Aggression, NEED HELP!

[gatethekeeper]

My 13 month old Boxxer/American Bull Dog mix is getting to much for me. I love him to death and refuse to just give up on him so i am asking you guys for advice.
He is in a crate, dont ask why, dont tell me its bad, it needs to be this way for now. He had his own room for a long time and it kinda ruined everything we tought him.
I talked with a close friend who is a Cop and trains dogs for the force and he recommened going back to a crate for now so thats where i am at this point.

Sence he was little he has been teritorial aggressive. He is nice as **** and playful with me as well as other dogs, but when it comes to his toys, food, or crate he is mean as ****. I leave his crate open so he go in and chill out when he needs to but when he is in it and i walk by it or i try to close the door he just snaps and starts going crazy on me.

He is the same way when i come in from a walk. He wants to eat and he knows im going to let him(most of the time) and so he doesnt wanna bother with me taking off his harness or collar, whatever i happen to have on him at the time. He tenses up when i reach down to take it off, and when i get it around his head he snaps at me and makes a mad dash for his food.


Any other time he is amazing. He lived with a purebred Pit untill about 3 months ago and they were amazing together. They just played all day long and he would never snap at him, hell he even shared his food. And with people, all he wants to do is run up and say HI! Nice to meet you! The only time iv ever seen him get mad at a person is when me and my fiancee were wrestling, he backed her into a corner untill i told him to lay down. I like this about him...So i dont wanna fix that. And with a dog, a 95pound Pit bit him, he didnt like the fact that i brought a puppy on to his territory. Kieran bit him back when we finally got the pitbull subdued...


He is not netured right now.. Would this help his agression and/or excitement?

What can i do to get him to allow me near his crate? Thanks for the help guys.

 

[jess2416]

He is not netured right now.. Would this help his agression and/or excitement?

Well I am not an expert on training or anything mabey someone else can give you some advice on that but you do need to get him neutered ASAP.

 

[gatethekeeper]

Yeah I know. The last time i went to get it done, he had a small infection and they wanted to wait. Its my fault, althought i know it needs to be done, i just look at him and it makes me feel bad...lol im a sap i cant help it.

Anyways there are some puppies availible at a local shelter, they will be ready in 2 months...and id like to have this problem fixed. Im not worried about him with the puppy, but i dont want a new dog picking up kierans old habits. So if i dont get this taken care of then i dont get another dog.
Come on guys, i know someone has an answer

 

[shepluvr]

Sounds like you need a professional trainer who knows how to deal with aggression and QUICK. This dog seems like a ticking time bomb to me. Please find one for his sake. Good luck.

 

[poodlesmom]

There are others here more familiar with this type of problem and better able to give you some good advice as to ways to overcome it. I would look for a qualified trainer in your area who has experience with this type of problem. I definitely recommend having him neutered asap - this won't necessarily fix the problem but it can have some benefit as well as keep him healthier in the future.

The one thing I wanted to mention in my opinion is that this is a problem that won't be completely resolved within the matter of a couple of months. It has taken him 13 mos. to progress to this point and it will take alot of time, patience and commitment from you to help him overcome it. In my opinion I would hold off on adding a new puppy to your home who will naturally require much more of your time and concentrate on Kieran.

 

[gatethekeeper]

Yeah i will. I refuse to get a new one untill kieran is taken care of.

Anyone with some advice on somethings we can try at home would be great.

 

[RD]

Sounds like you have major leadership issues with this dog. I would try implementing NILIF, for starters (do a google search for "nothing in life is free" if you don't know what I'm talking about)
Make him sit before you feed him, lie down or wait before you give him his food. YOU control the food, not him. Pick up his bowl after he is done eating, do not "free feed" him or give him anything to guard.
Close the crate door so he can't get in there. From now on, since he is so possessive of it, he needs to go in with your permission only. When he goes in, back away and call him out in a very happy voice. Keep treats on hand (where he cannot see them - in your pockets or one hidden in your hand) when you do this, and if he comes to you, reward him! Don't just feed him one little hard cookie Teach him that listening to you is a better alternative than being a pig and hoarding his food and guarding his crate.

Honestly I don't feel like I can advise you on anything more to do with the crate, because obviously reaching for the latch sets him off and it could be dangerous for you if he decides to bite down on those fingers instead of just making a show. If you need to close the crate, I would suggest making him sit, throwing a bone or peanut-butter filled Kong into the crate, and latching it while he is busy eating.

