Temperament Problems

Yes....We've Had A Few

by Pam Voit

In the AHT Temperament segment we talked about the basic temperament of the American Hairless Terrier. We also talked about the importance of temperament testing any puppy or dog you plan on purchasing.  

Now we come to a more difficult subject....

We will now talk about the dominant-aggressive dog and what we have seen in our normally loving breed.

What Behaviour Is Acceptable...What is Not

High energy and tenaciousness is acceptable and normal in any terrier breed, but dominant-aggressive behaviour should never be accepted or considered normal behaviour.....I don't care what any breeder says!

Mouthing in young puppies should be corrected firmly to avoid the tendency to mouth as an adult. Without correction this can eventually result in some pretty harsh nips.

*It seems that the majority of AHT puppies do this mouthing but even though it may be normal as puppies, it should not be accepted as desirable behaviour. They can be trained out of it easy enough.

Mouthing is not the behaviour I am talking about here....though a dominant-aggressive dog usually mouths harder and more often. What I am talking about is the dominant - aggressive dog that will do everything in its power to be the boss....the dog that will try to dominate every family member as well as other dogs in the family...one by one till he/she is the king/queen of your household.

Ruling other dogs is not a real problem, usually. With a little time, dogs will work out their own pecking order amongst themselves and that is all quite normal and acceptable...let them take care of it on their own. But never never allow a dog to dominate any family member...adult or child...this is never never acceptable.

Nipping, biting and mounting a human is definitely NEVER acceptable. Neither is growling at or jumping in a human's face. Swift and firm correction is a must in these situations.

It is when these corrections produce no results that we are talking about here. We are talking of dogs that will not respond to your commands or corrections and will continue their attempts to dominate each family member - moving up the chain of command. Dogs that will use whatever method they can find to bring the results they are looking for. We are also talking of the dogs that will actually attack in response to the corrections you have given.

We are not talking about the occassional fiesty nip or play growl...though this still shouldn't be accepted. Firm correction should definitely follow any undesirable behaviour. But do make sure the correction is fair and proper for each wrong doing and done at the time of the undesirable behaviour.

We are not talking about the growl or nip because a child has mistreated the dog in some way...again, this is not acceptable and should be corrected. But more important than that...all children should be taught the correct way to handle any animal. They should never be left along with the animal unless they have shown they can handle the dog properly.

We, also, are not talking about a growl or bite if a stranger comes into your home unannounced...or a burglar for that matter.

We are talking about the dog that no matter what you do will growl at any family member that enters its space. A dog that suddenly bites or snaps for no reason other than to say...stay away. The dog that jumps incessantly to get in your face and make you take notice of him...saying...I'm the boss.  A dog that will stand on your chest and bear its teeth at you to say...I dare you to move.  A dog that will jump on your bed, on your sofa or even on you and urinate to say...you are mine. In a nut shell we are talking about a dog that cannot be trusted at any time... EVER! There is too much chance of him bringing you great bodily harm or even disfigurement. Get rid of this dog NOW and no more discussion.

The breeder may or may not take the dog back, but do not let that determine your course of action. Your family's well being is far too important to keep a dangerous dog in the house. Put the dog into a kennel until you can get the dog taken care of...but don't let it stay where it can harm you or your family.

As I said, the breeder may or may not take the dog back. Some breeders will try their best to claim that you or someone else in the family has done something wrong to make the dog the way it is or say you just aren't training the dog properly or you just don't understand the breed. In some cases I guess this may possibly be true...but if you have a puppy or dog that displays what I mentioned above and you have done every thing in your power to treat the dog fairly and lovingly and done the proper training...then I doubt seriously it is your fault.

A lot of breeders have their dogs kenneled and don't have them in a family atmosphere and have never seen them in a family setting. A lot of dogs like mentioned above would do fine in a kennel lifesyle but cannot handle the every day life of a family.

