Dog training question! Help Dog people!!

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Thanks for all of the tips! The problem at this point is finding the "other" dog. She is a fixed female and I took her with muzzle and leash to a dog park several times, but the other dogs are off leash and when they approach her she bares her teeth and then they attack her. The other owners there made it pretty clear that my dog was not too welcome! I pointed out that she was on her leash and muzzled, but they all quickly steered their dogs away.

As I said, there are two dogs who like to come visit: one is a very well trained male and they never get to meet off Athena's property. The other is an extremely spoiled, poorly trained female whose owner gets completely hysterical if there is anything which looks like aggression. (She really makes the situation so much worse!)

DH had suggested to the male dog's owner that we leash the dogs so that they cannot quite reach each other and let them smell each other for a while but she declined.

What I am hearing is I need to take her to a class and that is not likely due to lack of money and time...... Is there anyway you guys can think of that I might be able to hook up with someone in a less formal setting??

 

[ninny]

See if there is a dog club near you. Someone there maybe be willing to help or can point you in the right direction. Before warn however, if it is a kennel club or pure breed dog club you may not ran into the nicest people for the simple reason you have a mixed breed dog. My mom has run into this a lot. Also try the shelters. If you were closer i would do this with you. You could audition for its me or the dog on animal planet. I have been watching her a lot lately and find her to a very good trainer. I also prefer her over the dog whisperer in some areas.

 

[conroy]

I like her too... my kids watch her as well.... I used her treat technique when incorporating my new puppyinto our pack... It really works.

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

We have a snarly Golden Retriever who has been through puppy classes Grade one and two..has been socialized from day one......He's aggressive towards people not animals..including me and the family...but hasnt bitten yet......we have had him to three behavourlists....to make a long story short we kept in touch with the breeder...excellent people....and they believe in Cesar Melan...the Dog Whisperer....They put our dog in their pack...and we came home with our Retriever and a Black Lab who is more dominant but Submissive....I bought the books on C.D and borrowed the DVD's of Cesar and it has worked for us...But we still dont trust him...BUT we love him and will not give up trying....

 

[lorieMN]

well first off if I was coming to visit you and new you had that dog I would leave mine at home..you could always lock yours up when visitors come,she doesnt HAVE to like other dogs,its her house,I wouldnt risk the possiblity of either my or my friends dog getting hurt just to MAKE them be friends..dog fights many times end up in death of one,so I dont blame your friends for not wanting to let them "duke it out",on the other hand then they should leave their dogs at home..

 

[alpinefarm]

