She Just Needs More Socialization!

The call goes like this…

The owner is describing the dog’s anxiety, aggression, or otherwise nervous or anti-social behavior. I’m hearing stories of attacks, lunging, barking, running away in fear, or other such symptom of aggression or anxiety. The owner is at their wit’s end as the issues are causing them to hate going out in public, dread encounters in the street, and fear any interaction with other dogs.

Invariably the next, self-diagnosed, cause of action is blurted out,

“My dog just needs more socialization!”

The typical course of action that the owner is considering typically falls along the lines of:

  1. Going to the dog park more
  2. Going to group obedience classes

Folks, forgive me as I get frank. If your dog is scared to the point of anxiety or aggression in the company of other dogs…what good will it serve your dog to be tossed in with other dogs?

If your dog acts aggressively around dogs and you keep throwing him or her around piles of other dogs at the dog park how on earth will your dog learn the skills for dealing with this stress in the company of everything that is making him stressed at a dog park?

If your dog has anxiety that manifests itself in anti-social or even violent ways, how will your dog benefit from being surrounded by a group of other dogs who are trying to be obedient and are likely a wild bunch themselves at a group obedience class?

Picture this. This may or may not be true but go with me.

You are TERRIFIED of public speaking. The very idea of it gives you cold chills and standing up in public brings on bouts of immediate vomiting.

Now imagine if your well meaning spouse or significant other simply required you to keep getting up on that stage day after day to make you get over your fear.

What do you imagine the results would be? Would you learn to get over your fear and deal with it?

Actually, that might happen. It would depend, of course, on the setting of the public speaking, the level of inner strength you had to recognize inner anguish and compartmentalize that emotion enough to overcome it, and more.

Guess what, folks?

Dogs don’t posses those self-actualizing realizations of ‘Hey, I’ve got a problem. I don’t feel good. What can I do to change this?’

No, dogs are much more instinctual animals. They are going to look for a coping mechanism for their stress and ‘dealing with the stress in a healthy and rational way’ typically isn’t in their holster.

More often than not the ‘fight or flight’ instinct will kick in and each successive return to that dog park is more terrifying than the last leading to a quicker draw from that holster into the fight or flight response.

You see, the person on stage in front of 1000 may eventually figure it out and get partially or entirely over their fear.

Or they may simply grow to dread their obligatory nightly presence in front of that crowd and simply learn to cope by public speaking, but public speaking in an awful way. Perhaps, in this imaginary scenario, their adaptation method is to simply blurt out a few unintelligible words as they quickly run off stage, therefore completing their obligation to ‘publicly speak’.

This is one of the paths I’ve seen the dog take. In the scenario where the owner insists that the dog simply needs more socialization and takes the dog to the dog park multiple times per week more often than not the dog simply keeps getting worse and quicker to make bad decisions. But in scenarios where the dog doesn’t appear to get worse more often I see them learn coping mechanisms which, plainly put, just suck.

I see that dog slinking around the dog park, doing his very best to simply avoid contact with other dogs. He’s not growing or working through a problem. He’s simply replacing one problem with another.

So what is the solution, you may ask? No more socialization? What about if that guy NEEDS to get on stage because his job depends on it.

Very good question.

The answer is not, NO SOCIALIZATION. Simply, the answer is socialization in a way that is healthy and positive.

This requires a few things:

