Fear and leaky butt
 

Hi all,
Yesterday I went out for a girls night with some friends and left Tuxedo with my hubby. My hubby was going to have two friends over and then go out and play some baseball. Well the first guy got there and Tuxy just loves him and was really excited to see him (although the guy doesn't like Tux too much b/c he is allergic to him!). My hubby and his friend went out the back with Tuxedo and were playing in the back yard.

My hubby's other friend showed up but when no one answered the door, he let himself in and came to the back door figuring that my hubby was out the back. When he got to the door Tuxedo FREAKED! He started snarling and hissing and barking like crazy. My hubby picked him up at which point Tux pooped himself...or we think. He leaked brown stuff that smelled like poo but it was liquidy not solid like poo (sorry for the graphic visual!). My hubby took him inside and put him in his crate while he cleaned up the mess. Tuxedo also leaked this stuff in his crate. My hubbys friend (who LOVES animals) couldn't understand why Tux didn't like him so he tried talking calmly and quietly to Tux and Tux looked like he was going to bite him.

Now this is not the first time it has happened. Tuxedo also did this to a friend of my mom's (a woman) while my mom was babysitting Tux at her house. The snarling and barking and the leaking poo stuff.
He also snarled at a guy five doors down but didn't snarl at a guy 3 doors down. We can't seem to find a pattern to this so we can stop him from doing it.

Normally Tuxedo is VERY good with humans including children. He goes to a puppy play centre twice a week and all the staff just love him. He plays with my little nephews, and generally just loves everyone he meets. He also is very good with other dogs and loves to play.

What the heck got into him? He was not himself when I got home either. He was acting sucky and didn't want to go outside this morning to go pee. He pooped in the house for the first time in months also.

What happened to him? I am going to ask my vet on Tuesday but I find you guys have more answers than he does.

Please help!
Thanks!

How old is your dog, what breed is he, and how long have you had him?

Did the leaky stuff have a terrible smell? If so, he could have been expressing his anal glands out of fear. You can have them checked or expressed if necessary at the vet.

It's possible he freaks out when he sees people in a context that he is not used to. For example if he always sees visitors at the door when one of you answers it, then sees someone entering the property without one of you there he may feel that this person is a trespasser and is just guarding his territory or is very frightened at someone entering in a way that he feels is not "right".

Many dogs who are perfectly friendly won't allow someone to enter the home if the owners are not present. My last dog was like this. Anyone who WE greeted in our home was welcomed by him, but if that same person tried to enter when my husband and I were out, he was quite fierce and would bark threateningly.

[QUOTE]He also snarled at a guy five doors down but didn't snarl at a guy 3 doors down. We can't seem to find a pattern to this so we can stop him from doing it.[/QUOTE]

Was the guy 3 doors down closer? Dogs do not have good eyesight and can't recognize people at a distance. Did he calm down when the guy 5 doors down got nearer?

Didn't try.
 

The guy 5 doors down didn't try to come closer. Tuxy was barking and snarling so he stayed away. I had thought that maybe he was trying to protect me because he did bark at the guy 3 doors down but as soon as the guys girlfriend came out, he was fine. Maybe he is protecting me from men??

That would not explain why he snarled at my mom's friend though. She entered the front door and it was opened by my mom. We had originallyn thought it was because she has siamese cats and apparently siamese cats have a different scent that cause irritation in other animals :confused:

Tuxedo is a 9 month old Boston Terrier. He has been neutered and is socialized atleast twice a week with other people and dogs.

He doesn't appear to have any other poo problems..that I know of? How do you know if anal glands are causing him a problem? is it normal for dogs to express them when they are scared?

Thanks!

oh and yes it did STINK!
 

The leaky stuff STUNK...worse than poo in my husbands opinion! :eek:

[QUOTE]We had originallyn thought it was because she has siamese cats and apparently siamese cats have a different scent that cause irritation in other animals [/QUOTE]

That is not true, and even if it were a dog can very well tell the difference between a person and a cat.

