Vizsla showing aggressive tendencies with other dogs...

[Haggis Supper]

Afternoon all,

 

My otherwise terrific vizsla is increasingly showing little patience with other dogs to the extent that the growling has now been escalated to nipping other dogs.

 

Sadly we had an incident earlier today where my girlfriends Mum's lab was on the receiving end of a bite and shake that went on for several seconds. Our vizsla had been fetching sticks from the river whilst the lab just ran in circles. The lab came close a few times and received a growl. Eventually she came a little too close and our vizla launched herself, bit and shook. 

 

We've seen quite an increase in this behavior in the last 12 months or so. She's gone from being very comfortable and extremely friendly to being extremely intolerant of dogs sniffing her. Any "intrusive" or persistent sniffing has resulted in a growl or a snap which puts an end to it. However this morning was more aggressive and prolonged and didn't appear to be the result of anything other than the lab getting too close.

 

She's six and a half and gets a good amount of exercise, usually 6-10km walks/runs each day. She's well fed, adored and is in good health. I'm now very concerned that this may result in an injury to another dog. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback, advice, suggestions etc...

 

TIA

Col

[Animal House]

That's really worrying, and is escalating, I'd be getting a behavior consult and going from there, are you in Victoria?    If you can give a general location, we can recommend a behaviorist to you, this isn't something that's going to go away and is obviously getting worse.   Time to get an expert opinion and strategies to manage this before a dog really gets hurt.

 

 

  For now though, I'd definitely keep her away from other dogs.

[RuralPug]

First place to start is a complete health check by your vet, with full blood tests to eliminate any medical conditions that may have caused the behavioural change. 
 

If there are no medical causes found then you will need to have a behavioural assessment as suggested by Caz above. I agree completely to keep her apart from other dogs until this all sorted.

[Diva]

I would get a medical consult too, a veterinary behaviouralist could do both. For a 6 year old sociable dog to become intolerant I would expect a precipitating incident, for example her being attacked or a big change in her living arrangements.

If there is nothing like that in her recent past I would definitely get a vet check for things like thyroid problems.

[Animal House]

Good point RP and Diva, yes, a vet check up as well to rule out anything, I should have mentioned that in my post, but my brain is in Easter madness/forgetfulness mode. 

[juice]

My Wei did the same, lived with multiple dogs and always fine, then started gradually lunging at other dogs, ones he had known for years too.

 I went to see a behaviorist , and it seemed as my ex had recently left he was using it as a way of exerting himself over everyone and me.

 I got him under control to a certain extent until he started on one of mine and then he became dangerous.

Has anything at home changed?

[Dogsfevr]

My question would be over the last 12 months how have you manged the situations .

Like today for example your bitch growled & gave everyone fair warning that she wasn't comfortable but i gather no one took those signs seriously & the bitch did hence the outcome .

So in the past how have you addressed her warning signs??

.

[corvus]

Given it's increasing, this tells us whatever is causing it is continuing to occur on a regular basis. Either she is not psychologically comfortable with other dogs coming close to her or she is physically uncomfortable with dogs coming close to her. Given it's increasing, we know it's unlikely she will figure out for herself how to resolve this. She has a coping strategy (aggression), and if it doesn't work, she escalates. Thing is, it probably often does work, at least to some extent. Dogs have a little success with aggression and very little success with anything else, so they naturally just put their bets on aggression working sooner or later. My bet is she is giving signals to tell the other dog to back off before she is growling, lunging or nipping. She is just learning that those signals are not effective. I see the same thing over and over again. As a general rule of thumb, when you want a dog to use a different behaviour for something where they already have an established response, it's usually most successful if you get in before they display that established response, and reinforce a different behaviour with the outcome they want (e.g. move away from other dogs). In this way, you can shape away from aggression to quieter and quieter responses, and with some counter-conditioning and desensitisation as well, take care of the emotional response, too. Easiest with help from a behaviourist!

[Haggis Supper]

Many many thanks to you all, I genuinely appreciate the time you've taken and for all the advice. 

 

In answer to the questions that some of you raised...

 

1) she's had a couple of incidents when she's been attacked by other dogs, both times were completely unprovoked - once as a pup and the second just a few months ago.

 

2) there have been a few changes in our life over the last few years...three years ago I was married so my ex was home fairly regularly so she was rarely left alone for long periods. Following separation she was then left home for 10 hours four days a week. Last year I lost my job so I was home for four months so she's had constant company. I'm back at work again so she's alone 10 hours a day five days a week - she sleeps in the garage with access to a very very small back garden. Therefore lots of changes. She's very well cared for and fed and exercised though.

 

3) I met someone 16 months ago. She has a gorgeous Labrador who is the same age as mine. They get on unbelievably well, playing every time we meet. Lots of rough and tumble and chasing. Never had any issues. Wonderful to watch and she gets excited when she sees the lab. 

