Help for my cousin please!

[Adrienne]

My cousin has come to me with a dog problem and I really don't know what to advise her. She has two pitbulls, one a neutered male approximately six years old and one a spayed female of approximately four years old.

These dogs have lived together their whole lives. The male has not aggression issues, he is a very laid back pit. The female has had some issues but nothing major.

Recently the female has been going after the male. It was happening every night after they had their dinner. Not during, but after. Two times it happened when the female dog was sitting on my cousins lap and the male walked by. Once it was when the male dog was on my cousins lap and was jumping down and once when they were greeting 'dad' at the door when he came home from work.

This sounds like a possessive aggression to me so I advised her to not allow either of them on her lap at this point. She also has been muzzling the female in the evenings or keeping them separate.

When the female attacks the male, he does not fight back, she has not seriously injured him at this point thank goodness but my cousin does say that she sounds very aggressive and has used her teeth on him. He is scared of her at this point and avoids her, sticking to my cousin at all costs.

I also recommended that she start walking the female (my cousin does not regularly walk her dogs) as her female may be getting stir crazy being cooped up all the time. She is going to try her best to exercise her more but my cousin suffers from some medical conditions which make it hard for her to exercise. Her daughter used to walk the female but the female was able to pull away from her daughter (aged 15) and attack a boxer, since then she has not allowed her daughter to walk her.

Any ideas on this sudden onset of aggression to her pack member? Any other tips, suggestions would be appreciated. I did mention that a vet visit may be in order as I have read that hypothyroidism can cause sudden aggression.

She is not aggressive toward people at all.

Thanks!

[Sweet72947]

They are pit bull terriers. It is very common for young dogs to get along fine, and then when they mature the DA comes out or "turns on" (this usually happens at about 2 years old, but can happen later). The female is probably guarding her owner and also getting overexcited at the door and redirected on the male. More exercise for both would probably be a good idea. I suggest the owner look into a flirt pole or spring pole. Here's a link on how to make a flirt pole, its pretty easy and cheap. How to make a Flirt Pole for your Dog. Although the owner should also check the laws in their area first because in some places these things are considered "dog fighting paraphernalia" and these exercise tools may need to be used clandestinely.

I also suggest the owner look into crate and rotate, just in case. Crate and Rotate, How to Separate Aggressive Dogs

[Maxy24]

I like that she is keeping them apart and using a muzzle on her girl, prevention is the difference between a dead or alive dog. It may not be genetic DA, could just be guarding so it's worth a try to work with them.


The dogs need to learn that the other dog being near their humans is an awesome thing. Training sessions for this guarding should involve two people, leashes and lots of cookies. The female should be invited on the couch with one person (the one she guards), the male should be kept out of the room with the other person. Both dogs should be on a leash so that the male can be moved easily and as a precaution in case the female tried to go at him.

Let the female get comfortable. Your cousin should then call for the person with the male to bring him in. As soon as the female notices the male entered the room your cousin should start giving treats. A clicker could be helpful. I would give a treat for the girl looking at the male and for the girl looking at your cousin's face. The male should be brought closer and treats for noticing male and paying attention to your cousin should continue to be given. Also make sure your cousin tells her she's a good girl. Don't let the male get within striking distance at this point and make sure he does not steal any treats. If the other person needs treats to keep him from trying to pull over to your cousin and her treats then that's fine.

Then the other person and the male should leave and as soon as they are out of sight all attention and treats to the female should end. Then have him come back a few minutes later and start up with the treats again. Soon having the male come in is better for her that making him go away is, she'll welcome his presence because it is good for her.

Later you can have him come closer. Even later you can have him come close and each time your cousin reaches to pet him the female should get a treat, again a clicker would help.

Later you can have the male come in without the other person (have him open the door to let the male in loose) and have him call the dog out when it's time to leave (he should get a treat for coming when called).

When there are not training sessions nobody should be invited on the couch (unless the other dog is made to stay out of the room).

It might be helpful to have the owners always have some treats in a pocket while in the house so that they can do random set ups where the girl is getting attention and the male shows up, this way he is always seen as positive even when it is not the usual training set up.


They should never be alone together, the should never be allowed to play games together (by this I mean fetching the same toy, chasing the same flirt pole etc. anything that would make the guard especially in such a highly stimulating game) and no more getting on the couch without permission (so that your cousin can control the situation and be sure the female is not on the couch while the male is loose and the cousin has no treats).


They seem to redirect on each other when over stimulated. The doorway needs to become an unemotional place. No greeting at the door, in fact no attention at all until everyone is calm. The person entering should leave the area near the door as quickly as possible. Practice entrances with each dog by himself. Person should enter and ignore the dog entirely, if the dog jumps up or gets in the way the person should turn his back. Until both dogs understand that nothing super interesting happens at the door it would be best to only have one dog out when each person usually gets home from work or if the person home knows someone will be home from the store soon one dog should be put away so that unemotional entrances can be practiced. This should be a different dog every time so that they both get the practice. One each dog has laid down or stopped caring about saying hi the person can go a calmly greet each dog.

