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.
My 35 lb corgi/golden retriever mix is friendly with small dog, medium dogs, cats, kids but he gets aggressive towards dog over 70 pounds. He will go up to them like he want to play then jump up trying to bite their lips but not playfully. He will only try to attack them from the front. We take him to dog event he enteracts good with the other dogs as long as I’m petting him or talking to him. If I’m just standing there with him and doing nothing after a few seconds of smelling each other he starts trying to bit the big dog. I don’t carry him ever. I was wondering your thoughts on this
Hello!
I’m hoping you can help me to understand my Parson Russell. Exactly 2 yrs old and had him since he was 7 weeks. I’m with all day nearly every day. He has been socialized since he was 3 months old (parks and dog day care). He adores adults (small children get him super excited and he has growled at babies and toddlers)but is super hyper protective of me and is very aggressive towards big dogs (rarely small dogs but it has happened). He is trained well with demands (sit, stay, roll over, beg, etc) and is not dog aggressive when he is alone with my boyfriend.
I am concerned about his (big) dog aggression because he has gotten in fights and has bitten other dogs. His growl is fierce and he snaps and lunges towards the other dog. He is uncontrollable in this state.
I understand he is likely fearful or insecure but I am at a loss as to what to do. I’ve been training him myself since I’ve had him.
Any amount of advice or suggestions (from anyone) would be very, very much appreciated!!! I love my dog but his dog aggression needs to be tamed.
Thank you!
-Meg
Hi there,
I have a female, 11 year old jack Russel cross and recently have been trying to introduce a much younger (2 1/2) male parsons terrier into the house. For the most part, he seems to ignore her or allow her to give him a sniff without paying any attention, although sometimes he does get aggressive over food and he guards his toys & treats or tries to take hers. He does have a skin condition and while medicated, the number of attacks went down a huge amount but they still happen almost at random after they have been getting on really well and never when they are walking. I praise them both for behaving nicely to each other and I keep them separate at feeding time, but I don’t know how to work out the last few niggles. Please could I have some advice?
Thank you!
Shibashake
If you would, please email me at your convenience. I have a random out of place question.
Hi, thank you so much for this article, it made interesting reading! I wondered if you could offer any advice on our situation! We have a 3year old GSH cross bread, he is very docile but his recall with me isn’t great (he’s fine with my husband!!) This has never been an issue though, because we live in the middle of nowhere (our garden is 40 acres of land & wooded areas) & only ever see our neighbours with their dogs occasionally. However, we adopted Ludo last year from Spanish Stray Dogs UK charity. He is a Belgium Shepherd, aged between 4 & 6 years old. He’s the most wonderful dog with people, so gently & loving. He also adores Leonard & has become very protective of him, even though Leonard doesn’t need protecting at all! Ludo’s recall with me is excellent but because Leonard quite often ignores me, Ludo then runs back to him & he wants to protect him! Thi sis ok as long as there are no other dogs around, but sometimes our neighbours dogs come in to our garden.
Ludo is fine with our neighbours 3 rottweilers (1 male, aged 9 & 2 females, aged 4 & a 9 month old puppy). He’s also fine with our other neighbours 9 year old female lab, as well as Leonard’s sister Molly who stays with us every now & then.
However, Ludo went for our builders dog last week, she’s a collie & won’t leave him alone, constantly nipping at him & trying to herd him! I told him off & he’s been fine with her ever since, just looks to me & stays back.
But he has a real problem with another neighbours dogs. They are short haired pointers & incredibly nervous dogs who either go in to submissive mode when they see our 2 or run away crying & yelping! Ludo bit the older, female pointer (10 years old) 2 weeks ago, superficial puncture wound to her neck, thankfully needing no treatment & again we told Ludo off & he’s left her alone ever since. However yesterday Ludo bit the younger, male pointer (2 years old) as he ran away from him, nasty open wound on his back leg that needed stitches.
If we meet the dogs & things are calm, Ludo has a wee growl but we control the situation, tell him no etc & he stops. When he’s gone for them, it’s been when our 2 have run ahead & the pointers have come in to our garden so there is no one to intervene, although it’s over very quickly, it’s been a quick bite & Ludo runs back to me. The neighbour is VERY concerned about this situation, we discussed with him getting our dog muzzled as he thinks we’re on a slippery slope to Ludo’s behaviour getting worse. We don’t want to stop Ludo’s freedom but we can’t control who brings their dogs on to our land either & don’t want another dog being hurt. Any suggestions?
Kindest regards,
Jo & Marc (Scotland, UK)
Hi, I have a Yorkie and he is 8 years old . Every time I walk him and he sees other dogs he immediately tries to attack. He attacks big dogs , and today I walked him and there was a dog off the leash and he immediately tried to attack and I tried to stop it and he bit me . I don’t think he knew he bit me , I just think he was so focused on getting that dog . What can I do ? I want him to get along with dogs . I just think I didn’t expose him to a lot of dogs growing up , I’ve had him since he was a couple of months . Is it too late ? Should I get a dog trainer ?
my shiba inu is 2 years old. since he was 4 months old he has been living in a house with 4 other dogs. He has bad food aggression with the other dogs but not people. any human can walk up to him while he is eating or take his food away anything and he’s completely fine with it, but when another dog comes close to his food he almost acts as though he is possessed and gets very mean. He even gets aggressive when the other dogs go near where his food was, hours after his food has been picked up and taken away as though it were still sitting there. It started out with just food, then went to food and toys with the other dogs and now it is food toys and when people come over he has to be the first to greet them otherwise he turns bad. I have tried to look up situations like mine so that we can train our dog to stop but there’s nothing on it. In the beginning he was fine and it almost makes me wonder if he learned his aggression from one of the other dogs in the house hold who does not like our shiba. Its a Chihuahua mix and every time my dog goes near him he growls and snaps at my shiba. Is there anyway to train our dog at this point to teach him that his aggression is not acceptable?
I have a 3 yr old corgi mix and a 1 1/2 yr old shiny inu they older dog has become fairly aggressive toward the younger, especially when there is involved. He also seems to become easily stressed and anxious. I was wondering if an anxiety vest or something along those lines might help?
I have three dogs on is a five year old husky. She has never bitten a dog but lately she has been trying to get the little dogs when they run over to use she has gone to bite it and snapped at it court it on the bum then the other day she had a yorkie under her legs put her head down and held it but generally until I said her name the little pup went away
My 18-month-old, spayed French bulldog has begun attacking our 11-year-old, spayed Boston terrier. The attacks appear to be unprovoked and are frighteningly viscous. Each dog has injured the other.
The attacks begin with the same behaviors the Frenchie uses when playing with our tiny 1-year-old Boston terrier, then rapidly progress to serious fighting.
We now keep the two dogs separated, which is difficult for us and unpleasant for the two dogs.
We have tried giving the Frenchie lots of attention in the presence of the Boston, so maybe the Boston is jealous and is doing something we aren’t able to detect that provokes the Frenchie.
My wife and I have both been scratched badly by the Frenchie and bitten by the Boston while breaking up the fights.
Last week we got a soft muzzle for the Frenchie. She was still able to almost bite off the Boston’s toe.
Today I got a “Little Dog Remote Trainer” – delivers a very mild shock that’s actually a mild tingle. When the two dogs were in the yard together the Frenchie attacked the Boston and scratched my arm when I picked her up.
We are considering returning the Frenchie to her breeder, which would break our hearts, but the old Boston can’t effectively defend herself and we are continually stressed and on edge.
Some of the previous posts have given me some ideas we will try, but I’m hoping someone can give us some better insight to solve the problem before we have to give up our dearly loved Frenchie. Help!
I have the same issue with my 2 shibas ! Any luck finding a solution? I know it’s only been 3 days since posting lol.
I have an Am. Staff. Terrior (pitbull) who was 2 y/o when I brought home my GSD puppy. He was not happy that I brought her home. I had to keep them separated for the first couple of weeks in order to prevent him from hurting/killing her (not joking). They are now best friends. They sleep together, play together, go on walks together. I introduced them to each other very slowly. I would keep her in her cage, and let my pitbull walk around the house and play how he would before while she was in the cage. After seeing that he was gaining more confidence with her around I would hold her in my arms while I took him for walks. (this allowed them to be closer… but in a very controlled way. I finally let them be together with no cage/ me holding her or him back. I was very relaxed, my entire family was there and we were all very relaxed about them being face to face… Ever since then they have been best friends. This may not work for everyone, but thats how I desensitized my pitbull to the new puppy:)
I am desperate. My 18 month old boxer has started attacking my 5 year old terrier mix. ALL OF A SUDDEN! I do not know why it started or how to stop it. It’s awful and scary and if it weren’t for my husband being able to muscle the boxer off the terrier I fear she would’ve killed the little one. Please help me!!!
