When dealing with dog-to-dog aggression, it is important to listen to our dog.
There are many reasons why a dog may act aggressively toward another.
- He may be afraid.
- He may be stressed because his space is being violated.
- He may feel the need to dominate.
- He may be protective of us.
- He may be very curious.
- He may just be over-excited.
Sometimes, what we perceive to be aggression may be the result of hyper energy, eagerness, or natural inquisitiveness. Therefore, in dog-to-dog aggression cases, it is important to understand what our dog is feeling, and what he is trying to say.
When my dog meets a new dog, I observe both of them carefully. As soon as my dog starts to get stressed, I step in and interrupt before the situation escalates.
For dog aggression issues, it is best to take a dog’s age, health, temperament, and preferences into account, while coming up with appropriate solutions.
1. Be Calm and Decisive
Dogs are very sensitive to what their human is feeling. My dog picks up on my emotions and reflects them, except with much more intensity. Sometimes, I am not even conscious of feeling nervous or stressed, but my dog notices it and starts to act up. Once I consciously calm myself down, his behavior also improves.
A common mistake when meeting other dogs is to tense up, and get fearful of what our dog may do. If we are afraid, our dog will pick up on that fearful energy, and that will likely trigger an aggressive reaction.
Be careful not to put undue or continuous tension on the leash. Also, do not pull the dog straight back, as that will likely cause a lunge forward response. To remove my dog, I pull him to the side and quickly walk him past the other dog.
2. Teach Our Dog Avoidance
When I see another dog, I usually just ignore him and move along.
I have found that avoidance is most effective when I avert my eyes from both dog, as well as owner. I keep my eyes forward, and keep walking at a natural pace. In this way, my dog learns that when we see other dogs, we avoid rather than confront.
Be careful not to crowd our dog while walking. If he feels trapped between us and the other dog, he may think he has no choice but to react aggressively. Do not stand still while trying to tug our dog away. Move away, and he will come along with us. At the same time, we are creating space so that he will not feel trapped.
I do not let my dog obsess or stare intensely at other dogs. Sometimes, my Shiba Inu will drop into a stalking-down-position, stare, and wait for the other dog to pass. Some people think that he is such a good boy for doing a Down, when other dogs are coming toward him, but he is actually just waiting to pounce.
Do not allow this bad behavior, do not let our dog practice it, do not even let him think about it. Just move him along, and ignore. If the other dog is somehow blocking us (e.g. if the owner is unable to control his dog), then walk away in a different direction. Do not stare the other dog down and do not confront him, either through posture or by physically engaging him.
Challenging unknown dogs is a good way to get bitten.
3. Create Space or Block the Other Dog
We can do this by moving across the road or into a driveway, and waiting for the other dog to pass.
We may also move our dog behind a barrier, for example a car. If there are no barriers available, we can try blocking the dog’s view with our body.
By doing this, we avoid a head-on, more confrontational passing.
I have tried all of these blocking techniques, but what works best for me is to create space, and quickly move past the other dog. Whenever I wait for the other dog to pass, my Shiba uses that time to start obsessing.
Dog treats and trying to get his attention do not work at this point, because the other dog is too close, and Shiba Sephy is no longer listening. The advantage of walking Sephy briskly past the other dog, is that he has less time to stare. In addition, he cannot fully obsess, because he must partly focus on walking.
However, using barriers and blocking may work better for a fearful dog.
Some trainers suggest turning and walking away when we see another dog, rather than passing him or waiting for him to pass.
There are two problems with this method:
- If we turn away, the other dog will be following us. This may cause some dogs to keep looking back, to make sure that the follower is not a threat. I have tried this, and indeed my Shiba keeps looking back.
- If we keep turning away, we may meet other dogs and get boxed in; especially if there are many dogs in our neighborhood.
4. Create Neutral Experiences
I try to create as many neutral dog-to-dog meeting experiences as possible. If every time my dog sees another dog, we just pass by and nothing interesting happens, it will become a non-event.
