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If you have come to this page more than likely you have issues with aggressive dogs. A number of pages on my web site (including this one) contain emails about dog fights. I have places my personal comments under many of these emails. In addition we offer training resources. I have produced a DVD titled: DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS This DVD demonstrates how to break up a dog fight if you are alone.
I have done a 71 Minutes podcast titled DOWNLOAD $3.00 -
71 Minute Audio CD $8.00 - Dog fights are violent, loud and dangerous events. I get emails every day on dog fights. As I wrote this description I got 2 emails. In the first email the family had two dogs . Their female GSD had just killed their dachshund. In the second email this family's dog had just been in a fight with a neighbors dog and done $1,400 damage. In the mid 1990's I wrote an article on How to Break Up A Dog Fight - that article is still on my web site. This 52 Minute CD is an update of that article. The information in the podcast and on the CD has more details on making the decision of even trying to step in to break up a fight, it discusses many methods used to break up fights and it tells how to break up a fight when you are alone. There is an also extensive section on preventing dogs fights. Thc CD will play in any CD player.
I try and answer every question I receive on dog training. I may often come across as a little on the blunt side. The way I see it is like this "I don't charge for answering questions, I get over 100 emails a day. I DON'T have time for people who do not read what I have already written" I consider myself an advocate for dogs and not dog handlers. I am also an advocate for common sense dog training and not the latest fad that appears on the horizon (i.e. Halties, Clickers, Gentle Leaders etc.) . Good dog training is not rocket science, it is common sense. It's about making life's rules VERY CLEAR for the dog to understand.
Dog fights are nothing to fool with. Not only do the dogs get injured but the people who try and break them up often gets badly bit. Fights are almost always caused as a result of the handler making mistakes. This means they are people-problems and not dog-problems. There are a number of training articles and Q&A sections on this web site that you should read to educate yourself. If you write me about dog fights - expect to be told about YOUR MISTAKES not the dog problems you have.
Read the article I wrote on how to break up a dog fight without getting hurt. The Theory of Correction in Dog Training
PRONG COLLAR WARNING: When you use your Prong Collar, we strongly
suggest you use a Leerburg
Dominant Dog Collar as a safety backup.
Question: Mr. Frawley, I just found your website and am hoping that you can help us with a somewhat urgent situation. My husband (a vet), daughter and I have 3 dogs that are all crate trained and kept there at all times unless we are home with them. The oldest, Sally is a 12 year old mix, then there is Bugz a 4 year old Boston mix, and finally Polly the 18 month old bulldog mix. All are spayed females. Up until 2 weeks ago, all was mostly quiet with the dogs except maybe 2 challenges to Sally's dominance by Polly, which was not a surprise given the age and pack ramifications. We were careful to correct Polly properly for the aggression both times. Then 2 weeks ago week, while we were out of town, our pet-sitter/vet assistant came by one day to feed them and let them out (they know her well as she is in and out with work for my husband) and as Polly ran off to hunt squirrels by sniffing around the fence-line, the sitter bent over to pet Sally and Bugs at her feet and Polly ran in, jumped Sally and wouldn't let go of her ear. The sitter had to pry her mouth off the ear since she would not let go. Then, last week Polly went after Sally again while in my husband's study and got the other ear and it took both of us to get her to let go of it. At this point, we have tried to keep them separate for going out, and tried to prevent any dominance challenge situations and all was quiet. Then today, the sitter was here doing some work in the garage and my husband asked her to let the dogs out since the weather was so nice outside. She opened the crates and let them out and as soon as she turned around to close the door, another fight broke out leading to yet another ear bite and hold. This one took both she and my husband to separate and Sally has just returned from the vet with a partial ear amputation due to the damage. Ed's Response: This is 100% a pack/rank issue. Three dogs are a dog pack. Most times people can get by with it – but then there are times like this where there is no room for error. I hate to say this but there have been more signs of this coming but your family missed them. If this dog 100% understood your leadership this would not have happened in front of you. It very well still would have happened with your house sitters and employees because they are not the dogs leaders – being human does not translate into being a pack leader. The solution begins with the kind of pack structure program in my DVD Establishing Pack Structure With the Family Dog. I developed this program over the past 25 years of importing and buying dogs for police service work, personal protection and Schutzhund work. Many of these dogs were truly dangerous dogs handler aggressive dogs. I was never badly bit. This program is only the first part of the solution. Dogs like this need to be under total control all the time. They need to understand this concept and more importantly they need to accept the situation. This is accomplished with dogs leashes (in the house) dog crates and no contact with other animals. The dog also needs serious obedience training – by that I mean correct training that establishes you as a fair considerate leader. A leader who has rules that once explained and understood are respected and followed. If the rules are understood and then ignored they must be ruthlessly enforced with dogs like this. Read the free eBook I wrote on THE THEORY OF CORRECTIONS IN DOG TRAINING. Here is where the all positive dog trainer pee their pants. This is best handled with a Remote Collar. Muzzles don’t solve your problem. Muzzles cover up problems. They should be used to test training. They make the test safe. I have a training DVD titled MUZZLE FIGHTING FOR POLICE SERVICE DOGS. A dog can break ribs, knock out teeth or break a facial bone with a muzzle on. They are not your solution. If your family is not prepared to get retrained and then change the way you live with your dog pack – you should