 

[Doberluv]

You've definitely got a MAJOR leadership situation here. Your dog is the alpha and you and your fiance are the omegas. VERY DANGEROUS.

The only time iv ever seen him get mad at a person is when me and my fiancee were wrestling, he backed her into a corner untill i told him to lay down. I like this about him...So i dont wanna fix that.

You better want to fix this or you'll be euthanizing your dog one day and someone is going to be hurt or killed.

You've got to understand that dogs come from pack animals and they have a heirarchy. Now, whether or not we are in a "simulated" pack situation with them, or a real pack living situation with them, that's controversial. Nevertheless, it doesn't matter. In either case, you and ALL human beings must be the alpha or leader of your dog. If you are not, your dog will be. This is a situation which will not work and will cause the dog to be put down one day.

That said, I strongly recommend that you get yourself a reputable behaviorist, not a trainer. A behaviorist works with things like this.

There are some things you can do in the meantime, but you'll have to be very diligent and consistant. You're going to have to put this dog in his proper place in the heirarchy of your family. This is not done with aggression from you, but with an aire of authority and strength that you'll need to clothe yourself with. Dogs cannot be happy or survive unless there is a leader and if you aren't going to it, your dog will. You cannot have this. So you'll have to learn how to carry yourself in such a way that you reverse what has occured here.

First....absolutely no wrestling with this dog. The only time you play anything with this dog is when YOU instigate it. The only time you do ANYTHING with this dog is when YOU instigate it. You do not respond in any way, shape or form to any request, demand, sound, look or action of any kind from this dog.

For the first week, you do not speak or look at this dog. You provide for what he needs to physically survive and that's it. You walk around with your shoulders straight and your head high and you walk with purpose. You pay no attention to your dog whatsoever.

The 2nd week, you start a STRICT regime of NILIF. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/nothingfree.htm

You don't respond to his actions at all, whether it's a certain body language or a sound, whining, barking, pushing his nose at you for affection, his wanting a toy....no, no, no. You do not respond. Everything that he might like, he will get ONLY when you decide he will and he will earn it. He acts, you do not respond. You act....He responds. Keep it that way in all you do.

Take him for walks every day...good, long ones, but don't allow pulling....not for one step. Very important. Don't let him put his head down to sniff just because he decides he wants to. You walk and when you see a bush that you'd like him to pee on and sniff, you slacken the leash near that bush. Otherwise, you are in charge of the walk. He'll be concentrating on walking nicely and he'll be rewarded with a treat and praise when he does well.

After two weeks, start working on the give and take game. See if you can find it here....do a search, otherwise let me know and I'll type it all out again. I think it's on one of these recent aggression threads. Then teach him to retrieve. He learns to work with you....along side you as a partner and learns to GIVE you things. But it's all fun and rewarding.

Teach him obedience skills every day...short sessions are fine. End on a good note with something he does well. Use all motivation and reward methods. (look it up) No harshness. You don't want this dog to perceive his leader as out of control, unstable, loud, but calm, cool, collected, in charge...kind of like Clint Eastwood or Arnold Schwartzenigger.

Good leaders are never violent, angry, flailing around, emotional. Give affection when it's earned. First thing is.....he learns to trust you as his secure, strong leader...Second thing is he learns discipline (skills, his place, who he is, what his role is) Third thing is, he earns affection. All in that order. Don't gush all over him with affection and play excessively. He starts thinking he's all that and you start looking like an omega or wimp and he thinks he should be in charge. Later, when things get turned around....way later, you can lighten up on some of the NILIF, but for quite some time, I recommend sticking to this program and all of this religiously.

Read up on some training tips. Do a search. Use positive, gentle, kind methods but enforce your commands.

I hope you can turn things around.

 

[gatethekeeper]

Just wondering what is the problem with him going after my fiancee. He thought she was trying to hurt me and he protected me.

He listens to me very well. When we go for walks he doesnt pull away from me, he walks by my side, and when he sniffs something if i tell him to come on he will start walking again. He also listens well to all commands untill it comes to the point where he goes in his cage. I have his door locked right now and he just keeps going to it and staring at me with his puppy dog eyes. And i took his food bowl away...


Thanks for the great advice im going to start that in the morning.

 

[gatethekeeper]

When he jumps on me to play, should i just push him off and not look at him or say anything

 

[Doberluv]

He thought she was trying to hurt me and he protected me.

