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.
Ihave two labs that are almost 4 years old. Ihave a electric fence up to keepthem in the yard, the other day a little dog came by the house with its owner. They were walking in the street both batteries must of been bad in there collars., I opened up the back door to let them out and both of them took off for the street to attack the little dog. Kobe and Tucker are there names. Tucker is the dominant one. I yelled at Kobe to stop and he did butTucker got ahold of the dog and I thought he was going to kill him, At first Tucker would not listen to me but I finally got him off the little dog .They both have showd aggression to little dogs in the past. The little dog is going to be allright but ended up costing me around $400.00 to fix the hole in the neck that Tucker did to him. I have lost all trust in my dogs know and don’t know what to do. Most the time the dogs are very awesome dogs. Luvable and like to layclose to me. I don’t want to put them down but Iam afraid whats next hurt a little kid or something. Ineed to mention I leave right behind a school and ther is a lot of kids outside all day . Help me please What to do? Thank You Glen Mcclellan
In terms of escapes, we put up a solid 6 foot fence. A physical fence is much more reliable and less risky. The solid fence also blocks visibility, which helps to reduce the strength of the outside stimulus. I also put concrete blocks all around my fence line so my dogs can’t dig out. More on electronic collars and the risk of aggression.
I also did dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with my Shiba Inu who was very reactive to other dogs when he was young. I talk more about that at the end of the article above.
Dog behavior is very context dependent though, so for more serious aggression issues, I would get help from a good professional trainer. When I was having troubles with my Shiba Inu, I looked for trainers who had access to calm, balanced dogs, so that we could do structured training exercises with them.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hi the problem I’m having is that we have a 1 year old husky and she is very playfull, and we frequently go camping with these people whom own 2 dogs, one of them is agressive towards other dogs and protective towards them and the other dog. So when we are camping and our dog, which is always on leash ( cause otherwise she’ll take off the campsite ) this dog is constantly walking around our dog growling at her, if our dog plays with their other dog or if ours gets close to their camping trailer this agressive dog attacks ours. And we tell this dog to stay away from our dog ( at first we let the dog get close to ours to smell her but she starts growling inmetiately and if our dog makes a move she just attacks her that’s why we always keep an eye on them).
Sometimes this agressive dog comes close to our RV where our dog is, like waiting for our dog to do something or us not to be paying attention to attack ours. So I really don’t know what to do to stop it because this agressive dog is not ours and at he same time we don’t want our dog getting attacked on every chance the other one has, also we like going camping together that’s why I’d like to approach it properly☺️
This sounds more like a people issue rather than a dog issue. With loose neighborhood dogs, I sometimes talk to my neighbors about it *if* I think it will help. I make sure I am in a calm state of mind, and prepare what I want to say. Sometimes, it can create awkwardness and bad feelings, so it really depends on the situation and people involved.
Hi, please help me to control my dog, he is a Stanfordhire Terrier ,3 years old. I don’t think I have strong energy to control his agressive stubborn behavior. I am living in NYC and he is terrified to go out, even in the elevator he shakes. I used to bring him to Central Park early in the morning so he can run free off the leash but once is time to go home he ignores me and go away, I offered him treats before so I can put his leash back , but now he ignors them and runs away. Just today he escaped from the leash when I force him to go out to pee, a neighbor stop the heavy trafic on the street ,with his hands wide open so my dog won’t get hit by a car. I am very upset trying to think what to do with him or with me. I don’t want to return him to SPCA again, please help me. Thanks
Hello Sandy,
I had a lot of difficulties with my Shiba Inu (Sephy) as well. He was crazy stubborn and pretty reactive. It took some doing, and a bunch of time, but he really has changed a lot, for the better, and so have I. 😀 Here are some of my early experiences with him.
This article on zen dog training tips may also be interesting.
In terms of training our dog to come when called, here is a good article from the ASPCA.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-come-when-called
Sephy has always been a very independent minded dog though, so I always keep him on leash during neighborhood walks. I usually only let him off-leash in safe, fully-enclosed, areas. For walks, I use a properly fitted Premier no-slip collar, and he has not slipped out of his collar since. The problem I found with regular clip-on collars is that they can slip a lot just from regular use, so I had to frequently keep readjusting them or they would get too big.
Another thing that is very important with Sephy is to control my own energy. If I get fearful, frustrated, or stressed, Sephy will pick up on that, get stressed himself, and act even more crazy. After I started to control my own energy, and became more decisive (always have a plan of action), Sephy’s behavior also improved.
As for fear issues, I try to start small and go in small steps. The key to helping my dog build confidence is by maximizing positive experiences and minimizing negative ones. For example, I first start leash training my dog in a very safe, low stimulus area, such as my backyard or even inside my house. This gets him used to walking on a leash without having to deal with other dogs, noise, people, etc. Once we are good with walking in the house, I *very slowly* increase the environmental stimulus.