find a single dog home for this dog. But the person who takes it needs to be experienced in how to handler dogs aggression. I have a dvd titled Dealing with Dominant and Dangerous Dogs. Good luck – if you kill this dog it’s a mistake. It’s a failure of education and effort. Kind Regards, I am looking for a video that covers the area of dog fights and how to break them up. Specifically, I work at a training center and I am trying to locate an updated tape to show recruits how to handle dogfights. Ed Hoisington Answer: That would be a little hard to produce a video on this. How would you suggest that it be done? I think the animal rights people would have a hay day with the guy who went out and let dogs get in fights just so we could show how to break up the fight - much less the fact that it would be illegal in every state that I am aware of. Read this article on my web site - then talk to your people. ---------------------------------------------------------------- As I read your Q&A's I see that I am not the only person out here with a problem dog. But I just may be the only one here without a clue as to what to do. We have 3 dogs and a cat at our house. The first was the cat. Then I moved in with a Shi-tzu(8-9 years old) with a bad attitude. Yes she came from the pound and I make the excuse that she must have been mistreated before I got her. She will bite me at any given time! The only reason I took her in the first place was because this dog picked me out! Never before have I seen a dog as determined to be "owned" by someone as she was. Thus, she is mine. 2 Years ago we got 2 pups from a pet store. A Chow female and Shepherd male. Both were within a month of being the same age. Things started out bad for the Shepherd and he almost died from a worm medicine overdose given at the pet shop the night we brought the pup's home. He spent most of his first month with us either in the vets or staying at the vets. I guess like one would do with a sick child, we spoiled him rotten once we had him back home and he was gaining back strength. The chow was always sweet natured. Something I found hard to believe from a chow since I had raised them for years and found them to be stubborn, and rather unfriendly to strangers. This one is the one in a million for disposition. We started having problems when the Shepherd started to try and control the chow. She would take it for so long and then all hell would break loose. As puppies, we could separate them with no problem. Then as they got older, it required more then just picking them up. We built separate pens for them and that sort of settled the problem. Now we invested in the invisible fencing. The chow took to it with a minimal of problems. But the shepherd now 2 1/2 years old is our problem. He doesn't seem to feel pain. With the fence and his collar turned up to full capacity, he still runs through it and will attack any animal outside his boundary. The neighbor has a yellow lab about 1 1/2 years old and he has attacked her several times. Each time outside his boundary. Once in her own yard! An attorney that lives down the road from us was jogging with his dog, which was on a leash, and the shepherd ran through the fencing and attacked his dog! Nothing we do works. We put him in the pen for punishment but he still doesn't get it. When he attacked the lab the last time, my husband put him on his leash and was taking him to the pen all the while letting him have it verbally about how bad he was when he suddenly jumped up on him as if to bite him. My husband tightened his hold on the leash and shortened the length until he got the dog to the pen and got him in. This told me that our shepherd could and would very easily bite us. And as I am sure you have figured out by now, he has been trying to be the dominant one here for a long time now. A wire-handled fly swatter is the only thing he fears. Pick it up and he hits the ground. But that works in the house.With 3 dogs in our family we are at our wits end as to what to do. The Shitzu is now around 13 and won't be here much longer. She will live out her last days here no matter what. The chow is no problem at all. But we need some major help with the shepherd. Is there hope for him or is he so far gone that we should put him down. I know that if he will attempt to bite us, he will definitely bite someone else. We love this dog and will try anything to try and correct the problems if we can. But if the problem lies within his breeding, which we know very little about, we understand that putting him down may be the only choice. What do think of us having a canine officer take him out for a few hours and trying to work with him? Do you think a canine officer could tell if he was worth saving or needs to be put down? Any help here would be greatly appreciated before someone or something gets hurt really badly. Sincerely Answer: Well you are correct – you are about as confused as confused can get. Here are my points:
If this dog is attacking other dogs - then it needs
more than a fly swatter or a verbal correction. It needs a shock collar
or a damn big stick. I mean a stick! He needs to develop some respect
for the fact that THIS IS NOT ALLOWED. That DOES NOT happen with a verbal
scolding, it does not happen with a fly swatter. So keep your dog in the pen, get your collar for the fence fixed, he should wear a wire muzzle when out, obedience train this dog, and if he does go after another dog – teach him what it feels like to be attacked! I guarantee this will work. If you can't do these things – then find the dog a new home in the country. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- I know you will think I am insane, but... My girlfriend and I have 7 dogs, we have a pack obviously. The dogs are: a 12 year male golden, a 10 female golden, a 10 year female lab, a 6 year female golden, a 6 year female golden/chow, a 5 year female golden, and a 2 year male golden. All of the dogs are spayed and neutered. Some of these (the older 3 & the 5 year old) we raised from pups of 8 weeks. The others were dogs that we adopted from rescue groups. The dogs generally get along fine, they play together, sleep together, eat together, etc. The oldest male generally runs the show, and the others respect that. The trouble is the golden/chow and the 5 year old. The golden/chow spent the majority of her formative years alone locked in a small room. She has been a bit possessive since we got her. She will set up confrontations by taking a toy and laying near it and guarding it from any dog that comes near by growling. We have assumed that she is unhappy with her status in the pack and does this in an effort to force her