Dog on dog aggression?

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Jake10

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Ok where to start...

My sprollie was socialised from early age and lives with another dog. When he was 10months old he got attacked by a GSD who was off the lead, the GSDs owner made no attempt to call off his dog :mad: . I eventually had to kick it a few times :( (not proud of this but little else I could do without getting bitten GSDs owner wasn't bothered that I had kicked his dog either). My sprollie is now 2 and goes into stalk mode if another dog is off the lead near him (he is never let of the lead as he has adopted the attack before the other dog has chance approach :eek: ), if other dogs get close he will bite. I do tell other owners that he is fearful of other dogs but they rarely put their dogs back on the lead or call them back :mad: (I refuse to muzzle him in case he does need to defend himself, I'm silly I know).

Surprisingly if the dogs are on the lead he is quite happy to let them sniff him, he is also well behaved in our training classes :confused: (there can be up to 10 other dogs in the class!). Not overly sure how to help him get over this (trainer says it isn't a case of tight lead syndrome as he will go for dogs who are off the lead when his own lead is slack :confused:).

Cookies for all suggestions :D
 
I bet you panic when you see another off lead dog, right? That tension will go down the lead to him and increase any aggression or protective instinct he is feeling.
(Gosh, Mum is scared too, GRRR go away!)
I have done the same myself so the most important thing for you to do is relax, sing a song, who cares, there's another dog - but hey - look at ME!

Focus training in the beginning so that all food, toys, praise come from you and only when he looks directly at you, begin in the house and take it outside eventually, he wants fed, he looks at you, he wants a toy, he looks at you, use a command like 'watch'.

When you are outside, make him look at you, you need to be the centre of his universe and he needs to learn that looking at other dogs gets nothing. When he first starts to zone out when he sees another dog in the distance, give him a lead check and a 'no!' or similar word, then 'watch' and when he looks up, praise. With the collie in him, he should be quite keen to watch you :p

While you are doing that I would ask if your trainer could do some one on one with you and your dog and some other steady, dependable animals and perhaps accompany you on one of your walks, a training class is a sterile environment. Your trainer should be suggesting this anyway!
Aggression is ignored or corrected in this instance and when he starts to calm down, praise.

He also needs to be resocialised with lots of different dogs in a controlled atmosphere and then again, perhaps one or two of these dogs could buddy up with him on a walk, initially to make him feel more secure, and then eventually they can be off lead and he can see that other dogs are not all enemies.

Just some ideas.
 
CaveCanem said:
I bet you panic when you see another off lead dog, right? That tension will go down the lead to him and increase any aggression or protective instinct he is feeling.
(Gosh, Mum is scared too, GRRR go away!)
I have done the same myself so the most important thing for you to do is relax, sing a song, who cares, there's another dog - but hey - look at ME!

Focus training in the beginning so that all food, toys, praise come from you and only when he looks directly at you, begin in the house and take it outside eventually, he wants fed, he looks at you, he wants a toy, he looks at you, use a command like 'watch'.

When you are outside, make him look at you, you need to be the centre of his universe and he needs to learn that looking at other dogs gets nothing. When he first starts to zone out when he sees another dog in the distance, give him a lead check and a 'no!' or similar word, then 'watch' and when he looks up, praise. With the collie in him, he should be quite keen to watch you :p

While you are doing that I would ask if your trainer could do some one on one with you and your dog and some other steady, dependable animals and perhaps accompany you on one of your walks, a training class is a sterile environment. Your trainer should be suggesting this anyway!
Aggression is ignored or corrected in this instance and when he starts to calm down, praise.

He also needs to be resocialised with lots of different dogs in a controlled atmosphere and then again, perhaps one or two of these dogs could buddy up with him on a walk, initially to make him feel more secure, and then eventually they can be off lead and he can see that other dogs are not all enemies.

Just some ideas.
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CC Stole my post ! :mad:


:p



What she said ^^
 
CCs advice really does work, I had so much trouble with my border terrier but following CCs advice and not getting stressed out when i see another dog really does make a difference!
 
Hey thanks for the advice CC I'm going to have to find some calm off lead dogs to practice with (but where to find them?) as trainer doesn't believe the dogs should interact unless both are good off lead (and are off the lead when they meet). I did get 3 successful recalls in 1 walk :D (there were no other dogs around or I wouldn't have gotten him back lol but it's progress). Would taking him to further obedience/social classes help? He's done obedience for beginners, just finished beginners tracking and is starting agility after easter (package deal type thing :) )
 
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