Hi, I recently adopted a 9 month old Blue Heeler/Black Lab mix (9 days ago) and when I first picked him up, he had no issues with me, took a day or so but he warmed up to me great. Recently, I had a coworker over to my place and while he growls at first, after much reassuring by me, he allows visitors to pet him and is okay, until they try to walk away, then he goes after their heels, nipping and barking at them. He has also done this to my next door neighbor. Aside from continually scolding him for such behavior, what can I do to curb this ultimately embarrassing behavior?

stop scolding him. australian cattle dogs are herding dogs - they herd by nipping at what ever they are herding. this is instinctive & not bad behavior.

keep him leashed to you when you have people coming or going.

find a reputable trainer & take him to obedience classes. be sure & go there to observe how the trainer relates to the dogs & owners before you sign up. no pet store classes. your local shelter or kennel club should be able to guide you

shame on the shelter for not explaining the breeds needs to you. & shame on you for not asking.

Apparently I must have the wrong forums. I was looking for ways to control my dog's problematic behavior and the response I get is that it's my fault, and that I should essentially lock him away when I have guests.

Such cavalier attitudes are detrimental to successful pet ownership and do nothing but seek to punish the owner.

I am not looking to keep him out of sight, I want to incorperate him into my life and the choice that I made was based on thorough research before I adopted him. Apparently I should have done the same when seeking help on this issue.

Keep in mind that he's also a mixed breed, with a Black Lab. I understand that behavior may swing one way or the other and instincts can't be predicted, but again, I want to incorporate him into my life, not hide him away like a guilty secret whenever I have guests.

So, that being said, if there is somebody here who can provide some REAL, HONEST advice, then please help me, and I will welcome your assistance. Otherwise, keep your arrogance to yourself.

nowhere did I say one word about banishing him. I did not even suggest crating him. not a word about keeping him out of sight, or hiding him away like a "guilty secret".

keeping him leashed to you certainly isn't hiding him.

I also suggested obedience classes.

sounds like you have a personal problem

Originally Posted by suebgone

sounds like you have a personal problem

Again, that only reinforces my point regarding cavalier attitudes and attacking the owner, not the problem. I came here for help, not for a berating. If you feel I have a 'personal problem' this is not the proper forum to express your obvious mastery of the complete human psyche. Please message me privately if you feel you must personally attack me. I'm pretty sure this site has rules against personal attacks, as most online forums do.

Again, I welcome any real advice from people who don't feel the need to personally insult people genuinely looking for help.

Hey Submariner.

It sounds like the blue heeler in him is coming out through the nipping (this is typical herding behavior with the breed). Think about something that is the opposite of what your dog is doing and try that. For example, a dog that has a very good sit/stay on command shouldn't chase after someone walking away.

Scolding an animal will sometimes make us feel better, but it really doesn't help your dog - it can actually create a sense of fear instead. When training our dogs to not perform a certain behavior, it's also important to show them what you would like for them to do instead.

I think we would need to have more information about your dog's growling to make any suggestions, but I believe it would be a good idea to consult with an animal behavior specialist. You can check with your local shelter to see who they can recommend - sometimes they'll have one on staff that can speak to you over the phone for free. I think they would probably want to spend about an hour or so for an in-person consult so they can gain a better understanding of the whole picture and give you suggestions on how to get a good resolution for your dog's behavior.

Grace,

Thanks for the suggestions. He is reasonably good with the sit command, I'll see what I can do to reinforce that behavior. I'm going to make an assumption that simple positive reinforcement for not chasing after guests would work, right? I agree that scolding isn't the best answer, I hate to do it to him at all, though without other alternatives, it was the most effective at the time.

The husband of one of my coworkers is also licensed at the local county humane society, so I'll ask him if he has recommendations on behavior specialists.

Positive reinforcement can work great. The trick is to giving him something that is of very high value to him to fight the urge to want to chase after someone.

Until your dog is pretty good with the sit/stay (doing it at least 95% of the time, very consistently), you should probably work with him in your home with no one around. Then move to somewhere a little more distracting, but with no one around (such as a backyard). Then move onto having one person around, but while your dog is on the leash. Slowly work in this fashion.

The behavior specialist you speak with can help you out with this as well.

Good luck with your pup! He is very adorable.

I just joined so that I could tell Suebgone to keep her opinions to herself and just answer the question. I too have been attacked by loser forum monitors such as yourself. Get a life!! Get out of your computer loser land and go see the blue sky. You're the one who should be ashamed of yourself! I found this site by googling blue heeler mixes, because my son got one in January. I just wanted some info and then I had to read your loser unhelpful response.

Dont know if I am allowed to put this on here. If not please delete it. Have a look at this site. By all accounts it is a very successful program and may help you with your dog. Dog Obedience Training to Solve Dog Behavior Problems
Healers do have a habit of grabbing people by the heel. If you can work out why the pup is doing it you may find a clue to fixing the behaviour. My brother had a dog who would let anyone into their yard but... they werent allowed to leave till my brother got home. He was obviously protecting his territory. Perhaps your pup would not nip visitors heels if you walked them to the gate, or the door if inside, and then turned and walked away from them with your dog rather than having them walk away from you.