Hi All,

Thank you for your help with my daughters dog today. I have a new issue I am sweating a little about. Jeter (shown in photo above) has become a little more difficult than he was as a puppy when it comes to things like strangers touching him when he is not completely comfortable. I know he is not crazy about going to the vet. I asked the vet to schedule me for the first patient so that I am not dealing with a waiting room full of dogs. He has shown some dog aggression (please see additional info at bottom of this message) and I dont want the vet to become a disastrous experience. He has always been a little reluctant at the vet but this time he needs some shots and his nails clipped.

I am anticipating him protesting. At this stage he is fully mature and although I can touch him anywhere and handle him any way I want he has a diversion to letting strangers do the same. I bought a muzzle and got him used to it this weekend by putting it on and off and making it a positive experience.

Is there something you can recommend that will help make this a less anxious experience for both of us?

Regarding Jeters dog aggression... when he was a pup I used to bring him to the dog park because he is so high energy that he would run and play until he was so tired and he loved it. One day a couple with these 2 English Bulldogs came with their dogs toys from home. (never a good idea). When Jeter went to play with them and grab a Frisbee they got aggressive and he proceeded to tear into both these dogs. They had to be pulled apart. I brought Jeter to a different end of the park and he seemed to be fine with all the other dogs.

After about 10 minutes these Bulldogs and Jeter found each other again and it was more of the same. I thought he was going to kill them. I have not been back to that place and since Jeter is a Pit mix and a very strong dog I decided to stay away from dog parks all together. I bike with him, walk with him and play ball with him in order to provide him with the exercise he needs.

The bottom line is that since that dog park experience a year and a half ago I am too afraid to let him be with other dogs other than Dakota (my lab pit mix). I tried to introduce him to Nala (my daughters pit mix female). They were fine through the fence and as soon as we walked together Jeter seemed to be snapping at her. I cant be sure if he was going to hurt her or try to play rough with her like he does with Dakota...thanks for the help.

no help on this??

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Whenever I've taken an aggressive dog to the vet, I always go in without the dog first. I let them know that my dog is aggressive, and they've usually made a room immediately available and had me bring the dog in through another entrance, or had me wait a few minutes for a room to clear before bringing the dog in. They are usually pretty grateful for the heads-up.

The only other thing you could really do to prepare your dog is to get them used to wearing a muzzle, but you already did that . I would make sure to keep everyone safe by keeping the muzzle on.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to have your dog closely involved with other dogs. I would use the basket muzzle for any kind of encounter, like walking Jeter with other dogs. I like the idea of having him walk with other dogs, btw, just use the muzzle to keep everyone safe.

I never bring my dog into the waiting room at the vet's office. There are usually too many people with dogs that they can't control wanting to jump all over any new dog that walks thru the door. My dogs are not interested in socializing. I do the same as Kristel. Go in first & tell them that I have a dog aggressive dog & need to go directly into a room. Problem solved. I don't have dogs that are people aggressive, though they are not interested in being 'buddies' with everyone they meet. My male basically will ignor people. They are fine with my vet when I tell them that it is ok. I just tell them to 'knock it off' if they decide that they arn't wanting to be cooperative. With a people aggressive dog a muzzle is the way to go. (possibly along with a prong collar for better control if needed)

 Quote:

Anne Jones ~ With a people aggressive dog a muzzle is the way to go. (possibly along with a prong collar for better control if needed)

I agree with Anne, a muzzle and a prong collar. Not that your going to be pronging your dog the whole time in the vet, but just for nice control. Bring some treats that you can put through the muzzle for your buddy!

Mike...you bring to mind the confidence issue. I feel like I have complete control and confidence in myself and my dog when it comes to most situations. I recognize that I may not when it comes to every and any situation. AS I explained in my post the situation that took place at the dog park (I agree not a great place for dogs) left me with a paranoia. it is possible that Jeter wont snap at the vet and I am simply projecting this myself. And if that's true then maybe I am sending that energy to him. So in that way I guess I don't have complete control. Does that make sense?

Not concerned with how people will judge me. I could care less to be honest. I will admit that I am very concerned about my dog hurting another dog or even a person. Its interesting that you suggest that I go through the command set when confronted with challenges. That makes sense except that how do I test that in a real life situation?

For example in order for me to be sure that Jeter will follow "sit, down, stay" (which he does very well ) if he gets a distraction like another dog coming towards us. Here is a good example of what I mean. My daughter has a 10 month old pit mix. She is very submissive and playful. I have a fence separating my large dog run from the rest of the yard. We let Nala and Jeter meet through the fence and everything seemed to be fine. No signs of agression. I was very happy because I would love for them to get along and play together. Our next step was to take them for a walk together.

As i mentioned before Jeter loves his walks and is so focused that I figured he would get great practice at walking with another dog near him and being calm and focusing on the walk rather than the other dog. I should mention that I have another pit mix named Dakota and she was with us too. Jeter was doing great and only occasionally glancing over at Nala to check where she was. So I got the brilliant idea (like Cesar Milan) of taking Nala with one hand and Jeter with the other and walking them both. This would allow me to really be the pack leader and bring us much closer to Jeter being with other dogs and being OK with it.

I gave Dakota to my daughter and I took Nala's leash. In 3 seconds Jeter pulled his way towards Nala and seemed to be snapping at her. No teeth baring or growling or hair up or anything like that. He is so strong and I only had one hand to hold him back while I was trying to keep Nala away from him. Arms spread wide holding one leash in each hand. it offers no leverage so you lose your strength in that position.

I quickly called Nicole over and we switched back. I cant be sure if Jeter would have fully attacked her or not. But the snapping was scary enough to get me to react. I know I should be calm but how can you remain calm, confident and in a leadership role in that situation? It would have been physically impossible to separate them if he full out attacked her other than to obviously pull him off of her. By that time he would have done serious damage.

I am an avid watcher and reader of everything Cesar has ever done. In fact I had the opportunity to meet him recently and he was awesome. it's like telling someone to dive in the water with sharks and telling them to be calm. if you are scared you are scared. There is no acting with dogs. They sense the energy so even if I am calm and confident on the outside my nerves and heart are going like crazy on the inside. I have seen full out dog fights and its not pleasant.