Growling, Aggressive, Especially When Sniffed

[poochiemama]

I have written to Underdog Training to get some input; they are fantastic and I'm sure they'll help, but just wondered if anyone on the forum has experience with this as I'm so worried... I might copy and paste the email I sent to underdog:

I'm just a bit concerned about Hannah and wondered what the best way

to deal with this situation is.

Hannah was attacked at the park last year, and since then she's been less comfortable around other dogs. Although the majority of the time, she happily plays with all dogs, when a dog sniffs her too much, or gets

in her space too much, she growls. We don't correct her for that, as I've been told this is just 'telling off' other dogs for bad behaviour, and if we stop her from growling, she might just go straight to biting. Most of the time, we just take her away from the situation if there are too many dogs or if its overwhelming for her. She's particularly uncomfortable if she's on her back and a dog is sniffing her private bits.

but I feel like it's escalating now. It's become more unprovoked. Today was the worst - there was a nine month old golden retriever pup who was just playing with her, completely appropriately, and Hannah

gave one growl then pinned her to the ground, growling at her neck. We had to pull her off the other dog. I don't think she bit, but it seemed like a very over-the-top reaction. It was definitely not

playful but aggressive in nature. Earlier at the park, she growled at this very placid labrador, who was just sniffing her to say hello. The lab was not one of those boisterous labs, he was quite old and gentle.

I don't think there are any health issues as she seems perfectly fine and the behaviour first began around the time she was attacked last year.

[Sandra777]

She is obviously uncomfortable about other dogs approaching her so why do you allow this to happen to her? She is telling you and the other dogs as clearly as she can that she doesn't wish to be sniffed, played with or approached.

Does she have some dogs she is happy with - if so make these the only dogs she interacts with until such time you have worked on the problem or maybe it will be forever.

IMO if you want to solve this problem then making her cope with random interactions with other dogs in the meantime is not very helpful.

She needs to be comfortable with the other dog for a start and then she needs to slowly learn that the presence of another dog is a great thing for her, with praise, treats and attention from you, not by feeling she has to reactive aggressively to "save" herself.

Start with long distance "approaches", the other dog some meters away (however close she is comfortable with) and praise/treat her for ignoring the other dog, then in tiny baby steps get to a point where another dog can sit beside her with no interaction and she doesn't react. THEN move on to actual interaction.

Me, I'd be going for a professional on the spot rather than internet advice in this situation

Edited August 21, 2011 by Sandra777

[Greytmate]

Since your dog has been attacked, it now has a much lower threshold of what it will tolerate from other dogs.

Your dog may feel more secure if you make sure other dogs cannot come too close.

It doesn't really sound like escalation to me, rather in the course of play the other dog just went a bit too far and crossed your dog's boundary. If your dog started to growl or pin down dogs that were not interacting with it, then you would have a real problem.

If you were to send other dogs away before they get close enough to upset your dog, your dog will probably not need to growl or show any aggression at all.

Hopefully Underdog can help you. They would need to observe your dog's behaviour to give you an idea of how successfully some work could be done to raise your dog's threshold.

Until then, for your own dog's safety and pieace of mind, keep other dogs away from it.

[Kavik]

Having a really good recall helps as well, when you first see your dog becoming uncomfortable it is helpful if you can recall them from the other dog, praise etc and then go on your way. Along with other behavioural work. Underdog should be able to help.

[Nekhbet]

dooooooon't take attacked dogs to dog parks. She's allowed to exhibit behaviour without it being modified. Controlled interaction with other dogs and under guidance is the best thing. If you're near Geelong please bring her over to visit this is one of my specialities. One current dog is playing with my little bitch in the 3rd lesson which he has not done in years.

[poochiemama]

Thanks for your input...I guess the problem has been that the behaviour has been so unpredictable. 99% of the time, she loves playing with dogs and can play for hours with no issues. It's just in the initial meeting period, for the first few seconds, where she appears uncomfortable. She will allow them to sniff her for a couple of seconds, and if they move on from sniffing her, then she'll happily play but if they linger, she starts growling. She's particularly this way with puppies. If a dog lingers too long, we will move Hannah on or call her away and usually that's fine, but it's hard to time it because she's more tolerant of some dogs than others. I wonder if this is normal 'telling off' behaviour or something more sinister. But I appreciate it's hard to give advice on the internet without observing the dog, that's why we are getting help from Underdog Training. Just wondered if people had any experience of this with their own dogs. In the interim, I think we'll stick with walks.

