Teaching an old dog new tricks!

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littlen

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Well he isnt exactly ancient but he is past the age where most training is done!
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I have a 6yo (7 in may) GSD. For the first few years or so he was pretty crazy although he has been castrated now and has calmed down alot.

Around 3 years ago he was viciously attacked by a pit bull/staffy mix. My dog is huge but even he was unable to defend himself from this thing hanging from around his neck. Around 4 weeks later he was attacked once again this time by a young dalmation.
As a result he has become pretty intolerant towards other dogs. He will tolerate them walking past him, but if they do attempt to come too close he will warn them and if they continue i have no doubt he would feel the need to attack. He is however fine with dogs he is familiar with.
His recall is 99% great. He is fine with people.

Now my problem is that he is at the moment home alone for the best part of 6 hours due to a change in working patterns. He does get a 30min walk on a morning and a good hour on a night, but I have been thinking and I am on the yard for about an hour every single morning and I would love to take him with me but is it really a good idea!? I could park up about 15mins from the yard, walk down country lanes, turn out and muck out and then walk him back which would be muck nicer for him than sitting in the house on his own.

But he has never seen a horse in his life. Is he too old to learn to be with them? How on earth do i teach him?
There are also other dogs on the yard, obviously he would be muzzled and also on a lead but is it maybe too dangerous?
I was thinking I could put him in my stable while I turn out, or maybe leave him in the car until horse is well out of sight then he can stay with me while I muck out and then I can walk him etc. He will usually stay by my side or I could tie him up with a lunge line while I am busy.

Obviously I would clear it with YO and other liveries are allowed dogs on the yard.

Has anyone got any thoughts about this?
Am i being stupid and inconciderate or could this work?

Thanks.
 
There is no reason why your dog should not get used to horses, and I am sure he would like a little more time with you, but if he has socialisation problems and you know there are loose dogs there, you might be asking for trouble and might make yourself very unpopular.

Tying him up is a sure way to make him more confused and potentially more angry, so I don't think that is a great idea.

You need to start small. Take him at very quiet times and keep him on the lead and muzzled. Dogs that appear aggressive are often actually scared and it's their way of reacting to fear. You need to try to get him to sit down and comfort him rather than chastise him when he has an "angry moment". Tell him he is a good boy and everything is OK.
 
Thanks tracey,

I would have tried that only I am always left on the yard alone, and I dont quite know how I would manage having to hold a lead constantly and muck out at the same time hence thinking of tying him up or leaving him in car until i am all clear of horses and can concentrate on watching dog.

There are other loose dogs on the yard, although they all seem to get along fine and tend to stay with their owners. Most dogs are small though not shetland sized lol!

I will definatley muzzle him although I am worried people may think he really is a dangerous dog when he isnt he is just scared. He is not agressive he just takes no chances when he has been attacked so many times.

I think with time with the other dogs he could intergrate with them but I have never given him the chance because I am wary he might go for one of them. This is proberbly part of the problem, he shows signs of aggression, so i keep him well away from other dogs, so he never gets the chance to socialise with them.

He is better with bitches than dogs but anything that resembles a dalmation or staffy he hates ( he must be more intelligent than we think!)
 
First off i would get him into a behaviorist or a training class of some kind where you can deal with his aggression issues and then you can start to get him use to horses once that is under control.
I honestly don't think it is fair on him to take him to the yard in his current insecure state.

And rewarding him when he shows aggression be it fear aggression or other aggression is a bad idea. You are not showing him its ok you are essentially telling him there is something to be scared of.
You would be better off just walking on and giving him a tug and telling him to stop being silly.
 
Don't underestimate how clever he is, GSD's are verrry smart. You should really take him to a dog training class, they will help you to socialise him and teach you how to help your dog. It sounds like you are (quite rightly) worried and your dog will pick up on this. It will make him more worried and make him appear even more aggressive, as soon as you drag him away it will confirm in his mind that the other dog is a problem. Find a good qualified dog trainer, you can solve this problem much easier than you think.
 
I tend to just giveagressive. To the outside world he looks like he is being aggressive but I think he is nervous of other dogs.
When he is being agressive I give him a check on his collar and say no, if he is really annoyed I make him sit and wait. He is good in the sense that if there is another dog nearby he will still recall he wont go to attack or anything.

He is fine with dogs he already knows, hence why socialising him with different dogs wont really make a difference because once he knows them he is fine, its the strange ones he hates!
Its strange because he can walk past 10 dogs no problem and on the 11th start barking at it, and I have done nothing differently!

I have tried dog training class and to be honest found it a waste of time! I would prefer to work through this myself if possible.
 
I think you need a behaviorist more than a training class.
I am not trying to be mean but its something that can be sorted with the right handling that a behaviorist will be able to help you with, which we can't really do on here.
 
I'm sorry but I am going to disagree with tracey. If he is reacting aggressively to other dogs through fear then if you comfort him when he reacts like this you are re-enforcing that there is something to be bothered about. He is however not too old to learn, and again going against the grain a good training class would help with the socialisation, although perhaps you could have some time with a behaviourist first to find out how to handle his aggression.
Tying him up at the yard when other dogs are about would not help the problem, perhaps you could just give him a walk up there and then leave him in the car. Introduce him to the horse on lead, in a calm way (perhaps just walk round the edge of the field to start with), and see how he is, but I think you need to try and resolve the problem with other dogs really first.
Hopefully Cayla will see this and offer some advice, I am sure she will know how to deal with him.
 
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