My Labradoodle is 18 months and ever since we got him at 10 weeks, the neighbor dogs have barked at him, a lot. Maybe the neighbor dogs didn’t like the new dog on the block? Sometimes their dogs would be on the loose and ran straight over to me and my dog while we played ball in backyard, and attacked him, this happened several times before the neighbors got the message to keep their dog in its own yard. Now, when I walk my dog or take him to dog classes, he is fine with strange dogs, plays nicely, but if we ever run into our neighbors walking their dogs, or see them when we are driving the car, my dog really gets unhinged. Am I just doomed to have my dog always hating these certain dogs that barked at him, and attacked him, while he was younger? Sometimes I think maybe I should find a new home for my dog, where he doesn’t have to be so close to those mean dogs who attacked him.
Hello,
I’m about to adopt a 2-3year old female pitbull. The foster parent told me that she don’t like other female dogs. She is staying in a home with 4 male and a female dog, the female dog had to get stitches after an altercation that they had. Other then that she is a very sweet calm dog and did great with my daughters. How do I begin working on that problem? I though I would get her a muzzle and move forward from there…. I’m a fairly new pet owner and I don’t have tons of experience.
Please please don’t adopt that dog. It is not a dog for an inexperienced owner- she requires some who knows how to work with a dog who has sims behavior issues. This would not be a good situation for you or the dog.
I just adopted a 3 year old female Pit yesterday, and the adoption agency just called us to make sure we didn’t have any other dogs in the house because the paperwork stated that she wasn’t good with other dogs. Thankfully we don’t have any other dogs, but I don’t want her to be aggressive with other dogs, and I don’t want to excuse her from having a “doggie social life.” So we are going to work on getting her used to seeing other dogs and such. I know it’s easier said than done.
Best of luck to you.
Have an interesting situation brewing… I have 6 dogs 15yrs, 4yrs, 2 x 20mths (brother/sister) and 2 x 14 mths (Brothers)…. so 3 boys and 3 girls…all of hem have been sterilized – the brothers were done last week.
The 4 years old bitch is dominant in the pack….
They all get on together, until a month ago when the brothers started dominance aggression towards each other… so we had them sterilized and the only in physical contact with each other at the moment is when they are on a lead with us… they like each other, love to see each other 99.9% of the time..but something kicks in and they are at one another! Although only 14 mths old, they weigh 50+ kg … a lot of dog!
They have been socialized and attended puppy training ( some success)…
Today we took them to the vets to have their stitches out… both on leads and muzzles. One of the dogs was quite unsettled in the waiting area ( no other animals there), when in walked a man all buoyant and went straight up to my dogs…. the unsettled dog was sitting in front of me, when the man came in and he bent down to offer his face to be licked…. my dog (even with a muzzle) took exception to this and managed to get enough space in the muzzle and nipped his ear ( drew blood )
He has done this before – exact same location/same situation ie a stranger sticking their face next to his
At first I thought this was the start of some aggressive protection behavior or maybe this stranger encroaching on his space as he was stuck between him and me….. or is this just stupidity on the men’s part?
It is partially the man’s fault bc you don’t put yourself r face UpTo an unknown dog but also partially your fault as you should have told that man to back off. It is your job to protect your dog. My shiba is sometimes questionable on a leash with new people I tell them not to pet her. I refuse to put her in danger of hurting herself. Ultimately she will pay the price if she bites. Not the person. They sell no pet harnesses if you feel uncomfortable correcting adults.
You don’t put your face in front of a dogs face. Especially one you don’t know. That’s like the man who lost fingers when he put his hand in my dads car the pet my dads pit. No he wasn’t trained to guard the vehicle. No he wasn’t trained to guard anything in the vehicle. But I’m sorry you just don’t stick your hand in another vehicle. You just don’t stick your hand in a vehicle with a dog in it. Of any breed. Especially if the dog does not know you. It’s common sense. The guy tried to sue my dad and lost.
I am a 16 year old with a 3 year old male roetwiller/ lab mix named Kuzco. He lives behind the garage in his own little section because we have a gate that connects to the back yard, so we can’t let him loose. He is a very aggressive towards other dogs and killed one of our neighbors yorkie dogs. he has also killed a bird and a opossum before. When I walk him and he sees another dog he is relatively calm. Until when they run up on him. You see tonight when I walked him a medium sized dog came running at us and my first thought was to run as quick as possible but of course the dog caught up. And in front of my dog was biting and grabbing the dog (very small compared to him) and then the dog went running home. I’m very afraid that this might happen again and each time I walk him I’m so paranoid if there will be another loose dog around the corner. I’m trying to train him but I’m only 16 and have school so if anyone has any home excersizes to train and calm young dogs please let me know.
Though I have not tried these techniques with my new dog, I have heard elsewhere that they work. Google “training a dog to settle or relax westwood animal hospital” and the first link is a PDF with several strategies for various situations. I would also recommend trying to get an approaching dog to leave before your dog acts aggressively. You could do this using a very loud stern voice and shout “back off”. While you are trying to retrain your dog, if your dog’s aggression is truly that serious, you could always carry pepper spray in case your dog gets its mouth on another dog and won’t let go – though it would truly suck to pepper spray your own dog, you may have to in order to get it to release the animal it is attacking.
Sounds like your dog is out of control. Don’t let it around other dogs if it attacks. People shouldn’t have dangerous dogs around people or pets.
Hello, I badly need your help with a unpleasant situation. I have a Dalmatian 10 years old (male) he killed a bichon puppy(male 3months old) in front of my eyes. I trusted him and he seemed ready to mingle with the bichon but he grabbed him and never let go. We told him to put it down he did do so then he looked at us and cracked the neck for the bichon. he then took the body and we never found it.
I have 2 other dogs (female) with which he is just fine with. 1 dachshund and 1 mix terrier.
In the past he did killed cats, pigeons and rodents but never in front of us. It usually happens overnight or during our absence.
We once saw a dead body of a dog in our garden but we weren’t certain that he is the one who killed. (i wasnt here when that happen)
I never feed him raw meat.
I went to see the vet and he told me that he needs to be put down because training him at this stage may be pointless.
should i listen to the vet?
For 4-5 years of his life i wasn’t present due to the fact that I undertook further studies overseas. But my parents were continuously here.
To be honest i’m very scared of him since this incident i’m enable to looked at him, my mum is feeding him.
Please give me your advise on this. Im unable to sleep i keep picturing him killing and killing.
I live in a neighbourhood where there are loads of kids playing outside.
he is usually keep in his kennel which is found at the rear of the house
may be i was at fault doing that…but i really really trusted that my dalmatian would be calm and willing to bond
Maybe because it was a male dog and he felt the bichon was a threat to his home, since he is used only to female dogs and he is the only male. If your dog won’t listen to you then you need to re-train him old dogs can learn new tricks. Your dog should be submissive towards you when you give him a command, sounds like he is a little confused on who is in charge. My 6 year old chiweenie used to growl at me and sometimes tried to snap at me when he was younger because other family members would sneak him food or not allow me to take control of the situation, now I have corrected his behavior and he is completely submissive to the point he will not chase a squirrel if I say uh-uh no. I don’t know much about bigger dogs or Dalmatians , but I know that my 6 year old has changed his behavior and even my 2 year old chiweenie mix although he is submissive can be sneaky and instigate fights but it is important to show that you are the pack leader. Voice tone also plays a big part in discipline , like in the article do not just give your dog anything make him realize he needs to be submissive and listen by rewarding with treats when he responds well and just spending extra time and extra love will make a stronger bond and gain more trust between you two. I’m not an expert , I’m basing this off of things I have read and my own experiences. If you are willing to put in time to retrain your dog and give him extra attention I would keep him that’s just me. My grandparents had a Dalmatian max when I was young and he was very sweet , do not give up on your Dalmatian . I may also suggest taking him for walks alone in big open parks or somewhere out in nature , I do not imagine keeping him locked up in the cage is helping his aggression or restlessness but rather is exacerbating it. When I put my dogs in the cage it is when they are acting bad , he could just be acting out like a child would. I know the puppy incident is a big deal take it seriously and put time into him and he will respond to you in a better way.
I would seek a veterinary behaviorist to help you and also look into purchasing a basket muzzle and train him to wear it on a daily basis especially when outside.
Dont get rid of your dog, he most likely was protecting his pack and territory. Have you ever taught him not to, how is he suppose to know how to react when he put in a new situation (the puppy should have been in a carrier untill you know if he’ll be safe) . Dogs generally aim to please there owners or someone higher in the pack. Maybe when you scoled him for being aggressive and when he stopped and looked at you you should have kept yelling and came after him untill you retrieved the puppy from him even if it was to late to save it. But letting him take it away most like he took it as he did a good thing and the puppy was his prize. Locking him in a cage and haveing nothing to do with him or getting rid of him is not going to solve anything. You shouldnt be afraid of him he loves you and i am sure he is confused and misses you. Go see him i am sure he will be hopping around and over joyed to see you. In my opinion you need to spend more time with him so you can get to know him and teach him, maybe take a dog training course with him and give him one on one attention so you can better undetstand your pet. I might be wrong and your pet might be a serial killer but i serious dont think so. My dogs are kinda like my kids and its just my opinion i am not a professional trainer just a dog owner tryi g to help out.
