Aggressive Dog Behavior

rorobobo

Hi All,

I have a 2 year old male cockapoo. When out walking or in the park he gets on great with people but becomes aggressive towards other dogs. I don't know if this is out of fear or if he is trying to protect me.

Has anyone else gone through this and could recommend some techniques I could use?

Or is there anyone here with the same issues and want to meet up and socialize our dogs together? I am based in D24 area.

Thanks,
Rorobobo

Nody

2 years old means you missed the socialisation window by about 1 year and 9 months but you may get help to work on reducing the impact. Now when you say he gets aggressive can you please expand on this? Does he growl? Does he launch against them? Does his ears go flat, showing teeth? Does he try to walk out of their way or pull you towards them? Is it all sizes or only smaller/same size/larger? Are there any dogs he does get along with?

rorobobo

Thanks for the reply.

I also have a bichon and they get on together great. When my friend visits and brings his dog they also get on really well and play with each other. Earlier this year I was minding a dog for 4 weeks for another friend and again they got on great. So when at home he seems ok.

When out and about when he sees another dog he crouches down low to the ground, crawls along and then jumps up and makes a run for them. He tries to pull me towards the dogs. He barks a lot at them. He doesn't growl or just show his teeth. It is with all sizes of dogs.

Late last year I attended dog training classes for 6 weeks in the DSPCA. Again here he got on great but they didn't cover much socializing. It was mainly commands.

Nody

I'm not an expert (I've simply rubbed elbow enough to pick up the basics from the real experts :P ) but it really sounds to me that he's not comfortable with unknown dogs. The whole aggressive behaviour basically being posturing to hide his own fear of them and try to make sure they stay away from him by looking as a terrifying monster so to speak. Why? Well depends on his socialisation from 3 weeks forward (3 to 13 weeks is the most critical period but it should not stop after that period) but if it was not done well (or if he's temperament is put in such a way) then you'll have to deal with it now instead.

Now as noted I'm not an expert but there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all consider getting professional help (if you state your general area there are multiple people here who can recommend suitable trainers who're not cowboys or wannabies). They will help design a program that works for you and your dog and while they cost a bit up front think of the years of effort and fear in your dog that they will save; honeslty the right trainer will be worth it imo.

Secondly you need to distract him (and I'm quite certain the trainer can help better with this then I can but still). If you're out walking start making sure he keeps eyes on you rather then this whole big world out there with really scary stuff. You want him to focus on you (and reward him accordingly) while making sure you take routes with few dogs on (he'll never be able to focus on you it if he's constantly bombarded by these scary things around him at the start) to start building it up. The whole point being if he focuses on you he will reduce the working himself up about the scary stuff over there and trust you to take care of it for him. That also means you need to make minimize other dogs coming to him (put yellow cloth on the lead) and teach him for example the sit command (or still or similar) to signify that he's not to react to the other dog and focus on you. Once the other dog is away then you reward him (not only with treats but with words, playing etc. depending on what is his "omg I so want that" trigger) for focusing on you to help him become less worked up. Now he's unlikely to ever be "happy" around new dogs but that does not mean he can't get to a level to tolerate them for when being out walking etc.

tk123

rorobobo wrote: »

When out and about when he sees another dog he crouches down low to the ground, crawls along and then jumps up and makes a run for them. He tries to pull me towards the dogs.

Is it definitely aggression - my younger dog will do that too when she wants to play but is a bit shy of the other dog! Does he do the same thing when he's off lead?

borderlinemeath

To me it sounds more like frustration than out and out aggression? He wants to play but he just doesn't know quite how to go about it politely (in dog terms) and it can look like aggression from a human perspective.

A good trainer or behaviourist can help you with a training plan for socialisation with other unknown dogs. Emmaline from Citzen Canine would cover your area or you could have an assessment in Positve Dog Training and if your dog isn't aggressive, then could be suitable to attend one of their social hours or even a daycare session?

http://www.positivedogtrainingdublin.com/socialhour.php#.U6hPB_ldW9Y


http://citizencanineireland.com/

rorobobo

thanks a million for all the replies
I've sent emails to both those websites so fingers crossed they can help me

Ms.Sunshine

I had a similar experience the other day that caught me of guard as my little guy has never barked before! He was out doing his business in the garden when the neighbor came out to say hello to him..(neighbor is an old man who regularly says hello and rubs our dog!) But this time he just stared at him barking uncontrollably until the man went inside, I had to go out to drag him in.

Not sure what it was about the man that evening as he never seemed to have a problem with him before that.. and he has not barked since!!