Being consistent with neutral greetings will build our dog’s confidence. Through repetition, we are teaching him how to behave (just avoid and move along), and how not to behave (get over-excited, frustrated, lunge, and pull). He will be more calm because he is not waiting in anticipation of a highly charged encounter, either for play or for confrontation.
I try to set my dog up for success, and do not let him practice aggressive behaviors when meeting other dogs. The more he practices, the more aggressive he will be.
If my dog becomes agitated during a walk, I try to end the outing as soon as possible. Once in this mode, his adrenaline levels will be high for a fair duration, and he will likely react aggressively to all the dogs that we meet. In this state, he will no longer be capable of learning, and will only be practicing dog aggressive behaviors.
5. Protect our Dog
I usually keep my dog away from people and dogs with weak energy (e.g. fearful, excited, or frustrated energy). In addition, I also try to keep other dogs and owners from coming into my dog’s space. I say a quick ‘hi’ to the people I meet, and move on.
If people with weak energy stop and want to meet my dog, I ask them nicely to please move on, because my dog is easily excitable.
It is fine and good to let a dog meet people with calm energy, but make sure to let them know how to best meet our dog. In particular, turn away when he jumps, no quick movements, and no petting from above.
6. Keep Greetings Short and Sweet
While greeting another dog, we want to positively interrupt our dog every so often, and get him to refocus on us. Do this as many times as necessary, so that our dog does not get over-excited, and lose control of himself.
Whenever my dog is meeting a new dog, I interrupt him after a very short duration (2-3 seconds). I quickly move or jog away from the other dog, while giving the positive interrupt command, e.g. Hey, hey. Initially, I may have to lightly tug at my dog while moving away. I make sure to treat him well for moving toward me on a loose leash.
If our dog is too obsessed to move away and is strongly standing his ground, then we have waited too long to initiate the interrupt. Positive interrupts are also useful for dealing with human greetings, and getting our dog away from a dirty or unsuitable area.
The key to successful positive interrupts is to catch a dog early, before he starts to obsess on another dog or object.
7. Be Aware of Aggressive Triggers
Some dogs, for example Spitz-type dogs, have a natural look that may appear dominant (ears up, hair out, tail up). This dominant look may instigate other dogs to respond in kind, and start posturing as well. Conflicts may occur, and if neither dog is willing to back down, this may lead to a dog fight.
If I am unsure about a dog greeting, I just move on. Better to be safe than sorry.
8. Desensitize our Dog to Other Dogs
The problem with dog-to-dog aggression issues, is that in regular situations the “other dog” stimulus is too strong, and environment is too unstructured for any learning to occur. Often, our dog overloads quickly and becomes reactive, because the other dog is too close, is staring, is hyper, or is charging toward us.
In the desensitization process, we do training in a quiet, enclosed environment, and start with a very weak version of the problem stimulus. In terms of reactivity toward other dogs, we can use distance to weaken its effect.
In this way, we also weaken the strength of our dog’s reaction, so that he will be calm enough to listen and learn. This is necessary, to create opportunities where we can begin to teach our dog to be calm and relaxed, while in the presence of another dog.
I did quite a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization sessions with Sephy, when he was young, at our local SPCA. The trainers there had many balanced, friendly dogs, that we could do training with.
First, the trainer would engage the other dog in training exercises, so that he stays in a fixed position, and is not focused on Sephy (i.e., no eye-contact). Both dogs are on-leash.
I take Sephy a far distance away, far enough away that he is still calm and able to listen to me. Then, I get his attention by calling his name. If he looks at me, I praise, and treat him for behaving well. Sometimes, I also ask him to do very simple commands, e.g. Sit.
I let Sephy sit and watch the other dog as long as he is calm, and willing to give me his attention when I ask for it. Once we are both comfortable with this, I move one step toward the other dog and repeat the Focus and Sit exercises above.
Do not move too close to the other dog, too quickly. If we move forward too fast, our dog may become reactive, and will no longer be able to give us his attention. At this point, I no-mark Sephy (uh-oh) and move back a few steps. Once we are far enough away, I try to get his attention again. When he gives it to me, I stop, praise, and treat.
