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Overly Aggressive Dogs
I try and answer every question
I receive on dog training. I may often come across as a little on the
blunt side, (some may call it brash). That is because I consider myself
an
advocate for dogs and not dog handlers. I am an advocate for common
sense dog training
and not the latest fad that appears on the horizon. Good dog training
is not rocket science. It's common sense.
PRONG COLLAR WARNING: When you use your Prong Collar, we strongly
suggest you use a Leerburg
Dominant Dog Collar as a safety backup.
QUESTION: Hello- Help! Jean Tennant You are at risk from a legal standpoint. If she chooses to get an attorney it will be an automatic law suit that you will lose. When you lose it you will also lose your current home owners insurance because they will drop you. If you want to keep this dog you need to change the way
you live with this dog. It needs serious training - run him through my Basic
Obedience DVD and use a dominant dog collar. This dog needs pack behavior modification and control. Plus you need to completely control his environment. He can never come into contact with non-pack members. This is not an issue for me as I NEVER allow people to touch my dogs - never and not for any reason. Dogs are pack animals and strangers are not part of their family pack. I would recommend that you also get the DVD I just finished titled Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs. This was a 5 year project that took hundreds of hours to produce. You NEED this information. I hope this helps.
I have a 4 year old dog (Buster) who has always showed aggression over food, mainly anyone besides myself and my husband who enters the kitchen when I am in there. I have no problem taking away his food or holding his bowl when he is eating. Last week my friend came over to visit and her girls stayed overnight. I was in the kitchen when one of the girls who is eleven came in, I immediatelly knew by the look on his face he was going to growl so I said NO!!!! He then jumped at her and nipped her, breaking the skin. I then dragged him and put him in a room alone. I am very worried about this. I don't want to have him put to sleep if there is a way to correct this behavior. I would appreciate any help on this matter. Thank you, ANSWER: Read my article on Dealing with a Dominant Dog. If the dog were fullyly trained you would have been able to stop him with a voice command - therefore he is only partially trained. If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my video, Basic Dog Obedience. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. Get a prong collar and the video - train this dog. Read the Q&A sections on my web site. I have answered more questions like this than I care to think about. Get a dog crate and use it in the house. When people come over - put the dog in the crate. It is a dangerous dog - it has already proven this to you. You are lucky it was not a face bite or you may have been dealing with lawyers this week. This problem is solvable but not without you taking the bull by the horns and making the changes needed to save this dog’s life.
I have a 3 year old Shit-zu and a 1 1/2 year old little girl. The dog bit her upper lip yesterday when she hugged him. My wife now wants to get rid of the dog and I don’t. I will if I have to but I don’t want this to happen. Will neutering the dog correct his aggression? What does neutering the dog do, slow him down? Please help! Ron ANSWER: Neutering will mellow some dogs, (not all). I would recommend that the dog have some serious obedience training with a prong collar. If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my video Basic Dog Obedience. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. You should also read my article on Dealing with a Dominant Dog. I would also get a dog crate and keep this dog crated when the baby is down. Keep the two of them separated for awhile and if the dog even growls at the baby it needs to have its butt corrected so hard that it thinks it is going to die. It MUST UNDERSTAND that it is the lowest pack member in the family. The odds are that the baby did learn a little lesson (which it should not have had to learn) and will stay away from the dog. But I would also scold the baby for going near the dog. When the child is older they can be friends, now you must keep them separated.
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: I REALLY need some advice. Our babysitter and neighbor whom we dearly love is the owner of a Rott by the name of "Baby." The dog is actually her husband's pet & has been fairly well behaved around me and my children so far, they have lived beside us for approximately 1.5 years. However, the dog has shown some aggressive territorial behavior to my husband. For instance when he was putting mail in our box which border's their yard, he has growled, or has come up in the drive when Lambert was getting in his truck. When our neighbor first started to baby-sit for us, the dog was always kept in the kennel while the children were outside. I've been finding the dog loose in the yard when I pick up the children. This is a very big dog and my children are ages 2 & 3. So this dog is face to face with my little boy, whom he has licked in the face. No harm there yet, but I've heard so many stories in regard to these types of dogs, I want to know your opinion of this situation. Is this an accident waiting to happen? One of my concerns has been the territorial aspect of this breed, our sitter also has 2 children, if all 4 children are at play in the yard and one child gets hurt, would this dog assume that their child needed to be protected from the other children? Is this something I should be concerned about? We have already said something to our neighbor, asking them to please keep the dog locked up when the children are playing in the yard, but I'm not sure they didn't take offense. I don't like to hurt anyone's feelings or cause hardships over pets, but I'm a 100% committed to protecting her children parent. Any thoughts and advice you can give me would be appreciated. Sheila Moore ANSWER: Have your husband give the dog treats every time he sees the dog - get cheap turkey legs. The bottom line is that I always think people should error on the side of caution when it comes to large dogs and kids. The fact that it is growling at your husband should be a concern. If they will not keep the dog in a pen - find a new baby sitter. Why gamble with your kids just because you do not want to hurt a neighbors feelings.