[Nekhbet]

she simply needs to relearn how to behave with dogs. It's very common that an attacked dog now has an expectation of another random attack and hence overdoes introductions and presents unwarranted behaviour. It comes down to time and conditioning the dog to change its behaviour when presented with that situation.

[poochiemama]

she simply needs to relearn how to behave with dogs. It's very common that an attacked dog now has an expectation of another random attack and hence overdoes introductions and presents unwarranted behaviour. It comes down to time and conditioning the dog to change its behaviour when presented with that situation.

Thanks Nekhbet, that's reassuring. I don't live near Geelong, but thanks for the offer of help - I think 'overdoes introductions' is exactly what's happening.

[Nekhbet]

yup. Many dogs take on the mentality that new dogs need to be shown they're big and tough and take no crap hence they end up carrying on for really, no good reason even if the other dog presents signals that doesnt warrant the behaviour. Problem is it ends up a self fulfilling prophecy since the target dog either fights back (and hence your dog goes 'HA SEE I KNEW IT! I NEED TO TRY HARDER NEXT TIME!') or rolls over and submits which then teaches your dog its behaviour works towards its ultimate goal - not being attacked again.

A lot of attacked dogs do not act rationally, I have seen some that aggress towards younger, non mature dogs too which is totally unnatural. They're not really thinking, just reacting which adds to the randomness to their targets. Anxiety goes up, behaviour exhibits.

Edited August 21, 2011 by Nekhbet

[corvus]

Pessimistic about unknown dogs? ;) I would be, too, if I had been attacked by one and did not know why or how to stop it from happening again. The real insidious side of this is that for all we know, she feels that every time she behaved aggressively and was not subsequently attacked she averted disaster. Animals (and humans) are intensely superstitious. We are all looking for ways to control our environment. If it seems to her that behaving aggressively is working she will just keep doing it more and more. It becomes her default. IMO it's imperative that she not be put in situations where she will feel compelled to get in first and act aggressively to avert a disaster that probably would never happen if she did nothing. As long as she is practising that aggression she doesn't know the disaster wouldn't have happened. It may appear to escalate in frequency, and that would be expected if the behaviour is being reinforced in some way. It as well as an escalation in intensity would also be expected if rather than being desensitised to other dogs by repeated interactions she is being sensitised. This happens when the dog is routinely being pushed too far in the presence of the triggers, and it means the more she is exposed the more sensitive she becomes to any signals that suggest she might be exposed, and she reacts to those by getting her back up and being prepared to fight if she has to. Once she's prepared, it's like going around with a loaded gun. It won't take much to trigger her.

The "best" way to deal with it is the way that works with the least amount of stress for her and you. The broadly accepted method is desensitisation because it aims at changing the dog's emotional response to the things that upset her. What's more, it aims to keep the dog always below the point where she would react aggressively. This is generally accepted to be minimally stressful for a frightened dog. It can take time and be difficult to manage, though. There are lots of good tools out there for helping you manage, like the games from Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. But anyway, Underdog can help you with all of that stuff.

[poochiemama]

Thanks corvus....looking back, I think we may have created this situation, on two counts. Firstly, by taking her to dog parks...and secondly, I am so anxious myself when we go, that she may sense it. We try to go to the park when there is few people around, and take measures, such as making sure there are only dogs that she knows. But there are always unknowns...

[Gayle.]

I have a dog who growls at other dogs if they approach her when she's on leash. Seeing as she came to me when she was 5 years old, I have no way of knowing if there's any history there but I do know that she spent the best part of her first 18 months of life tied up in a backyard, so that may have something to do with it.

Because I'm the one putting the lead on her, I feel it's my job to protect her from the stress of other dogs approaching her and I;m careful to tell people to keep their dogs at a distance, or take her away from them. She gets quite stressed and anxious, although she's very friendly and playful when she's off lead.

As the caretakers of these beautiful dogs, it's up to us to read the signs and not put the dogs in a stressful situation, or manage it really well if we can't avoid it. I can't avoid having Shae on a lead when we go for a walk, but I can avoid having her meet other dogs. I can avoid activities and places like an obedience club where she can't be off lead and must be close to other dogs, and find other activities that we can enjoy together that doesn't put her under stress but allows her to use her brain and her instincts. (We do herding, it's perfect for a dog like her).