Hi there
Perhaps you could help me here..
My dogs (Bruce and Polly) are really friendly and kind to each other all of the time except for when we make loud laughing noises. Any time someone laughs (especially high pitched and loud) Polly viciously attacks Bruce and we have to stop her attacking him.
I don’t know why though.. any idea to the reason why Polly does this?
My chiweenie will do this to my younger chiweenie mix if I am whooping and they are excited and we are playing or if they are playful, I know smaller dogs are more receptive to tone than big dogs . Perhaps try to hold Polly and rub and calm her next time you notice this . I will rub my chiweenie and massage his shoulders which calms him and he usually does not do anything put melt into a puddle. He could be confusing it with anger because of the pitch and loudness, and mimicking behavior he thinks is correct. Tell him no and rub him and calm him down and tell him to calm down talking in a soft tone will help the dog and he will know to calm down by sensing your energy,tone and pheromones . Dogs are very good at smelling and can small a lot of pheromones our bodies and all animals produce this is why they sniff butts this will tell them age,gender, and mood of other dog. If you are nervous and fearful the dog will pick up on this, like I said he could be confused that the laughter is anger because of the intensity of the sound and the excited need he is sensing in the house.
I own a Min Pin/Jack Russell mix and I’ve had him for almost 8 years. Just the other day I took him for a short walk. When we were on our way home from the walk a young guy was also walking a little long haired dog a bit smaller than him, anyway to make a long story short Dax was under the other dog checking him out and I was watching but obviously didn’t see any signs and Dax started attacking him or her and he had some of the other dog’s hair in his mouth. After that happened I was pretty scared and very very shocked because he had never ever done that before. I’m not sure if he was trying to be dominant or what it was. He’s always had good experiences w/ dogs except for one time,I think it was this year or last summer my neighbor a few houses down had her dog out w/ her, the dog was a little bigger than Dax,something like a Rat Terrier or something close to it and the dog snapped at my dog and I got him away from the situation quickly. I felt really really bad about the other dog though and kept asking the young man if he or she was alright and apologized 3 or 4 times,it was pretty embarrassing too knowing my dog did that. Any suggestions on what I can do ? I’m really afraid to tell my vet but I know I’ll have to because it’s the right thing to do. My husband didn’t want me to say anything but I said, “no,” ” the vet has to be told”! He said,”what if she says he has to be put down”? Hopefully she doesn’t say that bcse he had bitten me twice which she already knows about. Could it be his age and that he’s getting older, maybe he’s not feeling well ? I read on another site that if he Is not not feeling well or has hip displaysia that one of those could be the reason why. I noticed he has a lump on the back of his leg and he’s also been falling a lot when he’s going up the back porch stairs lately and that concerns me.
Referencing your Min pin mix having trouble going up stairs – we’ve rescued many older dogs that were having signs of arthritis and hip problems give them Dr fosters and Smith vitamins for seniors. Joint care extra strength soft chewables. You will be amazed. They absolutely work. You will see a major improvement in about 2 Weeks. Good luck
You mentioned your min pin mix has a lump on his back leg and he has been falling a lot …Hopefully he has been to the vet and had that biopsied because it could be cancer, especially adding the falling part. That would be my first concern as if he is sick that could also make him aggressive. Pain makes dogs aggressive. I would start there. Good luck
I’ve had my Shiba Inu, Aries for almost two years now and just recently he’s begun to be very aggressive towards other dogs. When we first noticed it we were at the dog park and he attacked another dog that got close to us. But I tried to distance myself from him and other dogs and realized that he would attack any dog that got close to him. It’s strange though because it seems to be at random, some dogs he is cool with and other dogs he full on tries to attack. I want to try your methods, but just not sure of how I should exactly go about. I have a friend who has dogs that he is familiar with and I’m wondering if I should try it with them in a controlled environment.
I have the SAME problem! My 2+ year pitbull/CATAHOULA began this behavior initially just after 1 year. We’ve had her since she was 10 weeks. Initially for that 1+ year she would roll over on her back in a submissive position to other dogs. We wondered at the time if she was going to be a fearful dog! Just after making 1 yr, she met a random dog on the beach. That increasingly began a series of random aggression on her part–it is always on the meet and greet, and it is typically dogs smaller than her, and all age groups. My husband and I grieve because we want this to stop. After several inconsistent forays of aggression at the dog park we just quit going. We also take her to doggie day care 1-2x/week where she does well (the dogs are not kept in runs).
This has been the best article I have found to date about dog to dog aggression and I like what the author has to say. We already do some things ie we are on a 360 degree watch (for other dogs) on our daily beach walk. We do avoidance unless I think she will play well w the other dog (I gauge it on what the other dog is doing – like fetching). I will call her and leash her and walk then past the other dog(s) w Lots of space between and then take her off leash when safe. So far (it’s been maybe one month) this has worked well.
My husband is much Much worse w handling her, lol…he tenses and pulls her tightly on the leash (instead of walking calmly, loose leash) as well as allowing her to lead him. So I prefer ME to be w the dogs.
Anyways, I hope this helps because all the other dog aggression articles seem to be on the dogs that have a problem w Every dog and not just random ones.
Thank you for this lovely write up!
I adopted my husky 3 months ago and the previous owner had warned about him being near other animals. While I believe it is not aggression, as he does not bark/growl at them, his attempt at trying to play or getting really excited about other animal can be frightening for the other owner. As such I was told best to avoid; pulled him away or changed directions during our walks.
Unfortunately, today a small dog came too close by him and I couldn’t react in time and he bit the small dog and held him in his mouth for probably 10secs or so until I finally got him to release.
My questions are:
1) With reference to your article about hitting a dog, I kept hitting his mouth area to make him release his hold. Is this ok? I was in shock and had never dealt with such a situation and my only thought at the moment was to get him to release cos the owner’s daughter was screaming too..
2) How should I punish him thereafter the incident? I’ve read a few sites and forums about correcting behaviors, the point is that he already has bitten the dog and all the rewarding/adverse training stuff that I keep coming across is not appropriate here.
I don’t know the extent of injuries yet as I am awaiting the vet report, but as far as I can tell there was no blood.
Storm has been very docile since I adopted him and does not lounge at humans in the same manner as toward animals or bite humans at all. Once, a lady wanted to pet him and he jump on her as a greeting, the same as how he jumps up to me when I return home, but that was all. Also, a guy came in to install cable internet and Storm did not even go up to him; just lay on the floor without batting and eye at him and we didn’t even have to leash or give him commands to stay put etc.
Sorry for the long post, I will definitely try your methods here on our next walks to get him to calm down in the presence of other animals. But for now, I am also concerned as to what I need to show him in order for him to know that it was wrong to bite the other dog cos that was actually my neighbour’s dog and definitely won’t be the last time we may cross paths again.
Thank you so much!
My dog (a 2 year old yellow lab/white shepard mix) gets along great with other dogs in the park or field across from our home but lately if we meet up with another dog and it’s on a leash or if the dog comes into the yard with its master this is when he will eventually attack.
This behaviour is relatively new and I’m having difficulty understanding what has changed to cause this.
Hi there my male Perkinise keeps on attacking my other make Perkinise for no reason. How do I stop this as it is becoming unbearable.
Get both boys neutered it will stop them attacking each other as they both will not have any hormones
Hello my dog (Lola) girl staffy age2 nearly 3 has become very aggressive towards other people and dogs whilst walking her any suggestions? Thanks
Hello,
I don’t know if Cesar’s team is still taking inquiries. However, I have a Siberian Husky that I feel we’ve tried multiple things with. We knew that he was going to be a special case in the first couple months we had him. We brought him home from the breeder too early. This isn’t something we were aware of and in any case you’re holding a month old puppy and the breeder gives you the choice to leave him with them for another couple weeks or take him home – you’d take him home. He was too young then to show signs; however, we quickly realized we had a different breed than myself or my fiancé ever dealt with. He had a Corgi prior and my family had raised a pit bull and a yorkie. We noticed he was very primal and almost acted like a wild animal. He was attracted to dead birds on the ground when we’d walk, his first instinct was to chase smaller creatures like birds and lizards, and he was also very food aggressive. He bit my fiancé and punctured his palm, while feeding him as a younger pup, because he had his hand in his food bowl. Disciplining him was like trying to teach a hard headed child that was too smart for his own good. He learned commands, crate training, and tricks all within the first week that we brought him home, but his behavior with other dogs/animals was off.