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: We have a male intact Dane 7 months old that up until about 2 months ago was NEVER aggressive. What has happened in the last few months: We got Junior in April of this year, the start of my breeding program he was 7 weeks old. In July we got Tesh, she was 9 weeks old and we already had a female Boston Terrier Nina (spayed) that Junior got along great with (still does), he and Tesh hit it off great and we had a perfect family..:) In Sept. We got another female, Jenny she is 1 month older than Junior and we did the intro's on nuteral territory just in case! They had a few words back and forth, teeth showing and such, then they calmed down and Jenny submitted to Junior. Once home there was a couple more confrontations but all has been peaceful since and all dogs know their place in the pack. A month ago Junior was under our kitchen table with a bone, my son and his little friend were in there and my son came in and said Junior growled at him (Junior is fine with everyone around his food) we corrected Junior and the little girl went up to him and rubbed his cheeks and told him what a good boy he was, as she turned he snapped at her and just barely got her ear, she had a good scratch, my hubby dragged him off yelling and screaming and in his crate he went, bones were put away or thrown away and all was fine again. We later found out our 6 year old had squeezed Juniors cheeks real hard before this happened, so had a feeling Junior was afraid the little girl was going to do the same, that's why he snapped. Today I got each of them a rawhide, Junior was on the kitchen floor in front of the gate eating his, my son went around him and went to go through the gate and Junior jumped up and bit him in the face, now our son says's he didn't do anything to Junior (We had that talk about being good to the puppies!) he said he just walked by him and was going to go over the gate and Junior jumped up and got him. I grabbed Junior’s scruff and dragged him down the hall telling him no and shame on him and it wasn't expectable, my hubby came in and grabbed Junior so I could tend to our Son and he put Junior in his crate and pounded on the crate telling him NO you don't bite! LUCKILY our son is ok, has a scratch next to his nose by his eye. We DO NOT allow any of them on the furniture or on our bed, they are allowed to sleep on the floor in our room or Junior sleeps in his crate in our son's room. My question is this, IF I just NOT give Junior any more bones (as they make him aggressive) and realize that it was my fault for not thinking, if we just keep on top of him, will this go away?? He is NEVER aggressive otherwise! If he get's into the garbage or food or toy's he shouldn't have any one of us can go take it away from him without a growl. It's just Bones he is so possessive of!! Any help would be greatly appreciated and ASAP as hubby is ready to get rid of Junior and I KNOW he is NOT a bad dog!! He is coming of age I think and just want's something to be HIS and only HIS (bones). So by taking him out of that situation NO BONES, then things should be fine. Thank you so much for your help!! ANSWER: This is not going to get better with you doing the few things that you mentioned. You have a problem, part of which you have created by allowing this dog to do things he should never be allowed to do. My advice is to find a new home for this dog unless you are prepared to make changes:
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: I have a two-year-old German Shepherd that is of 100% German descent. I bought him when he was 11 months old and he was obedience trained and had all the basics down. I planned on taking him to advance obedience training but he was very dog aggressive and attacked my friends dog in the park when we were trying to acclimate them and attacked another dog at the groomers while we were waiting for our turn. Both of the attacks resulted in only minor injuries but in both I was not able to get him off so I was fearful to take him into a situation with many dogs so we didn't attend class. He has also bitten people three times, two were accidental and one (the most recent) was unprovoked and on purpose. He bit my husband when they were playing ball and both were going for the ball at the same time but Evan (my dog) missed. He also bit my sister when she was holding her dog (he had gotten out of the room he was penned in) and he went for the dog and missed. Both of those bites resulted in broken skin. The latest bite occurred when my oldest daughter though she would be funny and let him out of his kennel in the garage when my other daughters friend was over. Neither the dog nor the child knew the other was there. Evan bit her thigh and then backed up and held her until my husband came out of the house and threw him in the back yard. Evan didn't break the skin but she was in a definite hold and had she moved I'm quite sure he would have gone at her again. His obedience works has been hit and miss lately and he spends a lot of time out in his run that is attached to the garage. Could this be the cause? I have three children ages 10, 12, and 2. Do I need to be concerned that he will continue to escalate despite training and bite them as well? I read your articles on dominance and the only areas that I have been wrong in were allowing him to be in the kitchen while we ate and allowing him to sleep in the bedroom not on the bed but he was in the room. I should mention that two of his brothers are K 9 dogs. I've contacted the breeder to give him the opportunity to take Evan back versus me putting him down (which was my first reaction) and he has offered to give me a puppy (from a different breeding) and place Evan. Now I'm wondering if I should work with Evan first and try to solve this before giving him up. I have changed my mind back and forth on this 4 times so far so any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank You! Angela Malone ANSWER: Give this dog back to the breeder and take a puppy. It is evident that you are in way over your head. If you have not fixed the problem so far the odds are against you figuring it out now. At this point his dog needs an experienced handler (which you are not). Take a new pup and do it right this time. I would recommend the video I have produced titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. I give this video to all of my puppy customers and never get questions on how to raise a pup. Read the description of the tape on my website. Make sure that this time around you follow the information in my article on Dealing with the Dominant Dog (no sleeping in bedrooms). People who do not start training dogs at an early age (as puppies) often have to pay the price of their errors as the dogs enter maturity (2 years of age).
