Gone Kid Aggro :(

[Diesel the Weasel]

I have a 14month old male MS. He has always been a really sweet and friendly dog with everyone, but when he hit about 9-10months he suddenly started barking at kids and scaring them. As yet he has not bitten anyone, but small children get really scared when he runs at them barking. At the moment, if he is on lead when he does it I pull him back and growl 'NO' at him; if he is off lead I grab his collar (although he is sometimes difficult to catch), put him back on lead and growl 'NO'. Some days he is fine - lets kids pat him or just ignores them, and other days he barks at all of them.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to why he has started doing this? I can't think of any time where kids have been mean to him, so can't understand why he has become aggro towards them.

Also, is there anything else I can do to stop this behaviour? Now I put him on lead as soon as I see kids anywhere nearby - I don't enjoy off lead walks on the beach etc. nearly as much as I used to as I am constantly on 'kid alert'. I have completed basic training with him and about to start the intermediate class tonight, but hasn't seemed to help. He is very good when there are no kids around, but as soon as he is barking at one, any training seems to go out the window and he won't come or sit until I actually grab his collar then he listens to me again.

Any help would be appreciated. I really would like to get rid of this behaviour. I would hate for it to go too far one day and he actually bites a kid.

Thanks :rolleyes:

Kate

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Probably some children, yours or visitors or others have frightened him at some stage. Do you EVER leave your dog unattended with yours or other children?

Dogs that bark when they are on the leash and see another dog coming are often doing this as a warning tactic. I really feel something has occurred here.

Some dogs just don't like children anyway, I never expose mine to children at all although some of them would probably be fine.

I'm not a trainer but saying "no" isn't the right way to train the dog, I'm sure someone with more knowledge will come on and give you some suggestions. I would imagine you would need to make some positive associations but if he doesn't like children it might be too much of a risk.

[Poodle wrangler]

If you have to catch him, then say "NO" then the poor dog isn't going to know what he's done wrong.

I'd work on recall- take treats when you go out for every walk and practice recall a few times during every walk off leash, or on long leash, with no kids about.

Kids are scary to dogs- their body language is jerky and unpredictable.

If the kids are anything like our local dog beach, some run away when they see a dog, flapping arms and screaming- all the right things to encourage a dog to chase them .

My pup barks at my son (excited bark) who likes to encourage him to chase him and jump up in the backyard- I've banned the game as I don't want him doing that to other kids.

Perhaps someone at training has a nice child that you can work with to desensitise your dog to kids?

[Diesel the Weasel]

Thanks for your ideas. I do practice recall with treats when he is off lead, and usually he is very good, but when he is in kid stalking mode, it is like he doesn't hear me at all. I don't have kids, so the only exposure to children he has had is in parks etc. There are some boys at the local park I go to that used to raz him up and get him to chase them. I have stopped this game as I was concerned it might be causing the problem. It just seems so strange that some days he is fine, and other days he is quite aggro. I can't see what the trigger is - but you are right - when kids start flapping their arms and screaming and running, it definetly encourages him to chase them and bark more. I have never seen any children be mean to him while he is with me, but I have been on holidays and he has stayed with friends or family - I would have no idea if anything happened in those times, although I would think they would tell me.....

I have been recommended by a friend a trainer who worked with his Rottie for about 3hours and sorted a few problems out. Not sure if they were aggression problems, but thought it might be the only way for me to go?

I can't bear the thought that he might one day take it a step further, and I want to go back to having the friendly dog that he used to be!

Have other DOLer's out there had a similar problem and managed to train their dog out of it?

[Poodle wrangler]

If you can afford it, working one-on-one with a trainer would be ideal.

THe fact that he doesn't come when in 'chasing kid mode' just means more training needed. He needs to listen to you all the time and it only comes with practice. Coming to you must always be a positive experience for him.

It'd be best to train him on a long length of rope, so that he MUST recall when kids are around. Each time he doesn't HAVE to come, teaches him it's OK to ignore you .

Use a few pieces of chicken or some super-tasty treat to encourage him. You don't have to be a food dispensing machine forever, but it's really helpful when the dog's learning. Far better training-wise that he comes to you of free choice (even if bribed) rather than be dragged in.

Good on you for being responsible enough to nip this in the bud early

Edited October 5, 2007 by Poodle wrangler

[Diesel the Weasel]

Thanks poodle wrangler!

I have actually now booked a trainer to help me with this. It is expensive, but worth it I think! I couldn't bear it (or afford it) if I ended up in court because he bit a kid!

Wish me luck in getting him sorted out

[Kavik]

Kaos went through a period of barking at kids too - about the same age I think too.

What I found helped is to go armed with heaps of yummy treats and ask kids if they would give him a treat. This way he was approaching them for something he wanted instead of being intimidated by kids rushing up and crowding him. Now he will wiggle when he sees a kid, and will not bark. We are still working on getting him comfortable when kids come up to him, but he is happy to go up to them now.