After having a dog trainer visit our home, she mentioned that we took him home at too young an age (1 month old). She said she could tell because dogs like that are either very dominant and aggressive or they are very skiddish, which he’s not. He was too confident, would go to a dog park and run right up to strange dogs and put his head over theirs, then lunge at them and try to play, which aggravated them. The trainer said he hadn’t learned social cues from the mother, so even his play was rough and he was very mouthy. We tried to teach him bite inhibition, screaming out and yelping when he bit us. He was kicked out of two doggie day care schools – one because he bit one of the facilitators when they attempted to grab him by the collar. The other school said he would not be allowed because he showed signs that he was going to bite out of fear. When they approached him, he’d lick his lips, and didn’t like people trying to grab him or corral him into a corner, so he’d act out and that was unacceptable if they couldn’t take control of him in the heat of the situation. We then hired a dog man to pick him up twice a week, take him out to the dog park with a pack, and walk him for several hours. This worked, he became well-socialized and better behaved with other dogs; however, he end up biting the dog man on two separate occasions. What happened was he was at the dog park and the dog man saw a potential fight was about to breakout with our pup and some others. He jumped in and grabbed the aggressive dog and said that the other dogs reaction to him jumping in is to back down, but my dog was still growling and had a wild look in his eye, disregarding any commands and showing teeth. He reached in to grab him and was bitten really hard. It was hard enough to break the skin and require medical attention. He bit the dog man’s wife recently as well! The same thing happened, a dog fight broke out and he thought he had it under control, grabbed another dog and proceeded to walk with him away, thinking everything was taken care of. My dog still remained, growling, and two smaller dogs ran in and got him going again. The wife stepped in and tried to grab my dog and she was bitten. Immediately after, she said my dog got affectionate with her and almost seemed sorry because he weaved in and out of her legs and bowed his head to her.
Our puppy is now approaching 3 years old and still showing aggressive behavior and biting people. The problem is that although other dogs understand not to bite humans, our dog man has said on multiple occasions that my dog bites people. He didn’t want to muzzle him because he said the times when he has bitten are unpredictable and my dog has been so fast to react that he can’t catch him. However, I’d hate to have him do it again and end up being put to sleep. At this point we don’t know where to turn, how to correct the behavior and help him. He’s the sweetest dog and never means any harm, I just feel he’s misunderstood and needs to be around people who are watching him at all times and know how to deal with him. Please advise!
Dont call caesars team, they train the old fashioned way and there are better methods that will help the dog in the long run look up victoria stillwell she is a very good trainer with reward based training.
My husky Nitika keeps attacking my other husky Nika for no reason. She never used to be like that. Until my family and I moved into with my grandpa but now she constantly is acting up on my other dog and we don’t know why. My mom keeps getting stressed out because it mainly happens at bed time and she has to make sure, She doesn’t attack nika and she doesn’t do anything she just walks into the living room to lay down or she is sleeping and Nitika just attacks her and nika gets pinned most times. Why does my dog do that is it stress or a dominance thing?
Get both girls neutered this will stop them fighting as there trying to prove who’s more dominent
I rescued a female what I was told was part blue heeled retriever and two other things, I can’t remember. She definitely has Rottweiler markings. I’m 64, live alone with her and she is very loved and spoiled. We didn’t get much exercise over the winter, I live in South Dakota and detest the cold. But as the weather broke and got warmer, we have been walking around town every day. About a mile and a half. I carry water for her to drink 1/2way. I use a choke chain because I need to be in control. If a dog is on a chain, in a fenced yard or walking on a leash, she stares and pulls hard on the leash. She usually stops and walks away when I tell her they are very good puppy dogs. There are about 8 houses that allow their dogs to run loose. It is against town ordinance, but apparently they don’t care. If a dog is running loose, there is almost 0 control over my dog, if the other charges her – and most of them do. I suspect she killed one dog, it ran away crying and I haven’t seen it since. One idiot was waking his dog the other day with no leash. As they approached, I warned the guy that she would go after dogs that are running loose. He says, oh, they’ll be fine, they are both female. His dog charged mine and within 30 seconds, mine had his pinned to the ground on its back and was going for her neck when I got her away. He told me he never better see my dog off it’s leash or he would shoot her. She has a chain that allows her to go 30 feet on the side of my apartment. Never had any trouble with her trying to take off. She’s a very loving dog, loves adults and adores kids. She has a bunch of kids that she always stops at their house to see if they are going to come out and play. It’s just dogs that are running loose. City Hall has assured me that if there is trouble or hurt caused, the other dogs owner is and will be held responsible. I’m getting tired of being exhausted from trying to control her because they want to let their dog run loose. I have ordered police strength pepper spray and it should arrive in two days. I don’t even know if it is legal for me to use, but Social Security sure doesn’t leave me money to approach a professional trainer. I think if they didn’t charge her, there would not be fights. My dog is 4 years old, I’ve had her for 9 months and I’m not looking forward to an entire summer of this. I’ve read to put myself in between the dogs – which I admit, I am terrified to do. I’ve read to just keep walking and ignore the other dog, but it usually happens very fast and they are fighting before I even know they are there. I had one incident last fall where a dog running loose that she went after, caused me to fall backwards, knock myself out for a few minutes , somehow walked myself two blocks home and my grandson came and took me to the ER because there was so much blood. I had a concussion and 6 stitches. And I AM the horrible person because my dog was on a leash????? This is a very rural town is SD, I’ve only lived here since I retired 4 years ago and do not have one single friend in the entire town. Any suggestions?
I have a 13 lb, 6 year old rat terrier. On four occasion she has been attacked by much larger dogs — twice by two dogs attacking together. Once at a dog park, once on a hiking trail, twice dog walking in the neighborhood. The attcks are not playful; they are fast and quiet, the way a dog would attack a squirrel or rabbit.
After the last neighborhood attack, the owner explained to me that his dogs “just don’t like small dogs.”
I don’t know what to do. On one occasion I picked up my dog, thinking that would prevent her from being attacked. Wrong — the attacking dog jumped on me and bit my dog on the abdomen. I could report the neighborhood attacks to the police, although that might start a neighborhood feud. Or maybe I should carry bear spray. Suggestions?
If I were you I’d get a small dog that I could pick up if necessary, move to a warmer climate and be with people with like interests so I could make acquaintances and some day friends. Life’s too short.
Hi! I have read a lot of your articles and your advice is on point.
I had a question about seeing/passing other dogs on the walk. I have a 1 year old bull terrier who is really headstrong, but I have managed to curb that with highly structured walk (heeling) and leadership. He walks pretty well and walks.
Anyways. He is very friendly with other dogs, but I usually don’t let him stop and sniff while on our structured walk because he is usually over excited (and dangerous with the leashes, collars etc.) and wants to engage in play, which I usually do solely off leash.
He never lunged/barks when he sees other dogs or pass by, but sometimes he will hit the breaks completely while passing or seeing other dogs and in my head stopping is not an option. I don’t think it’s out of fearfulness, since he’s highly socialized, but he stalls when he wants to get his way. Another example of this is when we are stopped and he sniffs the ground for example (it just happened) and he saw another dog coming (he gets alert when he hears the metallic sounds a dog makes when walking because of his tags) he would stop and stare very intensely at him (he did that with cats and people before; cats were because he was predatorial, people because of interest, he loves everyone). When he was smaller I did not think much of it and I may have let him stare too much. Over time, it helped just to get moving. But when I try to do that with other dogs, he won’t nudge, I tried to ”break” his attention with a high value treat earlier and he did not even want to sniff and did not care for it. It seems obsessive to a point i’m afraid it will one day shift to aggression. Since he won’t move at all, last resort is to kind of drag him (he seriously stalls and does not move), and i’m afraid he will associate dogs with negative experiences since dragging him is unpleasant and kind of chokes him (I use a martingale collar with a little choke chain to have more control on walks- his neck is so strong that he ignores completely my corrections on a regular flat buckle).
Also, he can be somewhat of an obsessive dog (which goes with the intense stare). If you could give me some advice on how to break him out of that state and get moving again. I just want to make sure that the experience of him walking or seeing other dogs stay neutral, and not ending up by me dragging him bc I don’t know what to do anymore.
Thank you so much for your help, and keep on the great articles coming 🙂
Stéphanie
My 11 month old neutered lab has become extremely aggressive in play situations. I used to be able to take him to daycare once a week and to a local dog park once or twice a week for some good play time. Four times in the last 3 days he has attacked other dogs, totally unprovoked. I will not be putting him in either situation for a while and he will have to do with walks and chasing a tennis ball in the yard for exercise. I need advice on what to do so that I can let him play with other dogs at some point. FYI, he lives with a 6 yr old yorkiepoo that is the boss at home. Could this be part of the issue? I feel that he sees me as alpha most of the time but he is rambunctious to say the least. Do you think it’s mainly that he get overstimulated by so many other dogs?
I have a husky labrador x male =-5,1/2 years old ,helping a frend that relokated with no space i took over their 2 dogs a rodwieler =-4 years old and german sheppard x smaller dog also =-4 years old. both female.smaller dog and male seem to get on.how ever the rottie growels at him when he gets close the 2 females are outside dogs and the male a inside dog.im to scared to put them togetter,what to do please help.the male use to have 2 frends 1 male and 1 female labradors who sadly past away last year from old age they where olso outdoor dogs.no problem exept for the 2 males now and then for dominance. the rottie is also verry insecure ,she snaps at you when you playing with her and the smaller female wants your attention.The rottie is also a lot bigger than the male.