More on dog anxiety.
More on dog desensitization.
Finally, we also visited with a bunch of professional trainers during Sephy’s difficult period. Dog behavior is very context dependent, so it really helped to have someone come over to watch Sephy, give me pointers on his body language, identify problem areas, and help me develop a plan for retraining. Since you got your dog from the SPCA, I would give them a call and see what they suggest. I have had pretty good experiences with my local SPCA.
More of my training experiences with my dogs.
We just adopted a 2 year old Akita Inu named Pearl just a few days ago. Pearl is well behaved with all people she comes in contact with but very aggressive around any dog that comes near her. She is fearless and when going for a walk we will just walk by any dogs on their leash in their yard or if a dog is being walked across the street with their owner. Unfortunately we live in a community where there are alot of either stray dogs or unattended dogs off of their leash walking around the neighborhood or sitting in their front lawn. This is where the problem is, it seems that every dog we have come across is off of their leash and will curiously approach us. This immediately triggers her to act aggressive towards the other dog. I want to work on her to be able to get comfortable with other dogs and get her to be able to get along and play with other friendly dogs. She has not been spayed, and I’m not sure what her previous owner did about her behavior in her first 2 years. Spaying her may help with the aggressiveness and I plan on spaying her asap. I know that Shibas and Akitas are different breeds but I can’t find another site like yours that is this helpful for Akitas. Since the breeds are similar, I was hoping that you could maybe give some advice. Thanks.
Some dogs are more protective over their personal space, especially with unknown dogs. My Shiba, for example, will not let unknown dogs sniff his butt. He is very particular about that. More about the butt sniff.
We did a lot of desensitization work with Sephy, and that helped him to be more calm around other dogs. I talk more about this at the end of the article above. We also drove him to quiet hiking trails for our walks so that he can have positive walk experiences. The more positive experiences we had, the more he learned to trust me, and the more calm he became. It took a fair amount of time, repetition, and management to change his behavior.
Still, there are certain things that he will not tolerate from new dogs. For example, I always keep new dogs away from his butt area. Here is an interesting article about dogs and social boundaries.
In terms of play, I pick Sephy’s playmates carefully and I set up clear play rules and dog-to-dog interaction rules. In this way, he knows what to expect from other dogs, what he can expect from me, and what I expect from him. Here is more on what I do during play-time.
We also visited with several professional trainers during Sephy’s difficult period. Dog behavior is very context dependent, so it was helpful to have a good trainer observe him, give us pointers on his body language, help identify the source of his reactive behavior, and come up with a plan for retraining.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hi,
I have (2) female 9 month old boxador puppies and they dislike people & animals (no matter their size).
Let me give you their story …
The pups Sire is a 50lb. Black Lab & the Dam is a 44lb. Brindle Boxer. On 07/27/2013 the puppies were born into a litter of 10. (7 females, 3 males)
I purchased the largest & the runt of the litter when they were 9.5 weeks old. Upon their first checkup, the vet specifically told me not to socialize them until they had their full set of shots.
We took her advice and did not try to socialize them until 6 months old. In my opinion, this was a HUGE mistake. The 1st training class did not go well & the trainer ended up having to get stitches.
We have been to two training/obedience schools, (one in a puppy class and another with private lessons) which yielded no improvement in their behavior.
The only time I can take my dogs out for a walk is after midnight due to the fact that both puppies are so aggressive. I refuse to give up on them, but I don’t know what else to do.
Any adivce would be greatly appreciated.
What type of methods have you tried? What happened with each method? What did the private trainer suggest? Do you walk them together? Is their behavior different when walked separately? Have you tried desensitization exercises?
I find that my dogs are more reactive when they are walked together. During the training period, I walk my new dog separately.
My Shiba Inu, Sephy, was pretty reactive to other dogs when he was young. We did a lot of desensitization exercises with him and that was helpful. In general, I start small and go in very small steps. At the start, I walked Sephy by himself, I start with more quiet, low stimulus areas, and very slowly work my way up. The key is to maximize positive, calm experiences and minimize negative encounters. Therefore, I try to manage everything so as to always set us both up for success.
I talk more about desensitization and creating neutral experiences in the article above.
Thanks for these tips!
My shiba is a little over 2 years old and has been well socialized ever since he was a pup. Lately, he has attacked a few dogs. This has never happened before up until recently.
1st encounter was at my friend’s house with his dog. They have played several times before but he just went crazy and latched onto his ear. Drew some blood from the ear while at it. We were all in the kitchen at the time and there was no food involved.
2nd encounter was at a restaurant patio. He just went crazy and lunged after my friend’s dog. There was no physical interaction though.