  • Preparation. If that guy is terrified to get on stage don’t you think he’ll benefit from some extensive training on how to deal with stress in groups? Don’t you think some instructive training on proper ways to construct a speech, how to gesture, intonations, and breathing exercise would benefit him a ton and send him into his scary scenario with learned skills? Of course. Sadly, most dog owners don’t do this. They’ve determined that the answer is simply ‘socialization’ so they throw their dog into the proverbial lions den without having taught him any skills for how to deal with the demons that reside there. Preparation means training. Teaching the dog how to relax. Teaching the dog impulse control and self control.
  • Pacing. If that man is terrified of crowds of 1000, how about starting him with a crowd of 3? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a terrified dog be thrown into the Thunder Dome that is the average dog park only to find him or herself completely overwhelmed by second 2. Now, in the past I’ve never been shy about my distaste for dog parks. Even if you have a well adjusted dog I think you should avoid them like the plague. But wherever your dog is right now in his or her ability to tolerate stress that is a threshold. If your dog’s threshold is no dogs, get him to one. If it’s one, get him to two. If it’s two get him to three and so on.
  • Structure. I’ve mentioned that pacing is pretty important. Having said that, if you are skilled or are working with a skilled person you can often speed up pace if you have structure. For example, we’ll often have a dog who can’t handle the presence of one other dog and we can often introduce that dog into a training group of a dozen almost immediately. We can do this because we can create structure within the group of dogs and within the dog that is entering. I’m not saying that you SHOULD pace things quickly. I’m simply saying that at whatever pace you go make sure that you are creating proper structure within the group and the new addition.
  • Obedience. If you want to get your dog’s ‘mind right‘ in order to have successful socialization the best way to do that is on the back of solid obedience training. No, I’m not talking about sit for a cookie or shake or roll over. I’m talking about solid obedience that can be relied on even when your dog is distracted or off leash. As I’m prone to say, you aren’t going to solve aggression or anxiety issues with good obedience. You need excellent obedience.

Folks, socialization IS important. But socialization is NOT throwing your dog into a group of other dogs to hope he or she works out those stress issues on his or her own without having been taught skills for dealing. Those skills for dealing are not going to be learned at the dog park and they are not going to be learned in basic obedience classes. Happy Training!

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , , ,

Reader Question- Overcoming Dog Aggression (Video)

Overcoming Dog Aggression

The following question about overcoming dog aggression came in from a reader of our site-

Thanks for the quick reply, Ty!

Banzai is only aggressive toward other dogs, but absolutely loves every person he meets. We got him as a 7 month old runt from a breeder who didn’t think he would sell but then changed her mind because of his sweet nature and wanted him to have a family. He lived outside, there were other dogs, and what sold us was he was so very friendly! We also had an 8 yr old min pin (Batgirl, who we just put down @16, sniff, sniff), and thought she could use a playmate and it would help to keep her young, and they got along great! Banzai went thru his obedience class at PetSmart, and passed, and there were trips to the vet for vaccinations where he was always friendly to other dogs. Then on one particular vet visit, we were in the waiting room (we’d only had him about a month at this point) where he was friendly to other dogs, then a bigger dog comes in and he goes ballistic out of nowhere-this other dog did nothing! He had seen and been friendly to other big dogs before, so I’m not sure what precipitated this. And ever since then, it’s been ‘guard dog’ aggressiveness toward other dogs (except Batgirl!). We tried to socialize him on our own, but our attempts scared us into trying further for fear of injury to another dog (should’ve been the motivator, I know). Banzai did have TPLO surgery at 2yrs of age and there were several complications, which finally resolved in time. It explained why he was never a good walker, but even after the surgery he still will stop on a dime and lie down in the middle of a walk, but he pulls and pulls so we don’t take him really anymore. We have a huge yard but I know now that is no excuse. He sees the vet as needed as well as yearly, and takes arthritis meds regularly.

Banzai does bark at people walking by our fence, and once he was barking at a girl on her phone (we live next to a park) and she stuck out her palm, face up, and he just licked it! She laughed and petted him and shared the story with her friends (I was watching from the upstairs window, knowing she was not in harms way). A few years back a Chow Chow that lived up the street would get out and literally attack Banzai over the fence. Yes, Banzai would bark at him, but the dog was running loose and came up to our fence and Banzai was just protecting his territory. Banzai received puncture wounds from the fight and got antibiotics for his trouble. The Chow and his family moved away shortly after that, thank goodness. We have since built up the fence so this wouldn’t happen anymore.

Batgirl was the alpha for several years until her senses started to fade, but there was no aggressiveness, just ‘rudeness’, I’d say. Banzai would barrel past her running up the stairs or going into the house, sometimes knocking her aside. She would learn to step aside or hold back if she knew Banzai was coming. We would correct him or try to hold him back every time but he still did it. He would growl on their giant pet bed if she got too close, but she couldn’t hear so he just didn’t take it farther than that. They still licked each other and played together fine.

