Dog Aggression

Fiver29a

Bit of a long shot, but I was hoping one or more of you may have some ideas.

I have a Jack Russell/Border Terrier cross. He's 20 months old, neutered and in good health.

In the last week or so he has had a couple of bouts of aggression toward other dogs, one was a pup and I thought it might be that he was trying to show him who's boss. But today it was a bigger dog (bigger and older).

He's never liked black dogs (labs or mostly black collies), he's always given them a wide berth, or laid down submissively if there wasn't much room to pass. And both of these dogs were black too. The only black dog he will tolerate is my brothers, who he goes on walks with 3 times a week.

Regarding the dog today, he must have sensed it from a while back, because it was out of sight, around the side of some changing rooms, and he suddenly starting pulling on his lead as if there was a sirloin steak ahead of him, this was a good 50m away.

He's also become very loud, barking at things that aren't there (obviously he must be able to smell or hear something).

We normally walk in a group with about 5 or 6 other dogs, some bigger (boxer) and some smaller (west highland), and he gets on well, uses up tons of energy chasing the boxer. But this fortnight because of the holidays we haven't been able to. Could this have a baring on his behaviour?

Muzzling is an option (but I'd prefer it as a last resort). And lead walking too (although both these occurrences happened on the lead), but he has so much energy he needs to run.

Anyone have any ideas?

Sorry it's so long, and well done if you got to the end of it, I just wanted to put in as much info as I could.

Lilbabyspice

Hi, may be able to help as I am a qualified Veterinary Nurse. Firstly the question would be if anything has happened/ changed in his home environment recently? It does sound like he has been spooked by something recently if he has never demonstrated this behaviour previously. Is there only yourself that walks him?
If you cannot think of any reasons that his behaviours could have changed, it may be wise to seek some dog behaviours classes/ socialisation groups to help him overcome these bouts of aggression with advise and guidance for you. A wonderful product to help calm dogs is the DAP - dog appeasing pheromones, these are available in sprays or plug ins and are a real help with some behaviour issues.
I fully appreciate why you would not like to resort to a muzzle but may I recommend that until these issues are resolving that you keep him on a lead and there is always a box muzzle, which means he cannot bite but can still pant whilst walking and this is much more comfortable to him. The only reason I am suggesting is just incase things took a turn for the worse; I have seen many owners taken to court and a couple of euthanasia orders granted after dog attacks and it is a horrific thing to go through and usually goes deeper than being the dogs/ owners fault.
The main thing to do is find out what is upsetting your dog and help him overcome it, it is wonderful you are seeking advise as many just brush it off.
Hope this helps and please feel free to ask anything else.
Xx

Fiver29a

Thanks Lilbaby.

Off the top of my head I can't think of any changes, except that he is normally walked by my dad 3 times a week (which is when he meets and walks with my brothers dog) when I'm working full days, but due to the holidays, he has been at home with me, so hasn't seen my dad or the other dog.

And we have been decorating this week, so probably not giving him as much attention as he's used to, because he's a bit of an attention hog.

I'll have a look for the sprays/plug in. They ring a bell now you've mentioned them, are they the same ones that are advertised for bonfire night?

Lilbabyspice

Hiya,
It may be worth checking with your dog that there have been no incidents with another dog, especially a black one.
It may just be that he has decided to assert his authority or that there have been !!!!!es in heat close by, they struggle with behaviour issues around these.
Is he still acting the same at home?I would definitely give the plug in a shot
they will sell it at all vets and usually pets at home. It is the same one advertised for bonfire night but I revommended it all year round to clients having problems.
Let me know how you get on.X

Fiver29a

Thanks again Lilbby, I will

Lilbabyspice

Whoops the !!! bit was female dog, used the veterinary term but the forum took this as swearing!! :rotfl:

StudioBeau

Is he always (or a very large majority of the time) walked in a group? It may be fear aggression because he is usually in a pack of dogs when out and in these situations he was on his own. A dog taken out of his pack situation (although he didn't live with these other dogs because they regularly walked together, he is most likely to have seen them as his pack) is likely to go over the top because he feels he needs to have the dominance that a 6 dog pack has.

We regularly walk each of our dogs on their own to reduce this, they are both more confident together and especially our puppy shows fear aggression when she is on her own but she is getting better the more she is walking on her own.

Start working on meeting dogs - most dog owners are fine if you call to them and ask them to say, put their dog into a sit or maybe even turn around so the dogs can meet walking side by side rather than a face on confrontation.

He was probably pulling so much so early because he was hyper alert due to not being with his pack.

krlyr

Unless there is an obvious behavioural trigger (e.g. having recently been attacked, a house move, etc.) then my first port of call would be the vet. Pain, illness or other health issues can present with symptoms such as behavioural problems before you even notice a physical symptom. Pain can cause a shorter temper than usual, especially if something is aggravating it - for example, a dog with a touch of arthritis in the neck may show more aggression when walked on a lead and collar than when off-lead or in the house as the collar may put pressure on the painful area. A thyroid condition could be hard to notice but may cause behavioural issues - and it's not unheard of it younger dogs (if you suspect thyroid issues, do be aware that a full panel test is required, not just T4 levels).
Vets often have a "behavioural panel" blood test which will check the most common health-related causes of behavioural issues, and a thorough examination to check for stiffness or soreness is a good idea in my opinion. Don't forget to ask them to check the teeth and ears, and things like blocked or infected anal glands.

