

I am also curious about the bite. Did he really bite your father, or just nip at him (nips can hurt, too)? As Maisey said, dogs have incredible bite control and usually do exactly what they mean to do. Snapping at you is another warning behavior - some people say the dog tried to bite and missed, but that's not the case. If he wants to bite you, he will not miss. They snap on purpose to warn you to back off.

Definitely find a trainer or behaviorist that has experience working with this breed and issue, who works with POSITIVE methods. You don't want to use aggression against this dog or you will make it worse and he will have to be put down.

Do follow everyone else's advice and feed this dog separately from everyone else. Also, NEVER let him be alone with the cats. Confine him when you can't supervise, or confine the cats somewhere he can't get to.


Jamiya

 

well, the thing is, I moved to kentucky and my dog had to stay behind until we can get a house. when he bit my dad, dad was trying to get him out of the house (he used to stay inside) he didn't want to go out so dad grabbed him by the back of his neck, which he does bite if you do that. he wasn't prone to just bite before I left a year ago. my father is afraid of him and no one disciplines him now. Nobody really pets him that much either, where as I took him everywhere with me. we are feeding him in his crate now. I think one problem is they let him get away with more things than I did, like stealing their food out of their hands. he even used a hand towel that was on the handle of the fridge to open the fridge and ate the sandwich meat and loaf bread. He's too big and too smart for his own good. if I were there, I was discipline him.

 

Are you back with him now? It sounds like they let him run the place. He is upset and missing you and does not respect your parents, and they are not giving him enough attention. I don't think this problem will resolve unless they change their way of interacting with him.

If he is back with you now, you'll just have to work extra hard to show him both that he is loved and that YOU are boss. Go back to treating him like a puppy, and use the NILIF program to establish who is boss.


Jamiya

 

WEll there's your problem He has become alpha in the house and if your not there, your parents are lower inthe "pack". THey need to regain control of this dog. Problems like this only result in total chaos and eventually the dog suffers in the ends...gets ent away or euthanized, because he/she is uncontrollable.

If the dog is obediant to you. You need to go to your parents and have "training" sessions withthem. They need to perticipate in obediance and do daily training with him. Its already gotten out of hands, and its going to take time to get this problem back under control.

 

I just found a wonderful page for you - go read this and DO it!

http://www.chowwelfare.com/cciw/alpha.htm


Jamiya