Small Dog Showing Aggression Towards Bigger Dogs

[deltoid]

Silky Terrier 10mths.

Often shows aggression (barking, growling, snapping and showing teeth) when meeing larger dogs or when he feels his personal space was invaded. Seems to do it more with black and dark coloured dogs (maybe he is racist?)

Examples

1. At dog park, happily playing then came over to me for a pat. Other dog ran over to me at the same time and gave him a fright and he started barking and growling, other dog was well behaved though and backed away (we were near the fence so he might have felt cornered). Basically my best way to describe it is that it is like he is on edge/stressed and always has to be alert to defend something (not sure if it is us or himself). But he seems to have a hair trigger.

2. At markets, saw another dog on lead. Both dogs were behaving so took him over to say hi, both did the butt sniffing thing and got the leads tangled. While untangling he went off.

3. At home, inside, neighborhood dogs start barking so he goes nuts growling and barking.

In the first two scenarios I picked him up and turned my back to the other dog so he can't see it. I don't treat or coddle him. Just pick him up to avoid any escalation. This has happen more often than the two examples, in all cases I've picked him up and turned my back to the other dog.

In the last scenario I call him over and give him a treat or scratch when he is quiet and stop as soon as he growls or looks at the front door.

If it helps to understand the issue, here is some background...We have two dogs. Both Silky Terriers (boy and girl). Both are desexed. He is the older and alpha of the pair. We do training with them every day (not always long sessions but quick short sessions here and there, I usually do a longer structured session at least once or twice a week). Both are very well behaved and other than his aggression issues and her toilet training not being 100% there yet (however she has made leaps and bounds after following advice from DOL recently) they are great little dogs.

Any help would be appreciated I just worry with him being a little dog that one day he will do it to the wrong dog and get himself into trouble. I don't want to have to avoid all dogs as I like being able to take the dogs places with us.

Edited October 8, 2011 by deltoid

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

You need to know that this is not uncommon and there are some things you can do towards fixing his behaviour. I've worked in dog rescue for over 15 years so I have quite a bit of experience with dogs - just in case you assume I'm only a small dog owner.

My first recommendation is NOT to go to dog parks - they are very dangerous places for a small dog. There have been deaths in the parks around here, quite a lot over the last 5 years I'd have to say - not big dogs, all small dogs being attacked by larger dogs. Get your exercise in your own backyard or friend's yards or find a dog park for only small dogs. If he shows any fear or aggression SOME larger dogs may take him on and he won't win!

I don't know if you got him as a puppy but perhaps something frightening happened to him when he was younger?

Is he desexed?

Secondly, my next recommendation is NOT to go up to other dogs whilst on lead to "say hello". Other people might want to do that with your dogs but don't allow it - cross the road or step into someone's driveway and avoid them.

I cannot believe the amount of people that want to do this - one of my dogs gets excited on the lead and recently I had 3 of them, she was busy going off her brain and this lady comes towards me with another small dog "just to say hello" as I was trying to avoid her, quite obviously, I couldn't believe it. My dogs wouldn't have done anything to hers but how did she know that? She wasn't reading theirs or my body language! You don't know how someone else's dog will react on lead - their behaviour can be radically different from when they are off leash.

Thirdly, on lead aggression is your other issue and this can be fixed. I saw the method on "it's me or the dog" and trained it out of one foxy I had, it took 2 weeks and he'd also been to obedience training. Whenever I saw the object that would send him crazy approaching (other dog, bus, bike etc), I would get him to sit and start feeding him treats - this begins to make the appearance of these objects more rewarding for the dog. It's about distraction, management and reward.

No, I haven't done it with my current foxy due to my current time limits for this sort of thing but it worked on my other foxy who was a crazy little dog and he used to set my other dogs off and every walk was a nightmare in the end.

With my current foxy it is only other dogs so it's a bit harder to predict when I would see one.