It might be necessary for more intensive door training especially for such a high energy, people loving breed but I would try simple unemotional entrances for a while to see if that works at changing the value or the doorway.

If needed the person at the front door should knock even if they live there to remind whoever is home to put one dog away. Of course if the dogs are home alone two should not be out together anyway, remember to alternate who gets run of the house and who gets a single room/crate.

I agree with more exercise, walks are great but there are other options, if she cannot walk because she is feeling particularly bad that day fetch (a chuck it is good if she has trouble throwing or bending over), swimming, flirt poles (it's like a cat toy), spring poles (if they like them), jolly balls etc. are great exercise too.


Hope this helps a little, tell her about Chaz and keep us updated. Make sure she never forgets tools, muzzles, gates, doors and crates are not giving up on training they are safety measures. If at any point during the training session she is afraid one dog might bite the other she should muzzle in a basket muzzle so treats can still be delivered.

[Adrienne]

Thanks for the great advice guys. I am going to print this thread out for her to read. She doesn't have internet access at her house but knows all about Chaz from me talking about it so she asked me to post to get some ideas.

[Athebeau]

I have a highly dog aggressive Rottweiler. She lives with 4 other dogs and she and one of the other females hate each other with a passion. I exercise them on a regular basis and take them for hikes together (all the dogs). What has helped all my dogs a great deal is the NILIF policy, all dogs need to know the rules of the house so they are not confused. A confused dog is a dangerous dog especially with some breeds. When giving attention I would not set them up to feel the need to attack such as my Rottweiler when she wants snuggles I make sure that the other female gets snuggles as well one on each side and belly rubs. This calms them and they are not feeling any reason to threaten each other over attention as it is equal. If they do happen to get into it (say bumping in to each other which can set many dogs off, making eye contact etc) I calmly separate them and put them both away. Neither one of them is coddled, if I feel one is being picked on I don't coddle that dog I treat them both equally. I don't want the aggressor feeling that bad things happen when this other dog is around. I want her to feel that good things happen when this other dog is around. For treat time, meal time etc everything is done in order and when dispensing treats they sit and get treat. This way they are focusing on doing something to earn something instead of focusing on the other dog. When I come home I have them sit and then give attention, I don't want them feeling the need to compete for attention.

Exercise is very important, if your friend doesn't feel safe walking in her neighborhood which I can understand because my Rottie is still very aggressive towards strange dogs. Go to an area that other dogs owners won't be. Perhaps a fenced in ball field in which you can get that extra energy out.

Consistency and rules and confidence building and no confusion is very important as well. At our house all our dogs came to live with each other as adults and all but one came with a huge basket of issues. Your body language, if you expect something is going to happen at a certain time for example when the owner allows her dog on her lap...she may be giving off signals which the dog is picking up on...for example stiffening up, heart rate goes up a bit when she expects something may happen etc. Dogs pick up on these things. An owner can show signs of tenseness that the dog will pick up on and feed off and then attack as a result of. For example my Rottie never allowed any of the other dogs in bed with us and was quite reactive. I just kept calm and worked on it with allowing the other dogs up and giving her belly rubs during this time frame. Now she couldn't care less. I make sure the dogs are never stressed out or have reason to feel threatened. Life is very routine and along with routine comes confidence and calmness. At least that is what I have found. Meal times are consistent Dylan is fed first, then Tori, chance, Beau then Athena my Rottie. They know the routine so there is no confusion. Treats are dispensed in the same order. Dogs seem to thrive on routine.

I would definitely advise your friend to have a good examination on her female. I did with my Rottie as well, even though dog aggression is just her thing I just wanted to make sure all was well. She does have HD so this can make her more prone to aggression as she was in pain. Once I curbed the pain in a holistic manner she became more laid back. Also, the Vet will be able to recommend a good behaviorist who can work on desensitizing and working with the owners. I found working with a behaviorist to be the best thing I ever did. My behaviorist was very much in a tired dog is a happy dog when I first started working with her 8 years ago. She also encourages different dog sports to help direct an over active mind and drives to breed specific play and a way to let it out. A basket muzzle is a great idea until the owner feels more secure. This way the owner will feel more relaxed and can watch for the first signs of a potential attack such as slight lowering of the head. This is the best sign a dog is going to attack. She will then feel relaxed enough with the muzzle on to redirect the potential attack to good things and then get the dog on the floor and start doing some obedience with both of them in a fun upbeat manner. I found that helped my dogs a great deal to get thier minds off a potential bad thing some fun obedience quick sits, downs side by side and treats and make it fun.