Banzai is not the most obedient- usually comes when you call him, and will chew things if not supervised, but he is very loving to all he meets.The fault lies solely with me, I take the blame for not pursuing his training further, and am ashamed of that. Why now? Well, Banzai seems lonely since Batgirl died (it’s only been 1 month), and I know that Banzai helped to keep Batgirl young and I’m hoping we can get another dog so he can stay young, too. We always respond to our pet’s medical needs, feed quality food, and play with them a lot. We also have 3 parrots, and a 100 pound tortoise who lives outside but has a shed he goes in and out from. Banzai just accepts these other animals with friendly avoidance. He never has potty accidents (sorry so random, just thought of that!).

I will follow your program to the letter, and carry on the training with our new dog, as well. Already I’m so happy to have found your program!

Sincerely,

Cindy

The Following Video Outlines Some Strategies for Solving Dog Aggression

Overcoming Dog Aggression on YouTube

Ideas for Your Aggression Problem

Here are a few ideas for helping him as a starting point:

  • Think about putting him on a raw diet
  • Look into getting his thyroid levels checked. Ask the veterinarian to check his T3 levels
  • Work on proper leash walking. A structured walk where your dog is paying attention to you doesn’t leave room to be thinking about other dogs.
  • Work on ‘checks and balances’ around the home.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: ,

Dog Training- Two Female Dogs Together

Two female dogs lounging together

Two Female Dogs- Aggression Problems

At my Utah dog training company we get several clients per year who have two dogs, sometimes two female dogs other times two male dogs, who are fighting in the home. In most of these cases we actually find that the dogs were getting along for months or even years at a time. In most of these cases there was some sort of ‘aggression trigger’ that started one initial fight. These triggers have been varied, it could be a fight over food, over a toy or over and object in the yard. In other cases we’ve seen it happen when two dogs were hooked together.

Regardless of how it started we often see that the initial fight quickly leads to other fights and other problems. In many of these cases we’ve seen how the relationship between the two female dogs was one where there was an obvious dominant dog and an obvious submissive dog…but now the submissive dog is no longer willing to take the domineering attitude from the more dominant dog.

In any case, this is a common scenario that we run into several times a year. There can, at times, be variations with some of the variables. It’s not always two female dogs or two male dogs, perhaps it’s a mixture, or perhaps there are three dogs, but often the other elements remain the same.

The Case Study

While this is a common scenario we see in our training company in Salt Lake City, it’s also a common reason why dog owners invest in our dog training DVDs. One such person is Tiffani in Illinois. She invested in our training DVDs but also ordered our dog training with Skype.

A few weeks ago she and I got to work through Skype. She told me a similar story to one I’ve heard many times. She has two female dogs who aren’t getting along and she’s even had to resort to keeping them entirely separated throughout the day. I wanted to take a minute to share this blog post on exactly what protocol I take when dealing with aggression under one roof:

  • The first thing we need to do is start getting the relationship in order. Whenever I see dogs fighting in the same home I also see dogs who aren’t terribly respectful to the owners. These things go hand in hand. In order to solve relationship issues obedience training is the name of the game. If a dog listens to obedience commands it means that the dog is putting the owner’s will first. The more that occurs the more we see the calming influence of the obedience enter into the dog’s life.
  • The first obedience item I recommended is proper leash walking. When I say ‘proper leash walking’ I refer to a dog who is paying attention and walking right next to the owner’s side. This has a huge effect in getting a dog to see the owner in a leadership role. In fact, focused walking tends to have what I call a ‘collateral effect’. The better the dog walks on leash the better behaved overall the dog becomes…even with behaviors that aren’t even related to leash walking.
  • When we’ve got two dogs in the same home fighting we need strategies for even getting the dogs near each other. I had Tiffani start working on the ‘place’ command. We need to teach the dogs to be in the same room and under control.

Aggression Case Study- The Current Results

We’ve only just started the process but so far so good. You can see in the upper left hand corner of the article how the dogs are lying in ‘place’ close to each other. This placing in the same room will be big in helping the dogs learn to re-acclimate to each other.

Additionally Tiffani tells me, “We went on a walk this morning and we passed a dog for the first time without any noise or reaction – Yahoo!” Previously, before working on our ‘crazy man method’ for teaching proper leash walking her dog would ‘flip out’ when she saw other dogs.