dominance. Naturally we do not let her get away with this and we take the item from her, reprimand her, and make her move from whatever space she is in. A couple times this kind of display escalated into the golden/chow snapping at one of the other dogs before we could step in. These were not true fights, put more like shows of dominance, she would grab the other dog with her teeth, but there would no blood, no wounds, just a lot of growling. At some point the 5 year old golden decided she had had enough of this and she fought back, the result was a trip to the emergency vet and stitches for the golden/chow. Since then there have perhaps 6-7 incidences that have resulted in bites, blood, and a great deal of screaming on our part. What happens now is that at the first sign of any aggression on the chows part, the 5 year old attacks her ferociously, locking on to her ear or neck. And of course the rest of the pack chimes in with barking. And now the 6 year golden has begun to attack the chow too. The result is a three dog fight. We have tried the wheelbarrow thing with no success. Once these dogs are locked on to each other having their hind legs in the air does nothing. My girlfriend and I have each been bit a couple times trying to break up these fights, and I don't really care about that as much as I care about the dogs injuring each other. These dogs still play together, happily! They run and chase and play beg each other, dig holes, and sleep together, and then BOOM! Do you have any suggestions? I cannot get rid of the chow mix. She will be killed if she winds up in a shelter and I can't do that. All of these dogs have sweet temperaments, but obviously there is friction. Is there any hope? Thanks for listening, even if you have no advice! Answer: You have created a dog pack. You are not about to rewrite genetic codes of pack behavior that goes back thousands of years. These dogs are going to determine their own pecking order, and with some dogs this is going to mean fighting to settle the answer of who is top dog or who is second top dog. Either find a new home for some of these dogs or build a dog kennel. There is no golden bullet to fix your problem. Common sense dictates that 7 dogs do not live as one happy family - that's a pipe dream. Read my articles about dominant dogs and dog fights. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- I am really rather desperate and am looking for someone who can empathize with my plight with my two cairn terriers. Both are females and around a year and a half old. Recently, the alpha dog (our smallest of the two) has been initiating vicious fights with the other dog over affection with my husband and their feed dish (for examples). I realize that this is a jealously issue, but keeping these two in the same house is becoming an impossible task. I just fear, however, that Petunia is not a "family" type cairn. We haven't had problems with fighting until recently. It started out about two months ago and we were averaging maybe one dogfight a month...now it is a couple a night. In fact, tonight as I type, I have Buttercup (the eldest) downstairs with me and Petunia upstairs alone. They can't even be around each other when my husband is around anymore. It is just constant fighting. Without him in the home, they get along just fine. Tonight, they have both bloodied themselves and have been licking their wounds all night. They have to be broken apart or I fear they would kill each other. In breaking up these fights, both my husband and myself have been injured. Basically, I don't want to see Petunia leave my household. She is a sweet little thing and is my "lap dog," and admittedly my favorite of the two. From the description I gave, do you think that Petunia is vicious or is this something we could remedy with training? The vet, last week, even mentioned that Petunia was much more aggressive this last visit. In fact, she had to be physically restrained for administering of her yearly rabies inoculation. Is this common in Cairns? I have never heard of such problems in the breed and have heard, more often than not, that families own at least two cairns with no problems. Could it be in the breeding? I fear that I cannot contact the breeder, for both were pet store purchases. I would appreciate an email back. I'm really at a loss and the vet is not willing to provide any advice. Thank you - Diane Mumma Answer: The bottom line is that this is a handler problem and not a dog problem. Dogs are dogs and they have pack and rank drives - humans may consider them lap dogs but they are not. They are still dogs and unless you accept this you will fail forever with your dogs. These females need to be kept separate with a dog crate - this is not a big deal unless YOU choose to make it one. Having two females can happen but not if they are allowed to live together like you have tried to do. Your dogs need strict obedience training to establish who the pack leader is. USE A PRONG COLLAR. There is NO reason they should ever fight because they should never come in contact unless they are muzzled, and then if they fight they need their ass kicked and kicked hard. Unless you are prepared to assume the role of pack leader you will fail. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- I have enjoyed your Q/A about dogfights very much. I have had success in having up to four female, some intact some spade, GSD's living in my home and not fighting. All of the newcomers were introduced at 8 weeks and grew up believing the oldest dog was in charge. I supported the oldest dog in her position in the pack. These were not pet quality pooches of indiscriminate breeding. They are all DDR X WGr. working lines. As the older dogs died off, the next in line assumed the top position. Now I have a 3 year old and a 7-month-old puppy that I think may have a discussion about position as the pup nears maturity but I expect it will take place out of my sight. The 3 yr. old rose to the top in four months by reason of two deaths and I am not sure she is real comfortable as the leader and may allow this extremely confident puppy take over without much of a fight. At this point, they can have nice meaty bones in close proximity and trade without a hassle. Of course the bottom line is I am the Alpha and they are cognizant of that. Jennifer Answer: You have done it right. If something like this is going to work, it will only work by introducing the new dogs as 8-week-old puppies. But as you mention - even then this does not always work. