Aggression Q&As
September 24, 2013
My dog wants to kill everyone. We can't even take him for walks anymore. What are we to do now?
My pitt bull is 6 years old, we got him right before my daughter was born, he was raised along side her. He has been an amazing family dog, never ever has shown signs of aggression towards us in any way. But for everyone else, he hates everyone, he wants to kill. and I mean KILL. We can't even take him for walks anymore because now he wants to kill everyone/dog we see and also cars??.... Its painful walking this terror on a lead. What do you do with a red zoned dog? We can't have him around a...
79% (73 out of 92)
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September 11, 2013
My boyfriend's dog has killed and eaten 3 cats that we know about and is aggressive to most animals. Is it possible to have her wear a muzzle until she understands not to go after cats?
Hello,
I'm really hoping you can help me. I am a cat lover and have a 6 month old kitten/cat, we are about to move in with my partner who is a dog lover, he has 2 french pointers, mother and daughter. The mother is highly aggressive toward smaller animals, she is a rescued dog who has never fulfilled her hunting nature (we guess because of whatever was done to her when she was small, he got her when she was just 1 year old, she is now 4).
She has killed and eaten/torn apart 3 cats tha...
80% (16 out of 20)
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July 1, 2013
My roommate's friend brought her aggressive dog over and this dog and my dog got in a fight. Since then, she's been growling at other dogs, not biting, but still. How do I correct this bad behavior?
I have noticed similar questions on your website, but still a bit different and not exactly direct answers with what to do, so I figured I would ask you myself...The other day my roommate was having a pool party and she told her friend to come who brought her aggressive pit bull over because my roommate (unknown to me) told her that my pit bull (Cami) is great with other dogs (which is true) and that she has socialized some other shy/aggressive dogs before (true, but not at MY house). Long st...
97% (36 out of 37)
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June 7, 2013
My mom's 13 year old dog has been a biter since he was a pup. He is my mom's master and has bitten her several times severely enough to require trips to urgent care. Any thoughts or advice?
Hello,
I'm looking for advice regarding my 75 year old mom and her 13 year old miniature schnauzer mix dog. Her dog, since a pup, has been a biter, snipper, growler, barker, etc. not to mention overly aggressive. He has to date bitten my mom several times resulting in trips to the urgent care or Dr. She is slower to recover from wounds as the most recent was a day ago.
My response has been to put the dog down because I don't see how he can be trained after all these years from bad bree...
96% (23 out of 24)
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May 29, 2013
In the past two weeks, we have had some new puppies up the park and my dog has gone for them and pinned them down and growled and bit their cheek. What should I do?
Hello,
I'm hoping you can give me some advice about my 18 month old male nurtured border collie Sherlock. Every evening we go up the park and play with a group of dogs they all get on well. In the past two weeks, we have had some new puppies up the park and Sherlock has gone for them and pinned them down and growled and bit their cheek. He was making a lot of noise but didn't seem to hurt the poor puppy or draw blood. I 'm worried that he will scare the poor puppies. He'd be playing fine ...
88% (7 out of 8)
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May 15, 2013
My dog gets agressive when people play fight or wrestle. I have corrected her. I wonder if now someone actually is a threat, if she would intervene. What is the right thing to do when the dog can't distinguish play fighting from real?'
My dog gets agressive when people play fight or wrestle. She bears teeth and it seems like she is going to bite someone involved but has not. When my kids were playing and she did this, I corrected her and I think I fixed the problem because I haven't seen her do it again. But, I wonder if I did the right thing. I wonder if now someone actually is a threat, if she would intervene. What is the right thing to do when the dog can't distinguish play fighting from real?'
80% (4 out of 5)
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May 15, 2013
We rescued a 5 year old dog and for the first couple of weeks he was great. He is now growling at my youngest child and it's getting worse. It's hard to know what to do when all the answers I find on your website refer to buying a video. Is there anything you can suggest? We are willing to try anything.
