Life with a dog agressive dog...

Mistral001

My dog used to bark and rush at dogs when I was out walking. At first I actually thought it was not a big problem as he never got near to them as he was always on a short lead. However, I noticed that other dog owners got very annoyed with me (not the dog).

But we are all dog-lovers I thought. Why the big deal? Well the big deal was that MY behaviour was frightening people. The message sunk home to me when one I came across a dog loving vet while out walking my dog. I got the message by her disapproving looks that things had to change.

I needed to take it seriously. So I changed my behaviour. I decided to not tolerate any behaviour by my dog that could be seen as agressive by owners of other dogs. It meant concentrating on my dog the whole time when he was walking and responding immediately to any negative response my dog gave to other dogs.

It took several months but he now knows that my behaviour has chnaged to other dog-owners and he is quite happy about it and goes along with it. Oh and he does not bark or rush at other dogs when out walking either.

minimad1970

Hi krlyr, My dog suffers from fear aggression after being attacked. He plays really nicely with some dogs though. I've thought about putting a muzzle on him but I worry about him being attacked and not being able to defend himself. He doesn't approach other dogs they come over to him, he growls and snarls but has never bitten, despite having the opportunity to do so. We can now walk by other dogs, not too close, with me keeping a treat in my hand and holding it close to Truffle's nose. I think you give really good advice.:) Good luck GR it doesn't make dog walking much of a pleasure does it.

krlyr

I would recommend the Baskerville muzzles - I use the original ones but a friend uses the Ultra one on her GSD x Akita - she finds the bigger spacing handy for giving him treats, but a few people have said dogs can still nip through it so I haven't switched (plus they only come in black so not so subtle on Casper)

Mankysteve

Others have given good advice on sorting Tue behaviour problems. Just want to add you should muzzle in the mean time. All it takes is her to slip her lead once badly injury/kill another dog and you will find yourself with at best a large vet bill or worse her being destroyed.

tango

my dog can be reactive off lead . This does limit where I go with her , and i feel sad about the restrictions.

We have improved her hugley,but she does not do it when with my mother ?

Wellyboots6

Last night I took Tyson out and we unexpectedly met a little white dog on the walk who is notorious in the area for going loopy at other dogs, so that then set Tyson off barking and lunging at it.

After we passed that we went past a house with a collie puppy in the garden which barked at him so again he had a tantrum, also followed by meeting his enemy a black lab coming the other way. He went nuts! Too many barking dogs one after the other.

I took him off for a walk round a field to calm him down, and then took him back down the same road. I managed to catch him just as he caught sight of the black lab again and told him to 'leave it' which he did, but he was itching to have a go!

We then came across the collie puppy and another 'leave it' meant he looked but no barking.

Finally we went past the little barking nutter, a 'watch' and he totally ignored it

I was so pleased with him! I now think that if initially I had managed to catch him just before we met the first barking dog and get him calm and focused on me with a 'watch' then the whole episode would either have been milder or not happened at all.

He is doing so well, a couple of months ago each one of those dogs would have been toast!

A lot of it is down to whether I manage to plan ahead and get ready for oncoming furry challenges, or whether they pop up unannounced, and also how I deal with the situation.

Chin up GR, it can be sorted!!

krlyr

tango wrote: »

my dog can be reactive off lead . This does limit where I go with her , and i feel sad about the restrictions.

We have improved her hugley,but she does not do it when with my mother ?

This can often have one of two causes - dogs pick up tension, especially through the lead but also through body language, and as you've had bad experiences you probably tense up in anticipation of issues, your body language shows your fear and the dog takes this as a cue that there is something to be afraid of. Alternatively, sometimes the dog is not confident enough with the other person to express their behaviour in the same way - a bit like how a dog in a large group may not react through fear of being ganged up on, a dog out with someone other than its owner may surpress it's reaction as it's a bit worried/on edge to behave normally.

jumpedtheshark

Two quick thoughts, OP:
(1) Has her thyroid function been checked lately? Low function is linked to aggression, and it might improve with Soloxin supplementation (which comes with no side effects at all);
(2) Being good in a group suggests fear aggression to me. Our dog-aggressive dog will lunge at dogs she hates in the park if they're alone or possibly in a pair. At the vets or in a training class, she's well-behaved because she's scared. That said, she also loves some dogs - I mean, full-on-loud-whining-desperate-to-say-hello-loves! - so it's not quite the same.

krlyr

Good point re. thyroid - though bear in mind that a TSH test alone may not be conclusive, you need as comprehensive a test as possible. T4, T3, free T4 and free T3 if possible, as well as TgAA. If you get in contact with Dr Jean Dodds in the USA, she was fab at taking a look at a scan of Kiki's results and interpreting them for me - for no charge (it was just a brief interpretation but helpful anyway)

elliesmemory1

First thing is to get her a check up with the vet to make sure all is well and its not pain thats causing a change in behaviour. You also must get a good well fitting muzzle. the baskerville ones are good. The dog can drink, pant and once they are used to it most dont mind wearing it.

Im sorry but if you know she is likely to attack other dogs and you dont muzzle her you are being iresponsible.

a dog does not have to attack or cause damage to another person to be in trouble, if someone thinks she is likely to attack and is frightend by her behaviour they can still report you and you could find yourself in trouble.
saying she cant get to another dog because of the way you hold her is dangerous, what happens if she pulls you over or a dog runs out unexpectedly?

You seem to be very fond of your dog but against using a muzzle, its far better to be safe than sorry. You could end up in trouble and lose your dog. I know what I wold do.