Note – for desensitization to be successful, we want to keep our dog below his instinct threshold as much as possible.
I always try to make sessions short, fun, and rewarding. This helps our dog associate other dogs with being calm, and with positive experiences. I make sure to stop before my dog shows any obsessive behavior, and long before he becomes aggressive. Once a dog becomes reactive or aggressive, it is usually best to end the session soon after.
As we make progress, we can slowly increase the strength of the problem stimulus. For example, we may allow the target dog to start moving around, or we may allow him to play with his handler.
The desensitization process can be long and difficult. Dogs with lower instinct thresholds (the point at which they lose control and switch to instinct) will be harder to desensitize. However, consistent practice will also help to raise this threshold.
What to Expect from Dog-to-Dog Aggression Training
Do not expect too much, too quickly, from our dog. Make sure to treat and praise him very well, if he voluntarily engages in avoidance maneuvers, when there are other dogs around. This includes looking away from the direction of the other dog, smelling and exploring the environment, or looking at us for direction.
Initially, treat and praise even small avoidance moves, for example looking away for just 1 second. If a dog will not accept treats from us, then he is too far gone and it is best to lead him away. Treats are only effective for shaping behavior when our dog is still thinking, and not operating on instinct.
If we keep practicing desensitization exercises, and teach our dog how to behave with other dogs, he will improve. As he matures, he will become more confident, be less dog aggressive, and be more comfortable around new experiences.
For aggression issues between two family dogs, here is more on how I help my dogs get along.
I have a 1 year old rescued Malamute. We does great with anyone, and very well temperment. He’s been introduced to many dogs, and ever since my knee injury he has gotten agressive towards dogs he doesn’t know. He can walk great on leash, and not pay attention to another dog unless the dog is barking/growling at him or its in a few feet of him. It’s been a serious problem, because even though I have a daily excerise routine with both my dogs.
Here is the twist, I dont see it as agression all the time. My reasons? He does grow, howl and quickly want to be next to the dog and after a few minutes of meeting the dog he calms down, but other owners tend to be scared and turn their nose and walk away. Which makes my mally have more anxiety and try going after the dog. Im curious what I could do, or if you could provide training tips? He loves dog parks, but seems to be to excited and since he is a rescue we think he had no dog soicalzion.
My Shiba Inu, Sephy, was pretty reactive to other dogs when he was young. We did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with him at our local SPCA and that was helpful. I talk more about desensitization and other techniques that I use in our walks, in the article above.
Dog parks were too unstructured and hectic for Sephy. What seemed to work better for him, were small, structured, and supervised play-groups. Usually I would just invite a friendly neighborhood dog over, I set up play-rules, manage their excitement level with play-breaks, and supervise closely. In this way, Sephy learns good social manners, learns to control his excitement level, has a bunch of fun, and also has a positive outlet for his play energy.
More on how I structure play-time with my dogs.
More on our early dog park experiences.
The key with Sephy is to properly manage him and provide adequate structure during dog greetings so that he stays calm, has a positive experience, and can learn from each experience.
Thanks for your generous and sensible tips for avoiding dog-to-dog aggression. Our 2.5 year old rescue Westie is 85% perfect, but barks and lunges at most strange dogs when we are out walking (city dog, always on a leash). We’ll try the avoidance methods you suggest and perhaps find a trainer with some friendly dogs he can work with. Thanks again!
Big hugs to your Westie. Let us know how it goes.
I have a 6 mo old (male) Wheaten Terrier and a 6 year old (male) Chihuahua — both are neutered. They exhibit a great deal of aggression towards one another – both wanting to be dominant. The puppy more wants to play and my chihuahua has always been a dominant aggressor — however the other day the puppy drew blood on the chihuahua in a few places. I desperately need some tips on how to help them get along, seeing that they have to live together
thank you!!!
What daily routine do they have? What kind of training are they used to? How much daily exercise do they get? What kind of rules are they used to in the house?
With my dogs, I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules, I manage their excitement level, and I supervise them closely during play, meal-time, etc. In this way, they know what to expect from each other and what to expect from me. If need be, I use management equipment such as baby gates, leashes, and more to keep things safe for everyone.
