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.
Hi, its been very interesting reading this piece and all the comments, my situation seems a bit different – Gordie is a large yorkie – most yorkies are tiny dogs but some of the orginal yorkies were larger, 22lbs, Gordie walks with his pack of dogs everyday with his dog walker, and for the most part he is happy easy going and loves being around dogs. However this MUST be a scent that certain dogs give off that trigger aggression in Gordie – he goes from zero to 100 in seconds. I always walk him on a leash, and usually wearing a harness but there is no way to know WHICH type of dog will trigger this insanely aggressive reaction. Gordie “sees” or “smells” the dog faster than I – and the dog can be across the street – or at a distance ( meaning there’s alot of space between Gordie and the ‘trigger’ dog) and BOOM – he just goes nuts. And he NEVER forgets the trigger dog – one dog is a collie, bur the other two dogs are different species, sizes, color. I used to ell at him we he behaved like this but I read NOT to do that, so I speak calmly to him, try to block his view of the dog with my body, kneeling down so he can look at me, and focus on me… I try to move Gordie along ( which he won’t do and even after the dog has moved along – Gordie wants to chase after him, he keeps looking back knowing the direction the trigger dog went it and keeps wanting to chase after him or walk in that direction. He will calm down after a few minutes. I have NO way of knowing why some dogs trigger this reaction in him and WHICH dog at any time will trigger this reaction in him. I have a retractable leash but I lock the leash so he stays close to me.
Im convinced its the scent of the dog that triggers him because the first time I saw him behave like this – the dog was not in his visual range – we had stepped in an elevator in my apt building -G was on the leash, and he got very agitated – as soon as the door opened, he bolted in the direction of the dog who by then was OUTSIDE the building and still not within visual range. Normally when elevator door opens Gordie waits for me exit first, and then looks at me for a decision as to which way we will leave the building. But this time he was on a mission and just bolted in the direction of the back door – finally making visual contact with the trigger dog where he went agitated to aggressive.
I am truly baffled as to understand what causes this aggression and why he reacts as he does. But when it happens I stay calm and try to create huge space between him and the trigger dog but its not easy.
Any thoughts?
sorry this >>>>> I used to ell at him we he behaved like ….should read” I used to yell at him when he behaved like this…
Hello Tara,
When walking my dog, I use a 6 foot leather leash. I find that the leather leash gives me a lot more control because I can very quickly change leash length and tension. The closer I place my hand to the collar, the better control I have.
As for what is triggering the dog reactivity behavior, sometimes it can be difficult to tell. Our dogs can smell things that we cannot, and catch canine body language that may not be apparent to us. Controlled desensitization exercises with a variety of different dogs, helped my Shiba Inu become more relaxed during walks, and helped to raise his reactivity threshold. Getting another set of eyes, especially a professional set of eyes can also be helpful.
Thank you for sharing your advice with us. I read your article as well as most of the posts here, but my problem is a little different in that I’m not sure if my dog is being aggressive. She’s a 3year old lab pit-bull mix and up until about a month ago she always behaved very well towards other dogs (I’ve had her for over 2 years now). She goes to daycare twice a week where she interacts with some 20+ dogs each time and has never had a problem there (I asked, they said she’s one of the best behaved dogs they have). However, recently, when she’s with me, sometimes sniffing or meeting another dog very suddenly bursts into jumping and growling all over them. She’s never bitten or scratched them – despite having had the opportunity – so I don’t know if this is just some weird form of play or what’s going on? She doesn’t do it with dogs she knows. A couple times she did it with dogs she didn’t know and I pulled her off them and held her for a minute or two until she calmed down. Then I let her go with the other dog still there and no problems –she will ignore them for the rest of the time. Also this only happens with some dogs and usually it’s actually the calmer ones. She will let excited puppies and small dogs nip her ears and jump all over her and even though I can tell she’s sometimes a little annoyed, she just walks away. However, at the same time, I’ve also noticed that other dogs are behaving more aggressively towards her (even showing teeth and acting like they would bite given the chance). I presume she’s sending some signal that’s instigating this…? I’m trying to observe her more carefully but I really don’t know what I should be looking for or how to interpret it. Any advice?
Dog behavior is very context dependent, so it is difficult to say what is causing reactive or aggressive behavior without knowing the dog or seeing the behavior. This is where getting help from a professional trainer can be helpful.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
My Shiba Inu, for example, would get reactive sometimes because he is over-excited and wants to meet other dogs. Holding him back with the leash would turn that excitement into frustration, and then he would redirect that frustration back onto the leash with biting and jumping.