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: Our two-year-old German Short Haired Pointer has begun to get aggressive. We brought him home from the breeder at 8 weeks. He has been a wonderful gentle loving dog to me my wife and 10 and 13-year-old sons. At 6 months we put him on an electric invisible fence, which has worked perfectly. He has been a wonderful family pet. If we had any problems it was his “over-friendliness” - jumping on and licking all guests. A few months ago we noticed he was barking at joggers running by the house. He would even bark at people when we passed them and he was in the car. Then he started barking at the doorbell or knock on the door. A few weeks ago when a friend entered through a side door (as many, including us do) he barked then growled and showed his teeth. Last week we had company and one couple brought their 6-month infant. We crated and leashed Norton all day but when brought into the living room he was fine until he saw the baby. They stared at each other until he started to growl and show teeth. Had I not had him on the leash I don't know what would have happened. Today the meter reader entered the property and our dog (Norton) was in the back running around. My wife happened to be with him but when seeing the meter reader he bolted after him. First barking then growling and then biting at his boot. It was not that long ago that ANYONE could come to our home and all they needed to worry about was getting licked by a lovable dog. HELP!!! Any suggstions. Is this behavior reversible? Or are we looking at a muzzle or WORSE? ANSWER: If you are inclined to make an effort this behavior is controllable. I do not think it is irreversible. It has developed as a result of the genetics of the dog and has manifested itself because the dog is going through maturity. The only way to control it is to establish yourself and your wife as the undisputed pack leaders. This is done through strict obedience. By that I do not mean you go out and kick your dog's butt for not minding, but it does mean that you train your dog so that when a command is given he will follow your direction every time under every circumstance without question. Until you have that kind of control you have a dangerous dog. It should not be allowed around small children and you should have a dog crate for the dog to go in when strangers are at your house. The dog must also learn what inappropriate behavior is. This is accomplished by you telling him NO. Until he has reached the level of obedience that I explain above, telling him NO will not have a great effect on him. But once he is trained and he shows aggression after he is told NO - then he gets corrected and corrected really kicked hard. I follow the theory of one good correction is worth a million nagging ones. Most people are "naggers" - they hag their dogs to death. But when it comes to unwanted aggression there is no situation where a middle ground is acceptable. The dog either minds or it is dangerous. It's just that simple. So when people have dogs like this it requires a new mind set for them. Both spouses have to agree to train the dog, both have to understand the correct steps to training and both have to be willing to be consistent and follow through with corrections when they are required. If that is not the case in your home then put the dog down because someone is going to get bit. If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, get my Basic Dog Obedience video and a prong collar.
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: Hi, I have a 5 yr old neutered rottie with a strong prey drive and or dominant behavior. I had him trained when he was 2 since he was showing aggressive behavior towards people. Now he is very obedient, I can stop him from a full charge attack (on people or other animals) BUT when left alone he kills. To date he has killed about 10 cats and dogs, numerous snakes, rats, birds and he even tried to take down my horse when I first got her. I have three kids 6,5,3 and he is absolutely great with them. He even takes commands (sit, stay, quiet) from my 3 yr old. One day, though, he severely bit my nephew who was visiting. The kids went into the dog room alone and when the baby yelled the dog bit my nephew in the face. As for other people, when I am there I can have people in my yard and he will go after them but then will sit-stay when told and leaves them alone. As for other animals entering my yard though, can I train him to not kill? I’m afraid someone is going to bring suit against me. I think he knows its wrong. When he does it he will come to me with his head down in a submissive behavior and wants to lick me a lot. Please give me some advice as I'm not sure why such a sweet passive dog one minute can become a killer in another. Thank you ANSWER: This is more dog that you are prepared to handle. Find another home for the dog. Owning a dog like this requires someone who demonstrates more responsibility that you have shown. There is NO EXCUSE for a dog being allowed near strange children. I don't accept the excuse that it was an accident. It was not an accident; it was irresponsible for you to allow a situation like this to happen. Get a Poodle - God put them on this earth for people like you.
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: Dear Mr. Frawley, I adopted my dog about 2 years ago from a no kill shelter when he was about 8 months old. They told me he was found laying in the street with a bad wound leg from a knife or fence. He is a chow, yellow lab and Shepard or rottie mix. He is neutered. I took him to obedience training from the very beginning but he would get aggressive towards the other dogs in class and the teacher suggested I put him to sleep or go to private classes. I have gone to private classes with him and he responds well and is not aggressive to the trainer or me. He is not totally trained to come on command but is very well behaved at home. Walking him is a hassle because he is very aggressive to dogs that come up to him or walk by him while he is on leash and there are many stray dogs in my neighborhood. He bit a greyhound once in the park as I talked to a friend and the dogs walked by us. The dog ended up needing some stitches even though the incident was stopped fairly quickly. My dog plays well with most dogs off leash but once attacked a dog in my sisters back yard for no reason except we let him out to play with the dog. He used to be very shy around men and other strange people in the house but has become much more accepting of people coming into the house and welcomes them unless they are a stranger to me as well. I am mostly concerned with him attacking other dogs on leash but today when I was walking him we went passed a young child and his father walking to school. As we passed the boy and his dad my dog aggressively snapped and growled at the child. I am glad I had a good hold on the leash or I feel he would have attacked the kid. Maybe my dog was afraid because the child had a hooded jacket on but the reaction my dog had seemed more than just a warning bark. He also snapped at some little girls who were playing in my front yard and put their faces to my front window. I have since told them not to come into my yard and I put a screen in front of the window so my dog can't see out. Do you think if I spent more time training him if he would not act out this way. I also feel that he might have some genetic problems that I can not fix. He is very loving to me and I am having a hard time deciding which direction to take. Please write me back with your suggestions. Sincerely, ANSWER: In my opinion the Chow mix dogs are some of the most dangerous dogs out there. Far more dangerous than Pit Bulls. I cannot tell you how many emails I get from people who own Chows or Chow mixes that have unacceptable aggression problems with their dogs. If you choose to keep this dog (and not put it to sleep) you need to change the way you handle him.
You own a very dangerous dog. You have been very very lucky so far - luck runs out. It's time to step to the line and become a responsible pet owner. You have taken the right step in asking for advice. Now you have to follow through because if this dog attacks (not bites) a child, you are to blame and not the dog.