More on what I do to help my dogs get along.
It is important to note, however, that dog behavior is very context dependent and each situation is different. This is why in cases of aggression, it is usually better and safer to get help from a good professional trainer.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Congratulations and many thanx for sharing, your precious wisdom. Other “experts” don’t. I see lots of similarities between your Shiba Inu and my 2-year-old male Dobe, particularly this “stalking” lying position, rings LOTS of bells in my ears. I’ve been complaining trying to explain to outnumbered “trainers” that particular posture and my Dobe’s refusal for treats “when he’s like this” but no one seemed to even listen! You have resolved the riddle! I’ll stick to your simple techniques and I’ll revert. I’ll try it when we’re obliged to confront cats and see what happens. Thank you indeed.
Thank you Ninette. I had a lot of problems with my Shiba Inu when he was young, so we had a lot of “fun” experiences together, and our neighbors were very entertained.
It took me a while to see that my dog is not perfect, and I am not perfect, but that is ok. I still make mistakes, but once I started trying to understand things from my dog’s perspective, and setting him up for success, things got a lot better. I think the key lesson that I learned from my Shiba is to listen more to him, and less to my “expert” neighbors. 😀
Thank you for this post! Really helpful tips and reminds me we have to be patient. We’ve been dealing with leash reactivity for 4 months now and the progress is very slow. Keeping the intensity threshold low is so important.
Many thanks!
Yeah that was key with Sephy as well. At the time, I thought he was never going to get better, but now, he is actually the most calm of all my dogs. Hang in there!
Btw, love your idea with the fan by the door. It blows away whatever scent there is, masks out the outside noise, and prevents obsessing type behavior. Super clever!
Big hugs to Marvin and congrats on your new place. 😀
Hi i have a 10 year old male dog who is a medium sized dog who is neutered and the last 3 years he has become unfriendly towards dogs that are bigger then him even if there male or female, how am i able to stop this? He was attcked a couple of years ago by a german shepherd who is bigger then him could this have triggered his fear? He is fine with smaller dogs and dogs that are his size
Negative and stressful interactions can certainly make a dog wary, anxious, or fearful of other dogs. My Husky has gotten a bit wary of large dogs because we have been charged by a few of them, and some of them try to bully her.
I do my best to protect her and to keep dog interactions positive, or at worst neutral. Luckily, many of the owners are now keeping their dogs properly secured. We avoid places that regularly have unsupervised off-leash dogs.
With my Shiba Inu, I did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises, to help him be more comfortable around other dogs. I talk more about desensitization at the end of the article above.
However, it is very important to note that dog behavior is very dependent on context. I can make very good guesses about the source of my dog’s behavior because I know their temperaments very well, their routine, environment, and more. Once I know the source of my dog’s behavior, I can come up with a plan for retraining it.
We also visited with several professional trainers to help us with Sephy’s dog reactivity issues – which was mostly due to over-excitement. A *good* professional trainer can observe Sephy interacting with other dogs, evaluate his behavior, give me insights on what is causing the behavior, and help me develop some good and safe strategies for retraining it.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hello,
I have a husky, Shepard, lab cross. She will be one in March. In the past couple months she has become very aggressive, mostly to smaller dogs and once they show aggression towards her it’s almost like she thinks well I’m bigger than you I’ll win, this causes a major problem when we are at a farm and they are not on leashes. If the other dog is fine mine is fine, just eager to play. Any advice on how to help her over this?
As I understand it, dogs, like us, have a tolerance threshold. When pushed beyond this limit, they will react. Some may choose to run away, some may choose to fight, and some may choose to submit.
For example, my Shiba Inu a has pretty low tolerance for social rudeness. If overly provoked, he will issue a verbal warning. If that is ignored, he will do an air-snap. I manage him carefully, choose his dog friends carefully, and step in before things escalate into anything more serious. During play, I supervise and manage his excitement level, because that can also cause things to get out of control.
I also did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with him, which helped to raise his tolerance threshold. However, desensitization is a slow process and during retraining, I had to make sure not to expose him to any negative encounters.
