Looking for advice on stopping walks for reactive & aggressive dogs that I’m housesitting (will attack/bite all unknown people & dogs)
Hi everyone,
To preface, this job is an overnight two week long housesitting job where I am in the house during the day unless I go out to do errands. I live relatively far and gas is quite expensive so it’s not feasible for me to be going home every day (would take a huge chunk out of what I’m being paid).
TLDR: petsit was more full on than expected. Reactive, aggressive dogs to any living external stimuli. Will attack and bite strangers, including children. I’ve decided to put a pause on their walks and use other tools for exercise and enrichment in their home. Looking for advice.
I recently took on a house sitting job to watch two dachshunds. They’re extremely reactive to other dogs, people, children, etc. and any sounds outside of the home. One of the dogs has some separation anxiety that I’m not sure that the owner is fully aware of. I can’t be alone in a room in the house without her whining, barking, and scratching on the door. She did this for an hour and a half when I had a terrible migraine (can’t drive anywhere, I have vision loss and I’m vomiting so I can’t have a dog crawling on top of me). All her needs had been met! I can’t even sit on a chair without the same behaviour. She cries if I don’t let her on the bed, even though the owner told me that they can sleep in their crates and I even had the option the sleep in a guest room in the basement where they’re not even allowed to go. It’s been much more full on and exhausting than I thought it would be. I was able to eventually establish the crate as her sleeping space which has improved my experience immensely, as I still can’t have time away from her if I’m in the home otherwise. She has a no sense of physical boundaries when I try to have my own space, and I can’t relax in the home without her insisting on crawling inside my skin. I needed some kind of reprieve- I felt like I was going mad! Now thankfully it has gotten better since I ignore her when appropriate and she’s seeming to be more steady with herself as she’s learns that nothing bad happens when she can’t have inappropriate access to me.
We’ve worked on other things together and made some adjustments such as:
- working their brains more with games i.e. doing some nose work to find their kibble around the house for their meals, using tshirts/games, etc.
- playing when they initiate and stopping when they’re done to ensure exercise and positive stimulation.
- spending more time on the yard with all of the triggers happening outside of it, and even doing some kibble searches out there. Coming inside when the barking goes for too long, and reducing the allowed barking time over time.
-utilizing the crate with their burrowing blankets as a safe space for when they are being reactive to external stimuli inside the house, sleeping in the crate, getting treats each time I put them in it, covering it with a blanket, etc.
- playing desensitization sounds on the tv, which they stopped reacting to all varieties pretty quickly. Too smart!
- working on their “no barking” command consistently.
- walking them separately -> best decision ever!
- structured training walks only, with controlled sniffing time as they’re hounds and need it!
As far as the walks go, here are some things we’ve worked on:
They were fairly dull to leash pressure, which made it difficult to have control when they were calm and damn near impossible when they were reacting to any “threats”, which could be relatively far away.
They also had been allowed to pull the owner around to sniff wherever they pleased and would refuse if asked to move on before they decided that they wanted to. I’ve been working on establishing myself as the decision maker on these walks, allowing them to sniff when offered and gradually increasing the time I gave them as they improved. We stopped anytime they pulled and it was up to them to release that pressure, which they would get rewarded for immediately.
Teaching them the “look” command and the “yes” marker along with it so I can reward them looking at me and giving me their attention. My main goal was to create a habit of them checking in with me and also establish myself as a leader. This is also great as it gives me leverage to get their attention when working on other training goals.
They’re very smart girls and have learned so quick. They seem to have gained a lot of confidence overall and trust in me as their walker. I’ve been able to redirect them away from threats quicker and more successfully over time, but they are still so very aggressive. In spite of what I’m getting paid (which isn’t even enough for the level of care I’m providing if it were for non-reactive dogs, but I digress), I have only been able to do so much within the span of just under two weeks for dogs that need a professional trainer to come in. I know 100% that if they got loose during our walks, they would attack and bite people, based off of my personal experience with them and the owner’s admission of it. I did everything I possibly can to walk them during times when no one is around, but it gets very cold in the morning and night here and the owner has not provided me with anything I can put them in (especially the short haired one poor baby!). I’m not comfortable walking them during peak hours- I think it would be incredibly irresponsible of me not only for myself but for everyone else, especially since they don’t have muzzles as a safeguard.
Important preface: the owner was very lax about the amount and length of walks that I do. I asked her for a specific number per day/lengths and she did not give me any. I do not take them every day anymore. I find that the walks are more stressful than enriching to them, and they don’t get enough physical exercise within the time that both of our brains are too tired and we need to go home. It’s too much of a liability and I am not a trainer, nor am I paid or insured like one. We do lots in the house and the yard, and they seem to really enjoy it, as well as hanging around with me which they seem to almost enjoy more. They aren’t showing any negative signs from having less walks and I know (or at least I think I know) logically that this is the best course of action for them at this time, but it’s hard to not be worried that I’m doing something wrong. I’m doing the best that I can but I’m nervous that I’m making a mistake here.
Does anyone have any advice or opinions at all? Or any fun (inexpensive!) activities that I can do with the girls? Constructive criticism welcome, as I just want to do my best!
We have a few days left of the sit and I want their owner to come back to dogs better than she left. I’m hoping to give her a write up of what we worked on and personal recommendations for the future (she said she would like one when I asked!). Also I would like to offer to walk each of them with her to show her everything so she can implement it going forward. Would it be too forward of me to mention a trainer and potentially teaching them to wear basket muzzles for safety? I do really care about the dogs and the owner and I would hate to not do everything I can to give them the tools that they need! They have so much potential and they really are lovely dogs.