Diet can also have an affect on behaviour - have you changed foods recently? Started giving new treats? Colourings and additives can have a detrimental effect on behaviour, and some intolerances can cause behavioural issues rather than the typical physical symptoms (like rashes, hairloss, etc).

Once you've ruled out health issues, it may be worthwhile getting a dog behaviourist out to assist you - there are so many methods of dog training, some that can cause more problems than they solve, so it may be better to get professional advice from day 1 rather than stumble along on your own, especially if aggression is involved. I would recommend you go for an APBC registered behaviourist who will use fair, kind methods - especially if there is an element of fear there (the wariness of particular colour dogs is a red flag to me). http://www.apbc.org.uk will list them by region.

What did he actually do in these incidents? Another thing to consider is that lots of aggression is actual a defence mechanism caused by fear, rather than a true intent to harm. A "You scare me, so I'll scare you off before you realise" reaction. My GSD used to become a big whirling mess of barking, lunging, etc. when he spotted another dog, but when socialising with other dogs, he is actually a giant wimp - if a dog so much as looks at him with the wrong intent, Casper runs and hides behind my legs! We had a run in with a little terrier the other month, me with Casper on-lead and doing my best to avoid other dogs, when this off-lead terrier darted off from its owner and ran right over to us. My big, scary GSD turned into a quivering mess, threw himself on the floor and did the GSD crybaby whining until the owner caught the dog and Mummy comforted the big wuss! So despite all the bravado, his "aggressive" is definately all a big front because he's scared of dogs. This behaviour can often be worse when on-lead because the lead removes the dog's "fight or flight" option - and the dog can also pick up on your tension, if you shorten the lead or tighten your grip at the sight of another dog (which you might have done with the second dog, after the first incident, if you were wary of a repeat performance).
Alternatively, if it was all just barking, lunging, pulling towards the dog, hackles up, etc. but nothing actually happened when they met, it may be something like barrier frustration. My Rottie x can do this - she's fine with other dogs but certain behaviour from other dogs gets her overexcited (e.g. seeing dogs racing around off-lead when she's on-lead) and she gets so desperate to greet them that she gets frustrated at being on-lead and this can cause behaviour that can look like aggression, without any aggressive intent at all. Dogs use behaviours for multiple emotions - a tail wag can be a happy behaviour or a stressed behaviour, a roll-over can be a request for fuss or a submission out of fear, ears flattened can be aggressive or submissive, etc. so it can be easy to misinterpret certain behaviours.
I would do some reading on "lead reactivity" and "barrier frustration" - this should give you some management tips for now, and a good behaviourist should help you pinpoint the cause and give pointers for progression. In the meantime, do take the appropriate actions to keep your dog and other dogs safe - if there's any chance he'll run over to another dog and either attack or provoke an attack on himself, you need to keep him on lead. You could invest in a longline to allow him a certain amount of freedom, Casper is almost always on a short lead or a longline for his safety and for consideration of other dogs (the ones he's not afraid of, he doesn't quite know how to interact properly due to lack of socialisation when younger - so he may rudely run over and try to play with a dog that is giving off body language that says "no thanks, not interested" - he just doesn't read them very well), I wouldn't say he's missing out too much in regards to exercise. I do let him off-lead in a few limited spaces that I know are safe, so you can hopefully find some areas that are safe for him to go off-lead in without putting anyone at risk. A muzzle is a good idea if you are worried that he may bite, do go for a basket-style (fabric ones aren't suitable to use while exercising a dog) but do introduce it slowly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVq_DrTWZeo
I rarely muzzle Casper when on a short lead because I know (from unfortunate experience) that he won't actually bite a dog that runs over to us, though I tend to use a headcollar for extra control. When he's on a longline and there's a higher chance of us bumping in to other dogs, I may put his muzzle on as a precaution - mainly just to deter people from approaching us (I prefer his interactions with other dogs to be pre-planned with dogs I know he's OK with), but for a little extra backup because if he's 30' away from me, I can't physically control him as much as I could if he was standing right next to me.

Once you've identified the problem then you can identify how to tackle it, this can vary so it is important to find the real cause. For example, chucking a fearful dog into a group situation may appear to fix the problem but you're likely to have "flooded" him with the trigger and he's just too scared/shutdown to react. Whereas solo walks with other dogs, at a slow pace, will help him realise that dogs aren't that scary. If it's barrier frustration, you can use another other dog as a reward - you can set up dummy situations with a friend & their dog, e.g. they're waiting in a park, you enter with him on-lead, if he barks/lunges/pulls you walk right out again. As soon as he's calm, he gets to go off-lead and greet the dog. Something like that will teach him that he only gets to greet dogs once he's calm - but obviously should be done with dogs you know, and not done if there's any doubt as to whether he'll act aggressively off-lead.
It's tough to advise without seeing the dog so I do think a behaviourist is worthwhile. If you have insurance, costs may be covered for behavioural work, but even just having one initial appointment if that's all you can afford is better than nothing.