Recall training can also be helpful. There was this Australian Cattle Dog that we met when we went to the dog park and he had superb recall. Every time some trouble was about to break-out, his owner would call him back and put his leash on. In this way, he never got involved in any trouble.
However, the tolerance threshold never goes away, so I still manage Sephy carefully and prevent anything from escalating out of control. I also stopped going to the dog park because the environment there was not structured enough for him and there was too little supervision. For safety, I both manage Sephy’s environment and supervise him when he is interacting with other dogs.
Hello. I have very much enjoyed your articles. I am hoping we can use your tips working with my mother’s dog. She has a female English Bulldog that’s about a year old. Maddy was a gift and is the youngest of my mom’s 5 dogs. We’ve had her since she was about 3 more months old. The other four are rescues, a female Boxer, a small mix breed female, a male poodle/Lhasa mix, and the matriarch Heddie Bess, a small Chihuahua/pom mix about 10 yrs old.
For months there has been no problems except at feeding time, Maddy is very aggressive with other dogs over food, but mom feeds Maddy separately, and dishes are taken back up after eating, so that is not an issue now. But about 2 months ago the Maddy began attacking Heddie at every opportunity. She has injured her.
For now, the dogs are separated into different rooms, and are not let outside at the same time. But whenever she can, Maddy will dart out the door, and if Heddie Bess is outside she doesn’t stand a chance. Mom can’t stand the thought of parting with either one, but they can’t be allowed to be in the same area together.
I had hoped that putting a gate between their areas of the house would help with the dog to dog desensitization, basically help them get used to each other again. If Maddy comes near it Heddie Bess begins barking and growling non-stop (of course she is terrified and is just reacting), but Maddy just completely ignores her. If you saw them standing by each other with just the gate between, you would never guess Maddy would get aggressive with her. She will sniff at Heddie through the gate, no barking, no aggressive stance, nothing at all But if they are out at the same time, or get into the same room together, Maddy will try her best to rip Heddie Bess to shreds.
She attacked the male once, but hasn’t since, and the other two not at all. She is not the least bit aggressive toward us, or visitors, but I’m afraid her aggression will escalate to other dogs or children. Mom wants to use a remote shock collar, for aggression toward Heddie only (not for any other behaviors), but I’m hesitant until we’ve tried everything else. She loves these dogs so much, but it is becoming a very overwhelming situation.
Thank you,
Andura
Hello Andura,
Dog behavior is very dependent on context, and dog-to-dog aggression can be the result of many different things including over-excitement, fear, frustration, resource conflict, and more.
The first step that I take in terms of changing my dog’s behavior is to observe him carefully and try to identify the source of his behavior. I also make sure to carefully manage him so that he stays safe, my other dogs stay safe, and the people around him stay safe. I use management tools such as leashes, gates, and muzzles as necessary, according to my dog and my situation.
What is Maddy’s daily routine like? How much exercise does she get? Did anything unusual happen 2 months ago? Was there a change in Maddy’s routine 2 months ago? What training is she used to? Is she good about following house rules?
Based on what you describe, I would get help from a good professional trainer. Especially in cases of aggression it is very important to start on the right foot, otherwise, the situation could get worse.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
As for shock collars, they are very risky and can frequently increase aggression in dogs. I briefly considered using a shock collar on my Shiba Inu when I was having troubles with him, but after doing some research on it, I quickly decided not to go there. Here is why.
Shock collars *should not* be used to break-up a dog fight. Introducing more pain and stress into such circumstances is very dangerous and will likely make matters worse.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-shock-collar-good-bad/comment-page-2#comment-78125
Desensitization
The key with desensitization and counter-conditioning techniques is to only expose my dog to a very small amount of the problem stimulus to begin with. It has to be small enough that my dog is able to stay calm and listen to me. I talk more about how I did desensitization with Sephy at the end of the article above.
It is important during retraining to always try and keep my dog below threshold. I want to maximize successful experiences so that my dog learns to be more calm around other dogs and learns to reassociate other dogs with positive events. For this to happen, I need to be there to manage the situation, teach him what to do, and properly reward him for staying calm and following commands.