She also says, “Thank you so much for working with me, it is great…. I don’t think I can ever get too much teaching in this area as I have realized that I need more work on my timing and praise. I was correcting a lot of the time but forgetting to praise when she did it right. I’m growing with her.”

The reality is, folks, that there is no need for lots of trial and error. Anything you are dealing with has already been dealt with. I wanted to share this brief case study as two dogs fighting in the same house can be a very stressful thing to deal with. We’ve got a long way to go with Tiffani and her dogs but in short order, with the right tools, the right techniques, and some good work from the owners, we’re already seeing nice results.

You can see this, too. There are always formulas and protocols to work on whatever issue you are dealing with. The key is finding the right techniques and getting to work. I encourage you to set aside any excuses that you may have previously had in not getting the right results with your dog and getting to work! Happy training.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems, Success Story Tagged With: , ,

I’m Coming To Birmingham, Alabama- Dog Training

Birmingham, Alabama Dog Training

I wanted to write a quick post to let you folks know that I’ll be coming to Birmingham, Alabama in May of 2013 during the week of May 6th. I’m honored to be invited by Rick Clark of The Barking Zone. Rick has come up with some interesting and unique ways of running his dog daycares and even offers Dog Daycare Franchises for those looking to get into the industry.

Rick and I have gotten to know each other over the years as he has been studying from my dog training DVD’s and we’ve talked about dog behavior and training. I even had the privilege to interview Rick about his business for my marketing radio show for pet business owners.

I’m excited now to be able to come down to his neck of the woods and work with him on his dog training goals but to also work with the dog owners from Birmingham and the surrounding areas on their most pressing dog training issues.

While I’m in Birmingham we’re going to be setting up group sessions and private sessions for local dog owners. Space will be very limited. For those interested please contact us to let us know of your interest and we will update you on availabilities, pricing, schedules, etc.

Use this link to contact us.

Birmingham, Alabama Dog Training Invitation

 

Dog Training Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama Dog Training- Courses

I’ve become known over the years for standing out with various skills. If you are in need of help in one of these areas I invite you to contact us for more information:

  • Puppy training- If you can avoid various pitfalls with raising your puppy the chances are far better you’ll end up with the perfect adult dog. The majority of the behavior problems we deal with at our training company could have been avoided with doing things right from the beginning with a puppy.
  • Fixing dog aggression- I’ve really been able to make a name for myself with fixing dog aggression. I’ve traveled the U.S. and to various other countries to work through aggression problems with numerous clients.
  • Big time behavior modification- If you’re dealing with big issues like destruction, separation anxiety, etc. I can help you.
  • Advanced off leash obedience- I have a unique and proprietary system for using an e-collar in a humane fashion to quickly train reliable and high level obedience training.

I invite you to come out and enjoy a workshop, private session, etc. Contact us for more information!

Filed Under: Advanced Dog Training Tagged With: , , , ,

Dog Training Interview With Renowned Trainer, Chad Mackin

Dog Training- Chad Mackin

I’ve been hanging out on a forum recently where I’ve been speaking with dog training expert, Chad Mackin, of Pack To Basics and DePaw University Canine Campus Inc. in Illinois. I noticed that Chad kept using a term that I hadn’t heard in the dog industry and I wanted to get his take on it.

He kept talking about ‘adrenalized dogs’, ‘dogs in an adrenalized state’, and other terms relating to adrenaline.

Now, I know what adrenaline is, but I hadn’t thought of it’s relation to dog training and dog behavior. I decided to invite him onto the podcast and he was kind enough to lend me a half hour of his life to explain these terms and how they can benefit the every-day dog owner.

Dog Training- What Will You Learn In This Podcast?

  • Learn how you can tell from your dog’s eyes if he is in an adrenalized state and what that means.
  • Learn to decipher body positions in order to understand what condition your dog is currently in.
  • Find out two KEY DOG TRAINING commands that are easy to do but can help just about any dog lead a happier life.
  • Understand the definition of what an ‘adrenalized dog’ is and if your dog falls into that category.
  • Uncover techniques that you can use that can actually teach your dog to self-regulate whether you are home or not. (Dealing with destruction or other inappropriate behaviors while you are gone? You NEED to listen to this.)
  • Discover what is at the root cause of your dog being happy or not and how you can help your pet achieve happiness and satisfaction every day.
  • You’ll learn the right way and the wrong way to properly socialize a dog (he talks about play groups, dog parks, day cares and more. Hint: some of these are great and others can do serious damage to a dog’s mental state).

