My dog is an aggressive dog fighter. She does not give other dogs a chance when she sees them on the beach. She just goes directly in and fights. What can I do?

Question

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
    Western, Australia

Accepted 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.