Is this Aggression?

[lurcherman]

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Like I said go for a lie down and chill

 

[Linz1012]

Like I said go for a lie down and chill

I was calm, but this is quite offensive.

 

[lurcherman]

Hahaha offensive hahaha, that’s not offensive, if someone said go lie down and chill I defo would not get offended, I’d laugh to be honest, anyway I’m away to chill.

 

[CoCo2014]

Growling is not aggression, it is a behaviour that indicates the dog is not happy in the situation, punishing a dog for growling eventually results in the dog not warning that it is uncomfortable & the behaviour will escalate to snapping & if that is punished too then upwards to biting.

Teaching a very strong focus on you is the way to go. Have you done any formal training with her?

 

[Biker John]

Just a small different idea, in your original post you say she reacted differently meeting a male and a female. A lot of bitches tell a male off if she thinks its paying to much attention to her rear. And most males accept being told off, even a small female 'gets away with' telling a large male off. Now obviously I haven't seen yours so cant say this is right but its a possible.

 

[Eva1]

Growling is not aggression, it is a behaviour that indicates the dog is not happy in the situation, punishing a dog for growling eventually results in the dog not warning that it is uncomfortable & the behaviour will escalate to snapping & if that is punished too then upwards to biting.

Teaching a very strong focus on you is the way to go. Have you done any formal training with her?

I never punish her for growling or anything like that I simply just remove her from the situation and recently have been been just removing her before anything can happen, she will have a sniff and meet the dog then we move on. I’m currently training her to give me eye contact before anything she gets, with food, treats, toys etc and when we are out on walks if a dog walks past I tell her to sit and try get her to focus in me, she’s still young so getting her attention on walks isn’t easy but we are getting there.

 

[Eva1]

Just a small different idea, in your original post you say she reacted differently meeting a male and a female. A lot of bitches tell a male off if she thinks its paying to much attention to her rear. And most males accept being told off, even a small female 'gets away with' telling a large male off. Now obviously I haven't seen yours so cant say this is right but its a possible.

She doesn’t act differently, I thought she maybe did with males. I was basically trying to figure out why she kind of “tells dogs off” to try get to the route of why she does it to avoid it. So I thought maybe it was males she didn’t like but when I think about it she has 3 friends who are males that she plays with absolutely fine so I don’t think it’s that. But then again it could be like you said, they might that at times tbh.

 

[Eva1]

Growling is not aggression, it is a behaviour that indicates the dog is not happy in the situation, punishing a dog for growling eventually results in the dog not warning that it is uncomfortable & the behaviour will escalate to snapping & if that is punished too then upwards to biting.

Teaching a very strong focus on you is the way to go. Have you done any formal training with her?

If training a strong focus is the way to go, do you have any tips on how to work on this. Right now I simply wait on eye contact from her before I reward her and now when i give her a treat etc she looks me right in eye. On walks however is where I need it to be solid so any tips would be great!

 

[Hemlock]

I'm different from the popular here because I think it disturbs the trust a dog has in its handler's ability to protect it if it is made to sit-and-watch when it is concerned about what another dog might do as it gets near. I take a worried dog away from a potentially difficult situation as soon as the dog tells me that s/he is uncomfortable with the approaching dog/s. Then when we are far enough away that my dog can relax (which is different per day per dog per situation) I reward my dog. I always put myself between my dog and the potential hazard - so many people pull a dog away, which leaves it in the line of fire.

 

[JudyN]

I agree with Hemlock here - if there is something in the vicinity that is making your dog anxious, she'll be a whole lot more anxious if she can't look at it. It can help if it gives your dog another option rather than watching the other dog, but your dog should be thinking 'Woo hoo, I see a dog - now I just look in Mum's eye and I get a treat - awesome!', not 'Aaargh, scary dog, have to look at Mun, what's the scary dog doing.....?' So the dog's emotional reaction has to come first, rather than the trained 'watch'.

 

[Eva1]

I agree with Hemlock here - if there is something in the vicinity that is making your dog anxious, she'll be a whole lot more anxious if she can't look at it. It can help if it gives your dog another option rather than watching the other dog, but your dog should be thinking 'Woo hoo, I see a dog - now I just look in Mum's eye and I get a treat - awesome!', not 'Aaargh, scary dog, have to look at Mun, what's the scary dog doing.....?' So the dog's emotional reaction has to come first, rather than the trained 'watch'.