Overall, this is just under a half hour of a podcast jam-packed with information and tips for dog training, fixing dog destruction, fixing anti-social behaviors, aggression, and more.

If you’re dealing with any of these issues I recommend you listen with a pen and paper because you will definitely walk away with a few critical changes that you can start making today in order to see more success with your dog tomorrow.

Dog Training- Listen to the Podcast Below

Press play below to listen in. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Advanced Dog Training, Podcasts Tagged With: , , ,

Dog Fear- Where Does It Come From?

Dog Fear- Reader Question

The following question comes from a reader of our site:

Why are some dogs just flat out scared of men? I have a 2 year old husky and he’s scared of men. I don’t believe there’s any history of abuse. He’ll run away or refuses to come to men and paces back and forth frustrated.
Rachel, Utah.

Thanks for this question, Rachel. Dog fear is one of the biggest things I deal with in my company simply because it’s at the root of so many behavior problems. Issues like dog aggression, some destruction, anxiety behaviors, and others all find their root in fear. In order to solve these issues it’s important to understand where these issues come from.

Dog Fear- What Causes It?

The reality is that there are only two places that dog fear comes from:

  1. Genetics
  2. Upbringing

It’s the old Nature Vs. Nurture argument that has been waging in the halls of academia forever. In fact, I find it unfortunate that many people these days are ignoring the science when it comes to dog behavior.

These days you don’t have to go far to find certain ‘breed apologists’. Just log on to your Facebook account and you’ll see your dog loving friends posting graphics about how awesome Pit Bulls are and how any aggressive Pit Bull is simply that way because the owner trained it to be that way.

This type of thinking completely ignores basic tenets of dog behavior.

Nearly everyone will agree that both nature and nurture compose the makeup behind temperament, personality, and character. Yet in the case of Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans, etc. people suspend this understanding in their attempts to protect their favorite breed.

Now, let me set the record straight first of all. I’m a big fan of Pit Bulls, Rottweilers (I own one), German Shepherds (I’ve owned a few) and Dobermans. And I’m not trying to tell you that ANY of these BREEDS are more prone to fear, aggression, or any other sort of behavior. But I will tell you that certain representatives of those breeds (and ALL breeds for that matter) can have larger propensities than others for fear, aggression, and other related behaviors.

I know I’m on my soapbox right now. You may be wondering why I’m off on a tangent about Pit Bulls and other powerful breeds when the question was about a Husky and fear. The reason is that people seem to be willing to accept that fear can cause bad behavior, and many of those same people are willing to accept that a Husky or a Beagle or a Labrador MAY have been born with a greater propensity for fear and that MAY be why they are acting inappropriately. But many of those same people are unwilling to accept that a Pit Bull was born with a fear issue and that is why she is acting aggressively…they seem bound and determined to blame aggression in these powerful breeds on bad owners.

This is a damaging style of thinking, though. Many of our clients own these breeds and we deal with a lot of aggression. Based on what these folks have heard many are convinced that they are awful owners and somehow ‘trained’ their Pit Bull or Rottweiler to be aggressive. The reality is, though, that they’ve been good dog owners (everyone can be better) and they did NOTHING to cause their dog’s fear or aggression. The dog was born with a greater tendency towards aggressive behavior.

The majority of the dog fear that I see for genetic reasons comes from poor breeding. Most breeders these days have no clue how to make pairings that will result in mentally sound puppies. It may be that they are breeding for looks and not temperament, it may be that they are pushing out puppies just to make a buck, or it may be that they are incompetent but these bad breeders have flooded the country with dogs who have weak nervous systems and low thresholds for dealing with stress. And, unfortunately, it is the public who is supporting their efforts by always looking for the best deal.

As I mentioned, though, genetics are just one piece of the puzzle.

Upbringing is also very important. When I’m referring to upbringing I’m typically talking about socialization.

