Fear Aggressive/dog Aggressive Dog/s

[Libby99]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping to get some advice about what to do with a situation that occured tonight. My friend and I took our dogs for a walk for the first time together (she has two females, a Silky Terrier and a Maltese and I have a 4 month old male Kelpie X).

My puppy barks like crazy when he sees another dog. He is very friendly and just wants to say hello (as soon as he is allowed to say hello the barking stops). When he got close to my friend's dogs (he was barking like mad), her dogs started barking and snarling at him and tried to snap at him a few times. We walked around the oval a little bit away from each other and eventually they all calmed down, but as soon as my puppy noticed them again he would try and lurch in their direction and I think scare her dogs and off we would go again.

I am just wondering what the best way to handle this situation is as we want to be able to walk our dogs together and were planning to go to an off leash park together next week, probably not a good idea until we figure out what to do. One DVD I have watched said the best way to introduce dogs was on neutral territory off leash. I know why off leash was suggested, but obviously this is not suitable if one dog is aggressive?

Also what is the best way to stop my dog barking everytime he sees another dog?

We are doing the million paws walk together on Sunday, that should be interesting.

Hope someone can help us :cool:

[Kavik]

Has your pup met other dogs before? How does he usualoy act around other dogs?

Have you done any training with your pup? Gone to any classes, puppy preschool, seen a trainer etc? If not, I would suggest you do so.

Can you get your pup's attention on you?

I would be careful how you approach this problem. I have a Kelpie and a Kelpie X :cool: They are not necessarily the best, most social dogs for off lead park situations. From my experiences and talking to others who have the breed, they would rather work and maybe say hi briefly to other dogs, but are generally not as interested in playing.

My Kelpie X started barking at other dogs when she was 6 months old, and this escalated to aggression, and she is still aggressive at 9 years, so I would seek assistance now while he is still a pup and the problem can be fixed before he gets older.

[Nekhbet]

My puppy barks like crazy when he sees another dog. He is very friendly and just wants to say hello (as soon as he is allowed to say hello the barking stops

you are rewarding his crazy behavior so enough of this. Dogs are a high value reward for him and effectively you are showing him that the more he pulls and carries on then you will reward him with seeing the other dog.

Other dogs find this behavior rude and confrontational. He has a high chance of being attacked or 'taught a lesson' especially if he meets up another really dominant dog. Her dogs are simply behaving how most dogs will towards a dog 1) larger then them and 2) jumping all over them and barking.

You need to train him to be quiet, take him to training or call a trainer to teach him that yes - he can say hello but his owner is #1 when it comes to his attention, and that carrying on like a pork chop will NEVER happen. Ever. Period. You also need to probably introduce him to a fairly bombproof dog who he can learn dog body language from sounds like he's lacking a little in that lesson. :cool:

[Paganman]

I am just wondering what the best way to handle this situation is as we want to be able to walk our dogs together and were planning to go to an off leash park together next week, probably not a good idea until we figure out what to do. One DVD I have watched said the best way to introduce dogs was on neutral territory off leash. I know why off leash was suggested, but obviously this is not suitable if one dog is aggressive?

From what you say I definately wouldnt let your dog off leash at a dog park he sounds a bit out of control and I dont think youd be able to get him back if he took off after another dog.He doesnt seem to know how to be able to behave around other dogs either and this will probably get him in to trouble and probably get you in trouble from some of the other owners who dont want a strange dog racing up and jumping all over there dog.

I think he needs to get used to other dogs and needs a lot of training so a few one on one lessons with a qualified trainer and joining an obedience club woyld probably help a lot but itll take time and youll need to do some training every day with him.

[Libby99]

Yep we have done puppy school and have been training with him at home too, but with no other dogs in the house, obviously we can't socialise him in our home environment, so how do I do it outside the home if he keeps barking? At puppy school he was the smallest puppy and the most submissive, he would bark the minute we walked in but would then calm down immediately once he had seen the other dogs and then no barking for the rest of the class. He is also great with my Mum's Cav and my friend's Kelpie and Poodle.

He is actually great in off leash parks, we met up at an off leash park (fenced in, would not take him to one that wasn't fenced) during the week with my friend's Kelpie and Poodle and my dog did not bark at all as he was off the leash, he only barks on the leash and once he has sniffed the other dog he is ok. He doesn't have an ounce of aggression in him. A JR X and 2 Labs came into the park later on and he pretty much ignored them, no barking at all.

I realise that he needs to stop this barking whenever he sees another dog (it's only when on leash though), but once he gets past that he is great with other dogs. I am more concerned for his safety when being off leash with my friend's dogs as her Silky once attacked a Lab while she (the Silky) was off leash and I think the Lab was on leash. They think her Silky was abused until the age of 5 months when they got her and while she is ok with her Maltese sister and her Mum's dog, they are all older and a bit calmer I suppose? Even once my dog had calmed down hers were still snapping and snarling whenever he went near.

So when we are out walking the best thing to do when he starts barking and carrying on when seeing another dog would be to walk in the other direction and not let him say hello until he calms down?

Do you really think it is a bad idea to stop going to the fenced in dog park with my other friend's dogs that he plays well with? We go during the day when there is no or few people there. I think I will give the off leash park a miss with the silky and maltese.

Thanks

[huski]

Even once my dog had calmed down hers were still snapping and snarling whenever he went near.

It sounds like a part of the problem is that your friends dog isn't particularly friendly or receptive to other dogs? And that you want to teach your dog some manners when meeting others? I wouldn't think the manners part is so much about more socialising, but socialising in a controlled environment and getting your pup to be calm and focused on you, not the other dogs.

If it was me I wouldn't want to socialise my pup with a dog that was DA. It sounds like the small dog is uncomfortable - if it was a bigger dog, would you still be persisting with socialising them together? It doesn't sound like your friends dog is a very good influence?

[CP*]

Can you try socialising your friend's dogs one at a time and not try both at once - might be a bit overwhelming. Also, don't have the dogs meeting head on, walk at a small distance but parallel to each other and in the same direction. You can decrease the distance as they get used to each other.

Sometimes as dogs get older they can find puppies really annoying. They may be snapping to bring him in line but not as a form of aggression.

My female did (and often still does) the same thing after being attacked - barks at other dogs but still wants to meet them. I carry a squeaky ball and its squeak distracts her from the other dog - plus being a ball nutter she focuses on the ball.

Re: MPW - When I was seeing the behaviourist about this it was just before last years MPW and I thought I wouldn't be able to go. But the behav. said with that many dogs around she won't bark - and she was right. I did regularly pull my dogs aside to a quiet area so my female wouldn't be overwhelmed by all the other dogs. But we ended up staying for 7hrs and she only barked twice!