I have a question, how and when should aggressive behavior in a dog be dealt with? My dog gets "grumpy" when tired and we were over at my parents house with her dog, my two dogs and my friends dog. They were playing and then they were all laying down and another dog started approaching my dog and he started growling. I had his e collar and in a firm voice said no and nicked him. I was using a high level nick, but it seemed only to agitate him more, but finally i went high enough and told him to lay down that he did. My question is once he has already elevated to the growling, should i give him the hard correction, or how do i get him to stop without the correction. Can the hard correction only cause him to elevate his level of aggression and then what do i do?

Also, I will be starting a new thread for this, but I am interested in Ed's Basic Obedience video, dominant dog video, e collar video and maybe the pack structure video. What would be a good order to order them in? My dogs have basic obedience training and I continue to work with them. I have been using the e collar for over 1 year, but would like to see his video and see the methods he uses. I also think I need the dominant dog issue as he definitely has these issues and more.

THanks!

I want to note I have also started training with a prong collar, but don't leave it on when in the house not training.

One further thing, once he was in the growling mood, he got up and started growling at the dogs and my mom. Part of it was her part for trying to tell him to stop and not let me deal with it, but I don't want him growling at anything like this.

Sounds like normal dog communication to me. He was tired, did not want to play, other dog approaches, he warned it off by growling.

To me, (I am in NO way a dog trainer), it sounds like an unfair correction on your part. Your dog was trying to communicate, and it was punished by a high stim of the e-collar. I, personally think it would be appropriate for you to intervene and shoo the other dog away from your resting dog. I do not think it was appropriate to correct your own dog for simply communicating a request for distance from the offending dog.

What other issues are you seeing to think he is dominant?

He resource guards high value treats, ie bully sticks and toys filled with peanut butter and treats. Not so much with me anymore, but with my girlfriend she walked by him on the stairs when he had a toy filled with peanut butter and he growled at her and then he actually got up. I was not home when this happened but this is her account.

He also barks at me or other dogs when he wants to play and will not let up. Also, if he is tired he has growled at people walking by. He does not like being groomed and will growl and try to chew comb. Other things too like coming to get petted, which i will admit I gave into in the beginning. He came to me with these issues when I rescued him from his previous family. Also, if we are eating and someone else comes up to the table he will growl at them. Anytime we have food at the table, and someone tries to get close he growls.

There are other issues I am forgetting, one is he will not get in his crate. He lays down and pushes his 115 poiund body against anything to prevent me putting him in his crate. Other issues I have been working on are getting him to sit before going up and going downstairs and waiting for me to go, same thing with going through doors. He also gets possesive with toys sometimes when other dogs are playing with him.

Some of the issues have arose since my gf has been bringing her dog over and she is a dominant female and has gotten into it with my male. Other things like the resource guarding he has done since day one and like Ed states, I have not given him his food bowl nd taken it away, but before reading this website, i did that and the first time he got corrected for growling, but now he is fine with me about it, but I won't do that to him again. I know i need to work harder on establishing pack order and work with my gf on establishing her as higher ranking. My concern is that this growling can escalate, but it has not. He is enrolled with a dog trainer who ive interviewed many and she has been in it for 45 years using the methods ed describes. I start with her next week so I will let you know how that is coming. And I know a lot of the issues arising are my fault and I am working to correct them. But what advice can you offer on correcting a growl towards a person so as not to escalate him more.

Thanks.

Keith, I would start by not setting your dog up for failure.

Having him interact with other dogs, leaving him loose in the house with high-value items, etc, is setting him up for failure.

A crate will be your saving grace with this dog.

I WOULD NOT correct growling.
That growl is your warning that he is close to the edge. It lets you know to be wary of him and avoid getting bitten.

Correct him for growling and all you'll do is teach him not to growl. He won't give you any warning before he attacks someone.

STOP SETTING HIM UP FOR FAILURE!

I don't like growling, but I don't correct it. It is communication, and it means I need to pay attention to my dog(s) because something is going on that they don't like.

In general, in my house this occurs when exuberant puppy is too close for too long to Luc and he gets nervous; if Luc reaches the point of growling it's usually b/c I haven't been paying appropriate attention to what they're doing and Luc's other, pre-growling, 'I'm done with having this puppy bouncing around' body language.

Any ideas to get the stubborn boy into his crate and enjoy being in there. He is not very food motivated and even with high value items he refuses to go in.

Keith, I agree wholeheartedly with Alyssa and Jennifer as far as use of the crate. You are absolutely going to need it in order to avoid setting your dog up for failure.

When someone finds themselves the owner of a confident? dominant/headstrong dog it can be difficult at first to make yourself make the dog earn his privileges ... we want them to have everything they need and want! You have to make sure that this guy earns everything from being off-leash in your home (and other homes) to having the peanut butter-filled treat. You have to make sure that you work up to freedom in the home, with other dogs, and with high-value toys with small baby steps

Start by insisting that your new trainer first help you acclimate this guy to a kennel so that you can use it to your advantage. In the meantime, if you haven't already, read this article: pack structure

I also have a dog that will growl when tired and approached by someone (not because he's dominant... he gots lots of other issues ), and I make it my first priority to address what it is he is uncomfortable with either by shooing away human or dog. Second to that I encourage him to try an alternative behavior to help him feel secure ... that is usually to come and sit beside me.

Teaching him this has allowed him to communicate his discomfort/dislike by sitting close into me to let me know I need to take care of a situation for him, rather than him growling like a little monster

Keith, if you tell us what foundation work has been done, we can help more.

And I hope that you really caught this: There is no need for your dog to be forced to interact with other dogs, including your GF's, and it's counterproductive right now. Also, allowing a dominant female (or ANY dog) to harass your dog is not what pack leaders do. Separate them. You will see the wisdom of this as you do your groundwork, and it can always be re-addressed. An attack on him is only going to create or increase dog-dog aggro, and that can become a lifelong issue.

And of course you would never leave food, treats, or toys out loose. Period.

Even though you are seeing dominant aggression (and you may be correct), I am seeing a major need for foundation work (and pack groundwork), and I would love to see you start at square one with basic obedience using marker training.

You came to the right place.