Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, but I'm hoping someone out there will have some helpful tips for me. I have a 3 year old female mutt. I rescued her from a local humane society when she was 9 months. They thought she was a German Shepherd cross, but I'm not so sure. I think she has some pitbull in her, and who knows what else. She's a very smart and friendly dog, but doesn't get along well with other canines. She lived with my parents dogs for about a year when I first got her. She was fine with the male, but attacked the female a few times... for no apparent reason.

When we are out for walks she is generally fine, unless she sees another dog. If there is a dog anywhere in sight she starts whining and yipping. If you didn't know her, you'd think she wanted to go play. Once the strange dog gets closer, or heaven forbid, walks by us, she'll bark like crazy and try to get over to it. I know that if I let her get near the other dog, she would attack. If the dog is loose and comes over to her, she raises the hair on her back, shows her teeth... the whole nine yards. It's all I can do to keep her walking... I pretty much drag her down the street (not literally). My question is... is there anything I can do to stop this? Is this just her personality? I can't take her anywhere for fear that she'll attack a loose dog. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!
Becky

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, but I'm hoping someone out there will have some helpful tips for me. I have a 3 year old female mutt. I rescued her from a local humane society when she was 9 months. They thought she was a German Shepherd cross, but I'm not so sure. I think she has some pitbull in her, and who knows what else. She's a very smart and friendly dog, but doesn't get along well with other canines. She lived with my parents dogs for about a year when I first got her. She was fine with the male, but attacked the female a few times... for no apparent reason.

When we are out for walks she is generally fine, unless she sees another dog. If there is a dog anywhere in sight she starts whining and yipping. If you didn't know her, you'd think she wanted to go play. Once the strange dog gets closer, or heaven forbid, walks by us, she'll bark like crazy and try to get over to it. I know that if I let her get near the other dog, she would attack. If the dog is loose and comes over to her, she raises the hair on her back, shows her teeth... the whole nine yards. It's all I can do to keep her walking... I pretty much drag her down the street (not literally). My question is... is there anything I can do to stop this? Is this just her personality? I can't take her anywhere for fear that she'll attack a loose dog. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!
Becky

Hi, and let me welcome you to the forum, Becky. I think it's wonderful that you gave this dog a home but it looks like you're going to have your hands full for a time. I have no experience with this but my suggestion would be to inquire around and see if you can find a GOOD training class for your dog. Sadly, this dog may have been turned in because of these problems. Perhaps the Humane Society might have the names of some good classes. Good luck to you and come back and tell us how things are going.

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Mary Lou & Katie

>>Hello,
>>
>>I'm new to this forum, but I'm hoping someone out there will have some helpful tips for me. I have a 3 year old female mutt. I rescued her from a local humane society when she was 9 months. They thought she was a German Shepherd cross, but I'm not so sure. I think she has some pitbull in her, and who knows what else. She's a very smart and friendly dog, but doesn't get along well with other canines. She lived with my parents dogs for about a year when I first got her. She was fine with the male, but attacked the female a few times... for no apparent reason.
>>
>>When we are out for walks she is generally fine, unless she sees another dog. If there is a dog anywhere in sight she starts whining and yipping. If you didn't know her, you'd think she wanted to go play. Once the strange dog gets closer, or heaven forbid, walks by us, she'll bark like crazy and try to get over to it. I know that if I let her get near the other dog, she would attack. If the dog is loose and comes over to her, she raises the hair on her back, shows her teeth... the whole nine yards. It's all I can do to keep her walking... I pretty much drag her down the street (not literally). My question is... is there anything I can do to stop this? Is this just her personality? I can't take her anywhere for fear that she'll attack a loose dog. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
>>
>>Thanks so much!
>>Becky

>>>>>>>>>>>>

The thing with the other female dog was predictable. Read the article Same Sex Dogs in the Home at the link below my signature. Also read Aggression to Passersby, Head Halter, Behavior Specialists and Dog Trainers, Training: What Does Your Dog Need? and Head Halter at the same link. This dog shouldn't be in public unless you're able to get the right help to get control of her. You would surely lose any lawsuit brought by someone whose dog she hurts, and probably lose your homeowner's insurance, too.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