I thought I'd jump in here. My very first dog as a young married person was an aggressive young dog (very dog aggressive and also, to a lesser degree, uncomfortable around people, tending to snap at anyone who was forward/friendly with him). He was an "only dog" at home and this translated into him being a real social clutz, confused about how to act toward strange dogs, especially.
This is what worked for us/him:
1) Classes--I took him to a great obedience class first, with a firm, knowledgeable, non-violent trainer...the class was full of all kinds of dogs, both purebreds and mixes. He was, at first, intensely interested in being pushy with the others (snarling, lunging...it was very embarrassing to begin with but we persisted) and he calmed down after a few sessions. He actually became the *star* of the group, obedience-wise, and learned to ignore the other dogs/be calm around them.
2) Socialization in other settings--with coaching from a friend who bred/showed dogs in conformation, I took him everywhere I could think of, on-lead. She let me come to her show/confirmation class (and had all the other members of the class spend time handling/touching him). I took him to parks, grocery store parking lot (letting people pet him all over, with me holding his collar/head carefully, asked them give him one of his favorite treats after touching him). And I took him on walks down neighborhood alley ways--this was ideal, because all the other dogs would come to their fences in a rush, barking and snarling at him, and he would want to tear their faces off! But there was a fence to protect everyone concerned. I carried a spray bottle of water and sprayed him for any reaction to them. He hated water in his face and so he soon figured this out. If he was calm, I would let him go over to the fence to "meet" them. But on any sign of aggression, I would spray his face. I also had him on a choke chain collar (*never* use anything nastier). This was always placed up high behind his ears, and I used a quick, sharp pull if he was aggressive to the other dogs, not long, strangle pulls. I didn't care what the other dogs did, just what he did. I talked to the others pleasantly, never yelled. I talked to my dog, teaching him cue words, like: settle, no pull.
3) I found an open-space, remote area where I could run him off-lead with no other dogs around. I worked with him on "come" and made sure he was tuned in to me off-lead. Eventually, we'd run across other dogs at this setting, off-lead too, and I discovered that he was much more a gentleman with them when both were off-lead/on equal footing. He had less of a problem with other dogs when they were both loose, but if a stray dog ran up to us while he was on-lead, he would become defensive/aggressive, nervous about their intentions and well-aware that he was "handicapped" by the leash. I sometimes would let him off leash at that point and he and the other dog would "posture" and perhaps chase around a bit or even play.
4) Patient work on the above, daily "social exercises."
Dogs *can* learn to control themselves and in our society, they *have* to. You don't want to hide your dog away or live in fear of risking injury, vet/medical bills (which you will end up paying!), loss of friendships, fear of lawsuits. Classes and training do take a little time and money (though usually you can find an obedience course at low cost--try through your community recreational center if you have one or Chamber of Commerce or vet) but if you truly love your dog and want to prevent injury/trouble/expense, it is wise to take the time to do what is needed.
4) Doggie companionship. When we added a female dog to our household, we saw a strong positive change in his attitude and social ineptness. It helped that the new dog was very mellow, non-aggressive. She helped him feel more confident, I think, not so alone.
***Our dog became the nicest guy over time; it took a few months to see good progress and maybe a year or two to ultimately feel confident in him and for him to "grow out of" it, as well. Mental maturity plays a part, but you need to structure their learning while they are growing up so they figure it out *right*! I eventually began running him in field trials and he *never*ever* had a problem on the field with other dogs! He soon became a field champion and he was dubbed "Mr Mellow" by the other trial owners. I was often asked to let him be a "trainer dog" for aggressive field dogs in practices. Some of them actually tried to attack him while they were out on the field together, but he would look over his shoulder at them like, "What's your problem? Get a life!" and run on!

Good luck--insist on good behavior from your dog and give her the coaching necessary to help her succeed.
Rosemary

 

[ninny]

Your choice of collar will make a difference too. With a aggressive dog I would never use a choke or a prong collar. The reason being that these collars produce a quick pop that can cause the dog to go over its stress thresh hold when it is at the edge. I only use a prong on dogs that pull badly with the goal of weaning them off of it. The reason being that prongs apply even pressure around the dogs neck and can not hurt the dog . I will never use a choke collar. The choke collar you are doing just that. You are chokeing the dog. You can seourisly damage the dogs thoart and wind pipe. Most people should never use either of these collars as they do not know how to use them correctly. The better choices would be a no pull harness and a head collar.

 

[BeckyLa]

imho. Since your dog is aggressive, even in neutral territory and when muzzled, then you should leave her at home and your friends should leave theirs at home. If you ask them over, or if they ask to bring their dogs and you give the ok, then your dog should be lock up while they are there. To me it's just common courtesy. It's what I would do in your situation because even with all the training in the world you will a) never be able to completely trust her, anything could set her off when you least expect it and someone/pet could get hurt, you could be sued because of prior knowledge, b) you could break her of protecting her own territory altogether, or c) you could just break her spirit and she could become depressed and lethargic.

 

[Pupsnpullets]

My dogs are pretty mellow but it can upset them no end to have strange dogs on their turf. Even when they appear to get on strife usually follows sometime later. I have allowed others on my place in an emergency (like refugees from the fires we had near here) and we made it a point to keep them separate or intensely supervised and no fur flew, but my female dog became very depressed. I think she felt she'd lost top dog status, and the depression didn't lift until the other dog went home again.

Incidently the older my dogs get - they're both 8 now - the less tolerant they are of lifestyle changes, so I have to respect that. We have our play dates at the park and at the end of the day we all go to our separate homes and everyone is happy.

 

[Pupsnpullets]

Quote:
Yes, I agree, BeckyLa. A lot of dog experts maintain that it is out of character for a dog to be expected to tolerate strangers on their home ground. Even the non aggressive ones.