Other times, he would get reactive because of what he *sees* as threatening gestures from other dogs. For example, he does not like strange dogs sniffing his butt. Here’s why.
Some dogs may also get protective over their people, protective over space, or protective over food and toys.
Some dogs may be fearful when new and strange dogs invade their space and force a greeting.
Dogs also pick up on the energy of the people around them. If the people around are fearful, stressed, or uncertain, our dog may pick up on that, and start to get stressed himself.
I try to set my dogs up for success and I pick the dogs and people that we meet very carefully. Sephy does not like dominant dogs, so we only stop to meet larger dogs that are relaxed and playful. I do not expect my dogs to be friendly with all the dogs that we see. Most of the time, we ignore other dogs, especially if we have not seen them before.
http://shibashake.com/dog/my-dog-is-friendly
Some things that helped me with Sephy in terms of reading his body language-
1. Spend a bunch of time observing him (some people will also record their dog and watch things back in slow motion).
2. Spend a bunch of time observing him interact with friendly dogs.
3. Reading books on dog body language. Turid Rugaas is probably most well known for her work in this area, but there are many other books.
On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals
4. Get private lessons from a good professional trainer. A trainer can meet with Sephy, observe his behavior and interactions with other dogs, give me pointers on how to read his body language, as well as provide suitable dogs for retraining.
5. We did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with Sephy. These exercises are structured and safe, and they gave me many opportunities to observe Sephy while in the proximity of other dogs. It also helped Sephy to get more comfortable around other dogs, to stay more calm, and to use other behaviors for dealing with stressful encounters.
Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.
I inherited my mom’s 4 years old, 65 lb akita shepherd mix. He was mostly confined until last year when I moved in. I started walking him about 3-4 miles a day and although he is not as destructive nor jumping on people but he doesn’t like other dogs. I switched to a gentle leader because he was backing out of the harness and/or collar and am better able to control him. He goes crazy if we see another dog, or even smell one from as far as 1/2 mile away. He pulls and tries to overtake the dog. I will pull him off the trail and try to hide, but sometimes it is impossible to break the sight. I try to get out before most people are on the trail but with the weather getting better, more folks are up and about early. The some dogs may be calmly walking along but he still goes crazy. At the vet, we have to go through the back door or wait in the car until the waiting room is empty to go in and even then when other dogs come out, he is crazy in the car. One time, he even went crazy over the dog scuplture in the waiting room. What can I do? He doesn’t act bad around people and my mother wants to keep him. She also wants a cat, but I am afraid he will kill it. Help!
Yeah, my Shiba Inu (Sephy) was also pretty reactive to other dogs. We did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with him, which helped to raise his instinct threshold.
The key with desensitization exercises is to start with a weakened version of the other-dog stimulus so that Sephy could still be in-control and could still learn from the experience. Once Sephy starts to react, it is too late and the best that I can do is remove him from the situation. Otherwise, he will just keep amping-up and start to associate those feelings and behaviors with other dogs.
My old house was in a more busy area, so initially we would drive Sephy to a quiet trail for our walks. We also took him to our local SPCA for desensitization sessions with the dogs there. We did the exercises with one of their trainers, and with different dogs that they picked based on Sephy’s temperament. We only did exercises with one dog at a time, but we would switch through 2-3 per session.
Given what you describe, it may be best to consult with a professional trainer, preferably one who has access to calm dogs that she can use to help with training.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
what do you do if there is an off leash dog and your dog is aggressive towards other dogs? I have a small dog and most off leash dogs in my neibhorhood are bigger than her.
Here are some of my experiences with off-leash neighborhood dogs. There is a discussion on what people do in the comments section, but the off-leash dog issue is really more of a people issue rather than a dog issue. As such, to really fix it, we would need a people solution.
I also do dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with my dog to help raise his reactivity threshold and to help him be more comfortable around other dogs.