I have 1 small and 3 middle size dogs. The small dog, we found in a box next to the garbage when he was only 8 weeks old. One middle sized dog, we took in to foster from the local shelter as she was scared of her own shadow, and would have not survived in the shelter. After 6 months fostering her, no new owner had been found and we decided to keep her, as we had fallen in love with her and saw a huge progress towards being a normal dog without fear of humans, barking, wigging the tale etc. Just a happy dog. I had been told that she has been sterilized and had no health problems. Well, she has leishmania and she gave birth to 2 puppies. I couldn’t find any home for them and kept them. All was fine walking all our 4 dogs together, being in contact with other dogs, playing with our cats and amongst them etc. The young male now 1 and a half year old, is very agressive towards other dogs (not ours) and humans, barking non stop when walking him. I can barely hold him on the leash. The other dogs are ok, but I am very afraid that he will bite somebody one day. He might not, but I can’t take the risk to let them come close. When we have friends coming over he is barking and showing his teeth and after a while he calms down and some of my friends can then even touch him. I don’t know what to do, as in our garden he listens to me, but as soon we are out, he is not listening at all. I’ve read one comment about the dog feeling my fear. Yes as soon I see another dog or person coming our way from a distance my heart starts to beat very fast, when I am not close to our house, so that I can escape. Does anybody have a good advise to calm down my dog?
We have taken on the care of a 6 year old border collie named Hazard. His owner has mental health problems and he was brought up in the city, initially in a large backyard, then a smaller yard, then a courtyard (as his owner’s ability to work and afford accommodation was reducing). The owner is now in a one bedroom upstairs apartment, which is why he came to us. We had thought that being raised in the city he would be used to people and dogs. However he behaves quite aggressively towards other dogs and recently lunged at someone who wanted to pat him, drawing blood.
We have a very busy life, working pretty long hours, and although he has a lot more space in our large back yard, we haven’t made time to exercise him as much as he needs. Additionally he loves playing with reptiles including venomous snakes so during summer we can’t let him off the lead when on walks except at the local oval, but we can only let him off if no-one else is around. He also won’t come if he sees anything interesting, like a rabbit – and we have plenty of those around here. On the lead he pulls constantly, and if he sees something will not focus on our commands. I’ve wondered if he became aggressive because his owner was unable to be decisive and in control?
Until we get the aggression under control, should we use a muzzle on him? Because of the recent episode with a person being hurt, we have committed to making sure he gets more exercise, and will make a start with your advice on managing his aggressive behaviour.
After relocating to another state, my dog (Kitty) has become aggressive with other dogs whenever a ball is in play. If the ball is thrown, she rushes to it, sometimes snapping at dogs along the way. She gets the ball and will attack the dog coming toward her to encourage more play, or even just passing by. She has even stopped playing if she finds a ball, obsessing the say way…
Kitty is almost 3 yrs. old and was practically raised in a dog park in her home state. Any ideas on how to resolve her issue?
This message is for Amber Roelofs who posted on
December 4, 2015 at 3:08 am.
Sweetheart if your dog is in a very small house and on a leash all of the time, he is very, very sad and this is no way for a dog to live. When he is let out, he has so much energy that he doesn’t know how to act properly. A dog needs exercise every day in the morning and evening. Plus he knows he will have to go back into the small house which he hates, so he may try to bite you or people who put him back. Is there anyone you trust who could take him to a shelter?
Great post Megan 🙂
I have an 8 year old ”pitbull” with dog to dog aggression. I own him since he is 20weeks, never had him professionally trained, i never mistreated him, did not have him ”fixed”(i hate that term). He grew up with one of his brothers and sadly they were separated at 1year of age. My dog broke his left leg at 1 year of age, the vet performed a surgery. at 3 years of age my dog was illegally taken from my house and was later in custody of the SPCA. the spca refused to return my dog unless he was fixed, i had to accept under threat that they’d give the dog to another human who would accept and pay to have him operated 🙁 ever since his stay at the spca, my dog attacks other dogs, visciouly. he has attacked about 12 dogs, none were seriously injured. i had to put myself in the line of fire, sticking my hands in my dogs mouth. because my dog really does not want to bite humans, in fact if a human puts his hands in his mouth, the dog will turn his head away attempting to get away. if a human says ”ouch” my dog immediately lowers himself submissively and comes and licks u all over. i can’t take my dog to parcs anymore because people are affraid of him. my dog has few dog-friends, but only rdogs with really good energy can handle my dogs behaviour. Say my friend brings his dog over to my house or we go together to the park, this is what will probably happen: leech-on, we let them sniff eachother. normally my dog will immediately try to bite and show aggressiveness. i get in my dogs face(to get his attention) and once i get his attention i calmly pet him and bring him back to his happy state and i say NO! be a good boy! he normally calms down, then we go for a walk to get better relationship. when we let them off the leech to play together, usually they will play until they have a staredown and fight. sometimes the fight is not too bad and they continue playing after. sometimes we end it there. if we pull out a ball, they will for sure fight for it. My wife is expecting a baby, we love our dog, but unless this behaviour is corrected we are considering the hardest decision ever. I can’T even say the words 🙁
I’m very sorry to hear about the disgusting spca forcing you to fix your dog, the same happened to me. I tried every excuse, but they were firm on having me get my dog neutered-he was 4 years old. He stayed in the shelter system for 3 months. After I got him back his fur was dry, he had yeast develop on his paws and lower lip area; it was horrible. I suspect he didn’t get enough water and may have been neglected in the heat of summer. I became homeless that summer that’s why he stayed at the shelter. I even asked them if when he was getting neutered if I could be allowed to hold his paw; it was very emotional for me and they flatly said “No”, with no empathy. That was the biggest mistake in my life and I always regret it. I saw those tramps with their dogs in parks while I was homeless and could have had done the same. He changed so much now after I again, lost my home last year but this time instead of taking him to a shelter, I took him back to the breeder which has been my friend since I first purchased my dog from her. With patience and desensitizing, there’s hope! Please don’t give up on your dog. It took 3 years for my dog to forget about whatever the nasty shelter system did to him. After the shelter, he also for some strange unexplained reason-and he never had this problem- would try to bite me if I nestled my face near his belly or kissed his belly- which he used to love. 🙁 He now after 3 years and after getting him back from the breeder this month, has returned to his cuddly self again and I could tickle and kiss his belly and even attempt to clip his nails with him not trying to bite. He has changed so much and I have been taking him to day care with me-my job! which is great to have the privilege to bring my dog to work with me. He at the beginning had intense trust issues: growling and trying to bite the other dogs who simply wanted to get to know him. He got in a bit fight the second time I brought him in, but I never gave up and he has since been desensitized to the point where he sits near other dogs. He still growls if dogs get too close, but with patience, he’s gone a long way and I know he’ll wean out of his aggression and trust issues. I’m waiting for him to get more comfortable around other dogs. I’m hopeful you can fix your problem. Puppies have incredible memory. My dog looked at me and his breeder when I went to visit as in saying, “I remember this place”. This is a sign that perhaps if you return to where your dog was born, the breeder could help for a while with his behavior. I think this worked for me. I hope it may be something you’re willing to try!
I have an Australian Shepherd named Coco, I have had her since she was about 1 1/5 years old, previous owners gave her up. ( Don’t know the reason) She is now 2 1/5 . She has always been sweet , loving curious about other dogs but when I took her to dog park she seemed intimidated by large dogs her size. My daughter has 2 pugs one is very old , 16, and then a young one who is 3-4 years old The young one Rosie is Very aggressive towards all dogs (except for the old pug ). When I have visited my daughters house or vice versa we always have had to separate our dogs , but 2 weeks ago my dog and Rosie ended up in the same bedroom, I entered the room and huge fight broke out , Rosie attacked first and my dog reacted very violently back, while trying to get them apart my right hand got bit and one finger was broken as well. 2 days later my dog showed violence against a dog she has known for 1 year and is very familiar with ( I pet sit for a living) This is now a huge problem , what do I do ? I love my dog but I am scared of how much she has changed, can I ever get back my sweet loving dog???
