1. baring teeth/nipping 2. doggy door/climbing fence

Question
A few days ago my husband and I fell in love & rescued a 9 month old female  Australian Shepard. We mainly wanted to adopt a pet for some protection as our neighbor is very strange. (Owned a male mix Australian Shepard/Aussie Cattle about 11 yrs ago. So I thought I'd have some sort of an idea what I was getting into). Anyway my  questions are

1.  On the 3rd day of owning her she was in submissive state on her back and we were petting her, she began to bare her teeth and it really frightened & worried me. Husband said nothing to worry about. Since then she she nipped my heels and especially today when trying to get her to to obey NO BARK or LAY DOWN numerous times, I decided to use a lemon water spray that was advised on a site I found. Well she became very aggressive and nipped at me repeatedly.  Do you think she was abused before us?  

2. We have a doggie door from previous pets (long time gone)we've taken out on leash before and was ok. Shown her the door and she uses it well but the problem is she doesn't go outside to do business it's either in laundry room or our bedroom. We have even tried putting her out and shut the door aprox 10 -15 min. but she barks/cries and then climbs out of the back yard. I don't know how long I can do this as my house smells badly of dog poo and has my nerves on edge!

Got some tips on The Dog Whisperer: One thing I'm doing wrong is letting her sleep in the bedroom with us.


Please help me!!!!! Thank you, Anita  

Answer
Did you get this dog from a legitimate breed rescue? It doesn't sound like they worked with this dog very much (at all!) before they placed her with you. That really was not fair to you; the least they could do would be to help you with her. Personally, since she is showing aggressive, biting tendencies, I think you would be better off returning her to rescue and waiting for a different dog.

I really don't think many dogs, particularly those that end up in rescue, have been abused. I think many of their problems are generally due to lack of training, and their escalating problems end up with them in rescue (lazy owners find it easier to dump the dogs once the dogs starting taking over the house). Biting dogs, however, are a different story, and they should not be accepted by rescues and then placed further as they can be a liability to everyone. I will say, though, that this is a working, herding breed, and there would be a natural tendency for her to nip at your heels, but it sounds like she has never learned bite inhibition... a truly bad thing if she has aggressive tendencies.

If you wish to keep this dog and work with her, you (all of you) must give her 100%. First, get her into obedience classes (for several months), and train her every single day (not just you, but your husband, too; no one should slough off her misbehaviors). Start practicing "Nothing in Life is Free" with her. http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm She must work for everything she wants! You need to do Long Downs with her at least three times a week. http://www.volhard.com/general/artbywv.htm#tnw All of the above techniques are designed to make you more "alpha" to the dog.

And it just might be that you will need to bring in an animal behaviorist to help you with this dog. When working with a dog, it really does help to be able to SEE the dog and READ the signals it is giving off. This is not something that can be done through internet email/forums. If she is very fearful, being too dominant with her could push her to bite. Be firm but consistent.

As to problem two, you need to reinforce her housebreaking. Maybe she was never really housebroken to begin with, but at any rate, you need to get a crate and USE it with her. Treat her as though you just brought in an eight-week-old puppy. Keep her crated at night or when you cannot watch her, and let her outside after she wakes in the morning, eats, naps, plays, and last thing at night. Her freedom in the house should be limited until she have proven herself to "be worthy" of trust. You must always take her outside on leash, and praise her when she potties in the right spot. If she doesn't potty, then put her back in the crate when you come back inside and try her again in 30 minutes or so. Keep a journal so that you know when she should generally have to potty. http://www.cuhumane.org/topics/hseold.html

Personally, I don't think dog doors housebreak a dog; it just lets them go in and out at will. If the dog has no concept of being housebroken, then a dog door is useless as it has no teaching benefits. And shutting her outside has taught her nothing except how to figure out how to get out of the yard.... a very dangerous thing! Don't ever leave her loose in the yard by herself EVER, or she will be over the fence and meet up with a car on one of her trips. I dislike invisible fencing immensely, but this might be a necessity in order to keep this dog in the yard. But first things first.... address the primary issues first before tackling that one.

And if you haven't taken this dog into your vet yet, do that ASAP to make sure that she is healthy and has no underlying issues that could be aggrevating these problems. Your vet should also have the name of a good animal behaviorist if you want to go that route.