Hello,
I just rescued a 5 year old Lhasa and he was defiantly dissocialized in his last home with health issues. I have two boys who are 6 and 10?who are completely non aggressive and our environment is very tranquil. First 2 weeks were great but Chico has decided that he is a little higher in the pecking order and very loyal to me. Even though we have established a good routine if my youngest walks in the room and is just standing there he will run up teeth glaring and growling, etc... It...
92% (48 out of 52)
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May 13, 2013
My dog is becoming aggressive when we use a prong collar. What should I do?
Hi Ed and Cindy,
I just recently purchased how to deal with dominant and aggressive dogs, dominant dog collar, leather leashes, etc. I had asked Cindy this question a while back when my female german shepherd was still only 9 months old. I bought the ecollar and DVD back then along with other Michael Ellis DVDs. She is doing very well with obedience without any high level distractions. She will obey on and off leash with people around only but cannot do that when there are any other animal...
100% (25 out of 25)
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April 17, 2013
Our one year old Golden Retriever has a tendency to get very aggressive. I've been bitten a number of times as have 2 of my children. Help!
Hello,
We have a male Golden Retriever who is turning one year old next week.? He was neutered at 7 months of age and we have had him since he was 8 weeks old.
With the help of your videos on Establishing a Pack Structure and Dealing with Dominant dogs we have for the most part an obedient dog who stays and comes on command. Walks well with us and responds to verbal correction when he wants to wander toward other dogs or to sniff around.
Unfortunately he has tendency to get very agg...
90% (18 out of 20)
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April 4, 2013
We have a adopted a beautiful dog that likes to bite other people. We need help selecting a muzzle.
Hi there,
We have adopted a beautiful dog, who likes to bite other people. In order to protect them and himself (from being destroyed) while we are trying to alter his behavior we are going to try a muzzle.
I'm not sure of the which one to get and ask for your assistance. Also, before proceeding any further, do you post to Australia?
Muzzle size: nose length from top (just below eyes) to end is 4", and circum (fairly snug) is 11". We have tried a plastic muzzle which was not the righ...
97% (28 out of 29)
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March 7, 2013
My boyfriend has two dogs that fight a lot and it has been worse lately. What would you suggest we do?
Hi,
First I would like to thank you in advance if you take the time to read this!
My boyfriend has two three month old american pitbulls. They are brother and sister. They always want attention at the same time and you can never be with one but you need to be with both. Even if you are with one, as soon as the other one sees it will come over. The problem though is that the female dog, is extremely dominant over her brother. To the point where she will always being the fight, take his f...
100% (7 out of 7)
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March 7, 2013
My mother in law has a dog that is violent to humans and her new dog. I don't feel safe going to her house anymore, or bringing my daughter there! What would be the best possible course of action in this situation?
My mother in law owns a beagle/lab/chow mix who is about 2 years old. Recently, she got another dog from the local shelter and was told by the shelter that she would have to neuter her chow mix in order to keep her new dog. The chow mix was neutered, but became increasingly violent towards humans and the new dog, where he had not been before. He DID calm down about 3 weeks after the operation.
Two days ago, a friend of ours walked into the house with me, and the chow mix bit him! It didn't...
100% (16 out of 16)
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March 5, 2013
What can you advise and effective tools to use in a quick situation to pull dogs apart during a fight before serious damage to dogs, and owners?
How to train the human to break up a dog fight?
I normally don't have more than 2 or 3 dogs. I've rescued and adopted mainly German Shepherds, but ventured off into the Doberman Pinschers for 7 years now. Never had problems until my alpha female attacked my 18 month old female while playing fetch. My mistake after the fact. All calmed down. They got along since, until I brought in a 3 month old puppy and after 4 days, they got into again, and like normal, I put my hands to their heads to b...
75% (3 out of 4)
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February 28, 2013
Our 15 pound peekapoo just killed our 4 pound poodle. Do I need to put the peekapoo down?
We have two dogs that have had issues for a long time. I understand the dominance issues from your article but at this point training won't cure.
