I have a 12-month-old Boxer who's dominant towards other dogs. I want him to be able to play and run at a dog park? Do you think this is possible?

Question

I have a 12 month old Boxer (neutered) who is extremely dominant/aggressive towards other dogs. I have just watched your DVD on this matter and am anxious to start applying your techniques. I have a prong collar (which I found out I was putting on the wrong way) although he still accepted it well. I also just received the dominant dog collar from you. Here is my question. I am a small woman and my Boxer is about 55 pounds but seems like an elephant when he sees another dog. The prong helps but I still feel a bit behind the eight ball. It doesn't seem like I can get that level of correction needed that I see you apply in the DVD. I was thinking about getting a muzzle for our walks and saw that you have one that will be perfect for the Boxers head. If I muzzle my dog and we encounter another dominant/aggressive dog who has an untrained handler, am I not putting my dog at risk in a fight? I certainly could not stop a dog fight and wouldn't even try but if it got intense would I be really endangering my dog by cutting off his defenses? Would love to get your advice on this subject. My dog appears very well trained at home with the basic obedience commands but as you pointed out in your DVD, with his behaviour outside the home, he really isn't trained at all. I'm hoping I can overcome this because he really learns quickly and loves to please but just seems to be wired wrong when it comes to other dogs. By the way, I started him in puppy socialization classes at 12 weeks and he already was what I call a "psycho" He then went on to basic obedience (always being the class distraction and general pain in the ass) I also get him out daily hoping to encounter other dogs for training purposes.

    Nothing has changed, no better, no worse. It's just that now my "psycho" is 55 pounds of solid muscle! Now that I have a firm understanding of the prong collar, hopefully I will begin to see some positive results. My dream is to be able to take him to a dog park to really run and play. Do you think with the genetically wired dog that I have this will ever be possible? Hope to hear back regarding the muzzle. Thanks for your great DVD.

    Vicki & (Jager)

Accepted Answer

Whenever you take your dog around other dogs that are not under control there is the risk for a fight. A muzzle will prevent your dog from biting, but it doesn’t actually address the issue of aggression and it doesn’t protect your dog from being bitten by other dogs.

I would advise NOT taking this dog out into areas where you are likely to encounter loose or out of control dogs.

Ed has written an article on what to do if you are attacked by a dog.

I have no problem chasing, hitting or pepper spraying a dog that approaches me and my dogs when we are out together. For a dog this is very important, because he learns that you will deal with the issue and it’s not his place to do so. Of course, your dog needs to be trained and accepting of your leadership 100% for this to be effective. You need to be a calm and consistent leader. If you haven’t read this article, I would recommend it.

Please don’t take this dog to a dog park, even if you think his aggression has improved. You have no control of the other dogs there and you would just be asking for trouble. I suggest you read this article on dog parks.

I would direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website for any additional questions you may have. If you type in your key words it will guide you to articles, Q & A’s and posts on our forum.

Cindy