Dog Developing Dog Aggressive Behaviour

[nyssel]

I was out with the two girls the other day, enjoying the lovely weather and our walk on our street. All of a sudden I heard this startlingly loud growling and barking from one of the houses' wire fence and saw this massive dog snapping at the girls. It was very frightening and I think I should've handled it better but it happened so quickly. Bella was barking back and Dallas was just cowering and whining in fear as I quickly tried to get the girls away. We walk pass this house quite regularly but during the day I wasn't aware that they let their dog out in the front yard, as the fence was covered by some trees. I think it was the same dog that growled and barked hysterically as we came across the house one night walking back from the local supermarket, except we couldn't didn't see it as it was dark.

They are very calm and happy girls on their walks, a tad bit shy and timid around other dogs to begin with after another off leash dog ran up to them and snapped at them. They did get excited when seeing other dogs but were getting better at ignoring passing dogs, until that incident. I was just out with them this morning and on the other side of the street, far away, was a harmless little old terrier and Bella went ballistic and started growling and barking and pulling me. Dallas was calmer but picked up on her anxiety and pulled as well. I managed to calm them down and made them 'sit' until they calmed and we went on.

We came across a lovely Golden and once again, Bella did the same thing, twisting and turning and doing flips and growling at it. Luckily the owner understood as I took the girls across the street to calm them down, but since then they would not stop pulling and crying anxiously till we got home. Dallas just turned a year old and Bella turns 1 next month, and I feel rather helpless as I have no idea what to do. Should I get a dog behaviourist to help them? They are only young and I don't want them to have a nasty imprint for the rest of their life as later in the year they were supposed to be entered in their first shows.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

So sorry nyssel

It's usually the border collies that hold grudges for life, but repeating a bad experience doesn't help a dog get over it.

In SA - dogs are not supposed to menace people through their fence. So here you could ring council up and ask them to investigate and ask the owner to keep their dog(s) away from the fence. Not sure about NSW but I thought it was similar.

My dog is quite context specific about where she will display aggression to other dogs. At the beach we're fine. At new parks we're fine. At agility clubs - we're fine unless someone does something stupid and allows their dog to be right up against her crate but I'm more careful about that now.

At our local park - any poodle cross that comes too close is in trouble. And no dog is allowed to walk down our street. So she does not get to be in the front yard without the lead on and she does not get to leave for a walk unless she's calm. Any aggressing as we go out the front door and she goes straight back in and I shut the door and start over. Works quite well and she's much better than she was, but I avoid triggers eg if there is a curly coat dog walking towards us up our street, I will go another way so she's not headed into a face to face meeting.

[hankdog]

Having two dogs is going to amplify the problem. Since it's just starting I would try nip it in the bud and get to a behaviourist. There isn't one particular thing but rather a raft of things that get implemented and exactly what will be decided by looking at both dogs and your relationship with them. If you say where you are people can give you reputable names. Not all trainers are good at dog aggression, go with a recommended one.

[*kirty*]

I would also walk the dogs separately until you get this sorted. The last thing you need is for Bella to redirect onto Dallas and cause issues between them

[nyssel]

For some reason I had not seen the replies! Hmm

Thank you so much for your responses.

I tried doing what was suggested and taking them out for individual walks. Dallas did get tense when she saw a Golden in the distance and whined softly for only a few moments and I made her do a sit, calm down, gave her a treat then we continued on and she was a good girl and walked fine. I am very relieved with that. Bella has always been more excitable and puppyish and her behaviour can be rather erratic these days. I don't think she will ever be getting close to another dog anytime soon, though. Out on our walk she was great as we didn't come across any dogs.

We're having a recommended behaviourist come in sometime next week. I'd appreciate any sort of advice at all on what to do just to help them get over their anxiety - I've stopped feeling anxious myself whenever we do go on walks now and walk confidently as Bella really feeds off my energy. I know I myself will have to be the confident one and guide them assertively as they are quite unsure in certain situations.

I have looked up some 'reactive dog classes' and just wonder whether anyone has anything to say about them?

[corvus]

Hi nyssel,

If you are in Sydney, I know most of the people that are running reactive dog classes. I am running them in the Sutherland Shire. Some are maybe better than others, but not everyone will let other trainers come and see what they are doing, so I can't comment on all of them. My classes are very gentle and low key. PM for more details.

[skip]

Hopefully your behaviorist will answer all your questions and give you the tools to deal with the issue. It is a bit of a handful with two young ones together.

I have three dogs but the kelpie is so submissive she can only deal with really soft submissive dogs. So she likes this dog and that dog but reacts to the bouncy lab or friendly staff. Makes for some confused dog owners in dog training settings.

I use rewards and conditioning to try to combat her behaviour. She goes to obedience and mixes with all the dogs but I watch carefully which dogs I work her near. not sure if reactive dogs classes would be good for her as she copes better when other dogs are well behaved. Meaning she can offer behaviour aND be rewarded more if other dogs are well behaved. If she was reacting in class herself I suppose that would be different.

Great you can get help. As you mention you wanted to show your dogs just wondering how much socialisation they have had. I do agility and so my dog was exposed to shows and trials all her life. She is actually more comfortable in a show setting then out and about.

Keep calm as I know you can get flustered if your dog behaves like this. Don't stress if it does happen just move away. You are doing the right thing already in moving away, asking for a behaviour and rewarding this like the sit you mentioned. So good effort. I see so many people in class who yell and Jerk the reactive dog and wonder why the dog never improves. Get the right advice and you can make it much more pleasant.

Let us know how it goes.

[skip]

Did't really answer your question about reactive dog classes. They can be great as most run of the mill dog training clubs may not be able to cope with these issues and some are so old fashioned will have no worthwhile advice to give.

Trainers like corvus have the knowledge to help. And in class all the dog owners are much more aware of allowing space to the dog. Dog owners will feel less flustered.

A behaviorist will help you decide if you need this type of class. Dallas sounds like with training and slow steps she would be OK in normal classes. both dogs would be fine in our clubs classes too but I am in wollongong.

Happy learning

Edited May 29, 2015 by skip

[nyssel]

So many helpful responses!

Skip, they were well socialized as puppies and were taken every now and then to shows and were shown a few times by our breeder as young pups, but not in the last five months since we've got them. Before that incident they were selectively alright with other dogs and did get along with dogs their own size and energy level. And thank you, I feel very relieved that I'm doing something right. :) We took the girls out to the local supermarket today and they did get plenty of cuddles and fussing from little kids so hopefully that will help boost their confidence with unfamiliar people as well.

I guess we'll have to see how it goes when the behaviourist comes in! I'd actually love it if Dallas could gain enough confidence to be in an regular obedience class - I do worry though as she can be nervy around more boisterous and outgoing dogs, particularly large dogs.

And PM'ed you, corvus!

Edited May 29, 2015 by nyssel

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

About the different attitudes your dogs have...

This article - I don't agree with all of it but it does provide a good picture of what is going on.

I think I'd call my dog "dog selective" at the moment - she's fine with dogs she knows and not so good with ones she doesn't know. She doesn't automatically love every dog that wants to say hi (which is normal for a herding dog). She was "dog social" as a puppy but sort of grew out of it. Which is sad but some other dogs are just mean or rude and she remembers and blames any dog that looks like the rude dogs.

Understanding Different Dog (to Dog) Tolerance Levels

http://www.badrap.org/dogdog-tolerance