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: Dear Mr. Frawley, I have an older (humane society dog, do not know his exact age) cross-breed, he is at least eight years old. He is part Husky and possibly GSD. I also have a two year old GS female. I go for walks often, I try to go early in the morning so I do not run across other loose dogs. Mine are ALWAYS on a lead. My dogs have been attacked several times by other dogs running loose. My male (he is neutered) is an Alpha male (or least I thing he is), he was dog aggressive until I took him to obedience class. I had to learn how to show him I am the leader of the pack. Once I understood this concept and applied the proper stance of letting him know I was the leader and I would not put up with this behavior, it stopped. He will not back down if another dog shows any sign of aggression toward him, me or my other dog, as it should be. My female has a strong play drive and I am training her for search and rescue. She has a wonderful temperament, typical for GSD's. She is not aggressive, in fact she is very friendly when I introduce her to someone. She does read me of course, I have not the slightest doubt that in a situation where she feels I am nervous, or frightened, she would react accordingly. Both of these dogs are 70+ lbs. When another dog approaches us, I have my hands full with keeping both of my animals under control with their leads, while at the same time trying to get the loose dog to leave us alone. What do you suggest I do in these situations? Stand my ground and try to fend off the other dog, or try to leave the area, dragging my two dogs away? I usually try to walk in residential areas, and often I can walk in the middle of the street because of no traffic during the early morning hours. (Thanks for giving us so much information on being responsible dog handlers.) Sincerely, Patty ANSWER: Get some pepper spray and spray it right in the face of these other dogs. They are threatening you (if the police ask) and not your dog. You are perfectly legal in doing this if they threaten you. Besides these other dogs should be on leash or in a yard or under control. Hello, While researching the effects that neutering may have on my 6 month old ACD, I came upon your page. In your response to a question regarding a Shit-zu that bit a 1.5 year old girl on the lip, you said, "...if the dog even growls at the baby it needs to have its but corrected so hard that it thinks it is going to die." I fully understand that a dog must know it is absolutely the lowest member of the pack. But your response seems to suggest hitting the dog. Why would you EVER tell someone to do this? If an owner were to "correct" (beat) their dog "So hard it thinks it's going to die," it would do far more to destroy the trust the dog has in the owner than it would to correct the dogs action! I hope that it was only a poor use of wording on your part, and that you weren't implying the owner hit the dog. If this is the case you have to be more careful dispensing information to people who may take it quite literally. Sincerely, ANSWER: So are you asking me if I would hit a dog? The answer is I would beat it like a wet rag if it bit a child in my presence. This dog would remember that moment of that day for the rest of its life (kind of like how I remember where I was the day Kennedy got shot), and with a little luck it would never bite another child. So when your head clears- which I doubt will ever happen - you should go to see some photos of kids that have been bit in the face by a dog. In fact I would ask the people who read this response to send me photos of kids that have been dog bit - so people like you know how serious this issue is. QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: We have an 18-month-old girl lab mix named "Lily" that we rescued six months ago. She was a loud barker right from the start, but seemed to make herself at home with us. Neither my wife or I had much experience as dog owners, so we naively hoped that a loving & comfortable home life would be enough to calm her down. She is very smart and did in fact learn to mind us and show us a lot of affection after a while, but she was still difficult to manage on walks and showed territorial aggression around the house with friends and meter readers, etc. We took her to a professional trainer who helped make a difference, but he confirmed that she was one of the most stubborn dogs he had ever worked with. I am writing to you now because she just bit my wife for the third time. The first time occurrred when Lily was sick with an upset stomach and bit my wife's face as she was leaning over her to try to comfort her. Not too much later Lily bit my wife on the finger when she was trying to control her at a car dealership. Tonight my wife was again bending over her to kiss her, and Lily lashed out. Each occasion was a quick strike without any prologed attack or growling; after each attack, we tried to correct her by shouting NO and by flipping her on her back and holding her down for a minute or so. She responds by being submissive for awhile, but we feel like we can't trust her anymore and now realize that our social life is being affected by our fears about her with people coming to our house. We've read the letters from other owners on your site and wonder whether anything can be done or whether we are up to making the changes required. She has been sleeping on our bed at night, so we'd have a long way to go. What do you think? Thanks, ANSWER: I think you have a couple levels of decisions to make here. The first is do you want to continue to try and save this dog or in reality is it time to send her back to the shelter - where she will be put down? If you want to try then you need to work at it in a better way. Here is what needs to be done:
This dog needs strict obedience. If you keep it you need to become a responsible pet owner. You inadvertently have not been one.
QUESTION ABOUT MUZZLING A DOG: I am looking for a wire muzzle for my female German Shepherd. She is a rescue dog and has turned out to be a biter. I want a muzzle that I can give food rewards through easily and allows her to pant. The wire muzzles in the pet stores either don’t allow her to pant or have wires too close together to put rewards through. She is 4 1/4 in on her nose and 10 1/2 in circ. (about 1" below eyes). She is about 65#. The German wire muzzles look ok but I can't see the front. Can you help me? ANSWER: I have a wire muzzle on my website. You can take a look at it. You do not understand obedience training if you think you should be using food treats with a muzzled dog. You have a lot to learn. QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: HELLO MY NAME IS LISA , I HAVE A 3 1/2 YR OLD SHEPARD MALE NAMED BUD, I FOUND HIM WHEN HE WAS A FEW MONTHS OLD AND SO IM NOT SURE ABOUT HIS TEMPERMENTS IN BLOOD LINES. WE RECENTLY HAD SOME SHEEP ON THE PROPERTY AND WE GOT LOSE AND KILLED TWO. HE HAS KILLED CATS BEFORE BUT WE THOUGHT HE WAS PLAYING TO HARD. TODAY HE WENT AFTER A CALF BUT LUCKLY I WAS THERE TO STOP IT. I PUNISHED HIM BUT IT DOSNT SEEM TO DO ANYTHING. I DONT WANT TO PUT HIM DOWN. IS THERE ANY THING TO DO TO GET HIM TO STOP? HE ISNT AGRESIVE TOWARDS OTHER PEOPLE UNLESS HE FEELS IM AT A THREAT, AND HE ISNT AGRESIVE TOWARDS OTHER DOGS, JUST PLAYS HARD. PLEASE IF YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE, IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRETIATIVE. THANK YOU LISA, BUD. ANSWER: Keep the dog in a chain link kennel when you are not out with him. No exceptions.