Do you let your dog go to the door and greet visitors? If so, I would gate him for now when someone enters, and he can come out when guests settle down as the excitement at the door may be too much for him. Give your visitors a little treat to drop for you dog when he does come out, so he'll know that people are just wonderful!:)

Really stinky stuff is anal glands. I believe a dog may express them if very frightened.

You might want to get his vision checked as well. IF you have not taken him to obedience, you might want to do that. A nervy little dog who is also fearful runs the risk of becoming a fear biter. You need to be calm and in complete control, so your dog does not feel he must defend either you or himself but should feel he can stand back confidently and let you handle any occurances.

At the first sign of him reacting badly to anyone, have him sit. Most dogs do not like to sit and bark.

Very important - Do NOT comfort or soothe him as he will see this as praise for acting that way.

Teach him "Watch me", so you can get his attention before he freaks out.

ahh, Bostons .. lovely lil dogs, but WOW they can have big attitudes!
I would say yes, the stinky stuff was anal glands, which they will express when scared. They might also pee when scared, I've never had a boston do it, but yorkies :)

As for him snarling and getting a bit barky, you need to scoialize him well with humans and with people. Check out the training thread on here for advice, there is one trainer, Tenderfoot that has amazing advice. Bostons are determined, and can end up very yappy, snippy dogs if not socialized well.
How did you acquire Tuxy? Breeder, rescue or shelter?

Socialize how?
 

I am confused...Tuxedo has been socialized. He goes to the vets "daycare" twice a week in which they have many people interacting with him as well as other dogs. He goes for walks in the neighbourhood all the time and meets new people, we also bring him places to meet new people (Petsmart, park, friends and relatives houses). What other socialization can we do?

I have also spent a lot of time also training Tuxedo. He knows all the basic commands and does them when asked. When someone comes to the door, I ask him to sit and stay while I open the door. He does this and will not move until I say OK. Maybe I am not doing it right? or maybe I haven't taught him the right commands?

Safyre, I got him from a breeder.

Tuxedo really isn't a yappy dog or snippy...except for these situations I have explained. That is why it concerned me. He is usually a very happy playful dog who loves all people..not just my husband and I.

I will check out the training thread and see if I can get more suggestions on how to socialize him.

The first two examples in your original post, seems like protection, or fearful reaction. he was seeing your hubby's friend in his territory and didn't understand why he was there, or how he got there. So he tried to protect.
I would expect a dog to protect in this manner, especiallyif they are not used to ppl jsut walking in by themselves. The second example I believe would be same sort of thing.

As for why he is barking a guy 5 doors down from you, but not a guy 3 doors down, I'm completely unsure. How far away was the guy, was he 5 doors down at the time, or is that just how you are referring to the guy 'he lives five doors down'

It sounds like you have worked well on socializing him, getting him used to ppl and other dogs. Glad that he is from a breeder as well, bostons are getting over bred right now, so there are some bad genetics and behavioural problems in some Bostons (from non reputable breeders)

[QUOTE]As for why he is barking a guy 5 doors down from you, but not a guy 3 doors down, I'm completely unsure. How far away was the guy, was he 5 doors down at the time, or is that just how you are referring to the guy 'he lives five doors down'[/QUOTE] Maybe if you get to know both of the men, you'd bark at door number five too...

Too funny!
 

LOL! Prin...I have to agree. Guy at door number 5 is a little strange and the guy at door number 3 is a really nice guy.

The only thing I can think of is the guy who lives three doors down had his girlfriend come out before Tuxedo really freaked. Maybe he was protecting me from men and having a woman buffer the situation helped?

I read some of the training posts and worked with Tux last night doing the "come" thing with the 6 foot lead (thanks to Tenderfoot!). Tuxy is not so good at COME..he kinda does it when he wants to. We were doing SO well until I backed into an empty laundry basket and he freaked out. He ran away, cowered and then hugged the wall. Again, this is not like him at all! I tried it a few more times and managed to get him to come but he was not happy about any of it, so I put him in his crate and let him sleep.

This morning he seemed to be a bit more normal and was not afraid to go outside...I will try the "come" thing again tonight and make sure he knows who is the boss! :D