Aggression Q&As

Good Evening, We are raising two females at my home. One is a pit bull and the other is a mix which we were told had pit in her but we don't see it. We have two small children, 11 and 7 years old. We are currently having a problem with what we think is dominance but we aren't sure. We had our mix pit (named Daisy) first and have had her since she was a pup. She is now 1 1/2 years and we got our 4 yr old pit less than a year ago. They have been in three fights since we got Lexi (the...

I'm a little chagrined asking for free advice but I can't seem to find this situation discussed anywhere. Is there such a thing as a mid-life testosterone rush in dogs? My dog's behavior has changed in a matter of days. Johann, my 4-yr-old male neutered German shepherd has always been docile and playful toward all dogs--and philosophical with the ones who lash out at him. But he suddenly became aggressive toward intact males last week--twice at the dog park and once on a wal...

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 ...

Dear Cindy, I am just about at my wits end. I have three German Shepherds, Mom, Dad and son. Dad is 7 years old and my gentle giant. He weight 125 lbs. and is very laid back. However he is alpha. Son is 18 months old, 100 lbs. and thinks he is the new stud on the block. They all got along really well until Max (son) was a year old then he started to test Boaz (dad). I have to keep them separated as there have already been four serious fights. I have tried just about everything I ca...

Hello, I have been training an adolescent rescued Belgian Malinois, with four other people, to be a service dog. He (Cade) has, however, recently shown extreme dog aggression that has created a road block for Cade and threatened his future as a pet. So, he has sent three large dogs to the vet with punctures or open wounds. He's attacked over toys (twice on-leash and twice off), and once trying to "protect" someone from another dog, a nonthreatening dog. We've consulted a behavorist...

Hi, I just spent the last two afternoons watching your videos that arrived on Tuesday: 'Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs' and 'Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet'. They are excellent! I have been doing everything wrong. I ordered these videos after my two German Shepherd bitches were in another fight this past Saturday. To give you some background, I have kept them totally separate for the past six months since their last fight. I was terrified Saturday ...

I have two Heidleberg Shepherds from Heidleberg farms in Houston Texas, both 3 year old bitches. They have both been through off leash obedience training by trainers in Houston. We recently moved to Montana and the neighbor has goats and sheep (5). The owner came home to see his goat missing an ear and my dogs covered with blood and they had the goat cornered. He called my dogs who responded immediately but then wanted to go back to the goat. As a compromise I paid for the goats vet bill ...

Hi, I have a 3 year old labradoodle. I only got her at 4 months and I know she wasn't socialized to people or other animals before then. I immediately got her into training and we were working on becoming a therapy dog team. When she was 17 months old she was attacked by a 3 year old Great Dane. It ran up from behind us sunk its teeth into her hind quarter. When I freed her, the dog then grabbed onto her tail and began to pull her away from me. I did get her free but she was bitten...

I have an 11 months Border Collie and was introduced to your site by my dog's breeder. I've watched your DVD "Basic Obedience" and found it to be extremely useful and have practised the three phases approach to dog training as you've recommended. Though my dog has been through Obedience classes, but they all lack the "correction phase." Therefore the results have always been inconsistent. With correction built into the training program, I have seen a vast improvement in his consist...

Dear Cindy, I have a two year old, intact male Labrador Retriever (Tucker) who is displaying dominant and aggressive behavior toward other male dogs. Not all male dogs but most. This behavior first showed signs with mounting at 10/11months, he finally stopped because of the training/correction or his hormone's leveling-out I am not sure. It then manifested to the current behavior; he becomes hyper vigilante when he sees another dog, if he obeys the "leave it and Look" command and a...

Ed How are things in Menomonie? I've got some dog issue questions I need to run by you. First off, yeah, I'm a dumbass, I should not have 4 dogs together, 2 beagles, lab and a gsd. But, the damage is done, and I need to figure out how to fix it. We've had the gsd for probably 4 yrs, she came from a humane society in Redwing, nice looking dog, healthy, good temperament, never been aggressive except towards cats and a skunk that got in the Kennel (really dumb for the skunk, huge mess?)...

