Problems With Other Dogs

[karly101]

Hi everyone,

I have a 9 month old white German shepherd (Turbo) and we've been having an ongoing issue with him and other dogs. From the beginning we took him to puppy school- he was always anxious at the start of the class but half way through would always start playing with the puppies. We've been socialising him as encouraged by the vet (he gets regular short walks + visits to the dog park) but he does continue to have problems on lead. Whenever another dog approaches he gets quite anxious and often tries to flee, his hackles go up and he will growl/bark/snap (has never made contact with other dogs).

We've both never encountered this problem before so we seeked out a trainer and put him in for an obediance class. Unfortunately this trainer was TERRIBLE! He told all the other class attendants to stay away from our dog and would only suggest to keep walking Turbo away from other dogs (at any signs of aggressive behaviour) and keep reapproaching and keep repeating. If anything this seems to make his behaviour worse and we just spend the entire time just to keep trying to reapproach- to me it seems we are just rewarding him by removing him from the other dog which tells him the behaviour is working. The trainer in the later classes just told us this would always be an issue with our dog and he didn't seem to offer any other suggestions!

Off leash he does play and interact with other dogs though is often still initially scared but I'm sure being off leash he feels a lot more confidant as he can keep running away and reapproaching when he feels it safe to do so. We've also been taking him for regular walks with one of my friends dogs which does seem to have helped a little. Does anyone have any suggestions to how we can teach him to be more confidant and less anxious on leash as well? Or anyone had a similar problem to this? Suggestions for good trainers in the South East VIC suburbs would also be much appreciated!

Thanks.

[Dogsfevr]

"Unfortunately this trainer was TERRIBLE! He told all the other class attendants to stay away from our dog and would only suggest to keep walking Turbo away from other dogs (at any signs of aggressive behaviour) and keep reapproaching and keep repeating."

I see nothing wrong with a trainer informing other people to stay away(safe) around your dog.Other peoples dogs shouldnt be used as a tool to improve yours if he is showing clear signs of aggression after all you dont want the other peoples dog to learn your dogs behaviour.

Obedience is about you being able to control your boy around other dogs & at this stage it would seem teaching your boy to relax whilst at a distance is a starting point & until achieved he will not be calm amongst dogs.

I think though if you read wha ta your instructor has told you about walking away & what you had said here

"as he can keep running away and reapproaching when he feels it safe to do so"

Is the exact same advice the difference being onleash.

Often the owners technique & body language on the leash transmitts to the dog & the problem is increased because the dog feels tied to one stop & reacts over the top.

The idea o walk away calmly & re approach takes the focus of the incidient that is occuring there & then.

Some dog will never get over it & that is reality BUT it may seem you need more help than just the trainer you have.

Im sure someone will come along with better advice

[karly101]

I understand that about the other dog bit but the trainer never mentioned that we would be isolated from the class and if he had told us this would be the case I would have chosen to do one on one sessions with another trainer! When we spoke with him on the phone about Turbo's issues he indicated the class would be good for him, other things he mentioned were the dogs would be around turbo's age (all wrong we were put into a puppy class). Other class members also commented to us that the trainer ignored us a lot and concentrated on other dogs (in training wise commands Turbo wasn't suited for the class as he already knew most basic commands). It really wasn't very helpful and he said 'no refunds'.. after the first week we learnt the class wasn't really for us and Turbo but we had to keep going otherwise we'd spent all that money for one hour. We'd been told the class was for 6-12 month old dogs focusing on behavioural issues with basic obediance- most of this was wrong!

This is why I am asking for other suggestions and recommendations of a behaviouralist he is only young and I don't see how the trainer could just say that the issue is unsolveable after such a short amount of time when he hardly spent any time with the dog.

[crazy beagle lady]

Contact Cosmolo here on DOL, im pretty sure they will be able to point you in the right direction

[Cosmolo]

If you would like to email me [email protected] or pm, i'm sure we'll be able to help you and Turbo. Its not a wise idea to try to advise online in this type of situation

[cavNrott]

Hi everyone,

Unfortunately this trainer was TERRIBLE! He told all the other class attendants to stay away from our dog and would only suggest to keep walking Turbo away from other dogs (at any signs of aggressive behaviour) and keep reapproaching and keep repeating. If anything this seems to make his behaviour worse and we just spend the entire time just to keep trying to reapproach- to me it seems we are just rewarding him by removing him from the other dog which tells him the behaviour is working. The trainer in the later classes just told us this would always be an issue with our dog and he didn't seem to offer any other suggestions!

Off leash he does play and interact with other dogs though is often still initially scared but I'm sure being off leash he feels a lot more confidant as he can keep running away and reapproaching when he feels it safe to do so. We've also been taking him for regular walks with one of my friends dogs which does seem to have helped a little. Does anyone have any suggestions to how we can teach him to be more confidant and less anxious on leash as well? Or anyone had a similar problem to this? Suggestions for good trainers in the South East VIC suburbs would also be much appreciated!

The advice from your trainer isn't terrible. Understandably, he doesn't want the other pups in the class to have an altercation with an agressive dog. I kept my pup well away from aggressive dogs for the same reason. I didn't want to ruin her confidence and make her think she must protect herself from all dogs in case they had a go at her.

When I attended group training sessions there was an aggressive dog there whose owner was also told to stay right at the edge of the class and not allow his dog to harrass other dogs in class. Unfortunately he didn't follow advice and his dog constantly disrupted the class and many people left and never came back.

What your trainer failed to instruct you about was to stay within your dog's comfort zone when approaching other dogs. As he becomes more confident you will be able to decrease the distance between him and other dogs. As you learn to read your dog's body language you will know when he has reached the limit of his comfort zone.

I will pm you the name of an excellent trainer in your area. I would suggest a few private training lessons to get you on the right track..

[Cosmolo]

The timing of walking the dog away, the reason for the behaviour in the first place and a number of other factors would influence whether what your instructor suggested would work. But, as cavnrott suggests, one on one training is likely to give you better results. I set clients dogs up with my own dogs frequently in one on one sessions so you're still able to work around dogs in a controlled environment in a private session.

[karly101]

Thanks everyone for their input.. he's just had his desexing surgery so once he has recovered I will definitely be looking into some of the trainers you have suggested and hopefully let you all know on his progress