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.
We recently adopted a 5 years old male German Shephard/Husky mix from a local shelter. He is well trained and responds to commands well. He also walks well on leash and tends to be good with strangers and visitors. There are only 2 drawbacks in him. #1. Doesn’t like car rides and #2. Does not like other dogs approach him. If he has his space, is fine, no big deal. He gets agitated only when other dogs come close to sniff him. He lets them sniff and then barks to ward them off. Most of the time, his tail is wagging, but advances while barking. How to fix these issues? Any help is much appreciated.
In terms of car rides, we started small with Sephy and slowly got him used to it. For example, in the beginning we would just get him to go in on his own, treat, and then he gets to come back out. We repeat until he is ok with that.
Next, we took him on a really short ride to the end of our court (takes a few minutes). Then we stop the car, come out, and he gets to play a really fun game. We come home, and play another really fun game.
We just kept repeating until he associated car rides with positive events. Then, we very slowly lengthened the trip.
With Sephy, I keep greetings with other dogs short and I also do not allow them to sniff his butt. I only let him meet calmer dogs that are under good control of their owners. In general, I carefully manage greetings so that there will be a positive or at worst neutral outcome. In this way, he gains confidence and learns that other dogs are a positive thing rather than a negative experience that he is forced to endure.
http://shibashake.com/dog/the-butt-sniff
http://shibashake.com/dog/is-dog-socialization-a-good-thing
Hi I have a husky that is very reactive towards dogs while walking. I was wondering how to desensitize her with other dogs when I don’t know anyone with dogs to help me train her with. How can I stop her from staring at another dog and lunging since she isn’t food motivated.
Hello Salma,
With Sephy we did a lot of desensitization work with him at our nearby SPCA. The SPCA trainer set us up with short training sessions every other day and we were able to work with a variety of friendly dogs that they had at the shelter. They were careful about picking only the calmer dogs that were suited for Sephy. Good trainers that are attached to rescues or shelters usually have dogs that they can use for dog-to-dog type training. There are also some trainers who are attached to dog daycare centers, and they also have access to helper dogs.
At the same time we also met many other dog people in our neighborhood and we were able to get help from our neighbors who have calmer, playful dogs. There was this especially awesome puppy called Kai who lived across the road from us. I would go pick her up and Sephy and Kai would have some fun training and play sessions at our house.
During walks, what helps most with Sephy is to create neutral experiences and to just calmly move him along.
HI,
i have a six month old German sheperd when i take him to my local dog park he starts to zero in on other dogs around his size and in the same gender, when they come near him or when he see other dogs playing. he is not fixed yet. wondering what to do to stop this.
My Shiba Inu was also very dog focused.
Some things that may help-
1. Strong recall training. I usually start recall training in a quiet, low distraction area. Once I have good recall response, then I *very slowly* increase the level of distraction. Here is a good list of recall techniques-
http://aspcabehavior.org/articles/84/Teaching-Your-Dog-to-Come-When-Called-.aspx
2. Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize
3. Finally, with my Shiba I found that smaller and more structured play groups work best for him. Here is a bit more on our dog park experiences-
http://shibashake.com/dog/enclosed-dog-parks-good-or-bad
I have a 1 1/2 year old English Bulldog as well as a 10year old Boxer and 13 year old Bassett Hound. Within the last month or so the Bulldog has become aggressive towards the other 2. They will get along great most the time but then out of nowhere she’ll go after them. She also goes to Doggy Daycare 2x a week so she is always playing with dogs. I am not sure what suddenly provoked this and also not sure what to do about it. Any advice is helpful.
Hello Kelly,
How long has she been going to daycare? How large are the playgroups there? Are the groups well supervised? What sort of training techniques do they use at the daycare?
Sometimes, if the groups are not well-supervised and well structured, the dogs may end up learning undesirable play habits from each other.
As for keeping the peace with my dogs at home, I find that it is helpful to provide them with well-defined rules of interaction. For example, there is no stealing, there is no bullying or humping during play, and when they cooperate and work together, they get the most rewards.
Here is more on what I do with my dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
I have an otherwise extremely well behaved 4 year old Border Collie. He obeys all my commands – until there is another dog around. I live in the country so he is allowed off the leash. As he’s a Border Collie he has a HUGE amount of energy he needs to burn off. He is very sociable and whenever he sees another dog, he goes to say hello and he pays no attention to what I have to say about it. He approaches the other dog in a very friendly way, wagging his tail and lying down occasionally on approach is he is unsure. Most of the time there is no problem whatever. But sometimes he decides to try and mount the other dog, the other dog objects and suddenly there is a fight. (No blood is spilt but it can be very noisy and scary!) I am left shouting at my dog ineffectively and feel like the worst dog owner in the world. I don’t want to keep him on the leash all the time because he really needs to run, but I am at a loss as to how to stop this behaviour. Any tips?