I came across your website while researching information on dog on dog aggression, and hope you can help me! My husband and I have female two dogs -- a 9-1/2 year old mutt and an almost 5-year old lab mix. The lab mix (Koda) was raised in the house with the older dog (Sadie), and both dogs were spayed as puppies. Sadie has always been very submissive, while we realized very early on that Koda has a very dominant personality. While training Koda as a puppy we've taken steps to ensure that ...

Hello, I am emailing with pics of a bite from my 7 month old GSD female. She was going after my yorkie and I had her leash thankfully but she turned and bit me instead. Of course I was glad it was me and not my yorkie. She has been after them lately, what can I do? I have been establishing the pack structure. Its not perfect yet but its a whole lot better than when I first got her. Only had her a couple of months. I keep her in her crate when she is not on my leash by my sid...

Hi Ed and Cindy: I am writing you for any information and advice you can give me regarding one of our dogs. We have 3 dogs; (Polo), a 6 year old male American white shepherd, (Bella), a 5 month old female lab/shepherd mix, and (Riley), a 4-1/2 year old female australian shepherd/cattledog mix. We got the puppy at 9 weeks old in June, and previous to that we had a 16 year old female black lab/shepherd mix. They are all spayed/neutered except the puppy which will be spayed on ...

I have searched the web site for specifics regarding our dilemma and could not find any similar. Please read and give me direction... We have a 3 year old boxer (female, fixed) and a 2 year old bulldog (female, not fixed) both have aggressive personalities and it use to be that everytime the bulldog goes into heat the two fight. Lately they are out of control and fighting constantly and our bulldog is not going into heat for 3 months, so we can't blame hormones. Our boxer attack...

1) I have an Australian Shepherd 'rescue dog' really was abused. Previous owner's grandparents took the dog when he was not home and took it to a shelter because of how poorly he was treated. When I got him, he was 1 year old. 10lbs under-weight, worms, matted and had been tied to a tree by himself in a yard ? took a good six months before we could have him around any men with facial hair at all (previous owner was a large man with a beard). He is also an in-bred blue merle. Fo...

I have been reading the question and answer section as long as I can tolerate sitting here. I am sorry to bother you, I recently had back surgery and cant sit here any longer. I have 2 dogs, 5 year old mushball of a Boxer and a young 1 year old American Bulldogg. I keep my dogs sleeping in a crate at night. During the day they are out on our 2 acres to run freely. They are contained with the Invisible Fence system. They are very people friendly. Problem is keeping a neighbor dog ou...

I have been reading your website tonight and was hoping that you could assist me with a problem we have with our two labs. The golden lab is 5 yrs old and the chocolate lab is 3 yrs old. Over the last year they have been fighting viscously on and off however over the last month it has become more frequent. The chocolate is becoming possessive of my husband and I, and she attacks the gold when she feels the gold is overstepping the mark (ie. steps forward before she does). I have read abou...

Thank you so much for all the time you have put into getting this information together! It has been a relief for me to read it and know that there are many other dogs & owners out there dealing with this issue. Here's my story and question. I have a 2 year old American Staffordshire, Gus. Gus grew up in a house with 2 other dogs and 3 cats until he was six months old. Then I got married and moved out of that house into the mountains which is very secluded. There was no animals for ...

Hello Mr. Frawley: I appreciate the time and effort you put into helping dog owners. You and your website are the first resource I go to when I have a dog question. Now that I have "buttered you up" I'll ask my question. Background: I own two dogs (5 year old male GSD, 6 year old male black lab). Neither dog is neutered. They have lived together peacefully in the same 10'x20' kennel for the last 4 years with daily exercise (approx. 30 minutes) in our yard. Problem...