Ok, the background first:
My boyfriend and I adopted a dog, his name is Balto, he's 5 years old, and is a GSD/ Alaskan Malamute mix. He is 80.5 lbs of mostly muscle. I say mostly because he could stand to lose a few pounds (I have a hard time finding his ribs). Anyway, we went to the shelter with our dog, Missy, a GSD/ Beagle mix (she's 50lbs) and they got along great. We saw no issues, the shelter told us Balto had no issues, he was an owner surrender because she let him roam freely and he got a taste for the neighbors' chickens. They said he was tested extensively and that he was great with kids, dogs, and cats. We take him home that day and everything is fine.
Sunday we took him out to Petco and some other pet stores (gave him a bath and blow dry, which he handled like a champ) and we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that allowed dogs. Unbeknownst to us, they were hosting an adoption event, he did great. He fell asleep under the table. We get home, I go to the bathroom and I hear a scuffle, boyfriend broke it up real quick. No issues. It was just a few seconds. However, he didn't see how it got started.
Monday rolls around and after work I let them out, we go on a walk, come back and I sat on the couch. Balto lays down at my feet and Missy is in the kitchen, drinking, then she moves to her bed, then moves to Balto. From the corner of my eye, I see her get in his face a bit and sure enough, they start fighting. Ended in seconds.
Wednesday:. Balto follows me into the bathroom in the morning. I conclude my business in there, wash my hands and go to step over him to leave, instead, he stands up, and waits by the door. I open it and we start to walk out. Missy is over on her bed, which is caddy corner to the bathroom door. There was no warning.
Balto covered the short distance between them and attempted to tear into her. I mean, there was no growl, no snarl, no change in pace or body. My boyfriend came running out of the bedroom and it took both of us to get then to stop. Balto backed down first, for a moment, but Missy didn't let up and that renewed him.
In the end, it probably lasted a minute and no blood was drawn. That evening, Balto had a vet appointment. We do that, even speak to the vet about the fights and she said it's probably just them trying to work out a pecking order. No biggie.
We go home...
Once there, I took off Balto's collar to try and get his rabies tag on, I got up from my original spot and was moving towards the dining room for better light, with Balto following me. Suddenly, all **** breaks loose, again with 0 warning. My boyfriend saw Balto attack Missy, this time she wasn't even near him and he was out for blood. He ended up getting it, somehow my boyfriend ended up in between them (he didn't start out that way and we have no idea how it happened, and we both recognize we did NOT handle the situation well or correctly at all, which is embarrassing because we BOTH know better). He ended up in the ER and needing 3 stitches, he got a hole in his thigh from Balto going for Missy and missing.
Fast forward to this past weekend. We have a friend who was in the army and trained protection dogs who now works at PetCo. She had seen Balto the Sunday we had all gone out and could not believe the story. She asked to see him, so I brought him down and she examined him. She confirmed that he was 100% protective of me, we watched him as a couple of ladies walked past us. Balto's ears pricked forward, he had been panting a bit from anxiety, but at this point, he closed his mouth, and stared them down, tracking them as they walked by. He did the same thing with some men, but with stiffer body language. She concluded that not only has he had some protection training (minimal, but enough), but that he may have been abused by a man. She also said he had anxiety, which fed into things. She was very surprised and confused by the behavior, saying it was like we had a different dog and expressed concerns that the shelter had drugged him the day we had adopted him (we we're over 2 hours away, they knew we were coming and would have had the time). She gave me several training tips, but all in all said that he should be an only dog, period.
Here's what she told me so far:
No following me.
No letting him lay down at my feet.
No enclosed or small spaces.
No sleeping in the bedroom for either dog (we had been letting both of them do so on the floor, then started crating).
Always lead him on walks (he did like to lead).
Break his focus when he starts to track.
He absolutely cannot lean on us (feeding into anxiety).
Muzzle is needed.
No kids or small animals.
Absolutely no touching his mouth/muzzle.
Boyfriend needs to spend more time with him than me.
And of course, no feeding into his tantrums (which we weren't doing, but just to cover all grounds).
The point of this long post... Are there any trainers on here that can further help us with Balto's training? We understand that he most likely have to be re-homed, and we have a good friend who will gladly take him once he moves (which may be some time), but until then, this dog needs to be trained. We fully understand this is going to be an every day training, I used to train dogs myself, but this is new territory for me. I need help.