Yeah, my Shiba Inu was also very dog focused.
One possibility is to do recall training with a long-line. I usually start in a quiet place and make sure to reward really well when my dog comes to me. I set aside a special treat that is only used for recall and I also reward him with his favorite game.
Once he has good recall in a quiet place with no distractions, we brought him to a nearby SPCA to do training there with other friendly dogs. We first started with a very calm dog. The SPCA trainer would engage the other dog in doing commands, and we would practice ignoring the other dog and doing some recalls on a long line and so on.
http://aspcabehavior.org/articles/84/Teaching-Your-Dog-to-Come-When-Called-.aspx
We have a Shih Tzu that is scared of our german shepherd. She will attack him and bite him. Is there something we can do. Shih Tzu is 4 years old and the German Shepherd is 1 year old. We need help. Thank You Becky
Hello Becky,
Here are some of my experiences with introducing a new dog into the family-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
Dear Shiba Shake,
Thank you for your for sharing your knowledge and experience! My name is Ines. I have adopted a dog two days ago, for the first time. The dog is a one year old neutered male who has spent most of his life in a cage within a kennel. They would let him out once a day only, for an hour, which he spent running around on a meadow without a leash. I just realized he is a troubled dog and having no prior experience I really need some good advice. When I take him on walks he freaks out when he sees large dogs such as dobermans (he is a mix breed 25 kg large dog himself)and starts growling, jumping, hiding behind me…its very difficult to control him since he is so large. Also, he pulls on his leash like mad, I won’t allow it but he persists, and I am afraid he might hurt is neck or something. Also, one vet told me that it is very difficult to train a one year old dog. He is such a sweet, calm and obedient dog when he is in my flat, but as soon as we go out his issues start. I’d really appreciate if you could counsel me on what to do regarding the fear/aggression and pulling on the leash issues and whether training a one year old is nearly impossible. Thank you, best wishes!
Hello Ines,
When does he pull on the leash? Does he only pull when he sees other people, dogs, etc.? If you were walking him in a totally quiet place, where you were both alone, does he still pull?
Often, young dogs pull because they are excited and want to explore everything at full speed. However, sometimes they also pull to get away from something. For example, during puppyhood, both my Sibes were very afraid of the garbage truck. It is large, big, and makes a lot of noise. When they even just hear the garbage truck they pull to try and run away.
In the over-excitement case, I have found leash-training exercises to be helpful with my dogs. I usually use the start-stop technique combined with the turn-around technique.
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog
For my smaller dog I used a harness during training so that he does not choke himself.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-leash-training-equipment
In the fear case, I have found desensitization exercises to be helpful with my dogs. Here are my experiences with desensitizing my dog toward another dog.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize
Here are some of my experiences with other types of desensitization-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-to-calm-a-fearful-reactive-dog
I usually start leash training in my backyard or in a very quiet area. Then once my dog is comfortable with walking in a very peaceful, low-distraction area, I slowly increase the level of distraction.
Finally, I want to add that getting help from a good professional trainer can also be very useful. I visited with more than a few trainers when I got my first dog – a Shiba Inu. We went through a lot of tough times in the beginning. 😀
http://shibashake.com/dog/my-shiba-inu-story
As for training, it is my understanding that almost all dogs can be trained. Dogs with certain health issues or with brain issues are probably the exception. It is generally easiest to train a dog during puppyhood but even older dogs with problems can be retrained and properly managed. Once a problem behavior has become a habit, it will likely take more time, patience, and management to retrain it, but still, all the evidence suggests that it can certainly be done. Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.
Big hugs to your dog! Let us know how it goes.
My name is Mariah. I am 19 years old and I have a 20 month old male Boxer. He has always been a great pet to have in our house up until recently. He has been showing a lot of aggression towards other dogs and sometimes people. Just recently he attacked our Shih Tzu, bit his eye, and has had to have his eye removed. A few weeks ago he attacked another dog while on a hike. The problem seems to be getting worse. He has growled and scared off some people that come to the house. Im afraid that the problem is going to get worse and he will attack a person or even a small child in our home. He is an indoor dog and we have a daycare in our house. My parents are to the point where we either need to fix the problem (stop the aggression) or put him down. I am desperately seeking a way to stop his aggression. If there is any way you can help me let me know. Thank you so much
Hello Mariah,
Did anything happen recently that could trigger the change? Have there been changes in your routine or your family’s routine? Changes to the dog’s routine? Did anything different happen recently? How is his physical health?
