Dog behavior advice please!

[paintnolish]

We have two Shelties-10 and 1. They normally play nicely together, with a few tiffs here and there when the young one gets too annoying (believe me, he deserves it). Anyway, the old one went to the groomer yesterday and came back smelling like lots of other dogs, at least according to the pup. He has his nose permanently attached to the older one and will not leave him alone. This results in snarling and the older one freaking out (snapping, chasing off the younger one) about every 5 minutes! Do I just need the smell to wear off or what?!?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Step in a tell the nosy pup to bug off. One of my dogs came back from the vet from being sick and nosy dog was all up on her.

I let him get alot of sniffing in then when she had enough I stepped in. She wasn't feeling well and as the main alpha you can tell the other dog to keep his nose to himself.

 

[paintnolish]

I do. Every time I see it, I yell at him and he runs off- for 5 seconds!

 

[ilovejack02]

I do. Every time I see it, I yell at him and he runs off- for 5 seconds!

You need to find something to distract him .. got any new toys you can give him?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I do. Every time I see it, I yell at him and he runs off- for 5 seconds!

Yelling at the dog is not going to work.

You need to block the groomer dog with your body using no words. Stand there until the nosy dog tries to sniff again and give a firm no, go, tsst (your discipline thing). Continue until your other dog gets the message to knock it off.

 

[ilovejack02]

I do. Every time I see it, I yell at him and he runs off- for 5 seconds!

Yelling most likely wont work, you need to get between them and block him. Might take a bit of work, but you need to be top dog and back him away, keep at it, he should figure it out.

LOL M.M. looks like we had the same idea ; )

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yelling most likely wont work, you need to get between them and block him. Might take a bit of work, but you need to be top dog and back him away, keep at it, he should figure it out.

LOL M.M. looks like we had the same idea ; )

I just did it 2 days ago so it is pretty fresh.

Also our "nosy" dog sniffs everything, so we have a lot of practice in that area with telling him to stop. You really don't even have to use words. Body blocking sends a clear message to the dog.

 

[paintnolish]

Thanks for the advice. You are right- maybe physically coming between them will help it stop. I want to clarify yelling, though- not berating or anything, more like a sharp "Hey!" which causes him to dart away/

 

[DutchsMommy]

Agree - eye contact to the pushy one and get in between to assert yourself as the boss. Another option - just leave them - older dog is telling younger one to get lost and if older one really wants to be left alone the snarling will escalate until she gives him one he will remember and after that he should back off.

 

[Sleepy]

Agree - eye contact to the pushy one and get in between to assert yourself as the boss. Another option - just leave them - older dog is telling younger one to get lost and if older one really wants to be left alone the snarling will escalate until she gives him one he will remember and after that he should back off.

I agree with this. Dogs are pack animals and learn their rank through experience. Of course, a full out attack is not acceptable, but a nice quick snip should do it.

I watched a sheltie for a couple months while his family looked for a home. He was the sweetest dog you could ever ask for, but his friendliness caused me to have to constantly remind him that he needed to leave the other dogs alone. he was always wanting to smell the other dogs. It was like his nose was glued to the others. Poor thing. I felt bad for him. All he wanted to do was be friendly, but he just did not know when it was enough.