I am having dog aggression issues with my 4 year old Black Russian Terrier bitch. These issues started when she was 3 years old, prior to that I never had any aggression problems whatsoever.

Some Background Info: I got her when she was 9 weeks old and socialized her constantly while she was growing up. I took her everywhere that I could and when she was older she had become "the dog you can take anywhere". She was never really interested in other dogs and usually remained aloof if there was one around. In August 2008 I brought her to a locally sponsored AKC dog show, just to keep up her socialization. (She was 2 years old at this time.) There were hundreds of dogs there, and we watched the working breed rings, group, the final winners circle and even some rally, of which one dog actually ran off course and down the lane. She was a rock, completely disinterested - just happy to be out and about with me and she just laid down when we were in one place for extended periods of time.

Then one day I brought her to work with me to get her rabies vacc and she made grumbling/snarly lunge towards my boss' old Lab. I thought it was a one off because she never did anything like it before. But then a month or so later I had her at the local farmers market and one of the vendors was giving her rubs and some stupid woman with an old Lab, let her dog sniff Oxz's rear (my fault for not stopping it in time) and Oxz was taken completely off guard and jumped around snarling. The woman at that point, then let her dog approach Oxz nose to nose while I was trying to get a better hold on the leash, back away and hand my young son to my mother so I could have both hands free. When the Lab made his face to face approach, it all happened so fast and Oxz was on top of him. Finally my mom took my son, and I hauled Oxz off the other dog and the lady shuffled off with her Lab. I threw Oxz in the car and ran after her to make sure her dog was alright, and he was. This was the first time Oxz has ever done anything like this. (This was in summer of 2009, so she was 3 years old.)

Being a new mom, I have had little to no time to work with Oxz's dog aggression. But now that my son is getting older and I no longer need to hold him, I need to start working with Oxz and this under control asap.

She is basic obedience trained, although she still needs work with her stay and recall, otherwise she is a very good/obedient girl. I do own the Leerburg Basic Obedience DVD, but I have not watched it yet. I have read many of the ebooks, and searched the forum for similar aggression stories, but not finding any prompted me to join up and ask for some experienced advice. I am aware that many may not be familiar with this breed, but they are large, dominant working dogs so I figure GSD/Malinois experience will still be helpful.

Oh, and just a little more info...Oxz was raised with a GSD (who passed away September 2009) and currently lives in near perfect peace and harmony with a pit-mix. They do have an occasional scuffle, but it's over in a flash.

I do not believe that the issue is her believing she is alpha in our family pack. As I mentioned before, she is usually very obedient, she does not bother me when I eat (but if she does come sniffing I dismiss her with a word), and she always trying to gain approval (very eager to please). She doesn't have food aggression (except with my other dog), I could put my hand in her bowl if I wanted to and she will calmly continue to eat, or alternatively, stop eating and sit and wait for me to walk away. She even respects my young son when he wanders too close while she is eating, although obviously I don't let this happen too often "just in case". But she has never growled at him for any reason.

Okay, so I believe I covered everything, but if I did miss something please feel free to ask questions. And while I have some ideas of what is not the problem, I have no idea where this aggression could have come from and so I am keeping an open mind.

Those scuffles are a bigger deal to Oxz than they are to you.
They're likely the source of her sudden dog aggression.

The dogs need to be separated, now. 24/7. Zero contact.

You also need to be crating these dogs when they eat.
The fact that a child can wander too close to a dog, ANY dog, when they eat, is bad news.

 Quote: aaron myracle

Those scuffles are a bigger deal to Oxz than they are to you.
They're likely the source of her sudden dog aggression.

The dogs need to be separated, now. 24/7. Zero contact.

You also need to be crating these dogs when they eat.
The fact that a child can wander too close to a dog, ANY dog, when they eat, is bad news.

I couldn't agree more. A pack leader doesn't allow fights (or for any pack member to perceive threats or food-dish insecurity.


"She even respects my young son when he wanders too close while she is eating, although obviously I don't let this happen too often "just in case"."

This should never ever happen. Any small child, any dog, any time.

Not jumping on you -- not at all. These are basic and serious issues that need to be the first things addressed.