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- I just bought the prong and the basic obedience of you. I like it a lot and it has been a great help. BUT! My 14 month Rott is very dog aggressive. When we are out walking he walks a good SLOW, HEEL, COME, but if he is walking with me in a heel possession and a dog is on the other side of the street he just don't care if an almost rip his head of, doing it the right way. (Command, correction, praise.) He just turns around and barks at me and tries again. The collar fits perfect and I do correct him dead hard. Andre Rommerud. Answer: The solution to dog fighting begins with perfect obedience. Without it your problem will never be solved. This means your dog is not fully trained. It can not mind and deal with the distraction of other dogs. Get a muzzle for your dog - so he will not bite you when he gets a very hard correction. Then learn how to correct him so that he respects your correction. He does not respect your correction right now because it is not working. If you have to, grind some dull points on every other prong. If that does not work, grind the rest of the prongs. When you tell the dog NO and he does not mind you had better correct the SOB until he fears for his life. If you can’t do this, you either need an electric collar or a new dog. When the dog re-focuses on you (with the other dog across the street) put him through a series of obedience exercises. Down, sit, heel in small circles. Give him something to think about other than the other dog. Your long term goal is to have the dog focus on you when told NO, your short term goal is to get the dog to focus on the commands that you give when he sees another dog. Do not ever take this dog to a dog park. It is a disaster waiting to happen. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- We raised two German Shepherd from puppies Male and female, neutered and spayed. When they were between 1-½ and 2 we adopted a 1-½ year old neutered male from German Shepherd Rescue who had been abused. After about four days of his being in a kennel our Shepherds accepted him. The three of them are now between 2 and 2½. We adopted another male (neutered) from the German Shepherd Rescue a couple of weeks ago and are not having the same success. Our male we raised from a pup and the new GS have gone at each others throats and had to pull apart. This was after 2 days. They got together accidentally. We kept them separated and about a week later they were in the same room again by accident and again went at each other and had to be pulled apart. Is there any hope that these two will ever get along? We try getting them used to each other by taking them outside with muzzles and leashes on but our male turns his head and will not look at the new male. They look at each other and wag their tails when one is outside and the other in when they can see each other through the patio door. Is there any advice you can give me or a possible solution for this? Shirley Billick Answer: You are creating a dog pack. Something is going to have to give and the only way that can happen is for fights to occur. My advice is to give the male back and be satisfied with three dogs. You have already pushed the envelope at three. So the answer to your question is - yes, there are some things that you can try but in the end, keeping them separated is the only solution that will work. Let the dog go to a home where he will not have to fight for pack position or build dog kennels and keep your dogs in them. At four GSD's you are beyond the house dog-pet scenario and into a dog kennel scenario. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Mr Frawley, I was a first time visitor to your site today, and what a thorough site it is. Compliments to you. Reading some of your Q&A's made me wonder whether you could offer advice on a problem I have with my (normally) very well-behaved female mixed breed dog. Millie is almost two years old, she is crossed with a Labrador and some small, lean brown and black breed (markings like a Rottweiler). She is a fantastic dog, smart, happy-go-lucky and very loyal to me. She lives with two other dogs, which are border collies, and for the most part they get along great! However, when taking Millie out for walks, or to the dog beach, she never gives other dogs a chance - she runs right up to them, and only pauses for a second before she normally educes an unfavorable reaction from the other dog and they fight. It seems she is indiscriminate, she even challenges dogs smaller than her. Even on walks on the lead, if we pass a dog on a path way she can't get to them quick enough. She normally listens to me at all times, but in these situations she won't. Although, she seems to be okay if she has the ball to play with while at the beach. It's once the ball is not in use that she gets distracted. When she was younger a puppy at the beach who was at least 3 times her size chased her around in circles, and she yelping as if she was terrified. I don't know if this has affected her to this day? Also, I lived with a guy who owned a bull terrier once. The dog was nice enough, but she was very primal and sometimes fought with other dogs. I think this may have rubbed off on Millie. It seems so out of character for a dog like her to try and be so dominant! I really want to correct this problem so I can be the owner of a well-adjusted and social dog. She really is worth the effort it would take to put this right. Plus, I don't want to distress other dog owners. Thank you, and once again congratulations on your site. Carolyn Dalgarno, Answer: While no one can say for sure I would guess that the incident on the beach as a pup was the beginning of your dog’s problem. She has learned that if she hits first she has a better chance to win the fight. Not an uncommon thing for a dog. The bottom line is that this dog’s biggest problem is human related. The problem is that you have not made an effort to properly train your dog. If it were trained it would mind you when you called it back from charging up to other dogs. Dogs like this must mind ALL THE TIME, not just when they feel like it. The unfortunate thing is that to change this behavior you will have to apply a great deal of force in training. The final “mind set” of the dog must be - “I must mind because I do not want to bear the crap that is going to come down on my head for not minding.” Once a dog understands this concept the problems are finished. To accomplish this the dog needs to get a prong collar or an electric collar (I prefer the prong) and a long line. When it does not mind it needs a correction that will flip it over backward. If the dog even looks at the other dog it needs additional severe corrections for even looking at the strange dog. When the dog comes to you it needs a lot of praise. It needs to understand that it is only one way - your way - and when it does mind it gets a lot of praise. The praise is important even if the dog is corrected. This tells the dog that you still love it and that you have forgiven its stupidity. The dog should not go off leash for a long time. Let it drag a 30-foot line. If it gets away and does get into a fight, the level of corrections must be so severe that the dog needs to think its life is threatened - by you. You need to be screaming NO NO NO!!! Giving multiple corrections like a crazy person. Taking dogs like this to the beach is stupid. It makes no sense. You know the dog fights so why test it? Dog owners must have some level of common sense. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- Ed, My friends (who happen to own one of your GSD's) suggested that I write to you and you will try to help my friend. Here goes: A co-worker of mine owns 2 spayed female boxers, littermates she brought home together as puppies, they're now 3 years old. Their household consists of 2 cats, 2 teenage girls, 1 teenage boy, who spends the most time with them, and the parents. About a month ago the alpha started to attack the submissive one. I don't live in this family, so I don't know details. They're now crating them separately and they sleep in the basement; she had the alpha checked out at the vet (peeing in her crate, I think) and she had an infection and is now on anti-biotic's. They were going to give the dominant one to Boxer Rescue, but the son talked them out of it and they asked me for help. From what I gather, only mom and son are willing to try to shape an acceptable behavior; the rest of the family wants to take the easy way out and give the aggressive dog away. So I you can help please do so ASAP. Can you suggest any books at the library or on-line help for them? I suggested to take both dogs to obedience school. I know having littermates grow up together can be a problem, but this behavior started after 3 years. These fights will start in front of family members as well as alone. I get the impression that the dogs "run the show" in the household and I feel obedience classes and a little attention/exercise might help to reconstruct the pecking order, making the adults the “leaders of the pack.” Would you suggest any flower essences to calm them down, a la Rescue Remedy? BTW, I'm an obedience trainer but don't consider myself a behaviorist; I live with a 15 yr. old mini schnauzer and a 9 yr. old standard schnauzer that have earned numerous obedience/agility titles. Thanks for your help, Answer: Flower essences - now that's a new one. Just about the time you think you have heard everything, something like “suggesting FLOWER ESSENSES to calm a dog down” comes along. You have to love it. These people made a mistake the day they brought two pups home. The solution is to find a home for one dog. They have already spent 3 years proving that what they did was foolish. I won't retype information I already have on my web site about why raising two pups at the same time is stupid. You can find this in my Q&A section. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- I know you must get many letters so I appreciate you taking the time to read and answer my email. and I am writing to ask your opinion because I am at wit's end with my dog which is part Border Collie and part Australian Sheppard. I picked up the dog when it was 6 weeks old and met the mother, but the father was locked up because they said it would attack strangers (perhaps that should have been a clue - but I did not know it at the time). I trained her by positive reinforcement. The dog, Sable, who is now 7 years old, has always minded me and never acted aggressively towards me, however she is completely random with her aggression towards everyone else. She seems to tolerate some people but if they reach for her she will snarl as a warning and then bite. The only people she has not snarled at or snapped at are my parents. I had to give her away three years ago to another family because I was traveling daily, but they returned her recently when she started acting aggressively towards their toddler and felt they could not always be watching her. She immediately recognized me and started minding my every command. I brought her back to my house and she attacked both of our small male dogs, including the one who had submitted, by turning on his back. I feel this dog is a big liability, but because she is very intelligent and loyal to the core with me, I feel an obligation and a desire to find a solution other than putting her to sleep. Do you think it is possible to train a 7 year old dog out of this behavior or possibly train her for drug sniffing or some role where she would not be such a risk to people in general? Thanks for your response. Answer: Keep this dog away from other dogs – totally away from them. Get a prong collar and train this dog to mind all the time under EVERY distraction. If you would like to learn something about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. 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. If you do these things you can make it work but it will require you to change the way you look at animal husbandry. This is a pack animal and you are seeing pack drives that need strong obedience and corrections. I personally do not tolerate dog aggression in my kennel. If I have a female who fence fights with another dog I correct her with a padded protection stick, (like the ones they use in Schutzhund). Dogs are pack members and they need to learn that their pack leader (ME) will not tolerate dog fighting. So I tell them to “leave it” and if they continue to fence fight I hit them HARD right between the ears with this stick, and they continue to get hit as long as they fight. It is totally up to them how many times they get hit. The second they turn and stop fighting they are praised. This is very important. While this will blow the minds of all the animal rights people out there – I say to them – come and try and correct this problem on my dogs any other way – pansy-ass dog training does not work with hard, tough dogs or dominant dogs. I normally only have to do this once or twice with a dog and then they respond to “LEAVE IT.” This falls under the category of “one good correction is better than 1000 nagging corrections.” I will also say that these are very hard females (bitches that take a hard correction and recover very quickly). The harder the bitch the more times it is going to get hit, a soft bitch may just need a tap to remind her that she is not supposed to do this. With my males, (especially my males that are protection trained), I use a shovel – not a stick. For the simple reason that I may need it for protection (to stick in the dog’s mouth) if he turns and comes after me. A Schutzhund stick is not going to faze one of my males – it just pisses them off. ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- I have two female shepherd-malamute mixes. They were wonderful together (litter-mates) until they hit four years old. The fighting began over-night, and they're now separated permanently. I read an article, however, that suggested using a fire extinguisher on them when they fight. It robs them of oxygen immediately and they can't breathe, so they separate. Thoughts? Sue McHenry Answer: It also may kill them. Of course, you could hit them over the head with it - that may work pretty good, (what's a concussion between sisters). A better solution is to keep them separated, obedience train them with prong collars under heavy distraction and make them wear muzzles if they are ever close together. ---------------------------------------------------------------- German Shepherd is 4 years old, male. We had him from 3 months. Household is wife (59), daughter (27) and me (62). We live on a 4-acre lot and use invisible fencing. We also have a 9 by 12 ft holding area -- chain link fence variety of good quality. The dog Zeus, was supposed to be my daughter's. She took him to obedience training a few times and then dropped out. Said that he didn't need it. There are 2 cats in the house. We are grandparents and grand kids visit. They use the trampoline and swing - outdoor playground equipment. Zeus sees the pack hierarchy as me (lead) then daughter, then wife. That's the background. Zeus attacked and severely damaged a 16 year old female dog that came on our property Saturday April 28. They were friends and had been playing together for several years. The dog usually visited. We learned that day from our neighbors that Zeus also visited the dog whenever we failed to put the collar on him (which was not often). No one saw the attack (other than our next door neighbor who noticed from a good distance - this neighbor was not the dog owner). My daughter saw the dog in the backyard with Zeus circling and licking her. We ourselves were not home. We did not see the damage. Our neighbor said that Zeus would let the other dog get up and would grab its hind leg. The older dog was on its back. The owners took their dog to emergency and she was put down. said that she wouldn't survive the operation and that there were too many holes. Everyone was surprised at this event. None of us can explain what and why it happened. The damage to the dog was many punctures to the body and a mangled rear leg. My daughter dirt-bikes and Zeus just can't control himself whenever he hears the bike motor start up. He also wants to race the bike as she leaves (riding) for the dirt-bike track. When this occurs no one can control him. At Easter Zeus got really excited with the kids on the swings. I had just erected the set so it was new. Cindy, our daughter expressed concern that she couldn't handle Zeus and Zeus (through excitement) has nipped her son in the leg. There was no mark on the leg. I took Zeus to the swings, and had another grandson sit and corrected Zeus using a rolled-up newspaper. Zeus was cowed down and suddenly surprised me! He showed his teeth had a direct stare and growled - still cowed. I stopped then and resumed right after without further challenge from Zeus. My daughter had complained to me previously that he had challenged her. My wife, as you probably gathered doesn't have much to do with Zeus. When anyone comes to the yard, workmen, strangers, family, Zeus looks for a stick - there is usually some broken twig around from the trees and invites them to play. I took Zeus to the vet last night to have him neutered. I have asked the family to place him in his pen whenever the grand kids are around. Also to keep the collar on him whenever he is outside. We still give him the full run of the yard otherwise. Most times he is alone. Any suggestions you can offer will be much appreciated. I am concerned from the attack and the challenges to my daughter and I. Just can't figure out why he would attack an old female playmate! Joe Rochemont Answer: More than likely this is a territorial problem with your dog. You are taking some (not all) of the right steps.
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---------------------------------------------------------------- I have three German Shepherds - a 4 year old male, a 4 year old bitch and their 18 month old son. My bitch and dog got along great and mated. They had 9 pups and we kept 1 dog, now 18 months old. But the bitch was a rescue dog who was previously mistreated. We had the dog castrated first and at a later date the bitch spayed as she shows aggression to anyone but myself and my husband and 3 children, but found this was a big mistake getting the dog castrated because since then the bitch will attack and if she got the chance, kill the dog even though he is double her size. I am aware the problem is we have altered the packing order having the dog neutered - he is now an outcast and no longer top dog. Spaying the bitch didn’t help either, but aware of the problem we keep the dog and bitch separate at all times except when accidents happen and I only wish I had visited your site before they had their recent encounter. The bitch managed to get the dog on the back of the neck and clamped her jaws fast. I physically pried her jaws apart letting the dog escape but not before he had nipped me leaving large bruises on my arm and she clamped her jaws on my finger. Each dog didn’t know they had hurt me and didn’t intentionally bite me. The problem is I would like to have the 18 month old dog castrated but I don’t want the same thing to happen. I am worried the bitch may turn on her son if I have him neutered. Could you please advise me? Monica Answer: You have a dog pack. One or two dogs can live together and can act like and be pets. Add a 3rd or 4th dog and you have a dog pack that takes on a personality of its own. The dogs now live according to pack rules and unless you are a competent pack leader, you will have chaos, which is what you have right now. You are 110% wrong about this neutering issue. You are fixated on neutering being the problem when in fact it really has nothing to do with this. You may think it does but that does not make you right. The fact is you could not be further from the truth. Unless you change the way these dogs interact , by keeping them separated, you are going to have dog fights. You are trying to do things that no responsible professional trainer would do – let 3 adult dogs like this live together. Especially when they have proven that they have the will to fight for pack position. If you do decide to keep the dogs I would recommend some serious obedience training. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Ed, I just read your material on breaking up a fight and found it quite informative. I do have some questions I would like advice on. First let me explain the situation... I have 8 dogs, assorted breeds, and 3 are pits bulls. Last night a vicious fight broke out between the Shepherd & Dobie. The Shepherd in the Alpha Female and once the others saw what was going on, all joined in against the loser (the Dobie). We were able to get all the dogs to stop BUT the pits who were in a death match fury. By the time we were able to break things up - this included grabbing hind legs, breaking holds, etc. it was too late. Bones (the Doby’s name) had arterial & vein wounds and were bleeding out. I am a vet tech. and could do nothing to save her... she was glassy eyed by the time we got all dogs off. We ended up losing a loved pet of 7 yrs. due to a damn stick my granddaughter threw (she did not know we don't do that with all dogs out at the same time) and Bones got to it first. My husband is disabled and cannot fight with them as well as I, so it was a nasty situation. Today they all act just like nothing happened at all.. I would like to know what you'd suggest in my situation. I have all ready said the pits will not go out with ANYONE other than themselves anymore for they are the ones who caused the deadly damage. Should this ever happen again what can I do to break them? I will go get some of those poppers we use to awaken those knocked out, but do you suggest pepper spray? What about the cattle prod if it is at a high enough voltage to stun them? The grabbing by the hind legs just is not feasible here - not enough people to work with. A break stick was advised to me, I have never used one and do not know if it would work. Please advise - I do not want to go through this again. Sure we have had spats in the past 10 yrs. but never of this magnitude. Hope to hear from you soon. Linda Answer: This death is tragic. You have created a dog pack and have now witnessed the ramifications of pack behavior. Build some kennels to keep your pets separated or give some dogs away to good homes. This kind of fighting will happen again. It takes some courage to be a responsible pet owner. In your case the courage means finding better homes for your pets. What you are doing is 100% wrong! ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Ed, We have a 2 1/2 yr old female Rotti who was attacked a month ago by a female Pit Bull while my husband was walking her - luckily neither my husband or my dog were injured. The dog had gotten away from it's owner. Since then she has shown aggression towards dogs smaller than her and towards small children - but still very friendly to adults. Before the attack she had always been loving and friendly to EVERYONE especially children. She has basic obedience training. Please give us some advise on how we can correct this behavior - I am wanting to order an electric collar for her - but will wait for your reply. Thank you Answer: Dogs have long memories and it surprises people how one incident can sometimes change them forever. The solution is control. The dog was traumatized. Just like a woman getting raped. It is not going to get over it easily or quickly. But it can have its behavior controlled. This is going to take a well founded obedience program and being firm with the dog. You need to establish yourself as pack leader and a firm, fair pack leader. When the dog shows aggression towards children you need to be very quick to correct. The dog must get sharp corrections with a prong collar and loud verbal corrections. You need to make it very clear that YOU ARE NOT HAPPY. I would not recommend an electric collar for you yet. The dog needs to understand that you are the one who is correcting it. It needs to know exactly what it is that it is getting corrected for, and in the hands of a novice, an electric collar can be confusing for the dog. I never recommend one unless someone is a good dog trainer to begin with, (unless its for punishment training). Read what I have to say about the steps of obedience training. If there is any chance of this happening again, get pepper gas and carry it. Or get an electric cattle prod and carry that. ---------------------------------------------------------------- I had the awful experience of witnessing a dog fight between a Pit bull and a Rottweiler. The owners of this dogs were walking their respective dogs when they walked to close to each other, and WHAM! That is when the fight broke out. Despite the owners efforts in trying to separate the dogs, the fight went on for about 15 minutes until one of the dogs was nearly dead. I always though that pit bulls were the most powerful fighters in the dog world but in this case I am sad to say that the Rottweiler nearly ripped the pit bull apart. What gives? This were not fighting dogs, they were both family dogs, I did not know that the Rottie's jaws were so powerful. I was considering buying a Rottweiler puppy to have him as a companion (I am single and live alone) but after witnessing this I am not sure (the brutality of this dog has me traumatized), I love dogs and can not stand to see one suffer. Could you please advise me? I am happy to say that the Pit bull did survive but not before running a big medical bill for his owner. Answer: Buy a different breed unless you think you can control a situation like you saw. Not many people can. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Our 3 yr old lab/chow (spayed) drew blood for the 4th time in two years on our 5 yr old GS today. Unfortunately, this time the GS has a serious wound and is staying at the vet for treatment. This was the situation this time: We live on a farm, and we had a new sheep (we have one other sheep, which the dogs "raised") brought in to the corral that is next to their run. The sheep was sniffing the lab/chow through the fence and Kota, the GS came over to get a sniff, and all hell broke loose. At first I was able to shout at Chemukh, "OFF"-she paused for a brief time, then went in harder until Kota retreated. We recognize that the dogs have a packing-order, but we are not recognizing who is who in this small pack. Chemukh came first, then the GS, who by the way, at 105 pounds is exactly twice the other dog’s weight. How does an owner tell who is the Alpha dog? Another variable is that that the smaller (meaner) dog has developed displaysia and is cranky. My husband