So to round it up - stop putting him in situations that cause him major anxiety (dog park and meeting big dogs close up on lead) and do some work on his on lead aggression. This will NOT mean that if you are successful you should start walking him up to have meet and greet with other dogs on lead! You still should not do that.

Edited October 8, 2011 by dogmad

[corvus]

The short answer is reward him when he's looking at a big dog but not barking, lunging or snapping. If he does any of those things, he is too close to the large dog. Keep him far enough from large dogs that he won't snap. Watch his body language. If he goes stiff and still, you're on thin ice. The more you reward him for calm behaviour around big dogs, the closer he will be able to tolerate them. Go at his pace and don't push him. For every time he is around big dogs and doesn't snap, give yourself a point. Every time he snaps at a large dog, deduct from yourself 10 points. It is your job to manage the situation so he is comfortable.

The long answer would come from the behaviourist you should hire to explain to you exactly what is happening and design a multi-faceted program to help you help him.

[persephone]

The short answer is reward him when he's looking at a big dog but not barking, lunging or snapping. If he does any of those things, he is too close to the large dog. Keep him far enough from large dogs that he won't snap. Watch his body language. If he goes stiff and still, you're on thin ice. The more you reward him for calm behaviour around big dogs, the closer he will be able to tolerate them. Go at his pace and don't push him. For every time he is around big dogs and doesn't snap, give yourself a point. Every time he snaps at a large dog, deduct from yourself 10 points. It is your job to manage the situation so he is comfortable.

The long answer would come from the behaviourist you should hire to explain to you exactly what is happening and design a multi-faceted program to help you help him.

[deltoid]

Thanks. I've updated the first post with more background information on him. But to save you reading it...

He is desexed. We have another dog at home who is also a silky terrier (female). The other dog doesn't show any signs of aggression. He is the more dominant of the two. Can't think of an exact time which would have gave him bad experiences but he has been accidentally knocked around by larger dogs before when trying to play which have given him a fright (larger black dogs). We are aware of issues multi-dog homes can have so we do lots of training with them, give them lots of puzzle toys to keep their brains occupied and we take them for walks/outings/play both together and individually. His signs of aggression occur whether he is with or without his buddy.

Regarding dog parks. After a bad experience we no longer take them to the dog park unless it is empty or only has small dogs. If big dogs turn up we leave (had a big dog bail up our female once). The dog park is next to a walking track so if the dog park is occupied we just take them for a walk around the track instead so they can still see the dogs but they are at a distance. We still socialise them with a friends large dog who they have always gotten on very well with (he is a giant compared to them) so it isn't all big dogs, just select ones. Possibly part of it was that when he has met friend's larger dogs we've always had the dogs off lead so he wouldn't have felt like he had no where to go due to being stuck on a lead.

Now that you suggest the getting them to sit and treat them around other dogs thing it makes sense. I've actually been doing this whenever another person approaches. I step to the side of the path, get the dogs to sit or lay down and then treat them and keep them calm until the person passes. They aren't perfect with it yet but they are quite good (previously when they saw someone they'd pull on the lead excitedly wanting to meet them).

I'll start doing the same with other dogs and resist the urge to let them say hello and see how it goes. He doesn't have to love every dog he meets, I would just like to be able to take him places which has dogs and he not growl or bark at them.

If I don't get anywhere I will get a behavioralist to come see him as I'd prefer to nip it in the bud before it gets worse.

Edited October 8, 2011 by deltoid

[Mason_Gibbs]

Get a qualified behaviourist to help you its the best way

[poodlefan]

Keep him away from big dogs.

My guess is that's what he's trying to achieve with his behaviour - keeping them away.

If I were approached by an animal 10 times larger than I was, I probably would a bit fearful too.

You can spend a lot of time and money addressing a behaviour that is essentially one of self defence and all you need is one bad encounter to undo the lot.