I would never allow the dog out of the kennel without an electric collar on – a very good one – like the Dogtra 2000 (read about them on my web site)
About two years ago I rescued a
large mix-breed dog from a veterinarian. Thank you, ANSWER: The taste of blood has nothing
to do with anything. That is an old wives I have never heard of a dog jumping out the window of
a car. Interesting. Dog aggression is not going to be cured. It can only
be controlled. This This is not rocket science. Here is the concept that
EVERY DOG understands. The dog should NEVER come in contact with other dogs.
You should also use a
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: I have a 1 year old Old English Sheepdog. We originally wanted to get one because of how they are supposed to be good with children and other pets. All was well until he was 10 weeks old and was attacked by a Boxer adult in the town. He was dog shy for quite a while after this. At 5 months we took him to "Superdog" recall training classes, as with all other training (sit, tricks) he would listen, but not come or stay when called. This class took 6 weeks, once a week, and we continued the training at home. He was fixed at 7 months, due in part to the non-stop humping problems he did, especially with our son. Our children are: daughter 15 and son 12. Even after the training he still does not listen unless there is a treat involved. We have tryed to wean him off the "treat training" but it does not work. But now the worst is yet to come. He has over the last 2 months been displaying attack aggression towards our daughter. She comes home for lunch and he jumps on her like he is totally happy to see her. But when she goes to leave he will jump on her and growl viciously and try to bite her. One day we were on the couch/sofa and he jumped up beside her. He is not allowed on the furniture and so she pushed his bottom as always and told him "off". He turned on her like lightening and tryed to bite her face...I was home and ran over to subdue him...he then turned on me. He was crated for the rest of the afternoon...and once released he acted like the usual Old English Sheepdog. He has been jumping on everyone lately and is biting and nipping. The only way to subdue him is with a body tackle...if you do very firm voice command he will not listen...even with a treat. If and when he listens with a treat he will get the treat...listen until he thinks the treats are gone and then proceed to act unreasonable again. The trainer as deemed that my husband is the alpha, yet I have been home for 5 months and my children are at school. I have been in the eyes of trainers the alpha. I am very strict. He is mellow all day but when the kids come home he becomes nuts, when my husband is home he is in charge of the dogs behavior too. But that is primarily since that is when he is out of control. He usually sleeps on the floor of our room at night and if we are in a different "situation", he is out of the room. We have always been told that dogs have to "be with you at night" so that is what we have always done. When my son tries to have friends come over he barks at them horriblily. If they run in the house he goes crazy and barks and growls and trys to get them...if we have people over at all we have to have him on a leash or crate him or we think he will hurt someone. Any stranger that come around is barked at viciously and it takes about 30 minutes to get him under control, but if the "stranger" moves quickly he is at them again. An example: We had Xmas dinner with 15 people and some of which had been over before...he acted mean to them too. We had to crate him. Later when we though he calmed down we let him out, but had to keep him on a leash. He would constantly bump into everyone and if any man would get up quickly or enter and leave the house (smoke break), he would go crazy again. We are extremely upset since one of the main reasons we got an OES is because they are not supposed to display this type of behavior. We are trying to sell him now, but what else do you recommend? Should he be put down? Thanks, Connie Strathmore, Alberta Canada ANSWER: Here are my thoughts:
I HAVE 5 YEAR OLD MALE GERMAN SHEPARD THAT BIT MY NEIGHBOR LAST WEEK SEVERE ENOUGH TO NEED 17 STITCHES AND WILL NEED SOME PLASTIC SURGERY. THE DOG HAS NEVER BEEN A PROBLEM BEFORE AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN VERY FRIENDLY WITH OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. WE WERE VISITING AT HOME WITH MY WIFE AND ANOTHER COUPLE AT OUR LAKE HOUSE WHEN THE NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR CAME OVER AS HE USUALLY DOES WHEN WE ARE AT THE LAKE. WE WELCOME HIM TO COME OVER ANY TIME AND ENJOY HIS COMPANY. HE AND MY DOG HAVE NEVER GOTTEN ALONG LIKE THE DOG DOES WITH OTHER PEOPLE. MY NEIGHBOR HAS TWO DOGS OF HIS OWN AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT MY DOG DID NOT TAKE TO HIM AS WELL AS OTHERS BECAUSE OF THE SCENT OF HIS DOGS ON HIM. MY WIFE HAD OUR DOG ON A LEASH WITH THE DOG BETWEEN
HER AND OUR NEIGHBOR. HE HAD BEEN OVER FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR AND THE DOG
ACTED NO DIFFERENT WITH THE NEIGHBOR THAN WITH ANYONE ELSE. I TOLD THE
NEIGHBOR TO PET THE DOG ON HIS BREAST THAT HE VERY MUCH LIKED THAT. HE
DID SO AND THE DOG RESPONDED AS HE ALWAYS DOES BY PUTTING HIS PAW ON THE
NEIGHORS LEG. WHEN HE QUIT PETTING AND REMOVED HIS ARE THE DOG SUDDENLY
WITHOUT WARNING BITE THE NEIGHBOR ON THE ARM CAUSING INJURIES AS DESCRIBED
ABOVE. CAN YOU HELP ME? ANSWER: I hesitate to offer advice on a dog when I cannot see it. The mistake made was asking the man to pet the dog. I cannot say that this was anyone’s fault considering you and your wife are not dog experts. If you choose to keep this dog you should not have the dog around strangers. A stranger is described as anyone other than your wife and yourself. A stranger is someone the dog has seen before and has accepted before. You should get a dog crate and put the dog in the crate any time someone is in the home. No one should be petting this dog. You also need to put the dog through some serious obedience training. This should not be in a class environment. That may be too dangerous at the moment. Get a prong collar and run the training I show in my Basic Dog Obedience video http://leerburg.com/302.htm This training establishes rank and pack leadership. When the dog is out in public have the dog wear a wire muzzle (we sell them) these muzzles allow excellent air flow and the dog can drink with them on. I would also put up an outside dog kennel, or if you have a fenced yard I would install an in ground fencer (Innoteck not Invisible Fence) to have a double barrier. Any vet that
recommends filing dogs teeth is showing a lack
of understanding of dog behavior and training. Neutering of an adult
dog has no effect on aggression. It is a waste of time to do this and
it will not modify his behavior.