Dogs have what I like to call a ‘socialization window’ between about 8 weeks and 6 months of age where it’s important that the dog receives the correct doses of the correct type of socialization. Errors that lead to the type of fear being described with this Husky typically fall into two categories:

  • Under-socializing. Dogs need to meet a LOT of people, places, and things. They need to meet lots of men, women, dogs, cats, children, bicycles, floor surfaces, sounds, textures, etc. Many dogs simply don’t get a lot of exposure. As they grow older they fall into the old adage of ‘we fear the unknown’. It’s possible that your Husky didn’t receive enough exposure to men and now finds the fact that they are bigger, deeper voices, etc. as off-putting and cause for fear.
  • Improper socialization. I can’t tell you how much dog fear I can trace directly to dog parks. Dog parks are the worst place to socialize a dog yet they are so often used and they often inject fear into a dog. Aside from dog parks bad socialization occurs when the owner doesn’t control encounters the young dog has with kids, strangers, etc. I have had numerous cases where a dog has ONE bad experience with a kid, person, dog, etc. during this socialization window and it taints their whole life experience from that day forward. In your dog’s case, it’s possible the dog simply was handled roughly by a man at a young age and that’s the experience that stuck.

Dog Fear- How To Solve It

Dog fear comes from what I call a ‘chaos mindset’. That means that the dog isn’t thinking when she’s reacting fearfully, she’s simply giving in to her surroundings.

The opposite of chaos in the natural world is structure, control, etc. With our clients we immediately start on a healthy diet of obedience training to overcome these fear issues. As the dog’s mind learns to focus on structure it can’t also be focusing on the subject of her fear.

Here’s the catch, though. Treat based obedience training or other such ineffective methods don’t get the job done. The only way to overcome big-time fear issues is through advanced obedience training and that simply doesn’t occur with treat training. You need a style of training that properly balances correction with motivation to show the dog that obedience is the rule but it’s also enjoyable.

Filed Under: Advanced Dog Training, Behavior Problems Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

(Reader Question) How To Stop Dog Aggression

How To Stop Dog Aggression:

The following question came in from one of our readers from our site on how to stop dog aggression:

We have a dog who is mid-size and has always been well behaved. He’s a border collie mix. As he has been indoors for more and more time over the winter he has become very protective. He starts barking at the doorbell and growls when friends or guests want to pet him.

Has even snapped at my brother-in-law after my brother-in-law continued to try to pet him again and again even after being warned with growls again and again. He turned and snapped and scared all of us.

He even trapped our neighbor in his car… Protecting their home (I was inside their home visiting his wife).

How to Stop Dog Aggression: Three Tips

The following three steps go over my recommendations for how to stop dog aggression in this case.

How to stop dog aggression on youtube

The three steps I recommend in this case are:

  1. Take care of your handling errors. You are putting this dog in situations that are not conducive to training success. Allowing this dog to be pestered and leaving the dog loose in a neighbor’s yard are things that just should not be happening.
  2. Get this dog fulfilled. You recognized that with more time indoors he has become more aggressive. It’s important to help him get out some of that pent up energy that is currently being manifest as aggressive behaviors. I always tell clients that they will get rid of energy faster through the mind than they will through the body. Get this guy on focused walks, practice ‘integration training’ with him throughout the day, play games like fetch, etc. and that will help to siphon off some of that added energy that is going into negative behavior right now.
  3. Focus heavily on obedience. When you are looking at how to stop dog aggression you MUST always start with some great obedience. Obedience training allows you to have options for when the dog is feeling stressed out, anxious, or aggressive. For example, if you could have him lie down and stay when someone knocks on the door it helps solve the doorbell problem. Basic obedience isn’t good enough, you really need to work on obedience around distractions.

How to Stop Dog Aggression- Summary

A big majority of our clients come to us trying to figure out how to solve dog aggression. I find that in nearly all cases it comes down to structure, structure, and more structure. Structure is nature’s enemy of chaos, aggression, and anxiety.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , ,

How To Fix Dogs That Fight In The Home

How To Fix Dogs That Fight In The Home

The following question comes in from a reader of our site-

Hello Ty,

I have the same question as Brenda did on thatmutt.com. (I wrote this message there a few days ago, also.) How about if its aggression towards another dog within the household? Same method? Or what can i do? I have 3 dogs (littermates) – I will call them Dog #1, #2 and #3 to differentiate them.