Hi! It’ll take time for Coco to return to her old self. In fact, she may never be the same, but a milder and well, more experienced Coco. This happened to my dog where a pack of chihuahuas from my ex-roommate at the time, became territorial in the back yard. The male attacked my dog while I was busy- I didn’t see her coming in with her dogs- and her hand got bit leaving her pinky finger broken. After this happened, I thought everything was the same; thought I could proceed in walking my dog and taking him to an off leash sculptor dog run park in the neighborhood, but I was wrong. He attempted to bite another dog and mounted him nearly biting his neck before I stopped him. He also was aggressively growling at one particular dog to the point where his eyes were blood shot. I started to cry so hard and knew the previous backyard incident traumatized him and he became extremely defensive to other dogs. Dogs suffer from trauma from intense bad experiences. He has never returned to his innocent, naive and sweet puppy self and is now 8 years old. Many other things had happened since where his behavior has been affected that if measured, seems like a wild roller coaster ride in his life. He has returned to his sweet self, but he has trust issues with other dogs. I’ve been desensitizing him at my job as a dog handler at dog daycare and he has improved. But I learned, dogs suffer from scarring from traumatic experiences that change them. The one thing that is certain is, they’re are still loyal to you and love you; want to please you regardless of the changes they go through. It may take time for your Coco to desensitize from the trauma. I will say, it took my dog 3 years to recover from the trauma, which he became docile again. But I did also have a bad shelter experience where he came back traumatized; growling at other dogs on leash, but he is weaning off the aggression with my patience; allowing him freely to defend himself but openly correcting him to defend himself without allowing to bite other dogs- this conditions him to communicate with other dogs to stay away and not attack or bite instead. It’s working so far! He can now be around other dogs without me looking over my shoulder all the time. We use water in a spray bottle to correct behavior; works fast and effectively for my dog and many at the daycare.
Five years ago we adopted a dog who had been tied up outside for most of his life. He is a mixed breed, Border Collie, Dalmatian, Samoyed, and so on. He is a big boy, tall, and weighing about 67 pounds. He is truly a wonderful dog and adapted to his new home quickly. A few months later we adopted another dog, a female, who was older and smaller (an American Eskimo-Chow-Unknown mix). The younger male tried to do the dominance-mounting thing with the new female dog, and she turned around and snarled at him. That was it! From then on they were pals, and he deferred to her. Sadly, our older dog recently passed away. We, and the other dog are grieving over losing our sweet girl. We thought maybe it would be good to rescue another dog, and it might make our other dog happy to have a new companion. So far we have meet two female dogs with bad results. The first dog was sort of aggressive, and that did not work out, because our dog wanted to fight her. The second dog was smaller, and seemed quite sweet. The people who are trying to find her a home brought her here. We met them on the sidewalk, let the dogs have a brief meet, and proceeded to take them for a walk. Then we brought them back to our fenced yard and let them go. At first it looked like they were going to play, then they got into it. We had to pull them apart. I don’t know what is going on with my dog. I am wondering if he is now confused over the death of his female companion, who was the “Alpha” of the two. Or I am going about introducing them the wrong way? Or was it just that these were the “wrong” dogs for him? Or will we now be a one-dog home? Some folks suggested we get a puppy instead of a grown dog, but I am not so sure. Ideally, I would like to adopt an older female rescue dog. Any suggestions as to how I might handle this situation better? Thank you!
My dog seems to have a problem with other dogs and food guarding, i read your article on the food guarding so i can probably skip that but my dog seems to be guarding my girlfriend and I. When my other dogs are around he freezes and growls and stares at them no matter what room we are in. I don’t know how to solve this I’ve tried getting up and walking away and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn’t.. As of now for the past year anywhere in the house, i will corral all the other dogs into a room while the dog that has problems roams the house and vice versa.. The potential for a fight is enormous especially when its in close quarters like any room in the house. It still happens in the backyard but its easier for the other dogs to get away if he tries to do anything.. what do i do?
my dog has also lost both his top canine teeth and has many cuts already, they’ve gotten into so many fights already and so much blood has been shed and im afraid for it to get any further because they are really trying to kill each other and if i can’t find a way to solve this behavior i’m going to have to give him away which i REALLY REALLY don’t want to but for his safety and my other dogs safety it’s the only thing i can think of doing.
Hello, my names amber and i have a dod his name’s bruno and he lives at my grandma’s house hea not that young and not that old but all the years hes been living at my grandma’s he’s been in a tiny house where he can only take 1 or 2 sreps and he has a leash he’s always lockes up there and he cry’s so much when hea locked up but when we let him free in the garden he turns really agressive and jumps to my neihbours house and they’ve already complained what im trying to say is that i want my dog to be happy but when i let him free he’s capable of biting me and when he’s locked up he’s sad what do you think us the best way to let him free but that he’s not agressive that people can come and he wouldn’t bite or bark. If you know a way please help me , thanks xoxo
About a year ago, my sterilized cute medium-size male non aggressive dogs (cross between a Pincer and a Maltese) met and started interacting with a very aggressive female dog in the neighborhood. At first, the interaction between the dogs not terrible. The huge black female dog demanded that my dogs not move a muscle while she sniffed them and then she would let them walk around the park. If they dared to move or make any sound, she would start to growl and then put them in their place. Then gradually, she stated getting more and more aggressive with every interaction. Now, if she spots our dogs, even if they are very far away, she will come running from a very long distance away, and ‘attack them both’: Once she arrives at where they are, she just puts them on their backs, starting with the youngest of the two dogs. I don’t think her intent is to harm him in any way, otherwise she would have done it by now. One time the eldest dog was hurt on his ear ever so slightly. Is she going to try to kill my dogs? What should I do?
I don’t know if this is a forum thing or not, anyway… My dog is fine with other dogs off the lead on the beach – except for one – which she goes for. Any suggestions?
I’d love to hear of suggestions as well.. I have been fostering a black lab, for 4 months…. he gets along with my cat an pitbull.. we’ve been to dog parks – every other day…. Yesterday he went after another dog unprovoked…. has me scared—
As much as I like him… ??? I’m not sure how to find him a home if I don’t know what his triggers are…. If he ever hurt a child… or I just couldn’t live with my self……
any ideas…. I’m gonna check into collars — no more dog parks… he is very strong an hard to walk….. as Judge Judy states —- you should always be in control of your pet……
I no longer feel in control ……
Hello!
Thanks for this great website. Its been a really interesting read, and I hope I can apply this to my own dog, Konrad, who is a Norwegian Buhund, which in some ways is very similar to the Shiba Inu. He is 2,5 years old now, and as a puppy I spend a lot of time with training, and socializing him, but already when he turned around 3 months old he started being aggressive towards other dogs, which ended in so many fights – luckily nothing ever happened, so slowly I got afraid of letting him be around other dogs. Now he is ONLY around my family dogs,, but he doesn’t always behave around them either. If I am not over him all the time when Im at my mothers place he might attack or try to herd my mother’s dog around (he is a king charles chavalie). If I tell him to stop, he stops, but you can see how he is always trying to find a way to dominate my mothers dog. Worst is when there’s food on our table – they can fine eat next to each other, but when we eat my dog wants the best spot for “food” – because my mother feeds her own dog by the table it affects my dog. So I always put my dog in another room, which can lead to him peeing in someone bed – maybe my mothers bed or something like that. I’ve tried to find explanations to this, but all I’ve found is he might be scared? Yet he seems calm in there.
He also has a very jealous personallity. So if I pet my mothers dog he might get mad at my mothers dog. We have somewhat come around that problem, yet it still pops up once in awhile. The main problem is really he wants to herd him around and decide where he goes.
My main problem is when we meet other dogs he either barks very aggressively and hang at the end of his leach, where i just try and move on, and try to calm him down (all depending on HOW close he is to the other dog ofc) it works sometimes. OR he will whine, with a very playfull tone, but if I bring him closer it might change to aggression. My main thought is other dogs might stress him out. He has always been dominate towards other dogs, and Im not sure if he is trying to tell them to stay away, or what it is. I just quickly remove him from the situation, or try to aviod it, by moving around, so he just sees the other dog, but might not come with a reaction.
I know this is a mouthfull, because I tried to explain my little boy. He is a VERY lovling dog towards humans – around children he is VERY respectfull and reacts when my niece on 3 says no. So its really just around other dogs the main problem is. Thanks for reading this, and again really a great webpage!
Very well written and hopefully I can apply the things I have read. I am dealing with an issue in my home with aggression as well and not sure how to stop it. My husband and I have 3 dogs, Jack Russel who is 9 and two Dachshunds who are 7 and 4. The 7 year old Dachshunds has recently become very aggressive towards the other two dogs mainly the Jack Russel at which times the fights have been extremely bad. Most of the fights tend to happen in the middle of the night when she is disturbed from her sleep. We are currently considering crating her at night due to the aggressive tendencies however I am not a huge crate fan for my animals. Is there anything I can do to prevent these fights from happening besides crating my dog? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Did her aggressive behavior occur suddenly or develop gradually? Is she eating and drinking normally? Is she keeping to her regular routine and moving around normally? Has the 7 year old been to the vet lately? Physical pain or other physical issues may cause dogs to feel more vulnerable, and may result in sudden aggressive behavior. Did anything unusual occur around the time when this behavior started?
I use enclosures to separate my dogs when necessary. If I put it next to a wall for support, I can combine multiple enclosures together to create a big, safe, space.
When Shania was healing from amputation, we set up a big enclosure for her.
Example of what Shania’s enclosure looks like.
However, there is nothing wrong with a crate as long as the dog is properly desensitized to it, and sees it as a safe and positive space. I use crates for car rides, and my dogs will often go into their crates when they want to eat their chews in peace. When used properly, they are a great management and safety tool.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-potty-training-facts-and-myths#crate
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/weekend-crate-training
I do not leave my dogs alone together unsupervised, until I am very sure that there will absolutely be no issues.