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: Hello, I have visited your web site, and found some very interesting boook/videos/equipment, but I am not sure what knowledge/equipment I need to make my dog behave. Can you recommend some training equipment for me ? Here is my story.........
My problem is this- I have a Male Springer Spaniel who is NOT neutered, I am unable to muzzle him or clean his ears, or pick him up. He will bite if this is attempted. I want to get the dog neutered, but I am unable to get the muzzle on him in fear of being bitten. I have contacted a dog behaviorist in the area, but he never showed up.......
I even went to the vet and got some tranquilers, gave him three, but they had litle effect, was still unalbe to muzzle him. The dog is extremely intelligent and I believe this works to my disadvantage.
When I try to attach the least to the dogs collar, he runs away, growls and tries to bite me. What should I do with my dog ? He is mostly a loving animal most of the time, it's just when you want him to do things he doesn't want to do is when he becomes a beast.
He is trained, he sits, lies down, speaks, gives paw etc..... I don't think he has Rage Syndrome, because he attacks only when he feels threatened. Do you have ANY ideas on how I can improve my situation ? I live in Ridge, Long Island, New York. Thanks in advance for any possible guidance you can provide me with. Lynn Muscarello ANSWER: Sometimes people need to find new homes for dogs. This sounds like the case here. This dog is beyond your skill level. There are things that can be done, but I doubt you are the person to do this. The dog has learned that he can beat you when you want him to do something that he does not want to do.
I will make a comment here. You say the dog is obedience trained. You are wrong. This dog is not even close to being obedience trained. If it were you would be able to tell him to sit and you would be able to put a muzzle on.
Neutering is not going to solve this problem on an older dog. I will guarantee this. Maybe if the dog has been neutered at 5 or 6 months – but its too late for that.
I think you should find a new home for this dog
and go the humane society and find a nice older dog that is house trained
and needs a new home. I would like to sell you a bunch of videos and
products and tell you to do this or do that and your problems are solved.
The fact
is I do not get the feeling you can do what is necessary.
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: Hello, I have 2 young basset hound/golden
retriever mix dogs, which are brother This recent behavior has me baffled. My husband separated
them this BG seems the most dominant, but I'm not sure that this is the case. They have been neutered and spayed. Please help. Thank you, Louise Adderholdt ANSWER: Your husband did the right thing.
These dogs are going to have to be kept The reason it is happening now
is because this is the age that dogs mature If you want more information than
that go to my web site and read the Q&A QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: I have a year old German Shepherd, and seems to be
aggressive towards little kids. I have had him since he was 7 months
old. There are no children
in the house, just 3 adults. He has not been professionally trained,
just basic trained.. like "No", "sit", "shake" etc....He
has never showed any aggression towards adults, just kids. He will bark
and try to bite kids. I hate locking him in a room while little kids
are around. I think it might be the voices of the kids, that he doesn't
like. He is real weird when it comes to noises, for example we were measuring
a room and I had the tape measure out and the snapping noise of it he
didn't like and he started barking/mounting at me and nipping my leg
telling me to stop. It was a weird reaction of him. What should I do? ANSWER: This is a people problem. You need
to train this dog. It has weak nerves and will develop into a fear
biter if you don’t
make some changes. Hello: My wife & I are having twins. Our German Shepherd is now 2 years old and for the most part well behaven. We have been told many different ways of presenting our Lola to the babies for the first time. Also my goal is to have Lola baby sit as much as possible in the future. Lola is rarely on a leash in the front or back yard. Already knowing her boundries, I would like to teach her to keep the kids in their own front yard & out of the street. Of course this is in the future & I will always be there as well. Do you have any advice on this at all or any article to read? Thank You, Bill & Pam Gravel ANSWER: Read the article I wrote on how to introduce babies to your dog. You can find this on the article page on my web site at http://leerburg.com/articles.htm. Your expectation is 100% unreasonable. NO dog can
be expected to herd children. You are asking for a problem – either
in the form of a dog bite because the dog grabs the child to hard or
a child going into
the street. Bottom line is dogs are not baby sitters.