Distance is easier to achieve. He can't aggress to the wrong dog if he never gets close enough. Accept the fact that he doesn't enjoy it and keep him away. Asking him to sit puts him in a position of vulnerability, especially when you can't control what the other dog will do. Walk him past at a reasonable distance (this also shortens the encounter) ask for focus on you and reward him for ignoring the other dog.

What you want is indifference.. don't trigger the aggression by putting him in positions where he feels he has to.

Edited October 9, 2011 by poodlefan

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Yes, I should qualify what I've written above about on lead aggression - my foxy began to learn not to go crazy at the sight of approaching dogs, buses etc and I distracted him by getting him to sit and feeding treats etc but it did not mean that he had to be anywhere near the other dog, far from it.

[Guest lavendergirl]

Thanks. I've updated the first post with more background information on him. But to save you reading it...

He is desexed. We have another dog at home who is also a silky terrier (female). The other dog doesn't show any signs of aggression. He is the more dominant of the two. Can't think of an exact time which would have gave him bad experiences but he has been accidentally knocked around by larger dogs before when trying to play which have given him a fright (larger black dogs). We are aware of issues multi-dog homes can have so we do lots of training with them, give them lots of puzzle toys to keep their brains occupied and we take them for walks/outings/play both together and individually. His signs of aggression occur whether he is with or without his buddy.

Regarding dog parks. After a bad experience we no longer take them to the dog park unless it is empty or only has small dogs. If big dogs turn up we leave (had a big dog bail up our female once). The dog park is next to a walking track so if the dog park is occupied we just take them for a walk around the track instead so they can still see the dogs but they are at a distance. We still socialise them with a friends large dog who they have always gotten on very well with (he is a giant compared to them) so it isn't all big dogs, just select ones. Possibly part of it was that when he has met friend's larger dogs we've always had the dogs off lead so he wouldn't have felt like he had no where to go due to being stuck on a lead.

Now that you suggest the getting them to sit and treat them around other dogs thing it makes sense. I've actually been doing this whenever another person approaches. I step to the side of the path, get the dogs to sit or lay down and then treat them and keep them calm until the person passes. They aren't perfect with it yet but they are quite good (previously when they saw someone they'd pull on the lead excitedly wanting to meet them).

I'll start doing the same with other dogs and resist the urge to let them say hello and see how it goes. He doesn't have to love every dog he meets, I would just like to be able to take him places which has dogs and he not growl or bark at them.

If I don't get anywhere I will get a behavioralist to come see him as I'd prefer to nip it in the bud before it gets worse.

Don't put him in the position where he his knocked around - sounds like he is just trying to defend himself. Only take him to small dog parks -he is such a little fellow.

[mymatejack]

It sounds to me like your dog is protecting you. i.e your dog was happily playing with a big dog at the park but when your dog came back to you for a pat and then the other dog came over he reacted - same deal at the market, your dog was happy interacting with the other dog until you got close to untangle the leads. My neighbours dog does the same with his family. He will happily play with my staffy jack when they're alone or near me, but he won't let jack go near his family - luckily jack is polite and just walks away.

Only you will know whether this is right or not, does he only ever react to other dogs when you are nearby?

[deltoid]

Thanks guys. Taking the advice on board and will give big dogs a wide berth. I guess I was being too opptunistic thinking if he met more dogs he'd feel better around them but I guess that is just setting the poor little guy up to fail.

[Danois]

Behavourist would be my recommendation and as the owner of a large dog, addressing the behaviour would be appreciated. Especially as I'm having to see one too to address the growing fearfulness towards small aggressing dogs carrying on in this manner towards him.

[corvus]

Desensitisation works when a dog is exposed to something repeatedly but at a level where they can cope with it without snapping. The important thing to remember about this is that if you repeatedly expose them to the thing they are worried about and they do actually snap or bark or otherwise do something to try to buy distance from it, it will sensitise them instead of desensitise them. That means they become more sensitive to the thing that worries them than they already were and the problem behaviour will kick in earlier and probably more with more intensity. In short, it will make it worse.