My boyfriend and I adopted a dog, his name is Balto, he's 5 years old, and is a GSD/ Alaskan Malamute mix. He is 80.5 lbs of mostly muscle. I say mostly because he could stand to lose a few pounds (I have a hard time finding his ribs). Anyway, we went to the shelter with our dog, Missy, a GSD/ Beagle mix (she's 50lbs) and they got along great. We saw no issues, the shelter told us Balto had no issues, he was an owner surrender because she let him roam freely and he got a taste for the neighbors' chickens. They said he was tested extensively and that he was great with kids, dogs, and cats. We take him home that day and everything is fine.
Sunday we took him out to Petco and some other pet stores (gave him a bath and blow dry, which he handled like a champ) and we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that allowed dogs. Unbeknownst to us, they were hosting an adoption event, he did great. He fell asleep under the table. We get home, I go to the bathroom and I hear a scuffle, boyfriend broke it up real quick. No issues. It was just a few seconds. However, he didn't see how it got started.
Monday rolls around and after work I let them out, we go on a walk, come back and I sat on the couch. Balto lays down at my feet and Missy is in the kitchen, drinking, then she moves to her bed, then moves to Balto. From the corner of my eye, I see her get in his face a bit and sure enough, they start fighting. Ended in seconds.
Wednesday:. Balto follows me into the bathroom in the morning. I conclude my business in there, wash my hands and go to step over him to leave, instead, he stands up, and waits by the door. I open it and we start to walk out. Missy is over on her bed, which is caddy corner to the bathroom door. There was no warning.
Balto covered the short distance between them and attempted to tear into her. I mean, there was no growl, no snarl, no change in pace or body. My boyfriend came running out of the bedroom and it took both of us to get then to stop. Balto backed down first, for a moment, but Missy didn't let up and that renewed him.
In the end, it probably lasted a minute and no blood was drawn. That evening, Balto had a vet appointment. We do that, even speak to the vet about the fights and she said it's probably just them trying to work out a pecking order. No biggie.
We go home...
Once there, I took off Balto's collar to try and get his rabies tag on, I got up from my original spot and was moving towards the dining room for better light, with Balto following me. Suddenly, all **** breaks loose, again with 0 warning. My boyfriend saw Balto attack Missy, this time she wasn't even near him and he was out for blood. He ended up getting it, somehow my boyfriend ended up in between them (he didn't start out that way and we have no idea how it happened, and we both recognize we did NOT handle the situation well or correctly at all, which is embarrassing because we BOTH know better). He ended up in the ER and needing 3 stitches, he got a hole in his thigh from Balto going for Missy and missing.
Fast forward to this past weekend. We have a friend who was in the army and trained protection dogs who now works at PetCo. She had seen Balto the Sunday we had all gone out and could not believe the story. She asked to see him, so I brought him down and she examined him. She confirmed that he was 100% protective of me, we watched him as a couple of ladies walked past us. Balto's ears pricked forward, he had been panting a bit from anxiety, but at this point, he closed his mouth, and stared them down, tracking them as they walked by. He did the same thing with some men, but with stiffer body language. She concluded that not only has he had some protection training (minimal, but enough), but that he may have been abused by a man. She also said he had anxiety, which fed into things. She was very surprised and confused by the behavior, saying it was like we had a different dog and expressed concerns that the shelter had drugged him the day we had adopted him (we we're over 2 hours away, they knew we were coming and would have had the time). She gave me several training tips, but all in all said that he should be an only dog, period.
Here's what she told me so far:
No following me.
No letting him lay down at my feet.
No enclosed or small spaces.
No sleeping in the bedroom for either dog (we had been letting both of them do so on the floor, then started crating).
Always lead him on walks (he did like to lead).
Break his focus when he starts to track.
He absolutely cannot lean on us (feeding into anxiety).
Muzzle is needed.
No kids or small animals.
Absolutely no touching his mouth/muzzle.
Boyfriend needs to spend more time with him than me.
And of course, no feeding into his tantrums (which we weren't doing, but just to cover all grounds).
The point of this long post... Are there any trainers on here that can further help us with Balto's training? We understand that he most likely have to be re-homed, and we have a good friend who will gladly take him once he moves (which may be some time), but until then, this dog needs to be trained. We fully understand this is going to be an every day training, I used to train dogs myself, but this is new territory for me. I need help.