Good Morning all,
I am a dog obedience trainer and this may sound crazy but I am having a difficult time with one of my own dogs. The dog is a three year old neutured male German Shepherd who has lived with me since I rescued him when he was little over a year old. Koda was dominant right from the start and I knew what I was dealing with. I worked with him every day and I thought he understood that I am the pack leader. He is a very bright dog, loves to learn and learns quickly, loves to walk. He also has a very high prey drive. Koda is still dog aggressive but not nearly as much as he was when I first aquired him. Not only is he dog aggressive, he is animal aggressive. He chases squirrels in our yard and if he sees a cat while on a walk, he will look it's way but doesn't lunge the way he used to. The only animal contact he gets is with my other three dogs. Koda also barks at other dogs and people who walk on our sidewalk in front of our house and I correct him every time. Koda hates the UPS trucks (we don't know why) and the drivers leave our packages on the driveway instead of bringing them to my porch because of the dog. I have tried and tried to teach Koda the difference between barking at unwanted visitors and just barking at everything that moves. He doesn't 'get it'.
Before I go into the aggression issues I want to say that I have Ed's training videos along with the dog aggression video, I use several collars that I purchased from his store as well. Being an obedience trainer, I have and know how to use many different collars and training equipment including the E collar. I am a huge fan of Mr. Frawley and a huge fan of Cesar Millan. I try to incorporate everything I have learned from these two gentlemen in my own training. I am also very open to suggestions on training and behavioral issues. Prior to this dog being given up to a rescue, he was kept chained up in the owner's back yard and wasn't trained or socialized. His unfortunate start in life created problems like seperation anxiety, insecurity, fearfulness and instability. Having no pack leader, Koda was forced to be one.
The very day I aquired Koda, he instantly bonded to my husband and not to me. Koda also began to dominate my husband and my husband mistook this as the dog bonding with him. I tried and tried to explain to my husband how to be a pack leader but my husband is a follower and over time, he helped create more and more instability in Koda. One of the things Koda does now that he didn't do before is growl at the other dogs if they get within a foot of him. Koda won't bite them but he gives them a low growl and I correct this every time I witness it. I make eye contact with him and tell him firmly, "NO". This has had no effect on him so far.
Koda nows bares his teeth at me and growls when I correct him. The more he shows his teeth, the more corrections he gets. It's like a vicious circle going nowhere.
I will admit I have made a few mistakes with him over time but have realized them and I don't repeat them. I admit that I have raised my voice to my dogs out of frustration and I realize this causes my dogs to see me as an unstable pack leader. I try not to get angry at them for being disobedient but I know they can sense it. This is something I work on all the time. Unfortunately for everyone including Koda, my husband has still not learned how to exhibit leadership. He continues to allow all the dogs to sleep in our bedroom even though I have asked him not to. He "forgets" to walk through doors ahead of the dogs, he pets Koda without asking him to sit and what I can't understand is why does this dog go into a panic mode when my husband leaves the house? Koda has always done this and when my husband goes out of town on occasion, this dog will sit by the window the entire time and refuses to eat until my husband returns.
I apologize for the length of this post but I really need help for this dog.
I own two submissive, balanced dogs and a dominant, female dog who is younger than Koda. She isn't aggressive in any way and is a good dog, she's just a dominant female and I have had her since she was a pup.
I would like to add that Koda weighs in at a whopping 140 lbs. and it's all muscle. He is a powerful dog and could easily do damage if he wanted to. I trained him to wear a muzzle when I first started walking him because I knew he was dog aggressive and he is very familiar with the prong collar, a no-bark collar, the E collar and the nylon aggression collar.
I believe Koda is an unhappy dog and it makes me wonder what's going to happen to him if I don't get this behavior under control. I continue to talk to my husband about his lack of leadership and how it effects the dogs but his response to me is that he believes that a dog should be allowed to be a dog. No boundaries, no rules, no discipline, just affection, affection, affection. This is my husband's 'idea' of a happy dog life which we all know is just the opposite. He watches The Dog Whisperer (sometimes) and he knows that dogs need boundaries, rules and discipline along with affection but for some reason, my husband is blocking this reality from his brain. I believe my husband looks at this as too much work and perhaps he resents my advise. I obviously can't change my husband but I need help with Koda.
Koda attempted to bite me the other day when I tried to remove a bone from him. Now, I KNOW I should have just called him away from the bone and THEN removed it but this was the first time he has ever guarded a chewie or a bone from me. He allows the dominant female dog to take whatever he has and I was taken by surprise when he snapped at me. I immediately told him "NO" and made him leave the room.
I didn't lean over him to get the bone, I used my foot to move it away from him and he snapped. What unnerves me about this is the fact that he didn't just snap and continue chewing. He snapped and stared at me with his teeth bared. I never back down when I give a correction and I didn't this time either but he continued to stare at me.
I know the experts will say that Koda doesn't respect me and he proves this time after time but I don't know what I am doing wrong. I have thought about it over and over and now I am at my wit's end.
If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate your help before this dog eventually injures me or one of my other dogs and has to be put down. I have to give this dog every chance I can to turn him around because I know there is something that I have either done wrong or missed with him. Koda is a beautiful dog and I love him dearly and it breaks my heart that he is so unhappy.
You can email me at: gone.tothedogs@yahoo.com
Thank you all for reading this and I hope with all my heart I can get this dog( and ME ) on the right track.

