Need advice for my dachshund

[pow012]

I'am very happy to find a forum intended for Dachshunds. I'am very new to the forum. I have a mini dachshund named "Malty" because from the brand of a chocolate named Maltesers. Malty is about a year and 5 months old. He is a very energetic dog and always loves to play with us.

Recently, Malty had lice over his body and of course we cleaned him up but the problem is when we cleaned up the lice, a part of his skin about the size of a coin was gone and had a wound. The reason for the wound is because of lice. We immediately brought him to the vet and had two shots;frontline (anti-lice), and antibiotic. He also got wound cream. We were also advised to purchase a collar so that he won't lick and touch the wound.

When we brought him home, he was less energetic due to the stress he got from the 2 vaccinations and grooming. He didn't like taking a bath and toothbrush. I put on the collar to Malty and at first he was not angry. About a few hours after, when we put him back into his cage with his collar he would always try to take it off. After few minutes, he managed to take it off! My instinct is to try to put it back but when a went closer to him to open his cage and try to put it back, he would growl and his mouth would rise and sink like a sac. When I am about to leave him, he would bark so loud and would surprise me. He is angry at everyone that goes near him.

My opinion is he got stressed after vaccination and wanted to rest. Any thoughts?

 

[DeafDogs]

He could very well be in pain from his vaccines (We all know how much tetnus shots hurt after, possibly the vaccines are causing him similar pain) and he probably just wants to be left alone, unfortunately, that wont help his wound get better if he's going to lick it. Is it somewhere that a t-shirt will cover? Can you find some anti chew or bitter spray? (Bitter Apple, for example) to use instead of the collar? Stress and/or pain can cause the aggression, for sure

 

[DeafDogs]

Oh and Welcome! I have 2 mini's as well

 

[pow012]

Can i ask what is an anti chew/ bitter spray? The problem is how would i feed him and apply wound cream. Im in the Philippines so it's about 12mn here. Do you think he will be better tomorrow after the rest? Another problem is when we pet him, he would crawl like a crocodile and pee on the floor. I have checked Cesar's website and it's called Submissive urination problem. I also have a hard time housebreaking. Last problem is when i try to reach and carry him up, I think he would try to bite me or just want to chew on my finger.

 

[cinnadip]

you could try giving him a treat or something to get him out of the cage and like deafdogs said try wraping a shirt around it. i had to get something for a cut on my dog before and they licked it once and never even thought about licking it again because it was nasty. once you get the wound so he cant mess with it i would let him be for a little while and then see how he does. and welcome to the forum!!! keep us updated

 

[pow012]

Update on Malty, we managed to get him out and feed him. He was not acting angry anymore. But when we first saw in the morning inside his cage, he was still growling. Could it be any trauma from the vaccination. I can observe that he's not licking the wound anymore ( wishing). Right now, he is just walking around the house, less energetic before we brought him to the vet.

 

[DeafDogs]

The vaccinations could very well have made him sick. Keep an eye on him, and get him back to the vet if he worsens.

Submissive peeing is common, I have one (not a doxie) that does it now and then with people he doesn't come into contact with often. Generally, it goes away as they get older, as long as you dont punish him for it, and as long as you keep training positive without corrections.

 

[pow012]

I thought I only had a problem with submissive urination. Anyway, I followed your tip, DeafDogs and what we did was got an old jacket and cut the sleeves. It was fit for him and he can't bite nor lick it anymore. Thanks! I'll keep you updated guys. Btw, here are some pictures of my dachshund.

 

[DeafDogs]

Oh he's VERY cute! I'm glad you found a solution that makes him more comfortable!

 

[pow012]

The thing that bugs me the most is i think he needs obedience lessons. A while ago he tried to bite me when i moved his toy. He also tried to bite me when he was smelling the food at the package itself and moved it. Any opinions?

 

[DeafDogs]

Yes, but I dont have time to write a response on resource guarding now, I'll do it tonight. It's an indepth issue, but not too hard to fix. I had to fix Boo's resource guarding when I first adopted him. We're talking about food aggression on another forum right now

 

[pow012]

Ok! I want to correct food agression and biting. I want to be the pack leader that can control when i want to give him food. The problem is he is already a year and 6 months. Isn't it too late to correct his food agression and biting problem?A

 

[Steph]

It's never too late to correct resource guarding and food aggression. Since Deaf Dogs has more experience with correcting this at an older age, I'll let her take the stage. I tend to work on it at the puppy stage, so it rarely becomes an issue.

