Aggression Q&As

My three and a half year old German Shepherd spayed bitch has a problem with charging other dogs. She is fairly well trained and comes to call immediately if I call her as soon as I see another dog. But if I am not quick enough she completely focuses on the dog and charges, if the other dog does nothing she will do nothing when she gets there. If the other dog starts to run or is an excitable bouncy type of dog she has to stop it and will chase it and grab it to pull it down and then she ...

I have recently acquired a Dachshund. He was one year old when I got him, he is now 14 months. The people who had him before me kept him alone in the back yard. They could no longer keep him because of a barking problem. I felt that a barking problem would not be to hard to break I was wrong. He still has that problem to a degree. The bigger problem is he has become EXTREMELY aggressive the longer we have him the worse it gets. He is fine with our family, but when other people come over they ...

I just adopted a female rottweiler, approximately 1 year from the pound the day before getting put to sleep. She is loving, gentle and responds to some commands. I arranged for my boyfriend to bring my male rott, 2 years to the park to meet her. Both dogs were on leashes with pinch collars. They were equally aggressive, with my male dog more out of control than I had anticipated. He has gone through 2 obedience courses. He has been the only Housedog for the past 3 months. He was raised from 1...

I have a three year old German Shepard, Rudy, with whom I have spent hundreds of hours training. I would classify him as obedient (hand signals, basic commands, etc.). I have never given him any form of defense training. In fact, I gave him training to not bite when playing or otherwise. There is one problem I have never been able to successfully address. While he is friendly and outgoing with adults, he barks at children and little people. I am afraid he would bite someone. I, the...

I would like to know how to stop aggression. Also I would like to know if my two males, one 6 months and one 18 months old, will fight for dominance. Both are neutered. In first letter I gave you the background of their attack on the goat. I would very much like to buy your video. Thank you, Dean

Hello. I was wondering if you may be able to help with a few questions. My husband and I have had a German Shepherd for the past two years. His name is Sargent. We picked him out when he was six months old. He has gone to puppy training and adult training and passed very well. My husband was the one who took him, so he is much better behaved for him then myself. He is very good and listens most of the time, except when it comes to children. When he sees them running and riding the bikes, ...

I have a one and a half year old male GSD. He was a rescue dog and hadn't been socialized at all when I got him (almost a year ago). He is very smart and learns everything I teach him right away. I've been wanting to start him on some protection training, my problem is that he is very dog aggressive and tends to be either intimidated or overly defensive around tall men, although he has been slowly improving in both areas. I don't want to encourage any uncalled for aggression. Would protection...

I am a 40 year old woman who has always had dogs - all kinds of dog. I particularly like dominant dogs in that I want protection (I live alone). My experience has been with Dobermans (females - love that breed). Recently I rescued/adopted an almost 2 year old Giant Schnauzer who was apparently left to his own resources for 20 months. He did not have proper human bonding, was belligerent and arrogant when first here but has come around somewhat. I have worked him daily with obedience; I pr...

Hello, I just read your article regarding dominant dogs. I have a question, and I hope you might be able to provide some advice. I adopted a female German Shepherd from a rescue group. The rescue group was at capacity and this particular woman was going through a bitter divorce at the time and wanted to place her dog. I adopted the dog (female GSD about 2 1/2 years old) directly from the owner. I was only told that she has a ?mischievous streak.? When I got the dog, things started ...

I have an older dog who has the ?attack first before I'm attacked? attitude toward other dogs. If I were to take her to a behaviorist, what kinds of things should I expect the behaviorists to do? I don't want to pay good money for a ?quack? but feel that my dog would benefit from behavior training. Thank you in advance for your input, Cyrene

Mr. Frawley, I emailed you last week about my 4-year-old bitch out of one of your Orfey litters. I want your opinion on the following matter: My wife and I walk in our neighborhood several times a week. We usually have Nicki, our Leerburg shepherd with us. We have on more than one instance had a dog loose in the neighborhood, some people I guess just do not have the knowledge to realize what can happen if a dog gets loose. I have always had the fear of what would happen if w...

Ed, your web site is GREAT! I have read many of your articles and enjoy them very much. I own a dog that was 8 months old when I got him. He is 18 months old now. I spend a lot of time with him trying to teach him basic obedience. He is very dominant, aggressive and was not socialized at a young age. He follows me around like I'm his mother. We go for lots of walks, play in the yard, go for drives in the van, and do many other things together. When I'm in my wood shop, he's right at the door ...

I have a situation with a neighbor and a Rottweiler. They got the dog when it was about 8 weeks old, and from the very beginning, it has shown aggression towards first other dogs, and then people. At approximately 2 months old, this puppy would growl and show it's teeth and lunge at other dogs, even dogs that were quite large. This happened EVERY time the dog came in contact with another dog or person. The owner didn't seem to see a problem with this. Next, the puppy started...

Mr. Frawley, I constantly visit your web site. I find the articles informative and very blunt. I have a 15-month male Rottweiler. He has begun obedience and is excelling in it to the point where I am going to put an obedience title on him. I have not entered bite work with him but he has been worked on some tracking. My question is this: I walk my dog in the neighborhood and the other neighborhood (strays) dogs run up to him and stay about 10-15 feet away. They bark and grow...

Have you written an article on aggression?