We got Dog #1 at 7 weeks of age, Dog #2 at 9 months, Dog #3 at almost 11 months old. Dog #2 and Dog #3 were owned by a person who then decided they didn’t have time for them (first Dog #2, then Dog #3). Those 2 dogs did fight at times and I don’t know the exact conditions they lived in. Dog #1 was neutered at 6 months old, we had Dog #2 and Dog #3 neutered as soon as we got them. Dog #1 gets along fine with both Dog #2 and Dog #3. However, Dog #2 and Dog #3 do not. Dog #2 attacks Dog #3 for no reason (we don’t have them all together now – we alternate keeping either Dog #2 or Dog #3 in a separate room with a gate in the doorway).

We bring Dog #2 on his harness and leash multiple times per day and there are times he can lay quite close to Dog #3 with no problem but you can see/feel him wanting to attack him again. From the time we had them all loose together in the house, we know that Dog #3 does not want to fight but will if he has to. (One time the attack happened under the kitchen table and it took me a little longer to be able to get at Dog #2 enough to pull him off of Dog #3.) I do not want to/will not re-home any of these dogs. I want to do the right thing to get them to get along or if not get along, at least tolerate one another so they can live together.

I never bring them outside together because we have a large fenced in yard and a fight could break out too far of a distance from me. I realize I am lucky that I have not gotten bit when I have pulled Dog #2 off of Dog #3. It just makes no sense – when we did have them all together, they could pass one another in the doorway 9-10 times, then in a split second, the 11th time, Dog #2 would instantaneously attack Dog #3 – no advance warning whatsoever. They will all be a year old at the end of this month (Dec 2012). I have spent countless hours researching on internet for ideas but don’t want to try the wrong thing. I found Ty Brown (you!) and have seen some of his videos and they seem so down to earth and sensible. Any help would be appreciated so very, very much.

The following is my response:

 

Watch How To Fix Dogs That Are Fighting In The Same House On Youtube

 

Dogs That Fight In The Home- Key Points

  • It all starts with obedience training. Obedience equals calm and respectful. As I always say, you aren’t going to fix aggression with basic obedience. You need advanced obedience.
  • Work on focused walks together. You should work towards one dog on one side of your body and the other dog on the other side. Both should be right by your side, no walking ahead, and paying attention to you.
  • You need processes for around the house. Lots of ‘down stays’, waiting at the door, rules, discipline, etc.
  • Control aspects of their life: doorways, toys, food, etc.
  • More than likely you’ll want to start with dogs on leashes and training collars for a while. No harnesses.
  • Best of luck!

For dogs with this level of aggression we recommend our curing dog aggression program.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , , ,

Case Study- Aggressive Dogs and Pet Hotels

This is one of the rescue dogs, aside from the dogs with aggression problems, that we’re working with at the Pet Hotel.

I started working with a new ‘client’ today. Her name is Andrea and she is the owner of a Pet Hotel here in the town where we’re living, Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica.

Andrea has been a dog lover her whole life. For a long time she’d been helping out friends with their dogs when they went on vacation. She told me that she finally got so tired of helping for free that she opened up her Pet Hotel.

I met her at the library recently and found out she is living right down the street from me.

Andrea has two dogs that have to stay next door at her mother’s house because these two dogs are aggressive towards other dogs. She’s also got a few rescue dogs that she’s essentially adopted that live at the pet hotel and interact with the dogs who come to stay with her.

She’s frustrated because she can’t have her two pit bull mixes around the other dogs and she’s even had situations where these two dogs have attacked other dogs. We sat down today and I outlined for her the prescription that I want to apply to her and her dogs over the next couple months so we can see some progress.

Here is the plan I laid out for her:

  • We first need to establish some great obedience. Obedience comes from a calm state of mind and aggression comes from the opposite. The more we get solid obedience the more we kick out the aggressive state of mind. Also, obedience leads to solid leadership and a dog that sees it’s owner as a leader is much less likely to be aggressive.
  • Once we’ve established great obedience we need to start applying that obedience to moments where the dogs are likely to be aggressive.
  • I need to show Andrea how to properly correct the dogs when they are acting aggressively.