Hello, I have 2 pit bull terriers, a female who is 4.5 and a male who is roughly 2(found him on the street and he appeared to be around 6 months at that time. They have been great around each other for the past year and a half. 1 month ago a stranger entered my front yard while I doing yard work. Both dogs were in the fenced in side yard, within 12 seconds of that stranger appearing the female went CRAZY. She locked down on the male with a death lock and WOULD NOT LET GO. After about 30 seconds of me rolling around on the ground with them she finally let loose but still did not want to stop her attack. I kept them separated for about 2 weeks then gradually let them get back around each other by leaving my back door open and letting them wonder in and out as they pleased. I moved last week and of course they came along. They where looking around their new yard and I was on the outside of the wooden privacy fence, I stuck my head over to check on them and gave a little whistle to grab their attention, I do not know if they ever saw me though. I continued to wash my truck and about 2 minutes later the horrific sounds of a dog fight caught my ear, I open up the gate a sure enough the female is locked down again. I love both of these dogs greatly and need help.
It sounds like it could be barrier frustration combined with redirected aggression.
For retraining, I would get help from a good professional trainer.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression/comment-page-2#comment-78690
Lets start by saying we have a Siberan Husky (full blooded) 2.5 yrs and a german Shepard Husky mix 3 yrs old. Our problems started when the mix jumped the full blooded husky. We watched them VERY closely for a long time, and when they were finally getting along, REALLY WELL, we let them be together alone. NOW, 1 yr later, we are going thru this again. They attacked each other while we were gone, came home and found 2 bloody messes. They did a good job of messin each other up, and they seemed to be doing well. Today, when we brought the Full blooded home from the vet, (got staples removed from the first fight 2 weeks ago) the mix went after the full. We broke that one up, Brought the full blooded in the house to cool down, and then we ALL went outside. After about 5 mins of being outside, the full blooded went after the mix. It took 2 adults to get them apart. We brought the mix in after that fight to calm them both down. Both are fixed, both have been great dogs and wonderful around the children, but we can’t figure out for the life of us, why they are fighting each other. We are trying to figure out a way to make this stop so we don’t have to let one go. They are both our rescue dogs and are a huge part of our family………
Given what you describe, it is probably best to get help from a professional trainer.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
To identify what is actually triggering the aggression, and come up with an effective retraining program, it will be necessary to observe the dogs in their environment, get to know their temperament, and understand their routine.
When there are issues between my dogs, I go back to basics and quickly introduce more structure into the situation. When they are in the same area, I make sure they are leashed and under control, so that they do not engage in more negative interactions with each other (my dogs are not leash aggressive).
I use distance to make sure that they are able to stay calm, and focus on me, instead of on each other. Then I keep their focus by engaging them in something positive. The key is to create neutral and positive experiences, so that they learn to ignore each other and be calm from a distance. Greater structure and management will also prevent them from practicing aggressive behaviors during the retraining process, which is very important.
I recently took my 14month old male GSD to a dog walk. He was nervous meeting new people. After some reassurance from me and the strangers approaching him with palm open, he relaxed enough that the people could approach him and pet him without reaction. I tried to remain calm and tell him to sit or down if he got alittle overwhelmed. He was fine with the puppies there, and sniffed some adoption young dogs behind a fence. Then a 10 month old Wolf/Malamute mix came. That dog was friendly and unreactive to my GSD. My GSD then charged the mix. He would stop mid charge when i called him back or when the leash ran out. The owner of the mix and I tried to get the two to tolerate each other by allowing them see each other at different distances, but my GSD would continue to charge him. The mix was able to just be outside of the leash range. At one point he even broke the choker and was free, but he immediately stop the charge and came back to me before I could call him back. I made him sit or go down after a charge and moved him away from what I thought he was charging at. At times, I couldn’t tell if he was reacting to the dogs or the owners. He never raised his fur before a charge or barked. He also don’t pull. The only time his fur raised, was just after we arrived. My GSD was 105 at 10 months… and might be pushing 120+ now. It concerns me of this charging behavior. This was his first outing with strangers and strange dogs. Any insight would help
It sounds like meeting so many new people and new dogs may be a bit much, especially for a first outing.
With my dogs, I have found that it is best to start the socialization process in a more controlled setting, and then only very slowly increase the environmental challenge over time.
For example, I start by introducing my puppy to other healthy puppies in a controlled class context. Then, when my puppy is fully vaccinated, we start to go on neighborhood walks and only meet single friendly dogs briefly, and so on. I ignore and move on if the other dog is too excited, not in good control, or does not have loose body posture. I also ignore and move on if my dog is stressed, or overly excited.
