Hi all,

I am so glad I found this website, I am hoping to find some advice for training one of our dogs. I’ve got an ongoing problem with our mixed breed female, Rosey, who is approximately 5 or 6 years old. She came to us through the Humane Society 3 years ago, a family had found her tied to a stake on an empty lot in a very rural area, with a litter of 8 pups. She was emaciated, and the family was able to nurse her and her pups back to health. We were lucky enough to see her cute mug on a poster for dogs needing homes. We already had another mixed breed female, Zoe, and what struck us was how much they looked like one another, and I simply HAD to have her. The family told us she wasn’t “fond” of cats, and we don’t have any, so that was ok. She is just such a lover, and she and our dog get along very well, there was almost NO adjustment period at all. (Truth be told, I think Zoe thinks that we got her a dog, because she thinks that she’s a people, ) Our friends with dogs (all big breeds) come over for play dates, and we have no problems. She is simply the sweetest dog in the world, to ALMOST everyone.

One day she was in our backyard, and a feral cat wandered into the yard, and that was it. I got to the yard in time to see my husband chasing her around the yard, with the cat in her mouth, shaking it violently, the cat hissing and crying. It was awful. The only way we finally got her to put the cat down was to hit her with the hose. Her kill count now is one cat, two chickens, & a mynah bird, all things that have made the mistake of coming into our fenced yard. She also attempted to attack a wild turkey in our yard, but luckily, the bird got away, thanks to a little help from my husband. Our biggest concern came at the beach though. Up until this point, she’d actually been better off the leash than our other dog, and since she had come from a home with many dogs, we had no indication that she’d be dog agressive in any way. She was playing with our friend’s dogs, and ran down the beach one way to sniff a lab puppy, who was submissive. Then, she somehow got wind of a chihuahua at the other end of the beach and she was off. I don’t know what made me chase her but I did, and thank God. We got the little dog away from her, and the owners took off before we could do anything else. Up until this time we’d never seen her behave aggressively toward other dogs, although all of our friend’s dogs are big as well. The puppy wasn’t much bigger than the chihuahua, so I think certainly that the submissiveness of the pup played a role. A few weeks ago, she took off from me while I was taking her back in the house, and ran across the street to the neighbor’s house, and ran right to their dog’s cage and began barking and jumping at the dog (also a little guy. While I didn’t get a chance to get a good look while corralling my dog, I’d say Jack Russell or something similar)

So, Rosey is basically under house arrest, her yard visits are strictly supervised. She plays the “dopey” role, but when something catches her interest, she is lightning fast. We don’t know where to begin, or what to do, or frankly, what’s even possible. I would greatly appreciate any feedback or advice, Rosey deserves to have a chance to be the best dog she can be, with our help.

Thanks!
Noreen

I'd suggest fencing your yard better possibly adding a mesh roof (or run with a roof) - so that small animals don't get in.

Start training her on leash to be obedient and not react when she sees small dogs etc.
When you get on leash obedience sorted you could start training with an e-collar or similar.

Obedience is the first and most important thing with this type of dog - there's a lot of information on the site about this - ordering some of Eds videos is also a good idea.

Prey drive is almost impossiable to correct,its nature.I have a male GSD that is about nothing but that so supervised control is all you can do.He is 110lb handful and when he goes there had better be someone who can handle his size. I wish I knew a way to correct, but he is also very fast and what he is after doesnt have much of a chance.He doesnt kill but will shake them until someone makes him drop,but he is so strong and most times the end is not good. Just thought you might want to know your not alone.I think the trick is when they are puppies,and socializing. best on our search

DEFINITELY order the Dominate and Aggressive DVD... I'd also start planning on an E-Collar.

I have to say first that no, Zoe does not think that she's human. As easy and/or fun as it can be to assign human characteristics to our dogs, it's not in any way beneficial to the dog. Or fair, either.

I agree that Rosey can't be off-lead in the yard unless you are planning a safe run for her, and that she definitely cannot be off-lead in public.

Can you tell us what kind of obedience training you are doing with her?


P.S. Welcome to the board!

 Quote: Tanith Wheeler

... Obedience is the first and most important thing with this type of dog ...

Absolutely. And the information available here is limitless (and great).

If we can get a picture of what her obedience training has been so far, that will help in suggesting first steps, material, etc.

I have an adopted female with very high prey drive who is aggressive. She, like your Rosey, is fine with the dogs in our pack, including a small dog. Teagan is also very good at no showing obvious overt signs (I've learnt to read her body language), so her attacks can look like they come out of 'nowhere'.

She got away from me while on leash (accident) and attacked a small dog (approx. 20lbs) coming towards our house. I got to her right away, but within a few seconds she'd sliced through the muscle and fat layers, front of the thigh to anus. It was clear to me from watching her attack that she truly enjoyed, in fact loved, attacking.

I've spoken to some trainers who said she was in the process of disembowling the dog, and that for a dog to behave as she had, she had definitely attacked before (before I had her; I also felt that watching her), and that she had probably killed before.

It's kind of a depressing thought, but what they told me was that no reward, treat, toy, incentive I could ever offer her would come close to matching the adrenaline/hormonal rush she got from attacking.

I keep her on lead at all times (she was before the attack as well), and she is always muzzled outside in case I have anymore episodes of being a butterfingers. Inside, she plays nicely with a dog the same size as the one she attacked - but outside of our pack, dogs that size seem to be fair game. I also keep her separated from my small non-dog animals.

In terms of working with my dog, I've started on walks/runs having her heel, sit quietly, or some other obedience command when we see another dog. My dog can also get angry if larger dogs are 'rude', so we do this with all dogs, not just small dogs. It's been slow, but I've seen results. She was solid on all the commands prior to me starting this, the idea is that she has to work under distraction and focus on something other than her desire to kill the other dog/her aggression.

It hasn't gotten rid of the aggression. Even when she sits quietly for me, I can feel her vibrating through the leash. I'm always so pleased that she will do the obedience for me, when her inclination is so obviously the opposite. We're not perfect, but this has been a very good approach for her and it's really been good for our bond as well. That said, safety precautions are necessary at all times.

I don't know if that helps at all, but hopefully it does a bit.