 

4) she's always been an anxious dog, hates separation. Any attempted to leave her outside a shop resulted in constant whining until I'm greeted in a ridiculously excited manner, like a long lost son. 

 

5) with some dogs that she meets she's incredibly friendly and playful and it can be a joy to witness. Some she just straight out avoids. However if a dog is "direct" in their approach she backs off. If the dog attempts to sniff her she backs off again.  Further attempts to sniff are met with a growl and when that fails she nips. 

 

6) I haven't responded when she's backed off or growled as I've figured that's how's dogs regulate each other and let them know what's acceptable. Initially the minor nips were usually as a result of a persistent dog so I usually have her a minor telling off but usually the other dog owner was more apologetic ! As the last few nips came quite quickly I've moved to a stronger telling off. Raised my voice. Removed her from the situation and put her collar back on. 

 

Ive been of the view that she's never really like dogs sniffing her and as her growls are often unsuccessful she's now less patient and nips a littlest quicker than before. 

 

Nonetheless I don't want to risk her injuring a dog so your advice is extremely useful. I'll take her to our vet for a full check up and will also seek a behaviouralist. I'm in Bayside Melbourne if anyone has any recommendations ?

 

Many thanks, Colin 

[ChristineX]

I've Irish Terriers, and my male (about a year after I got him) suddenly became aggressive to my female, particularly around food, human attention and at times personal space.  We eventually traced it back to displaced vertebrae - the chiro put them back in place and the aggression (and intolerance of other canines) disappeared.  Until the next bout of displaced vertebrae...... which for Duke is pretty much a revolving door.

 

A good vet check first - and then a behaviouralist (recommendations from here would be best) if the vet check is clear.  Duke has spent four years with a dog shrink (related to his dyscopia when faced with other dogs and being outside the house), and  his painful back very clearly made things worse.

 

 

 

ChristineX

 

 

 

 

[juice]

The problem is you were telling her off for warning another dog so now she goes straight in for the nip.instead you should be protecting  her from other dogs and not putting her in situations that make her have to react . Not all dogs want to be best friends with every dog they meet .

Edited April 18, 2017 by juice

[*Avanti*]

4 hours ago, Haggis Supper said:

 

Nonetheless I don't want to risk her injuring a dog so your advice is extremely useful. I'll take her to our vet for a full check up and will also seek a behaviouralist. I'm in Bayside Melbourne if anyone has any recommendations ?

 

Many thanks, Colin 

Hi Colin, My rescue dog came with some fear aggression issues that made walking him a bit stressful at first. We had some sessions with Amanda Murcutt and I found her techniques and advice very helpful. It has improved our walks a lot.  http://www.pawsitivelygreatpets.com.au/meet-the-team

 

There are also other good behaviourists in Melbourne that others here may recommend. 

 

Best of luck with your girl.

Kaye

Edited April 18, 2017 by *Avanti*

[Scrappi&Monty]

19 hours ago, ChristineX said:

I've Irish Terriers, and my male (about a year after I got him) suddenly became aggressive to my female, particularly around food, human attention and at times personal space.  We eventually traced it back to displaced vertebrae - the chiro put them back in place and the aggression (and intolerance of other canines) disappeared.  Until the next bout of displaced vertebrae...... which for Duke is pretty much a revolving door.

 

A good vet check first - and then a behaviouralist (recommendations from here would be best) if the vet check is clear.  Duke has spent four years with a dog shrink (related to his dyscopia when faced with other dogs and being outside the house), and  his painful back very clearly made things worse.

 

 

 

ChristineX

 

 

 

 

Similarly to that, our dog Scrappi (7 year old corgi x rescue) has had some sore back and leg issues and if it gets sensitive he will growl and have a nip at the younger staffy Monty. 

A few times I haven't known he was sore so I patted him on the back or picked him up, he has NEVER growled at me or bitten me but even though Monty did nothing he will go after Monty. This isn't very often though. 

[Vizslalady]

Hi Colin
We have had vizslas in our lives for many years. The anxiousness at being left outside shops and the over-the-top greeting is not unusual - they are very attached to their people! You are lucky that she copes with the 10 hours a day by herself without barking or other anxiety behaviours. Many struggle with that. 

I agree with the vet check being the first step. One of our girls went from being a sociable puppy to a reactive nipper at the age of about 1 year. It turned out that she had hip dysplasia and was understandably very nervous of any dogs near her hips or just playing too boisterously. 

Kira Ryle at caninecode.com.au gets a good wrap as a behaviourist. I know she has worked with a couple of vizslas and is in the Bayside area.

Good luck - they are beautiful quirky souls.