wants to ship Chemukh off because we have a two year old chi ld... he fears that she could get into the middle of one of these fights and get hurt. I am willing to work a little harder if there is something that we are not doing right. Do you have any suggestions? I greatly appreciate your very valuable site. One more question, not training related, pertains to our GS. She is a beautiful large female that we rescued. We have no idea where she came from, only that she was probably abused (hand shy, afraid of anything resembling a stick, would run from the site of a rifle, etc.) She is a stunning dog though and we are approached frequently by people asking if we raise Shepherds. My question is about her coloring. She resembles your dog Gideon, only where he is light brown, she is white. Is there a name for that type of marking? Is it undesirable? Is it from a particular line? I have only seen one picture of a GS with the same color. Any info would be appreciated. Answer: These dogs need to be kept separated – forever. I would never try and do what you are doing. The dogs have demonstrated that they will fight. These Chow mix dogs are almost always dog fighters. I get more emails on fighting from people with chow mixes than any other breed. The fact is that your GSD is going to get neurotic because it is afraid of fighting. The coloring probably means the dog is from American bloodlines and is not a well-bred dog. It has not been mistreated, it is just a product of bad genes and weak nerves. People often think a dog was mistreated when in fact it just has poor breeding. It’s probably the reason the dog was abandoned. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr. Ed Frawley, I have a question concerning Displaced biting. We live in the middle of 20 fenced acres. Last night a car stopped at our gate about a quarter mile away that can be seen from our house. My seven year old bitch, Lady, became excited and grabbed my 15-year-old neutered submissive Rat Terrier that is half her size. I had two other dogs that joined in when the Rat Terrier was down, perhaps because he squealed. As Lady, who is a German Pinscher bitch, hung on to the Rat Terrier, I grabbed her collar and socked her in the face several times until she let go and shoved her in a crate. A 5-year-old son of this bitch seems to be developing the same tendency and is one that helped his mother in this attack. I am not sure he actually took a hold of the Rat Terrier because the Rat Terrier only had one ripped ear and not any puncture wounds that I could find. This was the first time Lady had every grabbed the Rat Terrier that she has lived with since she was 10 months old. Fortunately, my husband was home to help me separate the dogs or I believe the Rat Terrier would not have survived. This breed seems to be sight excited that causes Lady to go for a lower pack member. Lady was not socialized when I bought her from a kennel situation at 10 months. In the beginning I had major problems with Lady when I brought her home with a 5-year-old spayed Rat Terrier bitch. I finally found a home for the Rat Terrier bitch after a couple of years of hell. At one time when Lady was about 18 months old my husband yelled at me to come and hold the Terrier bitch while Lady was clamped on to her. We were afraid that Lady was going to kill the Rat Terrier, and my husband grabbed the closest item, a broom and hit her over the muzzle. He hit her so hard that the handle on the broom broke in two pieces. There were many other incidents, and I kept them separate but an accident of letting them together most likely meant another fight. My husband and I took both Lady and the Rat Terrier bitch to obedience class. My instructor set them up by having everyone run with their dogs to the other side of the room. Lady immediately went for the Rat Terrier, and my instructor helped me jerk even harder on her choke chain thinking that I had not been hard enough on Lady. We even tried hanging her at one time, but we needed to be more knowledgeable in what we were doing. This was the first displaced biting incident that we have had for several years. Is displaced biting hereditary? Or is it an owner/trainer problem? If I had been more knowledgeable in the beginning could this have been stopped for good? Could this problem be transferred to a child? I watch my dogs very closely and keep them confined if children are around, but there is always that one possibility of something happening. I have read extensively, attended workshops, watched videotapes, and obedience classes, but I wonder if I had been a stronger alpha in the beginning if this problem could have been prevented? Is this a form of dominance or a mental problem? My husband wants to euphemize the dogs for this problem, and the propensity to fight. The decision is mine and I am unsure as to what I should do. Thank you for any advice you can give me. I do own several of your videotapes, and thank you for giving us such great advice. Kay Answer: You have a dog pack and are experiencing pack drives that come as a result. The only solution is to keep these dogs that fight separated. I would not try and do what you are doing – so I can’t really offer advice on something that I do not agree with. Dogs like this need separate dog crates and/or dog kennels. They should not be allowed to be together. So if you can’t do this you need to find new homes for the dogs that are the problem. I would recommend that over putting the dogs to sleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------- I have a two year old belgian tervuren who I adopted
at 4 months old from a household where the little boy abused him (he still
has scars on his face). We've spent a good deal of time and training and
socializing getting him over his, shall we say, dislike of small boys
(never girls, just boys about the same size as his previous owner). Now,
we used to go to the dog park for runs and a little bit of socialization,
although we mostly went late at night because I didn't Thanks, Answer: I feel sorry for your dog. He has had and still has a difficult life. I doubt you will ever get your dog to be comfortable around male children. If you were violently raped when you were a child, would you ever feel comfortable around people who reminded you of your attacker? I think not, so why expect it from this poor dog? I have never heard of a dog being neutered at 8 weeks of age. I can’t imagine a reputable vet doing this. Must have been a hack. I am not a fan of dog parks - I consider them mine fields for dogs and your experiences are a perfect example. I would NEVER take my dogs to a park, so I can’t offer advice on what to do. In f |
