I have just been reading the behaviour Q&A on Ed's website. Specifically the ones about dog aggression, and being able to control your dog under distractions.

I have a 16-month old, neutered male Catahoula who, with maturity, has recently been showing dominance and some dog aggression espeically toward other large male dogs. He also runs the fence barking maniacally at people walking by or especially cyclists or people running. He goes really nuts when he sees another dog on the other side of the fence.

I have another question related to this posted on this forum, and I have been working with the dog with a prong collar and long line. He is improving.

This dog is NOT obedience trained. He knows the command for SIT but we are only in the learning stage of "down" (he will follow a treat but does not understand the word down), same thing for "stay" and "come".

He needs a LOT of exercise but with a dog that doesn't know the come command, he can be a pain in the @$$. He also has a very high prey drive (chase drive) but only a medium food drive.

My question is, when my dog is "fence fighting", chasing a cyclist or going nuts at another dog that he sees on the other side of the fence and does not respond to me calling him, is this the case of a command he does not understand that I should not be correcting him for yet until he understands 110%, OR is it a pack behaviour (ignoring me) that i SHOULD correct for?

As I mentioned I am currently working him with a prong and long line (30 ft), but I feel bad giving him strong corrections for being a dink if he doesnt know what is expected of him.

I also want to mention he is my foster dog, so I want him to be able to be around other dogs peacefully (while on leash or in a separate area) in case any adopters already own other dog(s). I also am really afraid of "screwing him up" since he will eventually be placed with another person or family. I do not know that much about dog training.

Thank you for your input.

P.S. Is it possible to train him to bark at the people he sees in the park (which he is currently going nuts at, running the fence), but then stop and ignore them when I tell him to? I ask because I walk my dogs late at night and I am a single woman, so I would like them to alert me but just not go nuts. I don't know if this is a reasonable training goal though.

I am no expert, but I will give you my opinion on a few of your questions.

Upon reaching maturity it is very common for dogs to show dominance. It is their way of trying to elevate their status and/or establish their ranking. It tends to be most common in dogs that sit in the area between submissive and alpha. If it is simply posturing behaviour, quite often the dogs quickly and without incident come to a mutual agreement who is top dog. Becareful not to let the posturing escalate into something more serious.

The fence barking, running and fighting I think is an obedience training issue. At 16 months I would imagine he is more than ready to understand what is expected of him and I would be working on it now. No dog, at any age, will understand a correction if they haven't been taught the wanted behaviour. Yes a dog can be taught to stop barking on command. One way to do this is to first teach a 'bark' command. Some people use "speak!". The next command you teach is "quiet" or "that's enough!". When he stops barking then it's lots of praise and treats!!!! Once he understands the command he should respond to you when he's barking at the fence. My dog would bark at other dogs passing our yard until they were totally out of sight. I now allow him 3 barks. I say 'that's enough' and he complies. Just realize that barking and fence running can be self rewarding behaviour for a dog. Left unchecked it is very difficult to break as the gradification from this activity can be come worth the correction imposed and not as valued as the treat or praise you are offering for his compliance.

IMHO the sooner you start training obedience the easier it is. It is always easier to train a new behaviour than retrain an existing one.

"He will follow the treat down but does not understand the word" My dog is the same, as I think most dogs are. We assume when we say sit, they hear the word, understand the word and do the behaviour. I thought this for a long time. Then one day, I was busy at the kitchen counter. Kobi was standing beside me and without truning or looking at him, I said 'sit'. He didn't, which surprised me because he had been flawless to that point. So I turned, faced him and repeated the command as I raised my hand (which I did automatically). He sat. So then I tried jsut raising my hand with no verbal command. Guess what? He sat. All the time I thought he was responding to my voice, it was actually the physical jester. You may want to try establishing physical jesters along with your verbal. I know even for 'come'. although my voice command will get his attention, it's the arm raised in the air that really signals him to return to my side.

Hi Denise,

Thanks for your comments.

Rusty, my Catahoula, actually runs over to the fence and starts running along it BEFORE he starts barking. He's not much of a "barky" dog until something really gets him going.

In the house, he likes to look out the window and bark at other dogs. I usually go to check, then sit down and tell him "Enough!" He is smart though. He will stop barking, run over to me to get praise, then run back to the window and bark again. It is a vicious circle! lol. He does not listen to "Enough!" outside, or only listens after several minutes of barking.

My female, border collie cross, is like Kobi. I thought she knew commands until I realised it was my body language or a behaviour she was "offering" for a treat.

With my male, I want to be certain it is the word he understands, since like I said, he will be going to another home and I don't want him to become "untrained" by his new owners using different body language.

I guess my main question is if running the fence or going "nuts" can be corrected without knowing a certain command, or if I should be teaching him a command like "Enough". If a command, how would I proceed to stop him from being an idiot, chasing bikes, etc, while he's still in the learning phase?

Sorry, I'm a little confused. When Rusty runs along the fence, is it when someone or something is on the other side? Or does he just run the fence for entertainment and when someone approches he starts barking?

If he runs the fence for entertainment I don't really see a problem - other than he may just need more exercise or simulation. A big old bone may keep him otherwise occupied outside.

If he runs the fence when there is something on the other side, but doesn't always bark unless it is too close or something, it could be a guarding behaviour. In which case for some people this will be a positive behaviour. Are Catahoulas a guard/protective breed by nature? In any case, if he is guarding and you don't like it, then you have to assume the 'protector' role. This may mean going out to the fence and posturing, reassurring Rusty that you are in charge of protecting him, not the other way around.

If he is running the fence and barking at whatever it is, then yes the 'enough' command is what you need to teach. If he immediately resumes the barking (like in the house) then I would suggest you remove him from the situation. He will learn that if he doesn't follow your command 'enough', then he will be put back in the house.

