Dog aggression

[Spw1993]

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Hi everyone new to this. Really need help with my girl. She is a lovely 4 year old German/Belgium shepherd cross. Loves people, although if wary of someone or something different she will bark, and really does not like other dogs. She is my Parents dog but I look after her just as much, I find it difficult walking her and any dog she sees she goes mental and tries to attack them. In the past she has nipped me, bit my dad's leg and bit a friend when trying to get to the other dog. It's very embarrassing and because off this she doesn't get walked durning the day, only very early or late. We've taken her too 3 different trainers and behaviourists who haven't helped much in the past. (One called her a devil dog because she's black!) We let her off the lead with 20 other dogs and she seemed fine just a bit nervous . My parents did socialise her as a pup but obviously not as much as has should of been. Im worried that because of her age this problem cannot be sorted and all I want to do is to be able to walk her and not worry so she can become a happy dog with plenty of exercise. Very long essay - any help appreciated !

P.s she has also turned on us a few times if she finds a small corner and doesn't want to come out other times she obeys straight away when asked to come out. Very confusing.

 

[stopper1941]

Good Morning,

I have a Jack Russell? [black and tan] which I got from Battersea dogs home.She is ten years old and wants to attack every dog she meets.I have had her eight months,when we first saw other dogs on our walks she bit my legs four times in her frustration at not being allowed to get to the other dogs,she has not done this recently though she still wants to take on any dog no matter how big! my friend thinks this is because she has now settled in with me and "loves me". In all other respects she is a lovely dog and obedient.When out on walks I try to avoid other dogs and confrontations,when we go to the vets she wears a muzzle to protect the other dogs there!

 

[forestboy1978]

My dog used to do this. It took a while. A gradual process over years I think to fully erradicate but now she walks off the lead to heal in any environment and never attacks dogs.

I basically taught her the word naughty/ bad and it's connotations, i.e myself being angry and not pleasant to be around and taking away all her enjoyment for 4 hr periods by sending her to bed and keeping her there with no contact other than reinforcing that she had been "bad" or sending her back to bed meticulously until the 4 hrs were ended.

In the end she had the choice of boredom and a pissed off owner (who's normally very loving and fun) or to attack other dogs. I too own a rescue dog. Ridgeback cross!

Oh yeah and treats for when she does behave with the other dog

 

[eingana]

She sounds so scared of what is happening around her, poor love. I know that's probably not other people's reaction when they see her, but I work in GSD rescue and we all see space guarding (small corner) and people guarding (lead walking reaction) as being a fear response, not aggression per se.

Although I would recommend a behaviourist (there are GSD specific behaviourists although they never seem to be anywhere near where you need them) there are lots of other things that you can try with her. I'm speaking as an owner of a very nervous fear aggressive GSD myself.

What you really need is some parallel walking with one or more non-reactive dogs, and couple that with learning when to turn away, some body blocking with a fabulous treat that she simply can't resist (with Molly almost every treat on the market is a lot less important than reacting to the other dog, which is why our treat of choice is dried black pudding from the lovely people at petaroni,co.uk) and changing the way that you do some things in the home.

Do you know what I mean by parallel walking? It's long winded to type if you already know what I mean. It's a safe way of allowing her to see other dogs in a way that she can't react to them.

Within the home I would never go into the corner to remove her because that's a big threat to her. A nice voice, calling her for a treat should get her out of the corner without the threat, and you can teach her that calling her to you will entail nice things by calling her to you dozens of times a day in other places around the house.

Does she have a space to call her own? If she has that space then I'd recommend NOT imposing yourself on that space or trying to move her out from it when she's not coming out as called. It's important that she has somewhere to use as a retreat when it's all too much to face, and the fact that she's hiding in it should be a message to you that she's too nervous to face the world today. Sitting calmly on the floor near her bed but not facing it and just gently tossing a few lovely treats near the entrance to her space should show her that you're not trying to invade her personal space but would like her to come to you.

How much exercise do you manage to do with her? She's probably a ball of energy if she's not getting much walking, and that could be making things worse. Do you use a head collar with her? A k9bridle or Dogmatics head collar could make the difference between a dog that is pulling you all over trying to react to a dog that is at least controllable, meaning that you can get her out of the house. If you're at all nervous about that still then a training lead with one end on her collar and the other on the head collar, or two leads, will lead to added security and controllability.

The response to a reaction to another dog is to just turn and walk the other way, with a bright and breezy 'THIS WAY' command. The head collar should allow you to control her and lead her effectively away from the situation and should stop her from getting really worked up, because once you allow her to get into a reaction her adrenaline will make it worse and worse. If you listen and watch for the little moment of stiffness before she reacts and take action at that point you should have a calmer dog in all other circumstances because you're preventing the full reaction.

You need to understand that you have a cross between two of the most highly strung, most reactive and most intelligent breeds in your dog, and there are a lot of GSD and Mali owners who will be able to predict just what will provoke the reactions in your girl because we've seen them ourselves in our own dogs.