LexieAndSprinkles
Well-known member
Sprinkles started obedience classes last week and I've noticed a huge problem. She isn't actually a fan of other dogs.
Now to describe Sprinkles in a nutshell... Anyone who has ever watched Glee, Sprinkles would be the dog version of Brittany. I can't think of a better comparison. haha.
Anyway back to my problem. She turned 6 months old on January 17. She is constantly around 5 other dogs (Lexie and my moms 3 Chihuahuas and 1 Cavalier). She is always a complete angel with them, very playful and friendly. We until the end of November had puppy play dates with her litter mates as well and there was never a problem.
Unfortunately here in Lexington it has snowed the entire months of December and January so the leash walking and socialization took a backseat. I figured it was okay though since she is ALWAYS playing with one of the other dogs in our large fenced in backyard or house.
Fast forward to her first day at obedience classes. All she does is bark constantly at the other dogs. They were all quite a bit larger than her so she would cower down to them or back away when she got close to them. She did a really great job paying attention in class the whole first class and the barking had stopped within the 1st 10 minutes. I thought maybe she was just intimidated by the larger dogs and she'd get used to it.
Yesterday was our 2nd obedience class. I went in completely confident that she would behave herself, especially since her littermate/sister was going to be there. Needless to say, I was WRONG. The second she saw her sister she turned into an evil demon! I was so embarrassed. I felt like I didn't even know the dog she had turned into. I spent the whole class trying to restrain and quiet her. Her sister is really timid and would bark and growl but not approach Sprinkles. Sprinkles on the other hand would try and lunge at her. The trainer acted like this was common and worked a little on socializing the two but overall it was disastrous. I felt like crying.
So today I took Sprinkles along with Lexie to Petsmart to try and work on behavior. Lexie has always been extremely friendly to other dogs and while she does bark occasionally at them, she is always friendly and NEVER aggressive (to continue with my Glee comparison, she's kind of like Quinn...nice to your face but probably not so much behind your back haha). I thought maybe if Sprinkles saw Lexie behave she'd catch on. Biggest mistake ever. Sprinkles constant barking made Lexie protective and bark constantly at all the other dogs. While Lexie never got aggressive they were both chasing down every dog in the store to bark at and we ended up just leaving frustrated!
Now I'm just at a loss. Clearly I've done something terribly wrong with Sprinkles socialization but I have no idea how to change it! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated...Thanks!
Now to describe Sprinkles in a nutshell... Anyone who has ever watched Glee, Sprinkles would be the dog version of Brittany. I can't think of a better comparison. haha.
Anyway back to my problem. She turned 6 months old on January 17. She is constantly around 5 other dogs (Lexie and my moms 3 Chihuahuas and 1 Cavalier). She is always a complete angel with them, very playful and friendly. We until the end of November had puppy play dates with her litter mates as well and there was never a problem.
Unfortunately here in Lexington it has snowed the entire months of December and January so the leash walking and socialization took a backseat. I figured it was okay though since she is ALWAYS playing with one of the other dogs in our large fenced in backyard or house.
Fast forward to her first day at obedience classes. All she does is bark constantly at the other dogs. They were all quite a bit larger than her so she would cower down to them or back away when she got close to them. She did a really great job paying attention in class the whole first class and the barking had stopped within the 1st 10 minutes. I thought maybe she was just intimidated by the larger dogs and she'd get used to it.
Yesterday was our 2nd obedience class. I went in completely confident that she would behave herself, especially since her littermate/sister was going to be there. Needless to say, I was WRONG. The second she saw her sister she turned into an evil demon! I was so embarrassed. I felt like I didn't even know the dog she had turned into. I spent the whole class trying to restrain and quiet her. Her sister is really timid and would bark and growl but not approach Sprinkles. Sprinkles on the other hand would try and lunge at her. The trainer acted like this was common and worked a little on socializing the two but overall it was disastrous. I felt like crying.
So today I took Sprinkles along with Lexie to Petsmart to try and work on behavior. Lexie has always been extremely friendly to other dogs and while she does bark occasionally at them, she is always friendly and NEVER aggressive (to continue with my Glee comparison, she's kind of like Quinn...nice to your face but probably not so much behind your back haha). I thought maybe if Sprinkles saw Lexie behave she'd catch on. Biggest mistake ever. Sprinkles constant barking made Lexie protective and bark constantly at all the other dogs. While Lexie never got aggressive they were both chasing down every dog in the store to bark at and we ended up just leaving frustrated!
Now I'm just at a loss. Clearly I've done something terribly wrong with Sprinkles socialization but I have no idea how to change it! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated...Thanks!