I agree that her behavior toward the other female dog was predictable. She is very territorial and protective of everything that is her's....me, her cats, her toys. The comment about lawsuits, I don't completely agree with. Where I live we have leash laws. As far as i know, if a loose dog came up to my dog (who is ALWAYS on a leash) and she attacked him/her, I would not be held responsible. The owner of the loose dog would be liable because they didn't properly contain their dog. I could be mistaken, but I don't believe so. She would never have the chance to harm a dog on a leash... I don't let her get close enough. In any other situation she is extremely friendly and loving. I mean, she plays with, sleeps with, and "bathes" my two cats (both are less than 2 yrs, and were only about 6 wks when I adopted them). If they start bugging her, she's very good about giving them a little warning growl (it's more of a groan... like she's saying "c'mon guys, leave me alone!" ), or just getting up and walking away. I have no idea what's going through her mind! Don't you wish they could talk and tell us everything? That'd make it so much easier!

Thanks again for everyone's help!
Becky

hi, i know that you posted a while back, but i hope you still come back to this. i have a similar issue with my rescued dog a female. when we got her we already had an Italian Greyhound, who helped us raise her and train her in all things dog. she takes anything from him and despite her being 60lb and his 20lb, he rules. she is also good with the dogs that she got to know while she was still a puppy. she was 6 months old when we got her.
however, when she sees other dogs she is not a happy camper and can get quite loud and angry at not being able to get to them. actually that changed when she got attacked by a toy poodle (who was off the leash) and after that she was very suspicious about other dogs.
enough about me. the issue for her is the adult dogs. puppies she is very friendly with and always wants to play and have fun. remember that if your dog is a rescue, she might be very protective of her status as a dog in a safe heaven. if i were you i would see whether she is threatened by adults or puppies. also, remember this: if she is capable of showing tolerance to other furry critters in your household that means she is capable of tolerating and ignoring other animals. you just have to learn to handle the outdorr situation with the same confidence. what i did to gain some control is to work on one command that is performed 100% of the time perfectly, i do a sit with mine. i made sure that it is one that she ALWAYS understands and performs in every calm situation, then while she is excited while playing with you. i used to purposfully wind her up at home while playing and making the sit a part of the game. the trick is that you are teaching her impulse control in a situation when she is least motivated to do so on her own. then, you up it a notch, and while outside start doing it at unpredictable times, just for fun and then give her a kiss or something to make it a fun game, but without breaking the sit. then you do it at the times when she wants to rush to someone and say hello in a friendly way. notice the times where she is most likely to get excited and do a sit for a short time and then a release command as a reward for the compliance to go on to what she wanted to do in the first place. it can be tree sniffing, anything. then, when she sees a dog from afar, stop tell her to sit and hold it at that. at first dont let the other dog come too close, just within vision. as you get better of gaining control of the situation, she will get better as well.
it took my dog 3 weeks through a closed door, a crate, and a metal grill to get used to a new kitten we rescued last year. she wanted to eat him, but on the fourth week she realised that he was a part of the family and thus not a food item. after she adopted him, the little rascal could jump on her face while she was sleeping, bite her eyelid and pull. she would not even wake up. now, as long as the cat does not touch her nose with his claws she is fine with him. if she can do that over a period of 3-4 weeks, that means that she is capable of controlling herself. now she just need proper motivation.
hope this helps, please let me know of your progress

This is a really difficult problem to solve- and the odds are not good that you're dog will ever be reliable around other dogs.

I think the best you can hope for is a training program that has a goal of teaching your dog to ignore other dogs - by encouraging and rewarding body language that mimics lack of interest or low level avoidance. This is not easy and it's not likely to work unless you have a natural talent for and flawless timing at recognizing & rewarding very small incremental body language nuances.

I'm of the opinion that dog on dog agression is a major problem in society and too many people take it lightly, excuse their dogs, ignore the behaviour and/or deny it.

Best of Luck!