How do you know that he is trying to protect you and not just being pushy with a human being. My Doberman knows the difference between someone trying to hurt me and someone wrestling for fun with me. Going off of some of the other things you are saying about him, I come to the conclusion that your dog doesn't know his place. Regardless of whether it's protection or him trying to put your fiance in her place, he still needs to know that he doesn't make those decisions...that you do. You determine whether something is a threat or not, not him.

My Doberman knows that he doesn't do more than bark at strangers coming on my propery who are doing no harm (MY OPINION) unless they out right attacked me or broke the door down. That's because he trusts me as his leader. Leaders make those decisions, not other members of the pack.

You'll have a dangerous dog if you don't take charge and make all these decisions. You can't leave it up to your dog. He's like your child and you take care of him....not the other way around. You wouldn't let your 5 year old decide if someone was a threat and smack someone upside the head because your 5 year old thought (mistakenly) that he was hurting you....would you? A child is not expected to take care of an adult and make those kinds of decisions. A dog should neither be expected to lead or take care of his people.

I didn't see your last post. Yes, when he jumps on you, turn away, walk away. Say nothing. After the first week, you can start re-directing him to another behavior and training him.

 

[gatethekeeper]

Thank you, what about when other people come over. Should i tell them to ignore him, or does that not matter because they dont see him often.

 

[Doberluv]

For a while, when you need to take your dog for a walk, may I suggest, siince he's having a problem trusting you to handle his collar, that you take just the leash and make a loop with the end of the leash going through the handle and make a large loop which you slip over his head. Place it high on his neck to avoid his trachea and use it that way. Then you won't be messing around by his neck.

All this stuff that I'm talking about is done with confidence, but never ever anger or nervousness. Your dog must trust you explicitly so that when you do things to him, he won't fear what you're doing. That in addition to his developing more respect for you as his guide, the one who makes all these decisions will help him overcome his objections.

I do not believe in harsh, rough treatment of any animal, but there are ways to train and be a leader by using motivation and reward along with developing a very confident, assertive, secure feeling in yourself. That will rub off on your dog. When they feel like they're being taken care of and have boundaries and rules which are enforced, they become clay in our hands. They become happy to have someone take care of them and not have to make those decisions. They'd really rather not have to do that, but will in the absense of a leader. They pick up on when we're unsure or nervous like you would not believe. They can feel it right down the leash and feel vibes that are hard for us to understand. Don't second guess yourself, once you have some tools of knoweledge at your disposal. The more you work with your dog, the more confident you'll become. And that experience cannot be replaced by reading, so the combination of both of those things will make you a top notch dog handler in time.

editted: I keep missing your last posts. LOL.

Yes, tell people to ignore him for a while. When he settles down, (which you can enforce by keeping a leash on him when people come over to prevent jumping) then they can give him a pat, but he should sit first. I'd keep socializing to a minimum for that first week while you're trying to esatablish his place in the family. Let him get that straight or at least under way before confusing him about other people. Later, he'll be learning that all humans are to be respected as some sort of leader figure. He doesn't have to obey everyone, but he has to respect them insofar as he never acts aggressively to them.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

Just wondering what is the problem with him going after my fiancee. He thought she was trying to hurt me and he protected me.

I don't see it this way at all. ANY dog should understand rough house playing. They do it among themselves all the time. He should never view a person whom you have invited into your home as a threat. Protection involves the dog staying near you, not backing a female person who is known to you into a corner over some rough house play. If he would go after you fiancee, he would go after anyone. Dogs should not be the ones making these decisions. My dogs are to alert me, and cease on my verbal command. *I* make the decisions about who is allowed, and who is a threat. Not them.

He listens to me very well. When we go for walks he doesnt pull away from me, he walks by my side, and when he sniffs something if i tell him to come on he will start walking again. He also listens well to all commands untill it comes to the point where he goes in his cage. I have his door locked right now and he just keeps going to it and staring at me with his puppy dog eyes. And i took his food bowl away...


Thanks for the great advice im going to start that in the morning.

I agree completely with all doberluv said.

This dog is running the show, and it's about to get ugly if you don't stand up and let him know in very clear terms that he is NOT in charge, and that you own his life.

I get the impression that you like having a "tough dog".

Unfortunately, out of control tough dogs can get you in a whole lot of financial and legal trouble.

This Mr. Smarty pants needs the rug yanked out from under him, and dober gave you some great advice on how to do it.

He would also be missing 2 testicles by late Monday evening if he were mine.