 

[Inkeri]

Your dog is adorable! I hope he gets better soon.

It's just like Steph said, it's never too late to train your dog. Of course it might take a little bit more time, but you can do it. Besides, 1,5 year old is still quite a puppy! Good luck with the training, Deafdogs will give you good tips. Just remember to be patient.

 

[natural curl]

Search for the term "scary behavior" which I posted in February. The reply was great advice. Our Milo is better now (but we still don't offer rawhide or pig ears). Our trading sessions were a little awkward as the dog is quick and often ended up with BOTH the hog dog and guarded item!

 

[DeafDogs]

Boo was 6.5 years old when I adopted him, and I was able to completely stop the food aggression in 4 weeks, and the people guarding eased up to barely a growl, instead of biting.

Basically, I set him up for success all the time. I never give him anything extra special, unless he's in the bathroom by himself, so as to not feel the need to resource guard bones, etc.

I started by handfeeding one piece of kibble at a time, never putting a bowl down, and made him sit or lay down or nose target my hand (this is how I taught him how to do those things) 2 x per day, I would sit on the floor and make him work for every piece of food he got. After 2 weeks of that, I began putting a bowl on the floor between him and I. I still made him work for his food, but instead of handing him one piece at a time, I would drop 3 or 4 pieces into the bowl, and slowly adding more and more until he got his whole bowl at once.

I then began putting really yummy treats (hot dogs) in his bowl WHILE he was eating, so he learned that my hand in the bowl is a good thing! I then added touching him and dropping more food in the bowl when he was almost done, so he learned that me touching him is a good thing.

I NEVER take anything away from my dogs. Once they get it, it's theirs. If they by chance happen to get something they shouldn't, they're not expecting me to take it away, so dont guard what they have I've only ever had to take anything away from Mouse though. Oliver will drop whatever he has and come to me, if I ask it, and I'm extremely cautious with Boo, as he obviously had a problem before, and though it's no longer a problem, I dont want it to become one again.

As to guarding space or people, that's a more difficult one. Personally, I would keep a leash on him at all times, and if he is guarding a person or place from you, just pick up the leash, gently pull him away from what he's guarding, then give him a really good treat (like a hot dog, or piece of cheese) praising him for giving up what he wanted (even though it wasn't his choice) Eventually he's going to want to give up what he's guarding, as it means really good things

There is no need to "be the pack leader" that's a load of bunk. Dogs know we're not dogs. What you do need to do, is have fair and consise rules, trained positively, so your dog understands what's expected of him. Dogs will learn to follow the rules if they get "paid" to, and will soon learn to enjoy it and once a dog is following rules eagerly, their lives and yours, becomes very stress free

I am a positive trainer. I don't correct my dogs in any way, shape, or form. I do, however ignore them for wrong things, and that's the worst thing that can happen to a dog! When Boo would start to guard space (eg my lap then would growl if I moved him) I would just put him on the floor and ignore him for a few minutes... He quickly learned that growling got him removed from his spot and him relegated to the floor... which isn't fun. I would then ask for a sit or something to allow him back on my lap. He is the only one of my dogs that doesn't have free-reign of the furniture. He must always ask to be allowed on, and wait for permission but it works, he no longer guards spots or laps, though he will still growl if one person his holding him, and another goes to pet him, but I just make sure that he is always on the floor to meet people, and he's all good

Let me know if you have any questions, I typed this really fast as I have a ton of e-mails and such to reply to

 

[DeafDogs]

Search for the term "scary behavior" which I posted in February. The reply was great advice. Our Milo is better now (but we still don't offer rawhide or pig ears). Our trading sessions were a little awkward as the dog is quick and often ended up with BOTH the hog dog and guarded item!

Here's the link to that post

http://dachshund-talk.com/forum/f8/scary-behavior-780.html

That's a good one too! (I forgot about that! LOL) And the trading game would be a good thing to do as well.