Aggression Q&As

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% (16 out of 16)
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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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February 29, 2012

Would an ecollar help me get my dogs focus back on me while around other dogs?

I have a 5 year old intact male Shepherd (30 inches at the shoulder and 110 pounds)who is aggressive toward other dogs, both while we are walking and when he is in the yard. Part of our yard is well above street level and Liam uses it as a vantage point to watch for dogs and to a lesser degree, other passers-by. He will become totally focused on the approaching dog and will charge in their direction, so I keep him on a long line to be sure he stays in the yard for that reason. When we are wal...
100% (6 out of 6)
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February 29, 2012

My do thinks we are going to do bite work everywhere we go. How do I train him to relax?

I have a 1 1/2 year old Malinois. He thinks that everywhere we go we are going to do bite work. How do I train him to relax? He has good obedience but sometimes he wants to bite everyone. He won't do it if I give him his negative maker "No." But I don't trust him or my own reflexes so I muzzle him everywhere. I would like him to be safe around strangers. He doesn't need to be their friend, just ignore them. I am guessing you are going to tell me to work on engagement so he will focus on me in...
100% (3 out of 3)
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February 27, 2012

Recommended We have a 4 1/2 year old GSD and just had a baby 6 weeks ago. We've kept the two completely separated so far, but I'm wondering how to start introducing the two.

Ed and Cindy, My wife and I got our first GSD 4 1/2 years ago (I got her BH last year and I've done some SHZ with a local club) and we are in love with the breed and will forever have a GSD. She is 4 1/2, our only pet, high drive and very obedient that primarily stays outside but a huge part of the family! We've trained her to be very calm in the house and has her "place" as you call it (dog mat) in the house where we allow her to come in the evenings, but she isn't allowed anywhere else i...
100% (10 out of 10)
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February 15, 2012

Recommended Our small dog is very aggressive and has bitten several family members. He runs after family members with teeth bared and acts like a wild animal. A trainer came to our home and when the dog attacked him, he held him up off the ground by the leash until he passed out. Our dog was really aggressive and did bite him but was this extreme in your opinion?

I have a small dog, who has become very aggressive. He has bitten several family members and recently, in the last 6 months, has ran after several family members with teeth showing and acting like a wild animal. I had a trainer come to my home to help us with him. The dog did go for him very aggressively and he leashed him and held him head up in a choking (hanging) manner and the dog was fighting until (to me) he passed out with lack of oxygen. At his time the dog did defecate and urinate on...
51% (20 out of 39)
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January 19, 2012

We began having problems with our dog biting other dogs and even killed our kitten a couple months ago. I found your site, identified our mistakes and started groundwork. Is this dominance/aggression, prey drive or both? And if we continue to follow your training program, can the problem really be overcome?

Our problem is with our female basset/pit. We got her when she was 6 weeks old and she's lived peacefully for 3 years with 5 cats and an older non-dominant female weimaraner. The weim died 2 weeks ago and last weekend she killed our 4 month old kitten when he came near her food bowl. In the 2 months prior to that she bit the weim twice (over food and a toy) and 2 other dogs - 1 in our home and 1 in the other dog's home - again over a toy. She attacks without warning. My partner is so upse...
100% (10 out of 10)
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January 19, 2012

Recommended We don't expect my small dog to live long. I want to spoil him but I also want him to be a good dog. How should we train him?

Hello, I found your website while searching for a holistic vet. I adopted a Chihuahua Yorkie mix, but he is a biter. We started crate training him, but inconsistently. He had trouble getting house broken, and we discovered he had a bladder stone. Next came surgery, then the diagnosis of liver shunt. We searched for nutrition answers and found your site. We spoil the dog now, because we expect him to have a short life span, but he does have aggressive tendencies. My concern- after reading t...
91% (10 out of 11)
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January 3, 2012

Today my dog bit my daughter's friend. What do I do now?

Hi Cindy, I want to thank you, Ed and Michael for all the valuable services you provide to dog owners everywhere. I used the information and advice you have on your website plus the discussion boards to obedience train my dog. Nothing special, just a well behaved dog at home and in the park. Today something very sad and terrible happened. I did something very stupid that both me and my dog will regret for the rest of our days together. I want to share it with you and ask a question. I am h...
88% (28 out of 32)
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December 22, 2011

Recommended My dog was barreled over from behind by a strange dog off leash, since then he has become aggressive towards other dogs. What's the best way to approach the socializing of him to help him gain some confidence?

Hey, Firstly let me say "thank you" for the your website. I have found it very valuable and great info. I am interested in some of your DVDs, as I have a 10 month old shep, but don't know which ones would best suit. We currently attend obedience training at our GSD club every week, my problem isn't the obedience side, it is my dog's reaction to other dogs. When he was approximately 4/5 months old he was barreled over from behind by a strange dog off leash and he got sent flying, since the...
64% (32 out of 50)
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