The above photo shows an unsuspecting Juneau headed off to doggie day care this morning. "Daddy" Dave was off to work after three days off. Juneau thinks she is headed to the big field at Middlesex Fells to frolic with her friends and me. She likes doggie day care, but I'm glad she likes me more. I was off during April school vacation and it seemed Juneau was no more than three feet from me the entire week.
The major issue right now with Juneau is her territorial attachment to me. She barks and growls -- yet still retreats -- whenever I am sitting with her and someone approaches. Like at my son's baseball games. The worst barking and growling is when my youngest son Matt approaches Juneau and me sitting in the same room.
If I am not home, no barks or growls at Matt. Juneau also does not bark or growl at other people who approach me with dogs.
She is not so threatening now, but still, this is a disturbing behavior that needs to be broken.
Meanwhile, while I was writing for the newspaper last week about swine flu, my real concern was kennel cough. A notice went home with Juneau last week that two dogs at her doggie day care facility came down with kennel cough.
But it has now been five days, and no coughs from Juneau. Just occasional barks and growls.
May 5, 2009
What do you think we should do for our little guy? He's been sick for a while now, and we've been trying to find a good dog training service to have him stop eating his toys and our furniture. It's a bit off topic but I'd appreciate any feedback!
Oh dear. I hope you will find a way to address Juneau's barking & growling behavior before it escalates into something worse. I would recommend consulting with an experienced dog trainer, preferably one who advocates "positive" training methods.
Check out this post about growling from one such trainer.
Another resource is the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.
I bring my dog to doggie playgroups and there are dogs that will guard their owner the way you're describing and the trainer that runs the group calls it resource guarding. You could "google" that and see what you find out, but she always instructs people to walk away when their dog does that. It is sweet how much she adores you, but I think it's definately a bad habit that you want to break her of.
I don't know if she is just highly photogenic or you are excellent photographer, but she just always looks so unbelieveably adorable in every picture you post - keep updating!
I've been impatient for an update too! Some doggie daycares require that dogs be vaccinated againt kennel cough (usually given nasally) and some do not. Since there have already been some confirmed cases at her daycare, it's probably a good idea to get Juneau innoculated (or at least talk to your vet).
One of my dogs growls/barks/goes nuts when a stranger comes near me - and that's not really a problem. But if Juneau's pulling that with another family member, it might be back-to-school time for some remedial ed.
Juneau loves her daddy. :-)
Ohhh! I was waiting for an update. You need to take her to the Vet and have her innoculated against Kennel Cough. While there, tell her about the growling habit. I think it is darling. She is letting everyone know that "you belong to her" and they are not to interfere. I'm sure the Vet can tell you how to break the habit. And then there is always Cesar Milan :-)