Glad to hear that things are beginning to settle for you now. As for the neighbours kid, it's good that she's saying hello to you and she'll probably tell her mum that you're a nice lady

When you post about a walk me and Kibo would love to come along !

Glad things are settling a bit for you and Kestrel.

Sometimes it is about accepting that you cannot give a dog a temperament transplant, however hard you work at it, and managing things as best you can to anticipate and so avoid or at least minimise potential problems.

Maybe getting used to seeing the children in the street will help her to accept them in the garden, eventually.

I'll set up a thread tomorrow evening Now shes a little better I dont think a walk with a few new people will be too stressful for her. She's normally ok when shes outdoors (much less nervy).

Thanks! A temperament transplant would be great but yes not realistic

I dont think she'll get used to the children. She's walked past traffic and all sorts since 12 weeks old but has managed to build fears about them that I struggle to see the inital trigger for and don't really show signs of improvement!!

But I can manage it so it's not an issue but sadly the neigbour incident demonstrates that mistakes happen. Hopefully there will be nothing else to be used against us, and I just have to respect the fact Kestral is a bit special!

Pleased to hear things are starting to settle down

Sorry to hear she's been so frightened a couple of times this week. It's good that your furnitures there now as hopefully it will deaden some of the house noises that frighten her. I hope you get your fence up soon then you can at least play out in the garden with her without worrying about any neighbours coming out.

I totally agree with your post. I think it is real BAD NEWS that this happened involving your new neighbour. As for all the posts suggesting this woman 'doesn't know much about dogs' despite her years of experience - well, you've said yourself that your dog IS a bit aggressive and she seems to have spotted that correctly.

I feel for you - moving is stressful and dogs pick up on your stress and do bark and react more in strange situations.

I have the opposite problem (but fortunately short lived) living in a huge apartment block where tenant changes are quite frequent in one or two of the rentals on my floor.

I spent a long time teaching my min pin (known to be barking nutcases) not to bark at EVERY noise outside my apartment and my neighbours now never stop assuring me she never makes a sound now when I leave her.

HOWEVER - whenever someone new moves into one of the 2 rentals - she barks loudly every time they get out of the lift or talk on the landing until she 'gets used to them'.

She doesn't even bark at the block cleaner who thumps the door with mop and broom because she knows who it is.

I try to be relaxed when she reacts to the 'strangers'. Just speak to her reassuringly and even pick her up and open the door to show her there is no one there and all that jazz!

I think you are probably feeling you could kick yourself because this caught you off guard. I'd feel the same. But I also think the more you DREAD your dog barking, lunging or acting aggressively - they will pick up on it and get worse.

Take the advice of the experienced ones here and get some professional help.

When the Ayatollah Bella was a pup I actively sought out my neighbours and informed them when I was going to go out and leave her (how the hell do I know if she is barking and howling if I am not there?) would tell them I am going out and trying to leave her for a little longer each time - give them my mobile phone number and ask them could they PLEASE call me if she starts acting up?

Every one of them seemed quite pleased to participate in this (I'd even tell them I had no reason to go out but just wanted to get the dog used to being left blah blah) and they were only too pleased to report in DETAIL about how 'she barked for a couple of minutes and then stopped' or 'she was good as gold even when there was a lot of noise' outside. One of them even offered that, if I gave them a key and she started howling, they'd go in and keep her company 'til I got back!

My needs are greater than yours. Here in Cyprus, the authorities can take your dog away and have it destroyed for no other reason than the neighbours complained about it. Hence the need to address the problem ASAP.

You say you don't need to be FRIENDS with your neighbours but, alas, you still need to be NEIGHBOURS with them! Bad neighbours can make your life hell.

Glad to hear there has been an improvement Think for a nervous dog how stressful a move must be. Everything she knows is safe, has suddenly changed even her old walking routes, and smells etc. It's a big up heaval for her, and if you have also been stressed and anxious - which is totally natural when moving!! she will pick up on this and fuel her worries further.