Thank you for this article. I have 3 dogs in my home, 2 are mine and my husband’s and the other is my son’s. My husband and son work for the same company and are gone for months at a time leaving just me in charge of our furbabies. The oldest is a 12-year-old spayed female lab/cocker spaniel mix, the next is a 2-year-old spayed female purebred German Shepherd and the youngest a 1-year-old intact male purebred Pitbull (the youngest is my son’s dog). The Shepherd and PItbull play well together most of the time but the Shepherd still tries to dominate the play and the Pitbull just rolls over onto his back whenever she does. The Lab/Spaniel, however, refuses to submit and thus we have the problem. The Lab/Spaniel was the dominant dog in the house until the Shepherd got older and decided she wanted to be the dominant. The Spherhrd also has become aggressive toward other dogs and humans she doesn’t know.
I ate up every word of your article and your responses to some of the comments. You have given me hope that this problem can be fixed with a lot of patience and a good trainer. I have plenty of patience. Its my activity level that I have to ramp up in order to be a good mommy/grandma to the Shepherd and the Pittie. Maybe I’ll finally lose those 30 pounds I’ve been wanting to get rid of and put some tone back into my muscles. I was about to give up and try to find someone who knew how to handle dominant dogs to take in the Shepherd; but now I have great hope that my babies may actually be able to get along again, at least while in a supervised situation. I have resigned myself to the fact that they may never be allowed to be roaming free together in the house when we’re gone, but I have learned that should not happen anyway if one expects a dominant dog to continue to see one as the alpha of the pack. Thank you again!
Yeah, management and supervision are key with my dogs. I try to always set them up for success and do not put them in situations that they are not ready to handle. I use management equipment such as leashes, gates, and sometimes a basket muzzle (if necessary) to make sure that everyone stays safe.
Patience, a good trainer, and more exercise all sound great! 😀
More on how I help my dogs to get along.
Big hugs to your gang!
Thanks for this, very well written. Looking forward to the next one.
This website is amazing!
I’ve been reading articles all morning looking for advise on how to help my dog Jasper.
Jasper is guilty of All the shiba traits and tricks but I have used a lot of your methods (or similar methods) in the past and most behaviour problems are an easy fix. Not letting him think he’s the boss and keeping him busy with play time and walks usually is enough.
Jasper was bitten by a large dog about 6 months ago.
Before that he showed little dog aggression, we lived with another dog at the time and they got along great. We took him to leash free parks and he usually found a large playmate and burned off lots of energy!
Since the incident Jasper has attempted to attack many dogs and even attracted aggressively toward the owner of the dog who attacked him (our neighbour who prior to the bite was very close with Jasper)
We thought it was an issue with that dog in particular or our living space being too small and noisy. We have been living in a much larger home with lots of walking spaces and Jasper is much happier. However we often get chased by other dogs. Lots of people walk their dogs without a leash in the parks near our home. These are not leash free areas. We try avoidance and keeping calm but of course we simply cannot control other dogs and owners. Quite often the other owners lose control and their dog comes to say hello. I call out (calmly) that my dog is not friendly and to please get their dog. Sometimes it works out fine and they will call their dog back and leash them and we can pass each other without any problems. Most of the time they cannot get their dogs to come back and I have no choice but to scoop up Jasper as he will not bite me but WILL bite the other (much larger) dogs. This leads to big dogs jumping on me trying to get to Jasper who is barking at the stranger dog. I know picking up the dog causes confusion and I only do when the situation requires it but I would love to try other methods if you have any suggestions! Jasper used to love to play with other dogs and still loves small children. I’m sure since his incident with our old neighbour he feels threatened and I know protecting him from situations isn’t helping that mentality. Are there any ways to work with Jasper to be less aggressive with loose dogs? Jasper has a bite record from our old neighbour (who attempted to pick him up days after her dog attacked him- I know biting is wrong but Jasper barked and warned her not to touch him) that being said he will be put down no matter what (animal control legally wanted us) if he ever bites another human or dog. I believe avoidance is best, but when that is not possible what can we do?
I helped Sephy with his dog-to-dog reactivity issues by doing two things-
1. I did desensitization and counter-conditioning training.
2. I manage his environment very carefully and protect him from situations he is not ready to handle.
We did structured desensitization training at our local SPCA, in a controlled space, with trainer chosen dogs, and under the direction of a trainer. I talk more about this at the end of the article above. Desensitization training was a key part to helping Sephy because we had great control over the environment and the other dog, and therefore could create successful experiences, where Sephy learned the right things.
The more calm and successful experiences that Sephy had with other dogs, the more confidence, trust, and positive associations he formed. Similarly, reactive experiences will undermine that confidence/trust, set back our training, and worsen his future anxiety and behavior.
Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for me to always set Sephy up for success and *not* expose him to situations that he is not ready for. We walk him during off-hours and drive him to a quiet area with few dogs if necessary. I protect my dogs by managing their environment and routine, and I do not expose them to people or dogs that will cause them to fail.
Given what you describe, I would get help from a good professional trainer ASAP. Find one who understands desensitization training and who has balanced dogs that he/she can use to help with training.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hello!
Thank you for your helpful tips and info about shiba inu’s behavior. We have 1 year old shiba inu and we are experiencing the same aggressive behavior sometimes.
Your shiba inu looks healthy and I would like to ask if you have food recommendations. I would like him to gain a little weight, right now he’s about 22 pounds.
Thank you in advance!
Raquel
Currently, I am feeding my Shiba Wellness CORE regular. I also use plain boiled chicken as treats (cut up into little pieces).
More on how I pick kibble for my dogs.
What does your vet say about your Shiba’s weight? I would consult with your vet first before trying to add any weight.
My younger Husky is also very slim. I talked to my vet about it, and he advised me to keep her on the slim side. Also, my Shiba looks a lot more skinny after he has blown his coat.
Hi there-
I was hoping you could offer some advice on my dog, Kaya. She was bit by another dog roughly a month ago. Before this event, she was always very submissive with other dogs. She would lay down and let other dogs approach her, and then she would feel out the situation and was almost always friendly and playful with the other dog. Since she was bit however, she has become nervous and dog aggressive. The hair stands up on the back of her neck, she barks, growls, and begins lunging and tries to bite the other dog in the extreme instances we have seen.
We saw a trainer who told us to keep her away from other dogs, essentially to isolate her. However, we don’t live an environment where we can properly do this. We are always seeing dogs in our yard, during walks, and so on. And she has continued to be aggressive, I would even say it has gotten worse as she starts barking and growling from as far as a mile away.
Do you have any advice? She is a very independently minded dog, and isn’t very food driven- so we have found it hard to try and distract her. I would appreciate anything you can offer!
I helped my Shiba be more comfortable around other dogs by doing dog-to-dog desensitization training. We did desensitization training in a controlled environment, with trainer chosen dogs, and under the direction of a trainer. I talk more about what we did at the end of the article above.
The more calm and successful experiences my dog has in the presence of other dogs, the more confidence, trust, and positive associations he forms. Similarly, reactive experiences (where my dog becomes nervous, fearful, or aggressive) will undermine that confidence and trust, significantly set back training, and worsen my dog’s anxiety and behavior. Therefore, an important and necessary part of helping my dog is to carefully manage his routine and environment, and protect him from situations that he is not ready for yet.
We drive to a quiet area and walk during off-hours if necessary. I observe my dog carefully and try to identify things that can help bolster her confidence. For example, my dog is more confident when she is closer to home, so at the start I may do shorter but more frequent walks. In general, I do everything that I can to always set my dog up for success. I want to not only maximize positive and calm experiences through structured desensitization training, but also minimize reactive experiences through structure and management.
I talk more about what I do to create neutral experiences and protect my dog in the article above. Given what you describe, I would get help from an experienced trainer who understands desensitization training and has access to appropriate dogs that can help with retraining.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
I have a 6 year old male doberman and a 4 year old female husky. Both have been to the dog park many times, but recently, our very docile doberman has become more agitated and snappy at the park. This seems to have started when he met a very large, playful, unneutered great dane a few weeks ago. Since then, If another dog comes to sniff or play with him or the husky, he will snarl and snap at them. He has never done this before, but this has been a constant behavior for about 2 weeks. I am nervous to take him to the park because I don’t want him to hurt other dogs. I’m not sure how to stop this behavior. Before he met the great dane at the park, he was very patient and playful at the parks and only responded this way if another dog came after him first. I would love some advice because I want my dogs to be able to play and have fun again.
Many of the dog parks in my area do not allow un-neutered dogs.
As for enclosed dog parks, they can be very high stimulus and high stress, with very little supervision and structure. We stopped going after I noticed that my dog’s behavior and social interactions were taking a downward turn. More on our dog park experiences.
