Aggression Q&As

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 ...

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. ...

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 th...

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 gi...

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 deat...

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 wil...

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 ...

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

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,...

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'...

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 m...

We raised two German Shepherd from puppies Male and female, neutered and spayed. When they were between 1 and 2 we adopted a 1-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 2?. 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...

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 c...

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....

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 Petuni...

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...

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 ...

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

Dear Mr. Frawley, I have a problem with a friend's dog and I don't know what to do about it. I am wondering if you could give me advice or direction on what to do. This may be a little long, so I apologize now if it is. I have been with my boyfriend for almost three years and have known him for five. His family has a Springer Spaniel. I have never liked that dog. The first time I walked through that door, his dog showed his teeth and growled the whole time. Nobody did anythi...

I tried to find the answer to my question on your web site, but couldn't quite find the right fit from the previous questions. I'm really hoping you can help because I don't know what to do. We have a lab that we've had since she was a puppy. She's always been an inside dog and has gotten along great with EVERYONE up until now. She's not been to formal obedience training, but we don't like unruly dogs, so we've got her pretty well trained. She's always had ear problems and, as a ...