After that: How much ob work are you able to do with each dog every day? Did you know that 3 to 5 minutes of marker training a couple or three times a day can be BETTER than an hour of continuous basic ob training?

The problem is I only have one crate, and that was Oxz's when she was a puppy and I was crate training her. Later I used it for McCaskey (pit) when I first got him and he gradually destroyed it. It can no longer contain him owing to a large hole in the back and another large hole at the top of the door. (It's a Vari Kennel, and so very heavy duty, or so I thought.) I can't afford to buy another crate right now, let alone two.

I would like to emphasize the rarity of the scuffles. I would say, on average, one occurs every 4 months (if that) and almost always over food. I do also "put an end to it" when I am right there. If I am in the other room it's usually over by the time I get to them. When I say that I "put an end to it" - believe it or not - but in a loud (not yelling), stern voice I say, "Oxz, quit that shit!" and she submits, immediately. She stops fighting and either walks away or lays down. I wanted to mention the scuffles because they are relevant, but I should have expanded more on what they entailed.

However, the incidents in 2009 preceded the scuffles at home. Probably should have clarified that as well. The home scuffles didn't start until autumn of 2009. So in all there have been...3-5 scuffles after the initial problem started. Although, for about 3 weeks after the first home scuffle she was very testy with McCaskey and would start fights for no reason and I had to haul her off him. McCaskey was still being crated at this time. I stopped using the crate when he was able to open the door at the beginning of this year. And 99.9% of the time they get along with no problem, and they play and sleep together.

Since having my son my training routine has been completely interrupted, then work relocated and I have 3 hour round-trip commute...I've been completely tapped out for the past 2 years just to do what I have to keep going. I know that probably sounds irresponsible or even negligent to hardcore trainers, but I am a single mother and some things have had to go on the back burner. However, I seem to be getting back into stride and I am going to be implementing a new training routine into my schedule. I still have to make some treats, but I hope to do this soon, as in the next couple of weeks.

The marker training ebook is next on my list.

If the dogs aren't crated, I'm assuming they're loose in the house when you aren't home.

Meaning that you have no way of knowing what may have transpired in your absence.

I'm a single parent as well, so I can definitely appreciate the difficulty of balancing all your commitments, and how easily dog stuff can slip to the bottom of the list.

You can check Craig's List for cheap crates, and in the meantime, feed them one at a time, in the bathroom or another small room, by themselves.

They are loose together, but confined to the kitchen while I'm not home. And true I don't know what happens when I'm not home, but they do normally get along fine. I do not leave food out, and I do not leave toys out. So there isn't anything for either of them to get possessive over.

I will start feeding Oxz in the living room and leave McCaskey in the kitchen to eat.

What is next?

 Quote: tiffany aiche

They are loose together, but confined to the kitchen while I'm not home. And true I don't know what happens when I'm not home, but they do normally get along fine. I do not leave food out, and I do not leave toys out. So there isn't anything for either of them to get possessive over.

I will start feeding Oxz in the living room and leave McCaskey in the kitchen to eat.

What is next?

" And true I don't know what happens when I'm not home, but they do normally get along fine."

"And 99.9% of the time they get along with no problem, and they play and sleep together." If these were my dogs, they would be together only when I was with them.

JMO, but I don't believe that even rare "scuffles" are not contributing to the dog aggression issues with my 4 year old Black Russian Terrier bitch, regardless of the initial trigger.

The thing is that at least one of these dogs is living with anxiety. Maybe submission "works" for the dog most of the time, but not always (and maybe sometimes the dog just has had it up to here), but this isn't how you want your dogs to live.

PS

I've seen crates at yard sales for $5 and $10.

Are you concerned that separating them while you're gone will cause loneliness?



ETA

Please don't think anything here is an attack on you! It's not. Your post was clearly intelligent and well-thought-out, requiring straightforward cut-to-the-chase answers.


Edited by Connie Sutherland (12/16/2010 08:56 PM)
Edit reason: eta

For what its worth, my older bitch made my younger male miserable for all his life, and I was pretty oblivious. They never had any scuffles, except one when he was 4 months old, and they both backed each other in a few fights, but the posturing and very low growls are not always seen/heard by people. He had to have his own water bowl at night, she would not let him walk past her to get to the common bowl. Since she died he is one happy dog.