Sandra,

You have come to the right place. I will give my opinion, and you will get some other feedback from others more experianced than I am. Here we go...

1. Show your husband the pictures of the injuries from this site that were the result of dog fights and dog bites. Tell him this is where we're headed if he does not change - and I mean wholesale change - IMMEDIATELY. If he does not, I would cut off all interaction with him. Period. The dog is crated unless I am there.
2. If the dog is showing teeth when you correct him, you have a massive issue. The corrections are not strong enough, and if they were you would probably set the dog off and have a real fight on your hands. The problem with this situation is it is almost a "no win" situation. You don't want to beat the dog as it will do no good, but he needs to understand aggression is not tolerated. I will relay what I was taught at a Bernard Flinks seminar I went to about 6 weeks ago. Bernard is an international competitor in Schutzhund, and is an active K-9 cop in Germany. He is known for taking extreme handler aggressive dogs (the worst of the worst) and turning them into functional K-9's. What he had to do with all of these types of dogs (dogs that have been taught that showing aggression will get them what they want) is hang them. Now pick up your jaw, because it's not as bad as it sounds. How he did it was first, set up a situation where you know without a doubt the dog will bite you. His example was getting a bowl of the dogs favorite food and setting it down, and letting the dog get completely into it. Have a dominant dog collar on him attached to a long line which is thrown over a tree, and held by a second trainer hiding behind the tree. Also have a soft sleeve hidden under your shirt (feels like flesh to the dog, you will only get a bruise but no actual bite on skin). Then walk up to the dog calmly and go to take the food/toy/whatever away. When he warns, don't listen and offer your arm for the bite. The second he bites, the other person with the long line hoists him up so his back legs barely some off the ground and calmly say NO. This is not a fight, I just simply am alpha. Period. Once the dog stops struggling and starts to pass out lower him down. Repeat this until he understands. No more aggression problems (with you anyway, and if he listens to you then everything else can be managed).

 Quote:

Show your husband the pictures of the injuries from this site that were the result of dog fights and dog bites. Tell him this is where we're headed if he does not change - and I mean wholesale change - IMMEDIATELY. If he does not, I would cut off all interaction with him. Period.

Boy, this good advice bears repeating. You really do have a no-win situation if your husband can't see what he's doing is wrong and dangerous. If you can't change your husband's way of thinking then trying to work on Koda's issues AND have him remain in your house is going to be impossible, IMO.

http://www.leerburg.com/746.htm -great article on training aggressive dogs. More instruction on the use of "hanging".

"hanging" sounds a little extreme...Do you really feel that this dog belongs in the category of handler agrressiveness that requires such methods?

Has this dog actually bitten anyone? I am sorry if I missed that info..your post was long.

The proper use of a Dominant Dog Collar should be effective here.

You have an extremely dangerous situation that's escalating and a husband who is OK with putting everyone in danger (including the aggressive dog, who is headed for a bad end).

No insult AT ALL intended, but your own expertise has not sufficed.

Have you thought about hiring the best trainer/behaviorist you can find to evaluate the dog and the way you live with the dog, with the husband present?

*Now.*

 Quote: John J. Miller

Have a dominant dog collar on him attached to a long line which is thrown over a tree, and held by a second trainer hiding behind the tree. Also have a soft sleeve hidden under your shirt (feels like flesh to the dog, you will only get a bruise but no actual bite on skin). Then walk up to the dog calmly and go to take the food/toy/whatever away. When he warns, don't listen and offer your arm for the bite. The second he bites, the other person with the long line hoists him up so his back legs barely some off the ground and calmly say NO. This is not a fight, I just simply am alpha. Period. Once the dog stops struggling and starts to pass out lower him down. Repeat this until he understands. No more aggression problems (with you anyway, and if he listens to you then everything else can be managed).

Although this sounds right from Ed's video, he warns this is not a technique for even the average dog trainer and can be very dangerous, best left to a professional. I'm not saying I disagree with it, just don't think this is something Sandra should jump into because it sounds simple enough but I'm sure is a very delicate/violent tactic.

As for the husband issue, everyone else has said it. He's an enabler and compounding the problem. If he's not willing to help AND insists on making things worse, I'd find a home where the dog has more consistency.

 Quote: james h. larkey

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Has this dog actually bitten anyone?

Regardless, It’s clear that the dog does not respect her as the pack leader, no one needs to get bitten before realizing in this situation being proactive is the best approach.

I would remove all bones, anything that he gets possessive with you with, I would also assume that this dog is crated?

Go back to using a leash while out of the crate, muzzle on out of the crate, and acting 100% aloof to this dog until it learns respect, no personal out of the cage time.

Maybe someone more experienced then me such as Will R could chime in here and put his scents in.

eric is spot on, this is an *expert* technique that requires a trained team of professionals to pull off correctly - there are about 20 people *period* in this entire country that I feel can pull off the hanging tech. correctly without putting themselves and/or the dog in danger.

Ed showed this advance tech. to mainly illustrate how severe dog issues are treated by top-end professionals. It's not for non-experts, period.