When both dogs are calm and relaxed, then the possibility of a successful greeting is much greater. The more successful greetings a puppy has, the more confident he will become, and the more he will learn to associate other dogs with positive outcomes. If a successful greeting is not possible, then I just move on and create a neutral experience.
We also did a lot of desensitization exercises with our Shiba Inu. Desensitization helped him to gain confidence, helped to raise his reactivity threshold, and also taught him new ways to deal with the stress of meeting new dogs.
I have a 22 month old male border collie, he is extremely smart, does agility, has 4 walks/jogs a day… has 2 ‘trick’ sessions per day… so he is well exercised and will still try to bring the lead to me at the end of the day… I have read alot of articles on dog aggression as my dog is CONSTANTLY being attacked, and nastily attacked… my dog has only ever responded to an attack twice, never actually biting the other dog but snapping and showing teeth while moving backwards as the other lunges. I only know of one dog that he is completely himself around and comfortable, and even that dog snarls at him and snaps from time to time.
I was wondering if this could be because my dog is a true typical border collie who believes everything that exists is there to be hearded… he lies down and just stares at them, and when they come over he either stays lay down or sits up, but after about five seconds i notice a change in the other dogs behaviour ( they stand very upright and become twitchy) and then my dog suddenly goes stiff or very twitchy (on the odd ocassion he goes stiff and jumpy first) and the next thing i know my dog is nearly getting torn to pieces and i have to jump in the middle of it and literally take the other dogs bites while blocking my dog who is trying to retreat (99% of the time) obviously i can’t train pure instinct out of my dog (that border collie stare is pretty darn hard to control, even a behaviourist said to me i could train the action of hearding away but not the stare, thats why now he lays still, he used to try and round things up as soon as he seen them), but as soon as he sees another dog he is straight down and refuses to budge, there is no way to get him up you can try to pull him up and he will not move….
Everyone says he is amazing and one of the nicest dogs they know, he lets puppies bite him etc when they are trying to play and lets children play with his face and open his mouth to see his teeth haha but he just becomes very nervous around most dogs now, could it be because of this stare that he is always getting into trouble? and could it be that he has been attacked so much already at such a young age dog meetings just scare him?
please help 🙁 i love my dog and i want him to be happy and comfortable while out exercising, i’d take a thousand bites from dogs to protect my dog (i’m definately in double figures now anyway), but i just wish there was something i could do
Hmmm, I am not sure I fully understand. Are the dogs that are attacking him unsupervised off-leash dogs?
With my Shiba Inu, I have found that the key with meeting other dogs, is to make sure to set him up for success.
– I only let my dog meet calm and friendly dogs (loose body posture) that are well supervised and under good control.
– Other times, we just ignore, move on, and create neutral experiences.
– I observe closely during greetings and positively interrupt my dog, so that he refocuses on me and does not get over excited.
– As soon as I see the beginning of any stress or tension, I will quickly end the greeting and move on.
As you say, many negative experiences will teach a dog to fear other dogs, see them as a threat, and/or associate them with stress and anxiety.
Shiba Sephy can be pretty high-strung, so it is very important for me to prevent negative meetings. In addition, I help him to reassociate other dogs with positive outcomes through controlled desensitization exercises.
Here is a bit more on our experiences with off-leash dogs.
My name is Caitln. I have a dog, Harry who is 5, Two Cats, one is. 18 and the other is 16. We recently rescued a dog through a family friend in October. She is 3 years old and what appears to be a mix of Pointer, Spaniel and Boxer. Her owners left her outside and was never allowed inside the house. She spent Winter, And Summer outside with nothing more than a old dog house for shade.
For the most part she is well behaved. However, she chases the cats and I believe she tries to eat them. My cats hide and avoid her for the most part. My cat who gets along with our Golden Retriver is terrified of the new dog, hissing and growling whenever she is near.
Lucy, our new dog, gets along fine with other people and our own dog.
However, recently she has become aggressive towards other dogs, except the one she lives with. In the car she will bark and growl at another dog going by, same with when walking. Recently at a dog groomers she attacked another dog. The dog was older and had a tumor on its back apparently. It ended up with a scratch on its ears and two puncture wounds on its neck and growled at the other dogs.
A few months ago we went out of town and took her to a dog hotel. Apparently she got along fine with the other dogs.
We have some trouble walking her do to the fact she pulls, Harnesses don’t work, we have a choke collar that works somewhat.
