6 months ago I adopted a spayed female, 1.5 year old lab/pitt mix from a shelter. She has had issues with dog aggression in the past and it's always been with unfamiliar dogs that were off-leash in the park or strays in the area. However, she has lived with 3 dogs the whole time and once introduced, has been totally fine with them up until 2 weeks ago. Two weeks ago she began to get aggressive (growling, one fight which was quickly stopped) with the puppy of the group. After that incident she began to get aggressive with one of the other dogs (similar symptoms). Since this we have been back to the groundwork phase and after 5 days in the crate (except for walks/exercise), today is the day I am going to start on-leash in the house with one of the other dogs. Does anyone have any tips for re-acclimating her to her pack dogs?

Also, on training. She has been through obedience class and she isn't very food driven and has problems with focus when there is prey in the vicinity. I have gotten an e-collar and watched the dvd and plan on training her with this. I hope that this training can help curb her animal aggression as well. With little distraction she is very good and obedient but the higher levels of distraction (prey/other animals) are very hard for her.

I am working with a high-energy, prey-driven, dominant female who likes to push her boundaries and really would like any tips on exercise, training, everyday life that could help her enjoy the company of her family pack again.

My own feeling about e-collar use for dog-aggression is that it's extremely timing-sensitive, extremely easy to screw up big time. I emailed someone else with much more e-collar experience and his opinion was the same.

About the basic ob: High levels of distraction are proofed for gradually. "With little distraction" does not jump to "under high distraction" in one step. I'd like to read about how you gradually introduce distraction .... that is, with this dog's highest-level of distraction (other animals), how you work outside her trigger zone.

In the house with your other dogs, what I might do is march the two you were planning to re-intro off for a power-walk one on each side of me, moving briskly, before they are near each other in the house (on drag lines, of course).

For in the house, can we hear more about how the almost-fight started?

Also, about the ob work. Are you using marker training? Do you have any of the DVDs? Which? I ask this because of the chapters on working with less-food-driven dogs.

Hey Olivia, be careful with how you use the ecollar. I think most times these problems are more from fear and insecurity and poor timing around the other dogs can cause more problems then you already have.

I think it would be better if you just kept it separate for general obedience and used a leash to make it clear to her that behaving around the other dogs is what you are deciding for her.

The ecollar is very impersonnal and works great for a lot of things, but I heard someone I always listen to say that he prefers to build respect with a leash. Getting along with the other dogs they live with seems like a respect thing to me.

Also, you had mentioned that she was fine with the other dogs, until just recently, when was the last time she had a full vet work-up?

There are a few things that could cause sudden aggression (Painful joints, thyroid etc) that should be excluded, IMO.

More than likely, you have finished your "dating period" with her, and she is no longer on her best behavior to "impress you" (not really, but its the best comparison I could think of..LOL).

Marker training and desensitization and NILIF are going to be your best friends at this point, along with VERY strict house rules and structured exercise, both solitary and in a group (muzzled).

At this point, I would be inclined to keep her muzzled ANYTIME she is with your other dogs and/or any other dog for that matter, until you can get everything sorted out and she starts earning back some trust.

Thank you very much for your responses. I was a little apprehensive about the e-collar training with aggression so I will be limiting the collar usage to obedience training.

I have a few of the DVDs: dominant&aggressive dogs, basic obedience, and the e-collar training ones.

The obedience trainer we worked with had me use marker training with her and she responds very quickly to it. She gets high-value food reinforcement with the idea that she has to work for everything and the food reward is a "paycheck not a bribe." She really loves cheese and doesn't get it in her raw food so I usually use that.

On training in/out of distractions: she is very responsive to me without distractions, she gets food reward for completing a command quickly. She is great at sit, down, come, walkon (heel), wait, and stay. With a small level of distraction (small prey, unfamiliar walking territory) she is getting increasingly more responsive to me.

A word on how the fight started: she was laying down and one of the dogs walked up to her and getting in her face, chewing her forelegs, etc. She gave him a look that usually means "no thank you" and he kept advancing. She then growled, showed her teeth and he continued to advance, and she lunged. I was at her side the minute I saw her teeth with my hands on her collar so she couldn't get far. Though it may have been the other dog being annoying, the aggression is not tolerated and it escalated to situations where there was no obvious trigger.

