Tiki goes to Florida
Some of you have followed our saga of Tiki, the rescue pup. As you may recall he was very traumatized, but he has been coming around. He has done well in doggy daycare and has successfully learned to sit.
This weekend we took him to Florida to visit family. We stayed 3 days with my mom, who has a Border Collie mix and 2 cats. I wasn't sure how that would go, but Tiki did well. The two dogs tangled up a couple times until they got their pecking order sorted out. Tiki didn't bark all that much either. Inside the house, he quickly took a liking to my mom(she has good treats.) However, twice Tiki "turned" on her, barking furiously and snapping. Fortunately, mother didn't overreact and quickly squelched the behavior.
Then we went to another city to see other family. We stayed in a hotel, Tiki's first experience with that. He did well in the hotel. DH took him to MILs nursing home to see her--through a back door so he wouldn't have the opportunity to encounter many people *cuz we never know...* Tiki did great with MIL and she was delighted with the visit. The next day, DH took him back and met up with his sister and BIL in the parking lot. DH was holding Tiki, talking with his sister when Tiki "turned" suddenly, barking furiously and growling. Unfortunately, Sister is a moron and she moved in closer talking baby talk and trying to comfort him. She nearly lost her nose! At that point, DH brought Tiki back to the hotel without seeing MIL again--Tiki was clearly too upset. Back at the hotel, he was perfectly behaved and we had no more problems.
I am not sure what's going on. With mother both times he turned on her she was holding something--once it was a cup and once it was a shoe. She was wearing a bathrobe too. With Sister, we have no idea what set him off. Of course, then she made it worse.
I am trying really hard to nip this in the bud (pun intended.) I give him a sharp "No barks!" and a downward tug on the leash. I praise him when he behaves well in an iffy situation, such as when he encounters other dogs or people he doesn't know (or stop signs, plastic bags or fire hydrants--oy~) I know he is acting out of fear but I can't figure out how he is going from loving, likeable fellow to Demon Seed in less than a second.
Any ideas how to manage this? I plan to take him to the trainer tomorrow and I will be addressing it with him.
ETA: Tiki is a Bichon-Poodle mix, if that helps.
This weekend we took him to Florida to visit family. We stayed 3 days with my mom, who has a Border Collie mix and 2 cats. I wasn't sure how that would go, but Tiki did well. The two dogs tangled up a couple times until they got their pecking order sorted out. Tiki didn't bark all that much either. Inside the house, he quickly took a liking to my mom(she has good treats.) However, twice Tiki "turned" on her, barking furiously and snapping. Fortunately, mother didn't overreact and quickly squelched the behavior.
Then we went to another city to see other family. We stayed in a hotel, Tiki's first experience with that. He did well in the hotel. DH took him to MILs nursing home to see her--through a back door so he wouldn't have the opportunity to encounter many people *cuz we never know...* Tiki did great with MIL and she was delighted with the visit. The next day, DH took him back and met up with his sister and BIL in the parking lot. DH was holding Tiki, talking with his sister when Tiki "turned" suddenly, barking furiously and growling. Unfortunately, Sister is a moron and she moved in closer talking baby talk and trying to comfort him. She nearly lost her nose! At that point, DH brought Tiki back to the hotel without seeing MIL again--Tiki was clearly too upset. Back at the hotel, he was perfectly behaved and we had no more problems.
I am not sure what's going on. With mother both times he turned on her she was holding something--once it was a cup and once it was a shoe. She was wearing a bathrobe too. With Sister, we have no idea what set him off. Of course, then she made it worse.
I am trying really hard to nip this in the bud (pun intended.) I give him a sharp "No barks!" and a downward tug on the leash. I praise him when he behaves well in an iffy situation, such as when he encounters other dogs or people he doesn't know (or stop signs, plastic bags or fire hydrants--oy~) I know he is acting out of fear but I can't figure out how he is going from loving, likeable fellow to Demon Seed in less than a second.
Any ideas how to manage this? I plan to take him to the trainer tomorrow and I will be addressing it with him.
ETA: Tiki is a Bichon-Poodle mix, if that helps.