Before this, did he get along with your Shih Tzu? What was his daily routine like before the change and after the change?
Based on what you describe, it will probably be very helpful to get advice from a professional trainer. I worked with several of them when I first got my Shiba Inu, and the good ones were able to identify his aggression/reactivity triggers and help me desensitize him to those triggers.
Hi.I have a boston terrier that starts to look for other dogs as soon as i go outside with her.She is constantly looking for a dog everywhere.She is aggressive whenever she meets a new dog,and will lunge at them.Was wondering what i could to to stop this.
Thank-you
John
Hmmm, sounds like she may be afraid of other dogs? Has she had bad experiences with other dogs before?
Does she pull to meet the other dog or do you pull her to meet the other dog? What is her body language like when she sees other dogs? Is her tail up or down? Does she try to make herself look small or does she puff up her chest and stare?
With Shiba Sephy, what helped with him is to first create a lot of neutral experiences. We just ignore other dogs and walk on. I don’t stop to chat or anything, just keep moving at a normal pace. I also stay calm and make seeing other dogs into a non-event. Since nothing ever happens when we see other dogs, it just got to be old hat, and Sephy started to calm down.
Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises can also be helpful.
I need help. I adopted an American bulldog mix named Fred. He has been great and is my best friend, however he is very aggressive towards almost every other dog indoors or outdoors. Today he broke away from me on his leash in a friends backyard, ran across the street, and attacked another dog on a walk with his owners. The other owner was able to pick up their dog and protect it from my dogs attacks, but it was very scary. My dog is considered a service animal for my ptsd and I am afraid if I can’t find a way to stop his aggression issues towards other animals then something will happen and I will be forced to give him up or worse. He is calm and quiet almost always until he sees something to chase or another animal. I don’t know how to make him understand and I am now terrified to have him near other dogs since he will bite and hurt them. Do you have any advice for what I could do to stop his behavior. I know it is usually the trainer and not the animal, but I can’t even submit him when he gets like that.
Hello Caitlin,
My Shiba Inu was reactive to dogs when he was young. There are many reasons why a dog may get ‘aggressive’ with another, and there are also many different definitions of what aggressive means.
Sephy gets along well with playful large dogs. He tends to overwhelm smaller dogs with his rough play-style, and this may cause a smaller dog to get fearful and resort to aggression. Therefore, I only choose large, playful dogs to be his playmates.
Some things that helped with Sephy-
1. Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises.
This was a good way to get him comfortable with dogs in a positive context. I teach him that we just ignore other dogs, and he gets rewarded for being calm and focusing on me.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize
2. Creating neutral experiences.
Ignoring other dogs was also helpful for Sephy. In this case, he learns that when we are out on walks, nothing special happens when we meet dogs. Therefore, there is no reason to get excited or stressed when there are other dogs about. I describe more of this in the article above.
3. Control my own energy.
In the beginning, I was always fearful that Sephy might act out. As a result, whenever we see other dogs, I would get tense and stressed. Sephy very quickly picked up on this energy and became tense and stressed as well. This made him become even more reactive toward other dogs, which made me even more tense, and caused things to quickly spiral downward. Once I was able to stay calm, things improved with Sephy as well.
As for alpha rolls, they did not work well on Sephy. Here is more on my experiences with alpha-rolls.
With dog-to-dog aggression, getting help from a good professional trainer can be very helpful. A trainer can read the dog’s body language, and identify what is triggering the dog’s behavior. I visited with several trainers when I got Sephy and many of them were helpful.
Note however, that the dog training area is not regulated much, if at all. Pretty much anybody can claim to be a trainer. I found that it was also very important to do a lot of my own research and read all that I can about Sephy’s issues. In this way, I could tweak things to suit Sephy’s temperament, and more importantly, identify the good trainers from the bad ones. I also visited a lot of breed specific forums and learned much from veteran Shiba owners.
Here are a couple of articles that may be interesting-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-dogs-learn-how-dogs-think
http://shibashake.com/dog/the-dominant-dog-dealing-with-dominance-in-dogs