QUESTION ABOUT AGGRESSIVE DOG: Hello! First off, I was reading about the prong collar and if I decide to try O.k., I adopted a dog about a year ago. He was then 1.5 years old. Now when the meter reader wants to jump over my fence I hold this dog Just yesterday there was a strange incident. One of my daughter's Thanks ! Theresa ANSWER: You have some serious problems here. 1- You are making some serious mistakes in how you live with this dog 2- You need to read all of the articles and Q&A section on aggression on my web site. 3- You should get on my web board and read the archives. It has 5800 registered members 4- Acknowledging a dog when entering the home has nothing to do with triggering aggression. 5- Its NEVER to late to fix a SCREW UP (WHICH YOU HAVE) Read the article on GROUND WORK BEFORE OBEDIENCE TRAINING If you don’t think you need this - you are wrong. In fact so wrong you should take this dog to a shelter before it seriously attacks someone because its going to happen. Make sure your homeowners insurance is paid up. If they knew you have a dog like this they would cancel you. 6- Petsmart is not the place to look for dog training
advice. They are an insult to serious Hi Thank you for offering advise. I have looked through your articles and information but still feel the need to email you. We have just gotten a 5 month old female miniature Dachshund. We have had her 2 weeks. She has been very sweet and easy going. She has been friendly with strangers. We have a 4 and a 7 year old. children. She has suddenly started snapping. First she snapped at my son who is 7 years old. He approached her from behind while she was chewing on her chew toy. She also growled at him when he came to pat her while she was asleep on my lap. Today, she growled at my husband when he took her off his lap (she was asleep) in order to get up and do some chores. She adores me and I assume thinks I am the leader of the pack. She is completely submissive to me. I am concerned that this behavior will escalate with my children. Do you have any specific advise? Thank you very much for your time Nisi ANSWER: You need to be using a dog crate. You also need to 110% supervise your children. They are too young to be allowed unsupervised access to a puppy – especially this breed because they can have their back hurt so easily. I also recommend that you go to my web site and read the article I wrote on my philosophy of dog training. I think you will get some good ideas there. I would recommend you purchase the dvd I produced titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. I have owned and trained German Shepherds for 40 years. In the past 30 years I have bred over 340 litters of working bloodline German Shepherds. I give this video to all of my puppy customers and never get questions on how to raise a pup. Read the description of the tape on my web site. Dog training is not rocket science its simple common sense ideas on how to handle and train a dog, The DVD has 2 ½ hours of training information along with 15 puppy training articles that I have written. You should also consider my 4 hour DVD on Basic Dog Obedience - The fact is you have way more to learn than your dog. I always recommend the handlers start studying this DVD right away even though you wont train a lot of the work until the pup is 4 to 6 months old. QUESTION on Dog Mouthing Child: Hi Ed, I have a 7 mo. old Lab/Redheeler (and possibly German Shepard) mix. She was a stray that we took in when she was approx. 3 mo. old. We have a great vet for her and an appointment this week for her to be spayed. I would like to have a well trained family pet and also reliable protection(We live in a very shady part of town). I am a college student and stay-at-home with my 2 1/2 year old. We are also on a very tight budget and cannot afford professional training. I have done quite a bit of research on how to properly train my dog (in which I have been successful, so far) but i know I am not a professional. I have explored most of your website and I am aware that most accidents involving dogs are do to ignorant trainers. I don't want to contribute to that statistic due to my lack of funds, so I am asking for your help and advice. Your site has taught me a lot but I still lack the fundamentals of training. I have used what I have learned from books and other free sites combined, to get where I am now. My dog had shown a little dominance but I feel I have corrected that behavior even before I happened upon your site. She respects me as leader and my husband as well. She knows many commands (and tricks) and I am still working with her on coming (all the time), staying and focusing . I struggle with my daughter on how to properly treat animals (in which I have received great advice from your site and am working with her on that). My dog has a pretty good prey instinct and is eager to please. She also barks at sounds she hears outside of the house. She is extremely patient with my daughter and her abuse. I have had my daughter assist with feedings, baths, brushings and giving commands since we've had her, but I am unaware if I should be doing this. My dog listens to my daughters commands but mainly when she has treats. The things that worry me is that she still mouths my daughter when they play and she tackles her when she gets excited. I do correct this and it has lessened with age but I need to know if this is something that is going to be a problem. My dog is growing fast and unfortunately my daughter isn't. I am requesting your services, hoping you will teach me what I want and need to learn, knowing I have no way of repaying you financially. Please help, I feel that the only thing that could become of my ignorance is tragedy alone. ANSWER: It is unrealistic to expect this dog to be a protection dog. The most you can expect is a dog that will bark. The fact is that any criminal that comes through a barking dog needs to be shot. If you want to learn to obedience train your dog yourself – get my Basic Dog Obedience DVD. The issue with your daughter is an obedience issue. The dog will probably outgrow it but it also needs better training.