There was not enough structure at the dog-park for Sephy, and he was learning a lot of undesirable social habits. The key with my dog is to set him up for success and protect him from negative experiences. Instead of doing dog parks, we did small and structured play-groups, with dogs that I know will fit in well with his temperament and play style. I am there to set play rules, supervise, and redirect bad behavior before it escalates. In this way, Sephy was able to have fun, socialize with other dogs, and learn positive social behaviors.
More on dog socialization.
Badrap article on dog tolerance levels.
shibashak, I’m in the same boat. It’s driving me crazy bc I have resorted to taking my guy on long walks at a nature preserve instead of roaming around the dog park. We used to go to the dog park on a daily basis and he went to daycare 3 days a week. However, in the last few weeks he has been aggressive no matter where I take him. I also noticed that once I trained him to fetch in the backyard, he has become increasingly aggressive at the dog park when balls are being tossed around. I want him to be a social guy I can take to parks, etc…. This is getting out of control.
My dog had puppies last year. We kept the mother and father. And we kept one puppy. He is now one year old. The father dog is 8 yrs and the mother is 5yrs. Well anyways the father always stares at the puppy and then attacks him. And the puppy has to learn to stay where is until he is allowed to they fight daily. Everyday. It is very annoying i do not know why he is doing that please help me.!
What are the dogs’ daily routine like? Are the dogs neutered and spayed? What kind of training are they used to? What were their past social experiences with other dogs?
Dog behavior is very context dependent so the temperament of the dog, past experiences, routine, and more will all affect his behavior. Given that the dogs are already fighting, it is best and safest to get help from a good professional trainer. A good trainer can visit with the dogs, read their body language, as well as observe their behavior within the context of their regular routine and environment. A good trainer can help to identify what is triggering the aggression, and develop a good and safe plan for rehabilitation.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Breaking up a dog fight can be very dangerous as the dogs can redirect their energy/aggression on the people who are trying to restrain them. I would get in touch with a trainer as soon as possible.
My dogs need structure, consistency, exercise, and supervision. I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules, I teach each dog what the rules are, and I supervise closely, especially early on, to make sure that everyone is following my rules. I also create positive, rewarding, and calm together time, so that my dogs learn how to behave around each other and learn to trust each other.
I do not leave my dogs alone together until I am very very sure that there will be no issues. The more negative events there are, the more negative associations they form, and the more likely there will be even more issues in the future. When I am not around to supervise, I keep my dogs separated. As pack leader, it is my responsibility to keep my dogs safe and to make sure nobody gets hurt.
In addition, all my dogs are neutered or spayed.
More on how I help my dog get along.
Hello,
Very well written article, and as someone that has helped rescue dogs for several years all stuff I have found very useful when out in public or with strange dogs all-together.
We have a different issue. My wife and I have 3 dogs (Koda, 9 year old sheltie, Deunan, 8 year old hound mix, and Isis, 7 year old maligator mix) and a 10 1/2 old son. When Koda is about to throw up, Deunan goes after him. Always the back of the neck and only when he is making the sound that he is about to throw up. There is no rhyme or reason as far as location that this is happening. Could be inside, near the couch, in the bed room…just anywhere. Isis is usually the “peacekeeper” and will bark in both of their ears and send them on their way with no issue, but not in this case. The dogs have grown up together for the past 8 years, they play together all the time when we are home, are crated throughout the day (4 hours at the most in a stretch). They are fed in their crates, but sleep in our room with us and get a fair amount of exercise and “work” throughout the evening when we are home. This has been going on for several years, but the aggression is getting worse as they age, and Jessie (our son) doesn’t seem to be any cause of this, but I am now having a hard time trusting Deunan around him.
My main issue is that I don’t know if she is being dominate, trying to weed the weak from the pack, or if it is more a fear/curious reaction. The normal redirection I have tried, and used in the past, is becoming less and less effective.
I do NOT want to lose Deunan, but I am at my wits end right now.
Thank you for your insight.
My dogs do get anxious when one of them starts making vomiting sounds. As soon as I hear this, I make sure to keep my other dogs away from the one who is about to vomit. The one who is about to vomit always moves away and does not want the others close-by, probably because he is feeling more vulnerable.
With my dogs, I find that prevention is always best. I step in early, call them to me, and keep them calm. If necessary, I separate them. In this way, things do not escalate. My dogs know exactly what to expect from each other, what to expect from me, and what I expect from them in return. This creates certainty, which helps to reduce stress and conflicts.
For more extreme cases, doing noise desensitization exercises may help a dog to make positive associations, and teach him alternate behaviors. Desensitization training can be counter-intuitive, so when I started these exercises with my dog, I got guidance from a good, positive-based, professional trainer.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
More on how I help my dogs get along.
Hi,
I have a 11month old Dalmatian bitch, lately she has been mounting me and humping me all of a sudden, I thought at first for the first 1 or 2 times it was just a sexual urge but now she is crying and whimpering to hump when she try’s to mount I push her off and give a stern ‘no’ and she stops. What do I do to stop her doing this? Also she has just been for a walk and there was a dog there, we were talking to the owner ( baring in mind it was dark ish, but visible) and she went for the other dog and made it yelp, she also went for the puppy that was with them but I managed to grab her before she went near and smacked her nose and said ‘no’, she has never gone for a strange dog until then however we have another Dalmatian that is a couple months younger which they both fight over dominance in the house, one time they had a fight and the other dog bit her eye and made it bleed.
She knows commands such as sit, down, wait, paw, high five, and also can do recall by the name or whistle. I’ve never had a problem with her until now:( please please help me I don’t want it to get to the point that she needs to be sold or even worse destroyed. Please help!!
With my dogs I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules and a fixed routine. I supervise during times of interaction and make sure that everyone is following my rules. As soon as I notice the start of any undesirable behavior, I interrupt and redirect my dog. In this way, things do not escalate into anything serious. Prevention is best.
I do not leave my dogs alone together until I am very very sure there will be absolutely no issues.
The more calm and successful events my dog has with another dog, the more confidence, trust, and positive associations he builds. Similarly, negative events and punishment will undermine that trust, set back training, and worsen my dog’s future behavior. To help my dog rebuild positive associations with other dogs, I do desensitization training, I create positive experiences in a controlled environment, and most important of all I do not expose my dog to situations (outside or at home) that will cause him to fail or become reactive.
More on how I help my dogs get along at home.
I talk about how I did desensitization training with my dog in the article above, as well as about using distance and barriers to create neutral experiences.
However, it is important to remember that dog behavior is very context dependent and each situation is different. In multi-dog households, things become even more complex. Given what you describe, and given that there have already been fights, I would get help from a good professional trainer as soon as possible. I would find a trainer who understands operant conditioning, desensitization training, and has good experience with dog aggression.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Conflicts arise between dogs for many reasons, and dominance is often *not* the cause of undesirable behavior.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dominance-bad-dog-behavior
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/aggression-dogs
Hello,
Very good detailed article. It helps see things in a different perspective. I just have a couple of questions. I originally bought 2 mixed Shepherd/Husky dogs, they are from the same mother. However, i kept one and sold the other one to my roommate. We keep them together in the same house, but about a week ago they got into a fight and hurt each other. They were both bleeding, and now they can’t even see each other or they start barking. They have not been in the same place since the fight because they attack each other. This is why they have been separated. One day one sleeps outside and the other inside and vice versa. It is hard to do this, and i just wanted to get some advice or an idea of why they are acting this way. They are brothers and they always fight they can’t see each other. They both get really furious and aggressive. Thank you.
-Kevin P.
There are many reasons why dogs who live in the same home may get aggressive with each other. With my dogs, conflicts most often arise over resources, e.g. food, toys, sleeping area, access to people, etc.
Extreme emotion, e.g. excitement, frustration, stress, may also cause aggressive behavior. For example, when my dogs get overly excited during play, one of them may start getting rough and the situation may turn aggressive. A dog with barrier frustration, may also redirect that frustration onto nearby people or dogs.
This ASPCA article has a list of common reasons for dog aggression-
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/aggression-dogs
I help my dogs get along by setting up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules, and I supervise closely during periods of interaction to make sure that everyone is following my rules. As soon as I notice the start of any undesirable behavior, I no-mark and redirect before things escalate.
The more calm and successful experiences my dogs have, the more confidence and trust they gain, the more positive associations they form, and the better their behavior becomes. Similarly, negative events will undermine that trust, set back training, and worsen their reactive behavior. Therefore, I always manage my dog’s environment and routine, so as to set them up for success. I give them many forms of structured exercise with me (e.g. walks, structured play, obedience exercises, working for their food, etc.), so that they have many positive outlets for their energy. I use management equipment (leashes, gates, basket muzzle, etc.), as necessary, to ensure safety and success.
I do not leave my dogs together alone until I am very very sure that there will be absolutely no issues.
More on how I help my dogs get along.
However, as we saw earlier, there are many sources of dog aggression and all of this is very dependent on the dogs’ temperaments, routine, environment, past experiences, and more. This is why in cases of aggression, it is best and safest to get help from a good professional trainer. During my Shiba Inu’s difficult period, we consulted with several trainers, and that was helpful for us.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/