Dog getting dangerously excited and bitting

My dog Deno has had many problems around other dogs and new people.He has been acting dangerously when seeing new dogs and sometimes around new people.Deno Lives in a house which is quite far away from any other dogs.Deno also lives with another dog called whiz who was involved in a reasent incident which caused whiz to had many inquiries down his face.Here his what happened Deno and whiz were being walked down a route that they don't usually go half way through the walk Deno spotted another dog and went mad biting at anything close (even my hand)and pulling as hard as he could towards the other dog whiz was next to Deno while this was happening unfortunately whiz was caught in Denons crossfire and was bitten whiz didn't like this and retaliated causing both of them to fight violently giving both of then inquiries especially whiz. Deno has always been existed and some times agresive around other dogs but lately it has been getting dangerously bad.Some dogs Deno gets to know like whiz he acts fine around at home some times gets jealous but pretty normal but when Deno sees new dogs or people he goes mad is there anyway to help stop his behaviour please help.Deno is a Lakeland/border terrier with some paterdale had him for 2 and a half years always been like this to dogs and getting worse.

This is such a serious problem sot deal with. You must be very worried. Most cases of aggression are caused by the dog being fearful of other dogs. He learns to attack to drive them away and, of course, it works! This causes him to do it again and again. It is a long hard road to get a dog like him to accept other dogs. It would involve exposure to other dogs, using distance to calm him down, lots of repetitions. This is beyond most people's ability. If you wanted to do it the best thing to do would be to contact a behaviourist from either COAPE or APBC to come out and assess him and give you detailed advice tailored to your, and his, needs.

In the meantime I would consider muzzling him. Basket muzzles are the best and they should be well fitted. Introduce a muzzle by just putting it on the floor at first and letting him sniff it. Get some nice cream cheese or similar and smear it around the inside of the muzzle and let him lick it off. Keep doing this until he looks forward to it. Only then push the muzzle a little over his nose. Repeat until you can do it up for short periods. Once he is really comfortable wearing his new bit if kit you can use it when you walk him. Keep the whole thing really upbeat so that he is happy to be muzzled.

You will notice that other dog owners give you a really wide berth! This is good for him as he cannot cope with dogs being near him anyway.

The fight between your two dogs was unfortunate. It may only happen in circumstances where he gets himself in a real state. You will have to monitor it closely though and, perhaps, not leave them alone together? It is unusual for a dog and bitch not to rub along together. Given the breeding though it may be that he will continue to be aggressive to her and you may have to part them permanently.

Thanks for the answer

Hi, I am new to this forum and have only joined because of a recent experience I have had with an extremely aggressive and dangerous Papillon dog which belonged to my friend. I took him in as a favour during an emergency (long story which I wont bore you with involving disabled husband/tension in house/dog biting carers and anyone else crossing his path). Anyway to cut a long story short, in addition to aggression towards humans, he was also very aggressive towards every dog he met. After three days in my care he bit very hard into my finger and it made me realise just how out of control he was. I met his owner and said she had two choices - either have him put down (as he was a danger out in public and indoors) or let me try to work with him using a method which has fascinated me for a while and we could reassess him in a month or two and decide what to do. So....fast forward just over a year and I am happy to say that the little fellow is 99% rehabilitated, is an absolutely gorgeous, affectionate, placid little dog who captures the heart of everyone who meets him. I have just rehomed him with a close friend who looked after him for a week whilst I was on holiday and didnt want to give him back, they fell in love with him so much! This dog wasnt born aggressive, he learnt it through the circumstances in which he lived as a result of being bought by a family who had never owned a dog and had no idea how to raise one successfully. On reaching puberty, the dog's hormones kicked in and with no clear 'pack leader' in the household he moved into the role of guardian of the whole family. Mild aggressive behaviour escalated into serious aggressive behaviour, so much so that if you dropped anything on the floor and went to pick it up he would attack and bite your hand (that is how I got bitten). Furthermore, he wasn't socialised early on with other dogs and had very little contact on his walks with other dogs so, in the role of pack leader, he took to defending whoever he was walking by charging aggressively at every dog he met.

I wasnt sure if I could help him as I have no experience in dog rehabilitation, although I am a dog owner myself. However, it seemed criminal to consider putting down a perfectly healthy five year old dog without trying so I decided to try to help him in a humane, non-aggressive but assertive manner using the methods of Cesar Milan, who has fascinated me for some time with his views on dog pyschology. I know not everyone believes in his methods but I can honestly say that it has completely transformed this Papillon and saved him from certain death.

Dominance in dogs is a complete fallacy. What has worked in your case is consistent handling. Dogs like consistency. When they don't get it they get anxious and anxiety prevents learning.

Please read "Dominance Fact or Fiction" by Barry Eaton. It sets out clearly why dominance was thought to be a pack leader thing and is now known not to be the case. It was thought up by John Fisher who read about some studies done on a captive wolf pack. Lots more studies have been done since that show that research to be flawed. John Fisher later wrote a book that apologised to all the dogs that he had inflicted pack leadership theories on!

Dogs have lived in harmony with us for thousands of years. Just look at your dog trying to please you all the time and tell me how he or she can be dominant?

If, by being a pack leader, you are being consistent then it will help your dog to relax and that helps him or her to learn how to please you. If you are pleased then your dog is happy and repeats the good behaviour. This may look as though the dominance theory is working but it is just the consistent handling that is doing it. So relax and enjoy your dog. He is not trying to take over the world!

Ceased Milian is a bully with no idea about dogs. He bullies and scares them so they only stop the behaviour out of fear , it doesn't address the issue causing the behaviour. Pack leadership and dominance has been completely disproven . We already 'control' our dogs by choosing where they sleep , where they go what they do what they eat when they go out etc ..bulling our dogs into submission is not training them ..well not the way you should train them ..you are teaching them they get hurt if they don't do things your way and adding more fears to an already fearful dog ! I have a working line dog , very high energy with issues and have taught her through kindness and using baby steps ..i wouldn't allow a ceased milan fan within a 10mile radius of my precious family members . That's like slaping a child as punishment for hitting another child ?? Beyond bonkers !

Toby please find a registered TRAINED dog behavioural specialist that will deal with your dogs current issues without adding more.But in the mean time muzzle train to protect others but more importantly to protect your dogs life . If he attacks and the person prosecutes you could find yourself in hot water fighting to keep him x

I'm new to the forum but have taken two rescue dogs- still have one!- with aggression issues. I agree about consistency being needed. There's no quick fix. My current dog has a guarding problem, will steal items and defend them aggressively. He will bite. The first thing in this case was to remove all the things he liked to steal- socks, tea towels etc- from his reach. I'm now working on SWOP command. It's slow progress. In short: avoid situations that provoke the trouble, work on general training in a calm unstressed atmosphere. Never punish or frighten the dog. Work on building his confidence and trust in you. Don't react to bad behaviour negatively or aggressively yourself. Often an aggressive dog is a coiled spring of fear. Gradually you have to get it to relax.