Our 4lb poodle female was killed by our 15lb peekapoo female. What do I now do about the dog that is living and what kind of future issues do I need to be worried about? It was a distinct relationship that these two dogs had but the peekapoo has nipped at people.
I understand the dog that died may very well have caused the problem but do I nee...
79% (72 out of 91)
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February 19, 2013
When our Rottweiler gets excited if we try to correct him he becomes aggressive, is there a way to prevent him from escalating to aggression?
Hello! I'm new to your Facebook but love it!
We have always had dogs and rescued many as well (of course they end up staying with us for the rest of their lives). We've rescued aggressive dogs scheduled for euthanasia however I am now faced with a tricky one that I'm not sure how to correct.
Jack is a 1.5 year old rottweiler that was abandoned as a puppy. He is our 5th rottie, therefore we do have some experience with the breed (my favorite). He is the most loving boy however he challen...
100% (47 out of 47)
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January 31, 2013
Our 2 year old dog takes items and won't give them back. He brings the item near us and then we can't move because if we do he will become aggressive. Is there anything you can suggest that may help us?
We have a Shorthaired German Pointer, he is 2 years old and we are having a problem when the dog takes something that doesn't belong to him. He generally comes near us or close to us with the object he would have taken and we won't be able to move from there because he tends to get aggressive. We think it could be because he thinks we are going to take the object back from him. Even with other things that he takes, he refuses to give them back. Is there anything you can suggest to help us dea...
87% (41 out of 47)
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January 7, 2013
My 13 month old GSD has excellent obedience as long as distractions are at a distance. Lately she's been jumping up on people and becoming more aggressive when meeting strange dogs & people. I'm starting 'Level 1' protection work with a trainer, is this a good idea? Do you have any suggestions for me about the jumping and increasing defensiveness?
Hi Ed and Cindy,
My question(s) revolve around my 13 month old intact 70 pound GSD (West German) female. Her lineage on both sides for generations is Sch3, including a few World Sieger relatives. She is beautiful dog, very attached to me, and has an EXTREMELY high prey drive. Thank God I work from home and can exercise her vigorously 2-3 times/day utilizing her favorite activity -- fetching a ball. My problem is her distractibility and jumping up with greeting people... lately she is becom...
84% (26 out of 31)
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December 7, 2012
We have an 8 month old baby who is crawling. Our dog stands over her when she is on the floor in a dominant way. How can we correct this?
Hi, my name is Natalie. I have a Lab/corgi mix,Ginger, who is 6 years old. This year my husband and I had a baby and she is now 8 months old and crawling. Ginger has recently started to stand over our daughter's head when she is on the floor which is something she use to do with our black lab mix, Shelby, before she died. I have been told that this is a dominance thing. My husband yells at Ginger every time she does it but I don't think it is helping. I don't want her doing this to our baby b...
75% (3 out of 4)
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December 3, 2012
Our 9 month old baby has started crawling and our 8 year old dog snapped at him. I want to find the dog a new home but my husband wants to train the dog. Is it possible to train her?
Hi,
My dog is about 8 years old. She is a lab beagle mix. We have a 9 month old baby, who loves the dog. We take them on walks together, but the dog pulls and almost knocks the stroller over sometimes. We have taken her to an obedience class once, but we did not keep the training up enough. We were trying to let them be together, but when the baby started crawling, she got a warning bark from the dog twice. Then another time he was crawling towards the dog and the dog snapped at the baby. ...
100% (15 out of 15)
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November 29, 2012
We adopted a 2 year old poodle a couple weeks ago. She’s been growling and has bitten our 6 year old daughter. Can this be dealt with through training?
Hi Cindy,
It's been a while since we spoke last, but I have a question about our new dog: but first some background. We have just recently adopted a rescue female miniature poodle that is 2 years old. We have had her for almost two weeks now and have been putting her through the ground work training as taught by Leerburg. She has accepted myself and my wife as the pack leaders (more so me than my wife but still minds my wife very well) and she is a very loving and quite obedient dog. We ha...
83% (5 out of 6)
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