I prescribe a nice long countryside hike, then you come back put on the kettle and make yourself a nice hot cup of tea and unwind

On a side note, somebody mentioned on here about zyklene. I must say, i have been quite impressed with the effects it has had this end. It's also a herbal based drug, which does not dope your dog out in any way. It's just for relaxation purposes. Works wonders firework night! - If used a couple of days before.

It isn't a pharmaceutical drug, it is a neutraceutical (i.e. a food stuff with medicinal properties) but it is a specific bovine alpha casein milk protein, not a herb

Thanks again all.

Yesterday evening something very nice and unexpected happened. I was cleaning the bunnies in the garden and spotted my neighbour and said hello.
She said she had been feeling bad for flipping out and had been wanting to appologize. I said I was equally to blame and could totally see why she reacted badly to the unfortunate situation.
Anyway, after that we chatted for about half an hour and she kindly dropped round a huge old rabbit run that she no longer needs for my rabbits which was lovely of her.


With regards to Kestral, there have been good and bad bits as usual. She is seeming more relaxed in the house when there is no one here. She is getting better with my cousin and his partner too which is nice.
One massive negative, and perhaps it was too soon of me:

Since Kestral reacted to the little GSD puppy (she was fine with her to begin with, then the puppy got far too rough and ignored Kestrals signals to stop and kestral snapped at her. First it was a warning, then when the puppy came to the house that we were living in before one day kestral totally flipped at her - snarling, lunging, snapping).
Since that moment it now appears Kestral also has DA issues.
Pebbles, my cousins dog came over this evening with them. I was a bit unsure about having her over, but clearly wrongly, I agreed to let them bring her. We had a little walk before hand and all was fine, then as soon as she was indoors she totally went off on one - charging and lunging at her as if she was going to bite.
This also happened with a little randy yorkshire terrier that litterally followed us home the other day from the park, right in to the house (thats another story, but yes I did manage to find the owner! ). I had wronly put her snapping down to the fact it was trying to mount her, which no doubt she wasn't impressed with either.

It seems Kestral will no longer allow any dogs in a house with her.
I'm sure people may put this down to the stress of moving, and potentially that has exasterbated the issue, and clearly it was wrong of me to put her in the situation but she displayed this behavior in the flat before with Mishka.

I'm not really sure where to go with this Obviously I wont do anything else for a few weeks until I feel she is properly settled, but I can just see this is going to now be another future problem.
She is still ok with other dogs on walks although generally doesn't appreciate much interaction anymore.

I'm not sure whether in the coming months social dog classes might help to re-intergrate her with other dogs in an indoor setting although this could potentially stress her out.
Although thinking about it the second time she reacted to another dog after the GSD puppy was at an agility class.. it was my second and last class there. She lunged madly at another dog and then every dog in the class.
Or perhaps in the future get someone with a calm dog and do some clicker work at a distance building it up.

She seems to do it, like how she barks at people, as a self denfense mechansim.
She doesnt like to feel out of control and so attacks before she lets herself get in that position. She is more relaxed if the other dog is on a lead and she knows they cant approach her.

I'm just feeling a bit bummed about it and my hopes for a second dog seem a really long way off
Sorry to vent again. Who knew one little dog could be so messed up

Such good news to hear about your neighbour Phew, what a relief!

Sorry to hear about Kestral having issues with other dogs in the house. When I told Dave that Cain had started humping other dogs he told me that I had to tell Cain that if he wanted to have a new bad habit, he had to get rid of an old one first maybe you need to tell Kestral this!!!

On a more serious note, I honestly don't know what to suggest about tackling the issue. On one hand you probably feel you want to nip it in the bud as it's a new behaviour, on the other hand she's having a lot if changes and now probably isn't the time to start new training which may be stressful I still can't believe that she's started this, she puts up with Cain which shows she's more tolerant than lots of other dogs! Seems like Mishka has a lot to answer for Hopefully someone with answers will come along. Although I'm not sure if training classes are the answer after her last agility flip out.... Hmmm it's a tough one.

I know how you feel about a second dog, much ad I would love another one some day, Cain seems to be doing everything in his power to thwart it

Poor Kes, she is a sensitive soul isn't she. I do luvs her though give her a big hug from me.