So at first to walk away and once at a distance she’s comfortable and relaxed reward her then. So overtime when she sees a dog then she’ll just know to sit and look at me for a treat and not think of dogs as scary?

 

[JudyN]

So at first to walk away and once at a distance she’s comfortable and relaxed reward her then. So overtime when she sees a dog then she’ll just know to sit and look at me for a treat and not think of dogs as scary?

Yes, though I didn't ask for a sit (not a natural position for my dog) or a watch - I simply moved him away and then gave him a treat. Eventually, when he saw a dog he'd just look at me in expectation of the treat.

I did, though, use high-value stinky treats to distract him from the other dogs and lure him away - though in my case, he wasn't fearful as such, just wanted to put the other dog in its place (which comes from insecurity, like a playground bully).

 

[JoanneF]

Yes, you are trying to create a positive conditioned emotional response (google +CER for more details) and note the use of the word emotional - it's important to realise you are trying to change her feelings, not just her behaviour. Behaviours are driven by feelings so her behaviour will change as a result anyway.

 

[Eva1]

Yes, though I didn't ask for a sit (not a natural position for my dog) or a watch - I simply moved him away and then gave him a treat. Eventually, when he saw a dog he'd just look at me in expectation of the treat.

I did, though, use high-value stinky treats to distract him from the other dogs and lure him away - though in my case, he wasn't fearful as such, just wanted to put the other dog in its place (which comes from insecurity, like a playground bully).

Yes this sounds like Cleo, she doesn’t seem scared, she wasn’t to go over and say hi I think, it’s just me knowing sometimes she can tell dogs off for being to in her space I want to avoid that before it happens. She loves some dogs and will play but sometimes randomly she will tell them off too. So I’ll definitely be just taking her away straight away and rewarding. So over time she’ll learn to ignore and get a treat.

 

[Eva1]

Yes, you are trying to create a positive conditioned emotional response (google +CER for more details) and note the use of the word emotional - it's important to realise you are trying to change her feelings, not just her behaviour. Behaviours are driven by feelings so her behaviour will change as a result anyway.

Yes this makes sense. She definitely feels a certain way with certain dogs and I want to change that for her. She’s still young so if I keep doing this she eventually get the picture that ignoring dogs and coming to me equals treats. Thank you for the advice it makes it easier to understand.

 

[lurcherman]

So let me understand, a dog offlead in a field goes to another dog and shows it’s teeth and growls! And you not reprimand it? Wow weird stuff, , I’m so glad I don’t read doggy 2020 books and google stuff, dogs nowadays are so over sensitive and brainless , hey not all dogs but so many are, I wish you’d all seen my dogs lol the only scars on them was from actually being a dog and not by me battering them, Good lively post thow .

 

[JoanneF]

a dog offlead in a field goes to another dog and shows it’s teeth and growls! And you not reprimand it?

To be clear, a space invader offlead comes up to MY dog and annoys him, and my dog tells it to bog off out of his face - whyever would I want to reprimand my dog? @Linz1012 's Post #10 explains it really well.

 

[lurcherman]

I thought she said her dog was off lead and growled, if that’s correct then he’ll yes I’d reprimand MY dog, why ? No dog of mine ended up aggressive on my shift, like I’ve said before my brindle tried.

 

[JoanneF]

I don't see anything wrong with my dog telling a rude dog to get out of his space. It would take a lot of lead-up body language before he would growl, for example a stare, body stiffening, head lowered, ears tight - and actually I'd step in before that to get rid of the other dog. But if all that hadn't worked, I think my dog is well within his rights to tell the other dog to clear off.

Have a look at post #10.

 

[JudyN]

So let me understand, a dog offlead in a field goes to another dog and shows it’s teeth and growls! And you not reprimand it?

When your dog sees another dog, do you want it to think (1) 'Meh, a dog'/'Oh lovely, a dog!' or (2) 'Eek, a dog - SCARY!! Must deal with the dog, but not allowed to...'/ 'GRRRR, a dog, I want to put him in his place but I'm not allowed, Grrrrrrr, don't like this'?

What the majority are trying to achieve is (1) - corrections will result in (2). And it makes it a lot easier if you can actually see the lifted lip, or even feel the vibration of a subsonic growl coming along the lead so you know what your dog is feeling - teaching them they're not allowed to growl will make your job much harder.