Changing my Shiba Inu’s dog reactive behavior required some understanding of where the behavior is coming from, careful management, consistency, time, and patience. I read up a lot on dog behavior and dog training so that I could read Sephy better and pick better trainers.
Hi I am hoping you can help me. I have an 8 year old female boxer. I got her when she was 4. When I went to meet her I noticed that her teats were still sagging from her having pups. I asked how long it had been since her last litter and they told me it had been about a year. Her teats have never really gone back to normal so I am presuming that they had used her as a breeding machine!!
I had her neutered when I got her. The main problem is that she is very…and I mean very protective in and outside of the house. If someone even walks past the window she goes mad and when I take her out she is a nightmare!!! She gets aggressive with all dogs even if we are not near them and she just sees them.
When I take her to the vets I have to leave her in the car until its time to take her in and then hope there are no other dogs in our way to get her straight out and into the car.
Last time I took her to the vets my friend came with us and sat in the car with her while I went back in to pay the bill. When I got in the car my friend said she wouldnt come with us again, as a couple had walked past the car with a dog and she thought Kiya (my dog) was going to put the window through to get to this dog and it frightened my friend to death (bless her).
My dog as never bitten anybody or another dog as I dont let her get close to other dogs. It is just a shame that I cant take her for walks like normal people because she is like this.
Any advice would be very appreciated
Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises helped my Shiba Inu to be more calm around other dogs. With desensitization, I start small, with a very weak version of the stimulus. It has to be weak enough that my dog is able to stay calm and listen to me. In this way, he can learn to refocus on me, and be rewarded for his behavior. Once he is comfortable with this, I can *very slowly* increase the challenge and build up from there. I talk more about what I do at the end of the article above, in the desensitization section.
During the desensitization process, I want to keep my dog below threshold as much as possible, so that I can slowly teach him to re-associate other dogs with calmness and positive events. I make sure not to expose my dog to situations where he will lose control and become reactive. The more successes we have, the more confident he becomes and the more calm he is around other dogs. The more reactive encounters we have, the more likely he will repeat the behavior in the future and set back our desensitization training.
Also note that dog behavior is very context dependent. As such, especially in cases of aggression, it is usually best to get help from good professional trainers. With Sephy, we consulted with several professional trainers, and some of them were helpful. In fact, we practiced desensitization exercises with a bunch of different dogs at our local SPCA, under the direction of one of their trainers.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hi,
I have a black Lab who lunges at everything and I mean everything, dogs, cats, even statues of Loins and giraffe’s. I take him for a two hour walk every night but he still wants to attack every other animal. I have taken him to 2 dog aggression trainers on multiple occasion’s and each time he just sits there and does nothing even when they took him to a dog park he was perfect, I bring him home take him for a walk, he goes nuts again. I don’t get it don’t understand it he is perfect at home, I can even bring other dogs home and he is fine…….I am out of ideas.
Was he on-leash or off-leash at the park? Does he only show this behavior when he is on-leash? Does he walk properly on-leash in the backyard? If you put a new statue/ornament in the backyard, does he get reactive when off-leash? on-leash? Does he also do this when someone else walks him? Is his behavior the same while walking in different locations – e.g. a more quiet and low stimulus area?
Some things that come to mind-
1. On-leash aggression.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/dogs-who-are-reactive-leash
http://www.suzanneclothier.com/the-articles/handling-lead-aggression
2. People energy.
My Shiba Inu was very sensitive to my energy. If I get stressed or frustrated, he would pick up on that, and get stressed-out himself. This, in turn, would cause him to get reactive.
3. Past experiences.
Has he always acted like this? Did anything unexpected happen during walks in the past?
It could also be a combination of those things or something else. Dog behavior is very context dependent, so it is difficult to say without having any context. When dealing with such issues with my dog, I first try to identify the source of the problem, by looking for commonalities, and doing some structured/controlled exercises to test the behavior. Once I better understand the behavior, I can develop a management and retraining plan to help him overcome it. What did the trainers say/suggest?