 In the kennel they have many other dogs to challenge in order to find their pecking order...that is kennel life. If you see a dog growl or bite or fight another dog in this type of situation...you see it as normal. When one of these dogs comes into a family you are the other dog...your children...you husband are other dogs. Your family becomes their pack and they must find their pecking order within this family. This is easy with a normal well adjusted dog...but when you have a dominant/ aggressive dog on your hands....watch out! They are going to growl...they are going to bite...they are going to mount, jump on, urinate on to mark, square off...everything they would do to another dog. They will not submit or back down to correction from you unless you are willing to tear into them like another dog would...and they are going to do everything in their power to bring you down.  Hey.. I'm not about to get down and dirty with a dog...biting. ripping, and scratching! I'm not about to get my hand or face shredded in order to set my place in the pack. And no human should ever have to go through that. These dominant/aggressive dogs are never going to submit to you or anyone else in your family. Their mindset is to be the Alpha...with you and your family walking behind them. I don't believe any of us wants that with what is suppossed to be our family pet.

Far too many breeders don't or won't understand this and won't believe what you are saying when you are talking about one of their dogs..remember, they have never seen them in a home enviroment and interacting with family members. They have only seen them interacting amongst their siblings or other kennel dogs. Let them think whatever they want to think...just get that dog out of your house! You and those around you know the truth and that is all that matters. The dog is gone and you and your family are now safe.

Also, there are breeders and trainers that insist these dogs can be trained or rehabiliated to live within the family unit. Again, I have my doubts and I do not believe I could ever trust such a dog in a family with kids. My child's mental and physical well being is more important to me...I will not risk it to a dog that has shown me it could shred his/her face.

The training, if I believed it would work, would be long, hard and very time consuming and after all of that you can not always be sure of the outcome. I am not sure I could ever be able to trust that dog again...could you?  And to be honest...when I purchase a dog to be a companion for me I certainly don't expect to be required to learn how to "walk on eggshells" so as not to disturb or upset this dog???? Does that sound selfish of me?

As far as breeding these animals...I really cannot believe there are breeders that feel they can breed them and not come up with more of the same??? Yes, folks...bad temperament is hereditary! Make sure you do your homework and carefully check out the temperament of the dog or puppy you are interested in. If you haven't read my segment on The AHT Temperament...go there and read it and study the temperament tests.

I dont' mean to be an alarmist and I don't mean to shed a bad light on the American Hairless Terrier. Thankfully the dominant aggressive dogs are few and far between and most AHTs are fun, energetic, loving little critters..but for that one person that might find himself with one of those uncontrollable terrors...this report is needed and I hope helpful in giving them insight on what they are facing and what they need to do.

This report on temperament problems is meant for all the breeds not just ours. Whether terrier or hound...working or sporting and all the breeds in between...this report is meant to inform all those interested in purchasing a new pup...it is meant to educate people so they can make the best possible choice for their family. It is to show them there are dogs out there being bred that have no business being bred and there are dogs out there that can be potentially dangerous to them and their unsuspecting families. I just want people to be informed.... Before You Buy!

*If this report can save even one person from going through the agony my family went through with TinkerBelle...then it has been well worth the time I have put into it.........Pam

First Hand Experiences with Dominant/Aggressive

Below are two accounts which were saved from my internet discussion group list. One post is to notify the group of a decision to return her dominant/aggressive dog and the other is a response to that post.

I have changed the names of persons involved to protect the owners from inquiries on this matter. I have even chosen to change the names of any breeders involved so as not to shed a bad light on them. All changes will appear in italics and in pink lettering.

The people involved in these two situations may at some time recover from the heartache they have gone through and eventually be able to right a story of their lives with these animals. I know how they feel and you will read that later on in my story of Tinker.  I thank these people for helping me out by sharing these posts.

Further note - both of these families have since had their dogs replaced with other AHTs.  Their new found friends are wonderful loving little characters that fit well with their family.

And now I am happy to say that both these families have now added another American Hairless Terrier to their family.

