My dog hates my roommate, what do I do?

Sorry, for the mental health of your dog, the roommate has to go. He will cause her to bite him and she will never trust him and also not trust you for not protecting her against him. Now there is friction in the house and she is feeling it. Yelling at a dog solves nothing. This person will not be in my house if he was doing this to one of my dogs. They look up to me to protect them.

Find a qualified trainer to help you over the fear issues that she has. She probably has trust issues as well. There insecurity too. Sounds like you are doing good with her with the other people. I would not let this person have contact with her when you are not there. Put her in your room if you have too.

I wish there was a way to teach you the Be Still Cue for her. Email me. I can write it all out for you. My shih tzu doesn't like one of my husband's friends, and this cue relaxed her when I tried it on her this last week. So at least you would be able to do that when he is around.

What breed is she?

I was going to suggest that you get rid of the roommate. He may have done something to her while you were not around that you don't know about. Dogs are good at determining the nature of people and maybe she senses somthing about your roommate that she doesn't like or feels is a threat to you and/or her. If he is losing patience with her this is not good. Abused animals need special care in rehabilitation to gain the trust of humans again. It takes special people to adopt and win back the trust of abused animals. I applaud you for taking the time to help her out and give her a loving home. It's unfortunate that you have a roommate who isn't so kind and loving.

Let your roommate feed your dog treats and pet him when he feeds her. Don't let him make any sudden movements around her, or that will trigger an attack mode on the dog. If she jumps on your roommate, tell him to turn his back when shse jumps, then your dog will fall down and do this until she gets bored. On weekends, or when your roommate isn't doing anything, have him put on jeans and a tough jacket. If your dog bites him, have him go down to almost her level (but just enough so that he is a little taller than her) and put his arm in front of him so she can't get to him. If your dog is scared of him, have him get down all the way to her level, and don't enclose her in a corner or a small space. Have him put his hand out and let her sniff it. If you don't have time for this I understand, but if she bites him, he might get really mad and take legal action.

"He has done a few things like try to pet her against her will and yell at her when she barks or growls at him."

This must stop immediately. He's not allowed to do that, or anything resembling that, any more, at all. Very, very serious about this.

If you want to take the time to do some desensitization and counterconditioning with her, use really amazing treats like roasted chicken, liverwurst, baked salmon - whatever it takes. Do not, under any circumstances, put any pressure on her to hang out with anyone. Feed her for just being around. If this were my dog, this would be the only way she would be fed. Do not put her in to any situation where she will be forced to bite. Do not allow your roommate to interact with her if he is going to make her nervous.

http://dogstardaily.com/training/adult-dog-trainin...

Positive training can really turn her around, especially if the situation with your roommate stops.

Your roommate needs to realize he has to be patient above all things. If she's afraid of him the very worst thing he can do is yell at her or even scold her for growling at him. He needs to change his attitude, if he doesn't like her she can sense it and it won't make matters any better. For starters he should always be happy and calm around her. No fast moves, no direct eye contact, he needs to act as unthreatening as possible. Let him take over feeding her for now so she can see him as the provider. No more treats from you, let those come only from him. Try to keep everything low key around her. Maybe it would help if you went for walks in the park together so she can get to know him better without feeling trapped in a house. Also, don't argue around her. The worst thing for her right now is to sense tension between the two of you. If you are angry at him she will probably reflect that and it'll only increase her dislike. I hope you can get things worked out for her and your roommate. Good luck.

Start by giving her some anxiety treatment, natural remedy, Bach Flower Valerian drops in her drinking water and whilst your roomy is still around, straight on the paws morning and evening. This will give him a fighting chance to 'bond' with her.

He is obviously teasing you and this is making her nervous, because it is making you stressed. Possibly his energy may bring back memories of people she knew before. I have a dog who doesn't like people in shorts and on bicycles. He too went through a period of abuse and they do not forget.

