Millsan:My 13-year old Shar Pei Mix HATES being in his cage. I have to put him there at night and during the day because he starts fights with my other 2 dogs. He will go to his cage (which is in the basement area) willingly because he knows he will get a treat, but as soon as the treat is gone, he starts growling and lunging at the cage door. His eyes get glazed over and he will stand there growling and barking and lunging. I have tried talking softly, talking loudly and sternly and even kneeling in front of the cage talking to him. Nothing works. It gets even worse if one of the other dogs happen to come downstairs for a drink of water -- he goes crazy. I have tried leaving him out of the cage and just putting him in the basement, but he doesn't like that either. It's now at the point where he barks all night long and keeps us awake.
Some of you might have seen my previous post "Shar Pei vs. Akita"....here is an update: 3 days ago Rufus (my Shar Pei Mix) was pissed off because I was checking out the length of his toe nails to see if they needed to be trimmed. When I was finished, he tore across the room and attacked my other dog, Harley (a German Sheppard Mix). The Akita was outside at the time. As my boyfriend and I tried to keep Rufus from attacking Harley, we both ended up with major bite wounds. My hand was bit twice and is now swollen and infected. My boyfriend was standing in front of Harley (who wasn't fighting back). Rufus wasn't allowing anything to get in his way. He lunged at my boyfriend and bit through his pants which left a 5-inch open wound requiring a trip to the emergency room and several stitches. That evening we decided that Rufus was going to need to be put down. This was the final straw as he was completely out of control. Since then, we have both calmed down and neither of us can bear to let him go. He has been my loyal companion for at least half of my life. I am still willing to work on eliminating the "triggers" that set him off. I realize I might not be able to do this, but I must try.
So, I think that the cage is causing alot of aggression and anxiety in Rufus. He feels isolated from "the pack," but I cannot leave them unattended as Mikko (the Akita) can open the gates I have put up and he can easily jump them. My next step is to move the cage upstairs from the basement to see if that helps, but in case it doesn't, does anyone have any tips for a dog exhibiting cage aggression?
I don't know how to put this any more politely. You have 3 dogs, a couple of which seem to be grossly undersocialized or dog aggressive (socialized dogs rarely fight and puncture one another or the humans they live with), and you have large dogs, capable of doing major damage. When a dog bites you, he meant to bite (in the time it takes you to pull a hand away, a slow dog can still bite it four times) so your dogs seem to have little or no bite inhibition, otherwise no one would have gone to the ER. You (and they) are living in a dangerous situation. A five inch wound is not a minor injury!!! Do NOT excuse aggression, or let this go on without professional help. If you cannot afford to hire a veterinarian or Ph.D. behaviorist, you either find a way to keep all the dogs separated, or you eliminate the ones that are doing damage, especially to humans, from the group. Obviously, you are having NO SUCCESS at dealing with this yourself, and if you take misguided advice from an Internet message board, you may end up in deep doo doo that you cannot get out of. Sometimes, the addition or subtraction of a dog from a pack situation will change the whole dynamic, but, without help, you are unlikely to know how to deal with these dogs or which dog is the true problem. CALL A PROFESSIONAL before someone is seriously injured beyond what has already happened. Take advice that makes sense and is backed by education and experience, not advice that is well meaning but only tells you what you want to hear.
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