 

[gatethekeeper]

Want a tough dog? Not really, i want a big dog, size wise, but i dont care how tough he is. Id rather kieran be big and strong but calm as hell.

However in the sence of protection id like him to be aggressive. Not at the expensive of him being dangerous though.

I to agree with all the advise i was given i am mearly trying to give you guys as much info about what it going on with him and they way he acts.

 

[Doberluv]

I have a sneaky suspicion that he will be protective, at least as far as barking to scare off a burgler. The best protection dogs are the ones who are well socialized and trained. They understand very, very, very well what a normal, friendly stranger is, that the everyday things and people they come in contact with are no threat and they become extremely comfortable with normal. They understand it like the back of their hand....nothing that is normal ruffles their feathers. THEN.....when and if something happens which is not normal, someone breaking in in the middle of night, they recognize it as abnormal. That's when they react appropriately. You don't want a protection dog who is "over" protective, who flies off the handle at the wrong things. They do you no good at all because they don't know what in the heck they're doing. And they are dangerous. Again....a good protection dog can walk through a crowd of people comfortably, can meet just one or two friendly strangers without shyness or aggressiveness, any combination of numbers of people in different locations.... can meet all kinds of people in all kinds of weird clothes, snow suits, umbrellas, in wheel chairs, with canes... etc....in other words...a very well socialized dog.

My Doberman will bark when he's inside the house and someone drives up or knocks on the door, but will stop when I open the door and speak in a friendly way to the person. Then Lyric just watches. If we're both outside and someone drives up, he doesn't even bark. He walks toward their car and just WATCHES. No hackles up, no look of aggression, no fear...just plain watches. He waits for my reaction. When I speak friendly to the repair man or the sales man, whatever, Lyric is fairly friendly...not extremely outgoing at first...he still wants to watch some more, but in about 5 minutes, he's wagging his tail.

One time someone came in in the middle of the night while I stayed at my son's. We were all asleep. Lyric became gnashing, growling, barking, vicious. He didn't lunge or bite, but stood all muscled up and straight, between me and the "friend" who walked in my son's apartment. This guy backed out of the apartment and peeked through the door and said, "I wasn't expecting that." And I said, "Likewise." LOL. Anyhow, once it was established that this guy was indeed a friend, all was well. But it WAS a weird, unusual situation to me. I was alarmed at first and so was Lyric.

But I can go anywhere with Lyric, off leash, through tight crowds of people and he's perfectly gentlemanly and allows people to pat him. He recently passed his canine good citizen test. And I'm very pleased with the way he's turning out.

Best wishes. Let us know how things come along.

 

[gatethekeeper]

Thanks for all your help. Kieran is very good in crowds. He loves every person he meets. And when people come to the door he just gets up and walks over till they come in. Then he just gets excited and says nice to meet you. One time I had him in his crate and i kicked someone out who was getting out of hand. When i yelled he barked...

Im not aruging with you, its just my fiancee was my girlfriend at that time, and she was new to our house. Kieran saw her us in a struggle and went after her, he didnt try to bite her he just tensed up and pretty much made her know if she tryed anything he was watching. When i told him to back off he did. I just never saw anything wrong with that.

Now if she just came in the door and he went after her, then i would be very worried.

Hopfully everything will get worked out soon. thanks again guys

 

[Max&Lola]

Just wondering what is the problem with him going after my fiancee. He thought she was trying to hurt me and he protected me.

Whoa dude, whoa! The problem is if he "misinterprets" something and bites someone or aggresses towards a stranger *poof* that's the end of your dog.

YOU need to be in control, not the dog! Good luck!

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

The best protection dogs are quiet easy going friendly dogs who have been very well socialized.

Aggression does not equal protection. Aggression generally equals nerves, insecurity, fear, and lack of control.

Protection generally must be carefully shaped and trained. Many dogs have a good tendency towards it, but a dog who does not have a good amount of experience with a helper and controlled bitework should never be depended on in a dicey situation.

Sane dogs do not feel they must "protect" their handlers in an in home jolly jolly boistrous play session.

Your dog is making the decisions for you as to what happens, who is allowed in the home, who is allowed near his crate, etc.

Dober gave you great advice. You should also seek someone out in your area immediately who is familiar with working type dogs who can help you impress further on the dog just who is in charge, and who can help you with training.

 

[gatethekeeper]

Yeah I understand he gave me great advice, And im going to take it. I found a couple trainers that im in contact with. Im not saying im not going to do anythuing about his aggression.