Your friend however, if he is patient and finds it in his heart to approach her very slowly, will discover that his attitude and mannerism can be offensive, which you and your new dog will do him an enormous favour, as it may put him in danger one day. Your rescue dog has psychic abilities and she may pick up energies that we cannot. So, talk to your friend and explain to him by asking for his help.

You only have a month to get it right. When he visits in the future, you do not want to have to go through this rigmarole and am sure that both will mutually benefit of happy reunions. Your dog has gone through a lot, obviously, and she has made many adjustments, so she must feel pretty safe with you already. He is just a little too close and she is nervous of your reaction. Maybe in her previous home, the male hit the female in the house and she was piggy in the middle.

Focus on her diet, as a natural diet will strengthen her immune system and good vitamins and nutrition will also provide unseen confidence. She may even suffer from an underlying, but minor infection of a sort, which is easily healed by adding raw garlic to her food. Try some gentle massage techniques and you may find some sensitive spots on her body, which are nerve endings, but will give you some insight as to what may be amiss.

I applaud your kindness and perhaps your friend has more compassion than you realise. He may just not understand animals as yet. Great challenge and opportunity for you to be an educator. Good luck.

No do not get rid of your dog, why should you.

you said he yells at her when she barks and shakes around him, now trying to mean or rude, could he have hit the dog when you were not around?????this is what it sounds like, just ask him, and if says no, then I would watch them very carefully, if the dog is shaking around him, that says it all, and I think he may have been to strong with the dog, and now the dog does not like or trust the room mate at all.

this will take a long time to get the dog to trust him again, you need to sit down in the floor with the room mate and have the dog come to you.....they both need to be socialized together, not apart at all........make sure he is talking soothing to the dog, very low and gently petting the dog........then stop for awhile and keep this up, till the dog accepts him again.

if the dog is great around everyone else, this should really tell you, that something happended when you were not around, and whether or not your room mate admits it or not, it is obvious.......

it will take a lot of loving and patience on all three of you, especially the dog, it will have to be reassured that he is not gonna hurt him.......and if your room mate shows fear in the socializing, the dog is gonna pick up on this also, and will be harder to get them back together.

its all about love and trust, and the room mate is gonna have to give a lot to prove to this little dog, that he cares about him also.....

socializing, love, understanding and alot of patience and time, will pay off, and you will have your dog back to the way you want it........no yelling, stomping of the feet and never hit a dog, for any reason, they never forget or trust that person again......if barking a good firm no, and keep it up, hitting, kicking, yelling never solved a thing in training a dog.

good luck, let me know how it goes

but, do not get rid of your dog......it is a part of your family, would you throw away a child for yelling in the house, no, so why get rid of your dog.

I really hope this all works out for all of you,.

hate to say this, but get rid of the room mate and keep the dog, ha ha

Breeder/show/handler 15 yrs

Try to have the roomate IGNORE the dog, completely. Don't let the roomate pet the dog, scold the dog, or ANYTHING. In time, the dog shoulld get use to the roommate sharing space, then gradually you can have the rommate interact with the dog, little but at a time.

Get rid of your roommate!

But seriously, he needs to back off. He is the one who will have to be trained. He must ignore her and only approach her when she is calm. He cannot force himself on her. Get some baby gates for when you aren't at home and pen her off in a part of the house where he doesn't go. Let her see out so she can see what he is doing but make sure he DOES NOT approach her at all. When she finally realizes that he is completely harmless and accepts him as just a part of the environment, she may approach him.

My golden retriever/rottweiler mix hated my husband when we first brought him home. Our german shep claimed him so my husband couldn't get rid of him. My husband just mostly ignored him and gave him a bit of his dinner occasionally as a treat. He loves my husband now (usually :).

Anyone who keeps a dog around that will bite a human out of fear has issues and is looking to get sued.

Please, stop telling people that your dog was abused when she came from overseas and you have no idea what, where or anything about her til you got her.

Yes, she is a living being, but, so is your roommate and he is a human which places him higher in the scale of importance.

Be very careful with a dog that acts like your does, he problems are genetic in nature and will not improve very much.

Fear biters come from her ranks. Good luck to you!