Our dog is extremely aggressive toward other dogs. Can you please suggest a training regimen that I can get started with?

Question

Hi,

    Our un-neutered 2-year old female GSD is extremely aggressive toward other dogs.  Thankfully she is not aggressive towards humans at all. It has gotten to the point that we can't allow the kids to walk her for fear of dragging them to attach another neighborhood dog, and yesterday she yanked the leash out of my wife's hand and attacked a dog.

    In my best estimation, the aggression stems from an abortive attempt to do Schutzhund training with her. Our training director, a German with 30 years of Schutzhund training experience would have the dogs run free on the field together for 20 minutes or so prior to training. Ellie started this training when she was 10 or 11 months old and of course the other dogs would show a lot of dominance toward her (growling, chasing her back to her crate). This was my mistake. I never should have allowed these dogs to do this to her and the other owners didn't make many moves to correct their dogs either.

    I was unable to keep up with the demands that Schutzhund training put on the family schedule, and no longer train with the group. However, her aggressiveness toward other dogs is now firmly engrained. Of course I never allow her off leash when other dogs are around, but will allow her to run off leash with a Leerburg muzzle when I walk her in the wee small hours of the morning.

    Can you please suggest a training regimen that I can get started with? Remember, she has never shown an ounce of aggression toward humans, only other dogs. I don?t need all the answers in one email, just something to get me started on this project. I owe this to the dog and to my family.

    Thanks very much.

Accepted Answer

Hi,

I’d start by reading some of the information on the website about dog/animal aggression. It’s unfortunate that the trainer you used to go to put the dogs in the position he did. It’s beyond foolish and as you have found out, has lasting repercussions. I’ve never heard of such a thing in all my years of being involved in dog training. Being from Germany and having 30 years experience doesn’t mean this guy knows anything about how to bring along a dog which is a shame because it’s already done the damage to your dog. I’d like to give this guy a piece of my mind, what he does is ridiculous and DANGEROUS.

Anyway, your dog needs to understand that YOU will not tolerate any aggression towards other dogs. YOU are the boss, and you say if and when she needs to be aggressive. I believe that this DVD could really help you. It’s titled DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS and was a 5 year project.

Even though she’s not showing aggression to humans, you may want to consider our groundwork program for her at first. It’s a great way to change a dog’s mindset and get them in a follower frame of mind.

I’m sure sorry that this had to happen to you and your dog. I think with work you will be able to manage her as long as you are alert for the signs that she’s becoming tense. The key to this is interrupting and stopping her when the thought first starts to pop into her head. If you wait until she’s already lunging, it’s too late to be effective.

I hope this helps.

Cindy