Aggression Q&As

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

Recommended 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

Recommended 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% (46 out of 46)
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January 31, 2013

Recommended 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

Recommended 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

Recommended 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

Recommended 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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November 16, 2012

Recommended My dog bit me & tore my lip and a couple months ago she bit my daughter in the lip. She isn’t a biter so I thought maybe she smelled other dogs on our clothing. She seems sad after each event.

My ten year old Keeshonden bit me and tore my lip. This happened on the same day that I had been playing with another dog up close away from home. I was behind her head and she turned and bit my lip off. I believe it was because I had the smell of the other dog all over me and my dog wasn't looking. The only other time this had happened was a couple of months prior when my dog bit my daughter on the lip (not as hard) after she had been playing with a dog earlier that day at a friend's home. M...
73% (30 out of 41)
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October 23, 2012

Recommended Our latest trainer instructed us to muzzle and alpha roll our dog twice a day as a dominance exercise. Should we stop doing this?

We have a dominant/agressive 16 month female doberman. We have purchased and implimented all of your training videos and hired several local trainers. The latest trainer, has instructed us to do an alpha roll with a muzzle 2 times a day as an excercise not as a correction. Our doberman growls and freaks out when we do this but eventually calms down. We are rolling her on her side only not on her back. Should we stop doing this? I know your other articles are adamant about not using alpha roll...
98% (43 out of 44)
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October 3, 2012

Recommended My dog is aggressive towards other dogs while at agility class and while walking around the neighborhood. She is never aggressive at obedience & conformation dog shows. What would you recommend?

Hello Cindy, We have a 1 1/2 year old Australian Shepherd who is aggressive when on leash with other dogs in a classroom situation and walking around our neighborhood. She does not show any aggression while on leash walking around at dog shows which deal with conformation and obedience. We have her in an agility class where all the dogs are crated and one dog works at a time on the course. When it is her turn she has recently taken off and runs over to where the other dogs are crated and b...
90% (27 out of 30)
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August 24, 2012

Comment on How to Break Up a Dog Fight Article

Hello, I found your article on how to break up dog fights very very useful. I recently started working in a dog boarding and daycare facility. Some days there are as many as 125 dogs in the yards.?There are multiple yards and we do our best to divide based on temperament but yesterday was my first dog fight. I have lots of experience with big animals (steers, sheep, etc) but none with such sharp teeth. I ended up with a relatively minor bite, two teeth puncture wounds but no tearing. I use...
50% (2 out of 4)
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August 23, 2012

Would a dog that attacks one specific other dog be considered aggressive? Is this dog to be trusted around kids?

I found your site very informative. If a dog is friendly with other dogs, cats and people but attacks one specific dog more than once, would this dog be considered aggressive? Recently, she attacked this much smaller dog beyond repair and sadly the dog didn't survive. Is this dog to be trusted around small children? I know with any dog, there should always be close supervision. But knowing she has this ability in her, is it too risky to keep her in the home with children?
100% (3 out of 3)
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August 17, 2012

Recommended What if you protect yourself from a charging dog and the owner accuses you of animal cruelty?

I am referring to Ed's article, What Would I do if Attacked by a Dog? After you pepper-spray a threatening, loose dog from charging at you and your dog, what if its owner denies his dog was unleashed and accuses you of animal cruelty?
100% (7 out of 7)
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June 25, 2012

Recommended Will a muzzle help my aggressive dog realize that the group we walk with won’t cause her harm?

We have a rescued SCWT who, after a year of walking with the same group, is still agressive toward the others. I'm wondering if I try her with a muzzle, will that help her interact and realize that they will not harm her? Any thoughts or advice would be welcomed.
88% (14 out of 16)
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May 23, 2012

Our dog used to snap at us when he was younger. We thought we had rectified the situation, but he has started doing it again. What advice can you give before we relocate him?

We have a 16-month-old male neutered Boxer and have had him since 8 weeks of age. I have trained him on your methods and have had great results except, when he was very young about 3 or 4 months, he would turn and snap at me when I gave him a correction if he was nosing around or chewing on something. I would correct by LEAVE IT command and move him away from whatever it was. I thought that had been rectified until recently. He wears a drag leash all the time and the other morning, while ...
100% (4 out of 4)
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March 28, 2012

we recently acquired a third dog and she isn't getting along well with one of my other dogs. Are we too late to put the newest dog in a crate now? Can we turn back the clock and re-re-introduce the new dog?

Hi Ed, I am contacting you from England. Boy, I wish I had seen your website before we bought latest dog. We have a 10-year-old female black lab and a 4-year-old male lurcher/labrador/collie cross, when we first introduced him to her I was told by many people never to put a male and female dog together, however we were very lucky and apart from a few spats at the beginning they have lived together quite happily for 2 years. Both are very placid dogs and although the lab shows aggression...
100% (19 out of 19)
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March 28, 2012

I got my dog as a guard dog and he has unpredictable episodes of aggression to other dogs. How do I keep him from killing other dogs.

I have a 3 year old castrated Anatolian Shepherd, weighs 160 pounds; I weigh 110. I live part time (8 months) in Costa Rica, and I got him as a guard dog. He is great as a perimeter defense dog, because his size and bark are terrifying. Nobody breaks into my house. However, he has unpredictable episodes of aggression to other dogs. Worst with males, but has attacked females. He is trained in formal obedience, and has no trouble on airplanes, crowds, etc. He is great with people, cats, chicken...
100% (15 out of 15)
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March 12, 2012

Recommended My 10 year old dog recently started showing signs of aggression towards our 11 month old son. We don't want to resort to get rid of her but his safety is more important. Is there anything else we can do?

I have read your article about introducing dogs and babies and I found it helpful but I still have a question. We have a dog who is about ten years old, Lady. Lady has never shown signs of aggression towards anyone until recently. My son is now 11 months and Lady has suddenly started growling at him almost every time she is around him. When she isn't growling it is like she completely ignores his presence, she even jumped on top of him when getting into the car one day. We don't want to resor...
100% (7 out of 7)
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March 1, 2012

Our dog has been crate trained and up to couple weeks ago was fine about going into it at night. Now all of a sudden when told to go to

I have a 3 and 1/2 year old Cocker Spaniel. He's been crate trained and up to couple weeks ago was fine about going into it at night. Now all of a sudden when told to go to "bed" at night he just lays there and growls at whomever tells him to go to bed. Sometimes he will go in, but then turns around and growls at them again. What's going on? How can I stop this behavior? I don't want him to start biting? I'm not sure how to handle him. In the past there have been times he's in the crate and w...
83% (5 out of 6)
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