To answer your main question. When he is running the fence etc. Go to him. Clap your hands or yell his name to get his attention. In that breif moment when he acknowlegdes you, give the command "ENOUGH!" If he pauses, praise him, treat him - big time! Make the lov'n last until the person/bike/ dog has past. If he ignores you and does not pause long enough for praise you have the option of making him sit or removing him. He is not going to get it the 1st time of course. You must do it everytime he goes nuts. He will soon make the association.

If you want him to learn voice commands, it is just a matter of practice, practice, practice. You could possibly start with both verbal and hand commands if that is easier for Rusty and then gradually phase out the hand. I don't know a lot about clickers or whistles - but they may be an alternative.

How long have you had Rusty? Time and patience is the key!

Hi Denise, lol I guess you can't read my mind. Rusty does not do this behaviour in my back yard, because he is a fence jumper so he is 100% on-lead in my yard.

The problem happens in the ball diamond at the park, where I take him for his off-lead exercise. (it has a very high fence with a topper on the fence so he cannot jump it). Because it is a public park there are always people, bikes, other dogs. I take him late at night so, during the 45-minutes to an hour that we are there, there will be maybe 3-5 instances of someone walking/biking by.

he is not running the fence for entertainment. Yes Catahoulas are a known to be protective/guardian breed. In fact while we are there he spends a great deal of time doing what i call "scanning" -- standing and checking the horizon to see if there is something he should be barking at. If I bring my female, she is always trying to get him to play but many times he shrugs her off so he can continue his important job of "scanning" and patrolling the area. He is also a hound breed and he "air scents" a lot.

Your idea of going to him and clapping is a good one, but due to a training mistake I made (I found out it was a mistake thanks to this board) I am not able to get anywhere near him when he spots something to be barked at. He also does not break eye contact with whatever he is barking at, including to glance at me, because he has learned that he can get away with ignoring me (also my mistake).

I have had success with a 30' line and prong collar on him, because I can snap the lead to get his attention. When I do get his attention, he does come running. I praise him and he does listen better. I can even get him to take a treat. But after he gets the treat he tries to go back to the fence, which I can prevent with the line.

I guess what I really wanted was to know if snapping the lead/prong hard when he is running and barking (correction) is the right thing to do, since I didn't give him a command. Well actually, I do say "Rusty! That's enough! come here!" (in a happy voice so he will still want to come) but he doesn't know "enough" and "come" yet. He does seem to be learning from this, though, and when I get his attention with the prong his reflex action seems to be to come running to me in a happy way.

But I have watched Ed's Basic Obedience DVD and I really don't want to be correcting him if I shouldn't be. I know it is a mistake to correct a dog for a command he doesn't know the meaning of.

I really like your suggestion about making him sit and praising him until the person/dog/bike is gone. I can do this in the house as I just bought a "pull-tab" so I can hold him while I praise him to prevent going back to the window.

In the field, I will definitely do this but I still am not sure exactly how I am to get him to stop barking in the first place: by a prong correction/snap or first teaching him the meaning of "come" and sort of letting him bark while we are in the learning phase.

Edit: I have been fostering Rusty since May of 2006. He was neglected/starved by his first owner who kept him in a back yard with 2 of his littermates until 8 months old. As a result he is very "doggy" but still likes people.

If I missed you saying this I apologize, but from what i read you didn't say wether or not your dog understands the word no?

In my opinion, in order to get a behaviour to stop, you really have to give the correction in the very first second that the behaviour starts. If your guy is already running the fence and is in guard mode don't try to get him to you by come...your not letting him know that the behaviour he is doing in incorrect, your training him that if he doesn't come when called he gets the correction. If he's running the fence and you want him to stop that behaviour use the word no or stop, don't call him to you, all that your teaching him by doing that is when he runs the fence your going to call him to come and he should respond, your not teaching him that running the fence is wrong and un-acceptable.
also you're giving too many commands in this one sentence:

Rusty! That's enough! come here!

A command is one word, not a sentence. If you want him to come, you use his name then the command. Running off a sentence like that isn't going to help because he's not going to know which word the command is. Keep all commands short No, Stop, Come, etc.

So, you're in the fenced area keep an eye out for other dogs and make sure to keep the long line handy so that you can give the correction at the right time. The second you see him start to run or head to the fence he gets a NO command and a correction if he doesn't comply. Not a few seconds after he starts the running, the second he starts it he gets a NO and the correction if he doesn't stop the beahviour a second or two after the initial command. He will soon learn that if he responds and stops his behaviour on the word no, he will avoid the physical correction. Make sure the correction is hard enough to get the point across. If you get the point across before he even gets to the fence he's then going to understand that you don't want him to go any further with his actions. If he only stops for a second praise him but don't be too exuberant, just say good dog, using too much praise on a dog thats already worked up like that will sometimes just set him off again. If he starts at the fence again right after saying good dog, again he gets a NO and a correction if he doesn't listen. Be persistent and consistent and he will learn. Unfortunately with rescue dogs you never know who or how they were trained or treated before. He could've been praised for running the fence and barking like that by his previous owner. But you can help him re-learn, it will just take time.

I agree with Wendy.

IMO there are certain behaviors which warrant correction without training a command. These are things that the pack leader would not allow. This includes, for me, barking or acting in any way aggressive or protective of the pack without my approval. I decide what needs attention, and what should be ignored.

The level of correction will vary based on the instance. If it is something small I may just touch him and say "no". In your case, if the dog was barking and runing a fence and ignoring me I would definately give him a severe correction. This would not be a nagging correction, this would be a one time hard correction that would almost take the drive out of the dog. When he returned I would praise him calmly.

So I just about ditto'd what Wendy said.