Buzz attacking people

Hi there..

I have contacted an expert in behaviour, but due to the few days he has available to see Buzz and me working shift work, it could be several weeks before we find a solution...

This is the email I sent him, explaining Buzz's behaviour... Hope some of you can give me some idea as to how to deal with this..

Just over 3 weeks ago I took in a 16 months old Curly Coated Retriever, Buzz... I take Buzz to the park on a regular basis to play with other dogs and interact with people. There was never a problem until one day last week. There was no one in the park but Buzz and I... A girl walked through, Buzz ran over to her (probably 10 metres away from me). When she turned around and stuck her hand out to pat him, he started barking and growling at her... The girl was probably between 9 and 11 years old.

Two days before that we were walking on the footpath and came upon some people just about to go into their car.. A little old lady stuck her hand out to pat Buzz and Buzz barked at her.

A bit of history I got from the previous owner, who visited on Sunday:

Buzz never had any socialisation with people outside the home(s), but always lived in a multidog household as an outside dog... As they moved around there was kids, who were afraid of Buzz (because of his size, he said), and they would hit Buzz over the head with whatever toys they were playing with... If Buzz didn't back up, the father (of the kids) has been known to kick Buzz rather violently.. The owner could not say anything to him, because it was not his home. He said he'd never seen Buzz attack anyone.

My ex-husband came over today... (this is the first time they’ve met).. Buzz would growl or bark, if he tried to pat him, tail tucked in.. He was still interested in him, as long as there were no hands – tail wagging.. Buzz would even take treats from Gert (my ex), but still not allowing pats. We agreed to leave it, and started catching up on stuff... Gert was talking about some arguments he’d had with my son, and raised his voice (like in a show-and-tell manner.. lol). Buzz came straight to my side and growled at him. Gert got the message, turned down the volume, but then started to use his hands to accentuate the story... Buzz noted Gert’s ‘aggressive’ posture and growled again. In none of these incidents did Buzz move towards Gert – he stayed by my side.

Buzz has never been an only dog. I train on a daily basis using positive reinforcement.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

Lene

Poor Buzz
It sounds like he has come to associate hands as bad things
I would just take it really slow with him and let him see that he is never going to get hurt again
And just make sure you tell other people too
sounds like he is just warning and telling them to back off - which is fair nuff
Go really slow and show him that hands are where treats come from - but dont push him
I would miby even go as far as just sitting with your hand open with a yummy treat in it - but totaly ignooring him and let him come when and if he wants and just ignore him

Over time when you have built his trust slowly extend your hand to him and rewrd him before he becomes too stressed

There are people here with good experience on rescues who have been badly treated

Poor boy and good on you for taking him in (I know what I would want to do to those kids and that father!!)

Buzz is 16 months!

I thought your other post said he was around 16 weeks.

That's quite a difference........

You say Buzz attacks people if he is growling and backing off that is a warning I wouldn't of said attacking. This is exactly what my almost 2 yr old BMD does.
We have owned him since 8 weeks old and he has been socialised with people and other dogs but he does back off and growl at some people not all. He has never been abused only loved and cuddled by our family.
Some people he is fine with others he is not so I tend to stay with him all the time especially if we meet people he doesn't know. If you can it would be wise to do the same with Buzz be there when he approaches people and warn them he is nervous if they move their hand towards him, so to ignore him no eye contact but stay if possible for a while chatting till he starts to relax then maybe see if they would give him a treat never push him past his comfort zone though.
Of course Buzz's probably is down to being abused, Ollie's breed is a naturally wary breed and while most outgrow the shy nervous trait others don't and Ollie hasn't.
We have to work with it rather than against it. I hope some of that has helped and you can find a solution.

The dog I took in yesterday is around 16 weeks old....

He's a mixed breed and my DIL didn't want him anymore.

Buzz is 17 months old... He's the CCR...

Sorry for the confusion...

Cheers
Lene

Buzz's breed is also naturally 'standoffish', and what I do now is: Tell people he meets that he's hand shy.. This seems to work...

I wonder if it's worth getting a $300 person in to sort out the problem... As far as I can see, only socialisation and time will fix it... ?????

Cheers

Lene

yup I dont really think you need the help
But if you do make sure it is a positive trainer - harsh methods would do far more hurt

We're going through this with Dingo, we rescued him back at the beginning of February this year. It just takes time and patience. We've also found getting him into a dog school has helped as well because he is being taught how to socilise properly now. When we got him he wouldn't let anyone near him in the house or out. Now we've just got to break the in house problem and we're on the way to the good life. It sounds daft but it's worked for us, have you tried putting a sock over your hand so it disguises the shape a little. We don't have to do this now because Dingo is so much more confident with people and when we did do it, it was only men who had to, women he's always been fine with.

You've only had him 3 weeks as well so he's still confused and settling him in. Give him time, he'll come round and whatever you do don't react to the behaviour because when he's in that heightened anxious state, he'll just take any reaction from you as a reason to carry on doing what he's doing.

((Big Hugs))

Heidi

I think a training class might be worth it we did this with Ollie for a while but in the break the dogs were tied up and the people training came and walked past him no contact or interaction what so ever and tossed a treat at his feet, although it didn't cure him completely it did help and helped us how to handle the situation although it sounds like you are doing a pretty good job anyway. $300 sounds a bit expensive although I have no idea what that would be converted into ££'s.
Unfortunately we couldn't keep the training up as other commitments popped up and we couldn't continue, but as I said it gave us a starting point. We find we sometimes warn people and he is all over them which makes us realise how unpredictable the behaviour is and they must sense something about the person they are approaching. My OH insists he is a good judge of character and choosy about who he likes. I think give him time and patience keep working with him always be aware he may like some and dislike others so err on the side of caution with him at all times, even if he has approached one person well he may not the next so praise him well when he does and make no issue if he doesn't.
He may never be cured but he may be like Ollie is comfortable to be around people as long as they do not invade his personal space.

Hello,

I have used a product called silent 4 before on my boxer Bruno, its completely herbal so you don't have to worry about harming your dog. It helps to calm your dog down so they are not as nervous and jumpy at everything, I would say that you won't loose anything by trying it and asap. Good luck hun hope you get him sorted!