Post One:

Hi Everyone

The "List" folks have sure been quiet lately. I have some bad news to share with you all. We put Tilly on a plane this Thurs. and sent her back. She had bitten myself and my husband and several others on several occasions. I could not walk her near any other dogs because she'd lunge for them and bite them if she could. Her excessive mouthing had turned into growling, snarling, snapping and biting. At first it was so gradual and the incidents far and few between. I just thought it was terrier/puppy play. It kept getting more often and worse. I was concerned because we have grandchildren in and out of our house alot and they were frightened of her. The vet I go to is in a very large clinic, with 4-5 other vets. I had them look at her too. They felt she was very agressive and dominant for only being 5 1/2 months (she'll be 6 months 6/5). They advised me to send her back. They said she would only get worse the older she got. I spent one whole afternoon calling vets on the phone, describing her behaviors and was advised to send her back. One vet did say that we could spend alot of money on obedience training but then we'd be the ones that were trained and Tilly would probably remain the same.   To be fair to Tilly I took her to a well known vet that specializes in behavior evaluations. I did not tell her what the other vets had said nor did I describe Tilly's behaviors. I wanted her to evaluate her without any pre-conceived ideas. She put Tilly through many different simple, non-threatening tests and Tilly tried to bite her a number of times and got quite nasty. She wrote up an evaluation and to make a very long story short she advised me to send Tilly back as soon as we could. This was such a heart wrenching decision for us and we are still reeling from it yet. Tilly could be so sweet for so much of the time...........sometimes she'd go for days and be the sweetest little dear and then she'd turn into a little demon dog. She would not even want us to pet her sometimes and would try to bite us and she would often lunge at our faces. She had started to become much too agressive with Henry and Henry had all sorts of little puncture wounds from her teeth.We aren't whimpy disciplinarians by any standards and we tried so many things but we were told if it was a genetic thing there was nothing we could do to change her. I contacted the breeder and he has arranged for another breeder to handle this situation. We have worked out an arrangement so that we will be getting one of Pam's puppies within the next 1-2 months. We of course are thrilled at the prospects of getting a puppy but we are still so blue over Tilly.

Please remember us in your prayers.

God Bless,

Tilly's owner

I did not share these things with the group earlier for fear of anyone thinking poorly of the AHT's. I did not want any one to think that the AHT's are a bad breed in any way. We realize that this is not the norm for AHT's and we feel so blessed to have found a breed that our allergies and asthma can handle.

Post Two:

Oh you poor dear!

I am so sorry to hear about your experience. I know how you feel -- we were heartbroken when we sent Zydeco back to his breeder, but it was definitely the right decision. He left puncture marks in my child's arm and drew blood on all of us many times. We also made so many excuses for him for almost a year, but it just got to be unexcusable anymore. Aladdin is so very different in so many ways - but he is still feisty and a terrier through and through. He's had his moments when he's tried the limits, but he responds and reacts so much more appropriately. He will submit, which Zydo never did. Be sure that the puppy you choose has a submissive and more calm temperament. Pam has some temperament tests that she and I have shared and discussed. When I used them to test Zydo, it said he should be a guard dog--all 12 pounds of him. This brings up a point that I think we all have avoided on this list. It seems that there may be some intolerable temperaments in this breed, that are very difficult for people to live with. It's not that all of us are fools and don't know how to handle a dog - I think that there are some doggie personalities that are very challenging. I'm concerned that this is occuring in AHT's more than it should, and wonder how all the breeders are considering temperament when deciding which dogs to breed. I also want to say IMHO that I hope that all of us can use this list to discuss problems we are having, openly and honestly. I know none of us wants to make a bad impression, so to speak, but how else can we help each other if we don't share the good AND the bad. I wish that I had shared more of my experiences with Zydo, so that perhaps Tilly's owner would have recognized this earlier--perhaps before she picked out her puppy. What does everyone else think of this idea?

Zydeco's owner

Zydo's owner makes a good comment in her post..." I wish I had shared more of my experiences with Zydo..."

Perhaps our sharing will help someone recognize the unacceptable behaviour before buying the pup or atleast early on before the destruction is so great.

Further note - my response to her comment about an open and honest discussion on the list was to affirm to all that the discussion group was to discuss "all " aspects of our dogs, whether it be good or bad.

If you are still not convinced about the dominant/aggressive dog....read on about two personal accounts of life with such a dog.

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