We really need help before she hurts another dog. She is a sweet girl and loves people. We really don’t want another incident.
With my Shiba Inu, I did dog-to-dog desensitization exercises to help raise his reactivity threshold towards other dogs. Desensitization teaches him to better cope with his stress, and helps him to reassociate other dogs with positive outcomes. With desensitization, it is *very* important to do training in a controlled environment and start with a weakened version of the stimulus. With other dogs, we can use distance to weaken the strength of the stimulus. In this way, our dog will still be able to listen to us, and learn from the experience. Then, as we make progress, we can very slowly increase the challenge.
I describe what I did in the desensitization section above.
With dog-to-dog aggression issues, getting help from a professional trainer can also be very helpful.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
As for cats, I do not have any cats at home, so this is not something that I spent a lot of time on with my dogs. Here is an article from the ASPCA on introducing a cat to a new dog.
My dog is a 5-yr, 55lb, spayed female German Shepherd, and it would take a dissertation to fully explain her behaviors – she is hyper, nervous, anxious, sensitive, fearful, very smart – and very aggressive towards dogs smaller than her. Not just little dogs – any dog smaller than her. Big dogs, same size dogs, she’s nervous and anxious – but the smaller the dog, the faster and more aggressive the reaction (when I don’t catch it in time). The closer the distance, the more aggressive the reaction too, but I see this small-dog aggression even from a distance.
Last week, a loose half-grown puppy ran up to us – the puppy was pretty neutral, friendly and curious. It wasn’t until the puppy and my dog were sniffing (appropriately) that I could see the puppy was about 10lbs lighter than mine – and it was like seeing a light switched in my dog an instant later when she realized it too, from cautiously friendly sniffing to tail-up, hackles-up, nipping-bullying, and then the other dog owner got ahold of her dog and they left.
I can’t ask you to diagnose or fix things via internet, but I am curious whether this is something you’ve seen – small-ER dog aggression? What is behind it other than prey drive (since these small dogs are rarely running)? I don’t want to humanize too much, but could it be along the lines of cowardice/bullying like I’m thinking?
The other significant piece to her dog-aggression is that when I step in, she steps back – which is to say, when we’ve been charged by truly aggressive dogs (three different instances I can recall, one of which bit my dog on the tail) – and I get angry and roar commands at the other dog – my dog doesn’t act aggressive at all, she just stands there and watches. Beyond knowing her usual nervousness, that tells me that fear factors into her reactions to other dogs (and probably that my pack-leader efforts are not enough to overcome her anxiety/aggression on a day-to-day basis). At the same time, inside the house she is calm, quiet, and obedient – I do not have dominance issues with her, or destruction issues, and I’ve weaned her off the separation anxiety.
I’ve never owned a dog as high-strung as she is, and I’m constantly trying to read more and learn more about what I can do to fix things – unfortunately, I think I’m at the point where I need to pay a trainer for one-on-one time with a calm dog in a secure space, and that’s tough to afford. I’d be happy to hear any words of wisdom you can offer.
Both my Huskies are more reactive towards certain small dogs. As you say, running can trigger prey drive, but any kind of fast movement can do the same. Some of the small dogs that we meet like moving quickly back and forth, they stare, and do high-pitch barking. This type of behavior can also trigger prey drive.
Energy is also very important. My dogs are very good at picking up my energy, the energy of other dogs, as well as the energy of their owners. For example, my Huskies remain calm when everyone has calm energy. However, if the other dog is fearful/over-excited, or if the other owner is fearful/over-excited, then that will likely get them excited as well.
Some dogs may use aggression because they are fearful of other dogs or are intolerant of rude dogs that invade their space. Here is a bit more on my experiences with rude greeting behavior.
This article by Suzanne Clothier also illustrates rude greeting behavior very well.
http://www.suzanneclothier.com/the-articles/he-just-wants-say-hi
Desensitization exercises can help to raise a dog’s reactivity threshold, help her better cope with stress, help her gain confidence, and help her reassociate an undesirable stimulus with positive outcomes.
However, it is also important to protect our dogs from bad greetings. I try to always protect my dogs from rude dogs and also from people who do not have good energy. Sometimes, that is not possible with off-leash dogs that are not properly supervised, but I do my best.
I make sure to set my dogs up for success, and only attempt greetings which I am sure will produce a positive outcome. If I am even slightly unsure, I just ignore and move on. Neutral encounters are much better than a failed greeting.