I have a 1 year old beagle. 95% of the time his a kind dog. Usually he's not food aggressive with his normal dog food, but a few days ago he bit my 7 year old daughter on the hand when she walked by him while he was eating some chicken. It was a pretty aggressive shaking his head type of bite that broke the skin. I decided to be proactive and find a way to train him better. I was trained the "Petco" way of training a dog, so this site has been a real eye opener for me. He's now started showing aggression to her (groweling and snarling) at other times. It seems to me he believes he's up a rung from her in the pack. We're working hard to teach our daughter to leave him alone and call him to her when she wants to see him. She just doesn't understand why her nice dog is mean all the sudden. When he's bad we take immediate action, correct him with a shock collar and put him outside or in his kennel. I know he needs correction and a #10 correction according to everything I've read on this site. Even at max power the electric collar is evidentally not a #10 correction as he keeps acting bad towards her. My question is what kind of collar should I use on a medium sized beagle with these issues? Prong, choker, someting else? I'd like to be able to use whatever collar I buy for standard training that doesn't require a #10 correction as well, if that's possible. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Did you read the pack structure article and the kids and dogs Q&A?

That's what I would do way before an e collar.

If the high level corrections from an e collar don't do the trick in a few tries, it means the dog has abolutely no idea what is going on. Not only is it inhumane, you could be setting yourself up for him to get way worse.

He's not making any kind of connection between the correction and the act, but he may be making a connection that you aren't even aware of.

Glad you found the site here.

How about some more information - what kind of training have you done with him?

when you say Petco, what exactly do you mean?

what kind of routine and exercise does he have?

are you feeding him in a crate?

how did you introduce him to the ecollar?

 Quote: lauren jeffery

Did you read the pack structure article and the kids and dogs Q&A?

That's what I would do way before an e collar.

If the high level corrections from an e collar don't do the trick in a few tries, it means the dog has abolutely no idea what is going on. Not only is it inhumane, you could be setting yourself up for him to get way worse.

He's not making any kind of connection between the correction and the act, but he may be making a connection that you aren't even aware of.

My take too. I would like to read all the answers Mara asked for.

I think this is ill-advised use of the e-collar and I would separate dog and child and put away the e-collar for right now.


ETA
Dogs are not "mean" or nice" or "bad" .... they are animals, to be trained. Mean, nice, bad -- these are humanizing the dog to his extreme detriment.

I'm glad you found the site too, and glad you are asking.

PLEASE stop using the ecollar for this situation. Please.

It could very well be causing his aggression toward your daughter to escallate.

I know the more experienced "aggression" folks will chime in, but in the mean time I'd keep this dog on a leash and teathered to you at all times and ONLY feed him in his crate or in the garage, etc... completely away from your daughter.

Welcome to the forum and I'm glad you found Leerburg.

 Quote: Barbara Schuler

PLEASE stop using the ecollar for this situation.
It could very well be causing his aggression toward your daughter to escallate.
... in the mean time I'd keep this dog on a leash and teathered to you at all times and ONLY feed him in his crate or in the garage, etc... completely away from your daughter....I'm glad you found Leerburg.

 Quote: Lauren Jeffery

... the dog has abolutely no idea what is going on. Not only is it inhumane, you could be setting yourself up for him to get way worse.

These are important points, Daniel.

The e-collar is only used for pack behavior corrections, never while I'm doing regular training. It will stop the aggression immediately but as Mr Frawley says, "It's evidenatlly not enough of a correction if the behavior continues." (Yes, I've been reading all of his articles.) Here's how it usually goes: He growels at her I move towards him calmly and scold him in a firm voice. Meanwhile he usually shows his teeth and growels at me. He get's a shock and his head bows (no cry or yelp from him) and he allows me to move him to his crate. My question was not if I should use the e-collar or not. It's obviously not working. My question is what type of collar would be best for him that I could fairly give him a #10 when it is required. The "Petco training" is what Mr Frawley calls training that teaches dogs to work for treats but doesn't teach corrections. I've never corrected him him at all, which is why he ignores me if I don't have treats.

Quite frankly it doesn't sound like this dog needs an ecollar at all at this point.

A very real possibility is that he has associated your daughter with the corrections (in his mind she comes near him, he gets corrected) and that is why you're seeing the aggressive behavior.

What is she doing when he growls? or just before? what is he doing?

He has not associated my daughter with corrections. As I said before 95% of the time they co-exist in peace. She can pet him and he licks her, no aggression at all. He growels when she tries to talk sweet to him and pet him and he's decided he doesn't want it at that time. He can be laying, sitting, playing with a toy, almsot anything. I know it's partly her fault, but doesn't change the fact that he needs to learn it's not acceptable behavior. He is also well aware of why he gets in trouble. He will try to jump on her and pull at her with his front legs. When I intervene he tries to get around me and do it anyway. I know I need to corect him when he does this, so what collar would be best to use?

Of course I agree with what Ed says, but this is a different situation from the usual "level 10 correction" (dominance aggression) situation, IMO. I suspect that some damage has been done (meaning a bad connection made as Mara describes) and that you are looking at a separation-and-training/pack-work situation.

Level 10 corrections and tools are not always the answer.



How about some more information - what kind of training have you done with him?

when you say Petco, what exactly do you mean?

what kind of routine and exercise does he have?

are you feeding him in a crate?

Did you read the pack structure article and the kids and dogs Q&A?



Also, is the dog on a drag line at all times in the house? Is the dog tethered to you?