Hello, I have a concern about our 10 month old dachshund we adopted from a dachshund rescue web-site in Nebraska. He is a intact male, but just recently had him neutered. We have only had him for 3 weeks now, we love him and enjoy him very much, he is so far very good with our oldest child, my husband, myself and our other little dachshund. He doesn't get along well with our 19 month old son. I think he is a fear bitter, and I really have to defend the dog on this part because my son is so naughty and tends to bother him a lot. We do discipline our son and do try to keep them separated, but sometimes being in the same household it gets hard to all of the time. Anyway, he tends to snap or bite at our youngest son even when he enters the room, especially if he is on my lap at the time, he starts growling then gets off my lap and jumps up and bites him. Even if he isn't doing anything at all. He also does this to our Female 7 year old German Shepherd. She does stay outside most of the time anyway, so we do keep them separate and she never has bitten back yet, she will just leave him alone or walk away when he does this. But I am worried about my younger son. I haven't disciplined the dog yet, because I just assume he was maybe abused or is just scared of him. Anyway, I would like some advise as to where to start or just wait and give some time with the dog??? I am mostly just concerned about our youngest son. He doesn't mind our 4 year old at all, he will even sit on his lab without any problems, it is just our 19 month old and our German Shepherd. I would love it if someone could give my any suggestions on what to do, if anything at all at this point. Thanks so much for your time! Heidi ANSWER: This is a people problem not a dog problem Here are some articles and Q&As to read so that you can see where you screwed up. 1- Read the article I wrote on how to introduce a new dog into a home with other dogs. BIG MISTAKE ON YOU PART (but if you are not a pro I can't blame you). 2- Read the article I wrote on how to prevent dog bites in children – more big mistakes on you part. 4- Read the article I wrote on DEALING WITH THE DOMINANT DOG – more mistakes on your part. 5- Read the article I wrote on GROUND WORK to becoming a pack leader. By the time you are through with these articles you will have a clear understanding on how to fix your problems. If you care to learn how to properly train a dog – get
my Basic Dog Obedience DVD it's
4 hours long. Hi Ed, Thanks so much for sharing your experience and advice on and through this website. I am hoping you can help me and perhaps lead me in the right direction. I am interested in several of your videos and was wondering which you would recommend for my circumstances. I have an 8 year old neutered Bassett Hound, a 3 year old neutered Rottweiler mix whom we rescued, and a 14 week old Newfoundland girl. My problems are with the rottie mix and I would really appreciate any advice. His name is Solomon and we rescued him at about 2 weeks old from a shelter that was going to put him down. He immediately became the love of my life and I treated him as such. Little did I know I was doing more harm than good. Once I realized that our rottie had aggression issues I took him to obedience classes. The instructor worked with us and in the end suggested that he be put to sleep. I wasn't very happy with this and decided to try to find another trainer. She worked with us using a Tri-Tronics sport 50 e-collar...we had amazing results...or so I thought. Within two months of working with the e-collar and making changes at home (no sleeping on the bed) our rottie took and passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. We had such a great time training that we continued and he earned his CD Title with the UKC under a limited privilege status (because he is a mixed breed). We even took first place on our first leg. I really thought we had turned a corner. We continued our training and started working toward the UCD title. Then one day my 9 year old had a friend over and our rottie ran up to him and started biting him. Although this boy didn't do anything on this particular occasion to initiate the bite this little boy was teasing the dog through a fence a few days earlier. We immediately told this boy that he couldn't treat our dog like that. But we thought that the attack was brought on by this incident. We continued our training as usual. Then a month later I had friend over who has a 12 year old boy and once again our rottie attacked him. This boy had never been to our house before and the dog had no previous interactions with him. Five weeks ago we adopted a little Newfie girl whom we have been waiting for (on a list for 2 years). The rottie attacked her right away...she had staples in her back and on her ears. Is there any hope for my rottie boy? I am not afraid of training and working hard and I love him with all of my heart. I also want to mention that I have Lymphoma and am pretty sick sometimes and he is my greatest comfort and friend. He is a very sweet to me. Any thoughts or advice? I am interested in buying a few of your DVD's...which would you recommend for this situation? Please help. Lori ANSWER on Aggressive Dog: I have owned dangerous dogs my entire life and never had this kind of problem. The reason is because I anticipate the worst and then plan for it. This translates down to your problem is with you and not the dog. The dog is what it is – a dominant territorial animal. It’s your job to control the environment he has access to. This means you need to use a dog crate or dog kennel and the dog should NEVER come in contact with strangers or strange dogs. Not ever and not for any reason. You don’t train this kind of dominance out of a dog you can only control it – which you have not done. Control means obedience training and respect. Your dog does not respect you if it's doing these kinds of things in your presence. Dogs can love you and still not respect you. I recommend that you visit my web site and read a training article I recently wrote titled THE THEORY OF CORRECTIONS IN DOG TRAINING. The reason I wrote this article was to help people understand how to motivate their dogs in training. Most people either use the wrong kind of correction or over correct dogs in training. Your emphasis should be on learning pack structure and control. I have written extensively on this. QUESTION on Aggressive Dog and Young Child: Hello, I would really like your opinion on the following situation: Almost 10 years ago we decided to adopt a dog from a shelter. The dog was healthy, and we guessed he was somewhere between 4 and 6 months of age - he was loosing baby teeth. The shelter noted him as a stray and there were no other details.We visited him on two occasions at the shelter prior to adopting him. He had a lot of energy, like to play ball and seemed to be a generally happy dog. We could only guess at the breed, thought he was a cross between a husky and chow - he had a blue patch on his tongue, a beautiful thick, 2 inch orange and cream coloured coat and a curled tail (looks like a large Shiba Inu - at maturity about 65 lbs). As we got to know each other better, the dog showed signs of aggression when playing, nipping and growling, always vocalizing. We scolded the dog when this happened - withdrew attention.Anyway, at around 6 to 8 months we had him neutered. Then we took him for basic training. The trainer said we had to be very strict with him since he showed very aggressive tendencies. The dog needed to know his place in the pecking order. At one point, this trainer held him by the leash (choke collar) in the air to stop him from his viscous behaviour. Unfortunately, since the trainer did this, other people in the class complained and he was fired. My husband and I thought the trainer was acting appropriately under the circumstances. The next trainer mostly supported teaching how sit, stay and shake a paw. Both my husband and I worked during the day so we kept him in his crate ( 3 X 4 X 4). He did not like being in his crate, he would bang his nose against it until he would cut himself. Anyway, as time moved on, we decided to let him be free in the house during the day, while we were away. We had no issues with property damage and he was contained. When he was about a year old, we decided to purchase another dog - an 8 week old female Rottweiler. We thought that he would be happier with a companion since we were away at work. He seemed to resent her from the get go. When we gave them each treats, he would walk over to her and take hers from her. She just let it be, we told him not to do that, but this continued to happen as time went by. The rottweiler had a great disposition and just went with the flow. Anyway, I don't think he ever got over her being added to the family. They lived together, were com |