The second growling incident a different dog walked up to her in the kitchen and she showed her teeth and growled at him. She was immediately corrected and has since spent every day in her crate.

Today I walked her and the dog I wanted to introduce her to (Steve) and after she was allowed for a couple of hours on-leash in the living room with us. She was required to lay at my feet the entire time. Steve came and lay in the vicinity and Ruby was very calm and behaved herself, even rolling over on her back and wagging her tail to greet him. I was prepared to have her growl and put her back in her crate but am pleased with the positive response from her.

Her last full vet workup was three months ago. I have been checking for any hint of favoring certain legs, appetite changes, etc. I will consider bringing her in soon to rule out any of these possibilities.

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A word on how the fight started: she was laying down and one of the dogs walked up to her and getting in her face, chewing her forelegs, etc. She gave him a look that usually means "no thank you" and he kept advancing. She then growled, showed her teeth and he continued to advance, and she lunged. I was at her side the minute I saw her teeth with my hands on her collar so she couldn't get far. Though it may have been the other dog being annoying, the aggression is not tolerated and it escalated to situations where there was no obvious trigger.

Annoying is how it appears to you Olivia, but its her perception of it that I would pay attention to. The fact that she feels the need to defend herself, I think she views it as more then annoying. The other three dogs, I think need to be taught a leave it type command so they don't pester her.

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The second growling incident a different dog walked up to her in the kitchen and she showed her teeth and growled at him. She was immediately corrected and has since spent every day in her crate.

I think you'll end up with a lot of this and then worse if you focus strictly on her as the problem, instead of how they all act. Have you ever taught a place command? Make them all settle into a place, or on a mat instead of mingling around doing whatever they feel like.

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Today I walked her and the dog I wanted to introduce her to (Steve) and after she was allowed for a couple of hours on-leash in the living room with us. She was required to lay at my feet the entire time. Steve came and lay in the vicinity and Ruby was very calm and behaved herself, even rolling over on her back and wagging her tail to greet him. I was prepared to have her growl and put her back in her crate but am pleased with the positive response from her.

This is the general idea of what I mean. Structure, clear rules from you, except I think its better to have both following your lead. Its easier with only two, with 4, you're going to have to pay a lot of attention.

Olivia- I have 5 dogs. 4 adolescent rescued Pit Bulls (technically one's an Alapaha Bulldog), and a 13 year old chow! One of the Bullies is very, very reactive. And it took us a real long time to figure it out. I always thought she was "aggressive", or "dominant". Turns out, she isn't. She just didn't trust me to handle it. This was a HUGE breakthrough for us.
Have you ever heard of Behavior Adjustment Training? It's a really interesting behavior modification program. It's essentially a protocol that has you approach a trigger and observe your dog when they are approaching their reactivity threshold distance, you stop, and wait for a "calming" or "breakoff" signal, then you reward them by leaving. It's an interesting use of escape training, and -R, that is still highly regarded by the "purely positive" crowd.
For the issues that you're dealing with, I actually use a "reverse" version of it.
As in... I have the trigger approach me. I work her downstay as I have the trigger approach us. I TELL THEM TO STOP APPROACHING as I notice her reaching threshold. Then I HAVE THEM STAY and we keep working positions, or "look", etc.. until I see her relax at that distance, then I reward by ME TELLING THEM TO LEAVE. This process has the exact same effect in counter conditioning, and response reprogramming as BAT, with one important distinction. She sees me controlling the trigger. This is important because it gives her more faith in my ability/willingness to control the environment. Once we can get close, and triggers can come close, I get really in deep with it. I will put her in a downstay and I will walk short distance away. I will have the trigger approach her and I will intercept and "herd" them away (this is all done VERY calmly and slow/smooth so as not to trip her into drive). See a natural calming signal/tactic in pack behavior is called "splitting". When two dogs play too intensely, another dog will nonchalantly walk between them giving a lull. I want her to see me regulate her environment. The more faith she has in me protecting her, the closer the trigger will be able to get before it trips her threshold. But as soon as I see it, I "split" and herd the trigger out. By this point you will see her check in and give eye contact as if to say "you getting that, or should I?". That's good! it means she thinks you handling it is at least a possibility, before it wasn't. Once they can approach pretty close and stick around her without tripping her..... You ready for real proofing.
You take her out where you are likely to encounter a trigger that you don't control. If they don't directly address her it should go just like previous work, problem solved. If you see her particularly concerned with something.... Buffer her. Put her on the other side of you so you block/split them. Literally. It will reassure her you see her concern and you're willing/able to handle it.
If they try to address her give her a competing command (down/front whatever) to give her something to think about, and reiterate your control of her to her AND the trigger. Then tell the trigger to ignore her. Tell them forcefully if needed (calmly though). When your dog has absolute faith in the fact that you WILL NOT LET SOMETHING TOUCH HER. She won't feel the need to be reactive.
My little reactive female can hold a down while strangers step over her. But she has seen me literally push someone back that was crowding, and starting to touch her. I've learned to listen to her. I've learned to protect her. She doesn't have to be the sheriff. It's my job now.
Make sense?
And Steve is spot on, with the "place" command. In a multi-dog house (especially when it's tense), the ability to individually send to, and dismiss from a "place is a huge help!
In the house, I'm very aware of the body language of the dogs. They've all been through this type of work with me, so they are generally very good about signaling their need for assistance, and I am WITHOUT FAIL gonna intervene and "split", or "place" the dog that is being "offensive".
Holy crap, that was long. But I'm obviously super excited about all the things I'm learning right now! Thanks for the tolerance.
*just edited this to say that I'm not a dog trainer! I'm just really trying to learn everything I can, and get real excited about behavior modification. Please take my rant as an excited student... Not a know it all!*

