aggression to other dogs

[kerrywildcat]

I have just taken on a german shepard a few weeks ago and he was a bit out of control when i first got him with nipping, jumping up at guests and sleeping on the sofa, after a few days with him i got him out of all that and he has calm down a lot but the only problem i still have with him is when out walking he barks aggressively at other dogs and tries to get to them iv tried pulling him back and walking away but his very stong so i can just about hold him. I dare not let him near them just in case they fight. Off the leash he seems ok (on the very few occasions he has approached other dogs) although he has run off but come back. It is when he is on the leash that he becomes aggresive to others.

any help would be very greatful

[DanL]

Welcome to the wonderful world of the GSD! Mine has done that since he was little. It's not like he's being aggressive, but he wants to pull me over to the other dog and barks at it the whole time. Never growling or showing teeth, but hackles raised and lots of noise.

We have work hard on breaking this but it's tough. You need to redirect his attention towards you. Change direction, get his attention, have him do things like sit or down over and over, just to get his mind off of it. I'm at the point now where we can walk by a yard with another dog and he's not going ballistic, maybe a bark or 2 at the other dog and then he'll keep going, sometimes he doesn't make a sound, other times he reverts back to his old state. Make sure you give lots of praise when he acts like you want and be patient and consistent. I think if he was truely dog aggressive, he'd be going after them fully when he's off leash, which you say he's not doing.

[Doberluv]

Get into the leadership role. He needs to understand that it's not necessary for him to be handling these things, that you will. In addition to the great advice from Dan, teaching the dog to give you his attention, I'd get him into a class where he can get some more socialization and practice around other dogs, but you can get some tips too. be sure it's a positive method trainer with a good reputation. Sometimes walks with a friend's dog, where you're walking together in the same direction helps. Let him know that you're in charge and "Let's just go, nevermind the other dog." No sniffing noses with any dogs. Walk parallel. Keep the dog thinking he's on a mission, has a job. Don't be tense and nervous, emotional, loud, exciteable. Be very calm, matter of fact and in control, it's no big deal, "let's go."

Teach him to "watch me." Teach him to give you his attention when told. You have to catch it before he goes "off" on the other dog. Once he does, forget it, he can't hear you. Don't punish or make a painful or frightening time for him while around other dogs. It will make him worse because he will associate that with other dogs. It's the way their brains work. Just keep on going. When and if he remains calm or even calmer than before, let him know he's on the right track. But if he's going off, don't try to calm him with a cooing voice, or he may take that as reward for the behavior which will just reinforce it.

If you remain calm, confident, steady, keep on walking, this strong, confident, in charge attitude will reassure him and he'll learn to let you take care of these things and trust you. If you get excited and nervous or yank on him hard, he'll take that as...."my leader is worried. There's something wrong here. Oh no! I don't have a leader. I better take care of those dogs myself." Panic. You don't want your dog to panic and they will when they're not secure in their leader. They have to have a strong, calm, kind, trustworthy and confident leader.

You can do some desensatizing exercises too. Search this forum, maybe the puppy forum too and see what you can find. There are many similar threads. Read those and see if you see anything that you'd feel comfortable with. I described a little about desensatizing in another thread about aggression.

I've done this with my Doberman because he has been very dog reactive, (not necessarily aggressive, as it turns out) lunging, barking viciously etc....like you describe. He has become 90% better. It's taken quite some time and a lot of practice. But he's much, much better.

[BoxerTrouble]

Hi kerrywildcat - I am currently working through the same thing as your experiencing with my 7 month old male boxer, my other baby (his sister) is fine, they are both desexed.

i have taught him the "Look" and "Leave it" commands, i arm myself with heaps of really yummy treats and i head to the lake with him each and every night after work. The key is CONSISTENCY! its so crucial to working through these types of issues.

It used to be that he couldn't see another dog without growling and lunging, then as the training went on i could pull him off to the side of the path, get him to sit and giving the "Look" command, until the dog was past us.

Over the past few nights i have been walking him off to the side of the path, giving the look command and treating him each and everytime he looked at me - we are now walking past the dogs.

The first thing i did was teach myself to recognise his signs/body language and how far away the dog had to be before they would start to show, which was roughly 20 metres, He no longer growls at other dogs unless they to close to him or he is aware that i'm not focused on how he's behaving - his comfort zone is now roughly 5-10 metres (which is fantastic).

We have a LONG way to go, and i am now very realistic with my expectations of him, i dont want him to be the dog at the park that loves each and every dog, i just want to be able to do agility and fly-ball with him and TRUST him off lead not to run off after/attack another dog - i want him to be focused on me :)

Training Rory like this has been very embarrassing at times, and i have encountered some really horrible people, even two young guys with their two dogs who were purposely provoking poor Rory with their dogs - in the end i asked them if they were mentally retarded, to which they responded, No we just think its funny watching you try to control your aggressive dog - i was vey upset by the experience and it set our training back quite alot.

Hopefully you dont have to endure any such experiences - i wish you Goodluck and let us know how you go :)

[ARottMweilerY]

I've been through this as well :). I've seen a number of different ways to do this, but this is what I did...

Used a Gentel Leader- It only took a little bit for her to learn she couldn't lunge / bark at other dogs, everytime she went forward, it'd turn her head and get her attention back on me. I'd reward that attention. The gentel leader gave me the chance to reward good behaviour. I then was able to do it more and more and then she was finally looking at me more / keeping her attention on me when seeing another dog. She can now be much closer to other dogs.

I've also been socializing her much more to other dogs when ever possible. She's learning :). Of course you need to learn how to use and do each of these, I know what to look for and how to properly socialize a dog. (Not saying you don't know already lol). Any ways, just thought I'd post my experience lol.

~Amy~