i have a 4yr old boston terrier who loves everybody. but he hates my girl friend. he hides from her, growls barks and snips at her and we dont know why. she is nicer to him than anyone. if i am home he follows me everywhere except near her. when i hug or kiss her he tries to bite her between the legs. she tries disciplining him with a water bottle and all it does is make him madder. can anyone help please because its hurting our relationship!!! THANK YOU
2007-05-30 12:50:47 · 13 answers · asked by darbs121 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
The dog thinks it owns you... This is very bad. This means that you are not the leader and that your dog is. Every time your dog tries to boss your girlfriend around you need to be right on top of that with decisive discipline to show that that kind of behavior will not be tolerated.
The heart of the problem is that your dog thinks that it is the boss and owns you and you need to change that. You need to keep reminding it that it is the lowest on the pecking order and that you and you girlfriend are the leaders.
2007-05-30 13:38:24 · answer #1 · answered by zboyet 2 · 6⤊ 1⤋
First of all, water bottles are probably not the way to go. Since you have a little lag time between the behavior and the spray, your dog may not remember what he was doing wrong. This may also make your dog even more violent towards your girlfriend...fear is a big motivator.
Also, sometimes a dog will be protective of his owner. Natural. He probably thinks she's hurting you, or else he wants more attention.
The best way to fix this problem would be to have your girlfriend give the dog treats and "make a party" for him from afar. When she sees him, have her give a few treats (make him sit first) and praise him heavily. This way, he'll see your girlfriend as a special person, or a reward, instead of a scary, mean person trying to steal Daddy.
2007-05-30 19:59:48 · answer #2 · answered by Ariel 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋
He's probably not use to having someone else be near him in your house except for you. Hes probably really scared. If you want to keep him from barking or growling try taking him to Dog Obedience School( DOS). I really hoped this helps, and the dog does not ruin your relationship.
2007-05-30 19:56:42 · answer #3 · answered by Angel Light 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
My tenterfield terrier was exactly the same as that. My boyfriend and I started going out when she was 18 months old, since I got her at 5 weeks old it was only me and her and all my attention was on her. When my boyfriend came along, she used to growl and snap at him and when we used to sit on the lounge she would always squish in between us and then start growling at him. It became stupid after a while so I started disciplining her myself. Everytime she growled or snapped I smacked her and I soon became to meany. I didnt know what else to do. He is only jealous of you and her, the fact is your his and now your not paying enough attention to him. You should try discipling him and dont baby him when he does misbehave. He will soon learn, my puppy did.
2007-05-30 20:00:00 · answer #4 · answered by everything dogz 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
You and your dog have not been to obedience training as is obvious by your use of the squirt bottle. That is aversion training and if you are going to use that ancient method of training you might as well roll up and newspaper and swat the dog. At least you won't get everything wet. Obedience classes will teach you about dog behavior and how to teach your dog. Then you will not need to come to any forum and ask a behavior question, that is easy to correct, from strangers
2007-05-30 20:00:17 · answer #5 · answered by DaveSFV 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
It sounds like jealousy to me! I have a German Shepherd that does that with my husband. He is out on the road all week, and when he comes home on weekends, my dog doesn't like him showing me any affection, hes even got bit before, but my husband tries to butter him up and take him out for cheeseburgers and ice cream, and that usually will get him on his good side. He doesn't even like my husband sitting next to me on the sofa, he has to get between us. When we first got him, my husband would come home and my dog would be standing on the bed saying "MINE" If my husband got in bed the dog would go after him. So my husband then slept on the floor till the dog slowly allowed him near me. Now things are alright between us all, but when we first got the dog, he didn't like sharing me at all! I think that's whats going on with your dog and your girl friend. Good luck!
2007-05-30 20:08:11 · answer #6 · answered by autumn wolf 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It reminds me of one of mom's dogs when we were single and at home. She liked most people, except my big brother's girl friend ... who turned out to be less than the best person, and one of my little sister's boy friends, who was married at the time. Dogs seem to know people well!
2007-05-30 19:55:01 · answer #7 · answered by OldGringo 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
My dog did that to my bf to and i kept saying NO to him but didn't work so the next day he was with his other girlfriend and i dumped him. The next bf i had he didn't growl so maybe you should watch out for her just to she if she is cheating on you its probably not the case but just see about it OK!
2007-05-30 20:13:52 · answer #8 · answered by savannah 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Maybe ur dog isn't used to having ur girlfriend around him and is being protective of you. The dog is thinking that ur girlfriend is harming u in a way and is acting as ur bodyguard. U should let ur girlfriend and ur dog bond together bu reassuring him that she is not evil.
2007-05-30 20:03:54 · answer #9 · answered by Dec 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
why don't you try to spray him with a water bottle instead of her
2007-05-30 20:15:11 · answer #10 · answered by Ash 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