This is the plan that I set out for her, it’s the same plan I outline in detail in my dog aggression course, and I’ve got years of experience showing that this is going to help her start to see progress with her dog aggression issues very quickly if she does what I lay out for her.

Today we started working on some obedience exercises like proper leash walking and how to stay.

I foresee a few challenges that we’ll have to get over if we’re going to see the progress she wants:

  • These dogs are mostly loose in the yard at her mom’s house. They don’t get a lot of structure and giving them structure is going to be a challenge. There is no fence and the dogs are sometimes tied out but sometimes just end up wandering in the jungle and the surrounding neighborhood for hours.
  • The female is the worse of the two dogs and she is very lazy. What that means is that she doesn’t pull on the leash, doesn’t jump on people, and doesn’t cause too many problems outside of the moments when she’s around other dogs. It’s my experience that a lot of dogs like her can ‘float under the radar’ a bit. Because they aren’t causing a hassle, except in specific moments, a lot of owners find themselves less motivated to get out there and work on leash walking and other behaviors. What is important is that she gets a lot of training, even though it may not feel like she needs it as much.
  • The male is not fixed. He ends up wandering off their large property and finds himself in trouble. He’s still young, about a year or so, so I think that getting him fixed could help a bit with fixing his aggression issue.
  • Andrea spends all of her time at the Pet Hotel so leaving the property to go to her mom’s to work with the dogs will be difficult. I’ve run into this situation many times where the owner isn’t living with the dogs and it can make things very hard. Luckily, the dogs are only 50 yards away but it still will be a challenge.
  • The female is incredibly dominant. I pushed on her rear end just a bit to get her to sit when I came to a stop with some leash walking and she was so upset that someone was trying to tell her what to do that she tried to bite me.

Overall, we’ve got some big challenges but I’m hoping for the best. I’ll keep you posted as the weeks go on.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , ,

Food Aggression That Has Become Even Worse

Food Aggression In Dogs- What To Do When It Gets Worse

Hi Ty, I’m concerned for my son and his dog. The problem is, she is growling at people for no apparent reason. She used to only growl when someone would come near her food or a space on the floor, but now she is growling at unpredictable times and for no apparent reason. Her symptoms are she starts by cowering and smacking her lips and then growls. What does this mean and how do we stop it?

Watch the video below and then read the following transcript for ideas on how to solve this type of aggression problem with your dog.

Also, for dog aggression solutions check out our line of DVDs.

Food Aggression- View On YouTube

Food Aggression In Dogs- My Thoughts

Here are my thoughts on your question:

  • Aggression tends to act this way. Aggression left unchecked tends to get worse. The reason being is that the dog realizes that aggression solves problems. In your dog’s case, she started using aggression to protect her food. As she realized with time that this solution worked she decided to start using it in other areas as well. Hindsight is always 20/20 but for those of you who are dealing with small aggression issues it’s important to note that your dog’s aggression will not improve, and will likely get worse, unless you are actively working to solve it.
  • To your question, what does this mean? Without seeing it I’m not too familiar with your description of ‘smacking lips’. I have seen, however, many dogs kind of open and close their mouth out of anxiety and nervousness. My guess is that your dog is feeling fearful in these scenarios where she growls. Dogs, when they feel threatened have three responses available to them: Fight, Flight, and Avoidance. Your dog is choosing the ‘fight’ response by growling at things that make her afraid.
  • To stop it I see two different and important steps that need to be taken:
  1. You’ve got to establish the right relationship with the dog. Dogs don’t frequently growl at those who they respect. I highly doubt that the dog is very respectful of family members. Respect is best earned through solid obedience. Teach the dog to walk on a leash properly with no pulling. Teach the dog to stay when told even with distractions. Train the dog to come when called even in the face of distractions. This type of obedience will help you gain that level of respect you need.
  2. Correct the aggression when it happens. Start having the dog wear a leash and training collar around the house. When she growls around her food, etc. correct her into a new part of the house, give a simple command like sit (this is to change the dog’s frame of mind) and then praise her for sitting.

Best of luck and happy training.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , ,
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