Olivia, I hope this jumped out at you:

"She just didn't trust me to handle it."


My job as pack leader is to make sure no dog is harassed and that every dog sees me as protector.

The new dog defended herself. She tried to "give him a look." She growled a warning. Then she had no place to go but self-defense.

Niomi said "Marker training and desensitization and NILIF are going to be your best friends at this point."

I agree 100%.

About BAT. I'm not a fan of inviting/asking for focus on the trigger. I do not want focus on the trigger. I do not want the dog to be required to focus and then choose a reaction. For me, BAT is not for this situation.

But some of the BAT protocol is very close to the desensitizing work I do. This desensitizing work is for strange dogs and other animals. In the pack, no other dog in the pack will be allowed to harass the dog. Desensitizing for me does not apply to the dog who is actually giving warnings to a harassing pack member, seeing no intervention, and perceiving the need to defend herself.

I think it's likely that this "The second growling incident a different dog walked up to her in the kitchen and she showed her teeth and growled at him" was directly related to the first incident.

When I asked about DVDs I meant marker DVDs.

So far it sounds like two separate issues. The pack stuff is going to require real NILIF, strong structure, and, as others have pointed out, bullet-proof ob ("along with VERY strict house rules and structured exercise, both solitary and in a group (muzzled)").

The outside stuff is where desensitizing work comes in, and for me this works best using marker training.

"On training in/out of distractions: she is very responsive to me without distractions, she gets food reward for completing a command quickly. She is great at sit, down, come, walkon (heel), wait, and stay. With a small level of distraction (small prey, unfamiliar walking territory) she is getting increasingly more responsive to me."

This is a good start. The proofing for distraction should be gradual and managed. That is, you might be on the edge of a parking lot (on leash) or outside a fenced area where they might be other dogs inside, etc. Focus work is good. The idea is to be working outside her trigger zone, which gradually improves as she learns that focusing on you even with high-level distractions in the background brings wonderful rewards and does not cause anything bad to happen to her.

If you want me to dig up and link you to some desensitizing threads, I'll be happy to.

This is all JMO. There are many experienced members here who will help with both these issues.

I do think there are two issues. I'm glad you posted.

Connie- What do you think of the "reverse" version I am toying with? I never followed a straight BAT protocol, just tinkered with the parts that made sense. Seems like that way has really helped my dog trust my intervention. Is how I'm doing it sensible? Not trying to hijack the thread. Just wanting to learn.