3rd encounter was at a restaurant patio. It was a dog that was walking around the patio first. They smelled each other nose to nose before the other dog went in. Finally when it came in and sat next to us, my dog attacked it and nicked his nose.
I’m kind of at wits end and am hoping this isn’t just a classic Shiba trait. A lot of folks on different forums have stated they experienced this behavior once their dog turned 2-3.
What I have noticed with Sephy is that he is very particular about space and greetings.
– Sephy does not get along well with dominant type dogs. He does not start anything, but if another dog challenges him through stares or other types of body language, he will respond, irrespective of size.
– Sephy will respond when he feels that he is under threat. For example, he does not like new dogs sniffing his butt area. When they do that, he warns first, but if they do not heed, he will do more. More on butt sniffing.
What helps with Sephy:
1. I pick his playmates carefully.
I only pick dogs that I am sure Sephy will get along with and that will get along with him. He seems to do well with playful larger dogs, that enjoy wrestling, and that are totally not dominant. Note that other dogs (even Shibas) will have different preferences, so we want to pick according to the temperament of our own dog.
2. I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules and supervise him during play.
In this way, Sephy understands what to expect from the other dog, what to expect from me, and what I expect from him. Certainty helps to reduce stress and allows him to relax and play. If there are any conflicts, I step in and resolve it before things escalate into aggression.
3. I throw in many play breaks so that neither dog gets over-excited.
I have noticed that most problems arise when Sephy gets over-excited, at which point his play becomes really intense and other dogs may get overwhelmed. The reverse may also occur. Things work out best when I manage their excitement levels with frequent play-breaks.
More on how I supervise play-time with my dogs at home.
What I have noticed about Sephy is that he is more particular about interaction manners, and more likely to respond to what he views as threats or challenges with aggression. He also can get really extreme when over-excited. For these reasons, he requires more supervision and management than my two Sibes, who are more submissive by nature and much more easy-going.
Note that this is based on my experiences with Sephy and his temperament. Different dogs will have different temperaments and we will have to adjust things to suit their particular temperament and situation. Because dog behavior is so context dependent, it is usually a good idea to consult with a good professional trainer, especially in cases of aggression.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hi, I just found your site. I have a 4 month old Shiba. So far we’ve been able to train some good behaviours like lying down before eating, and sitting before going out of the house. He canplay retrieve inside the house as well. He is however, very aggresive when meeting other dogs. Even when seeing them accross the street, he get’s very anxious and that escalates to barking. Have you had that experience? I don´t expect him to completely ignore the other dogs but I don´t want him to become a maniac either.
Yeah, Sephy was pretty reactive to other dogs when he was young. Mostly, he got really excited, which caused him to pull and jump around. Using aversive techniques made his behavior even worse.
With Sephy, the thing that helped him most was doing desensitization exercises and creating neutral experiences. I talk more about what I did with him in the article above.
She also is a Pitbull/Black Lab. mix.
My dog Daisy dislikes other dogs, a lot. We may be getting a new dog tomorrow, but only if she seems okay around him. She has attacked other dogs before, and I have no clue how to make her stop attacking them. I was wondering on how I could maybe keep her calm around other dogs, and somehow get her to not attack this other one. If Daisy doesn’t like him, then he will be put down. She is about 5-6 years old.
With Sephy, desensitization exercises were helpful in terms of getting him to be more calm around other dogs. I talk more about what we did at the end of article above.
However, changing his behavior took time and quite a lot of management.
I have a collie, she is deaf there have been some problems going on it started to happen when we moved house about 2-3 years ago. when I walk her she’s fine if she happens to see a dog(witch happens alot)then she will stair at it antil we get really close then she will growl/bark at it try running up to it and leaning on the lead,she will go on her hind legs and her ears will be pointing up and tail swinging slowly her eyes fixed on that dog!when I get to the fields I let her go she’s fine but then she sees a dog that she lay’s down and crawls slowly to that dog/dogs then I try to catch her but when I try then she crawl faster,I normally catch her at that point.I do want to get her a trainer but my parents wont,I am only 12 and I havent got much to say,please can you help me train her??
oh and she’s 5
Hello Olivia,
I have never lived with a deaf dog before, so I do not have experience with training deaf dogs. This site may be a good starting point-
http://www.deafdogs.org/training/
I do desensitization exercises to train my dog to be calm while in the presence of another dog. During walks, I use *distance*, barriers, and more to keep my dog calm. I talk more about what I do in the article above. However, each dog and each situation is different, so I always change things as necessary to suit my dog and my situation.
Dog behavior is very context dependent, and depends a lot on the temperament of the individual dog, her routine, her environment, and more. This is why it is best to get help from someone local. Can your parents or an adult relative help with the training?