Hello guys, I have a question for any one who can help me. I have a 5 month old malinois female puppy. I am having problems with her been sharp/ afraid at other dogs. She is very confident with people/cars/ kids and pretty much everything I have exposed her to. She is ok with my older dog which is 11 years old very calm and have never been aggressive towards her. The problem is when I take her out for walks that she sees other dogs barking and running inside the fence she get very agitated and start barking and putting up a big show, sometimes she backs down a little bit but always barking and trying to get her self bigger. I have never let her get close to the fence when this happens (which is most of the times) ..but when I come across nice calm dogs I get a little closer and she fuzz for a little bit and gets over it really fast ands starts to get into playing postures and relaxes. Is there anything I can do to correct this at 5 month? Will she ever get over this fear? How much will this affect her if I plan to do schutzhund with her?
Thanks you guys for the help.
Roger

At five months old I think that the best things to do would be to not put her in that situation when possible, show her leadership by ignoring the dogs, and make sure she her feels protected by putting yourself in between her and the other dog when you have to.

Socializing her in controlled situations might be helpful, too. Going for walks in places where people have dogs on leash, going to obedience classes or training clubs. Any place that there are dogs under control and she can see that they aren't a concern. She doesn't have to interact with them, just learn that they aren't a threat.

Just remember that most peoples idea of socialization is letting the dogs romp around all wild an occasionally duke it out. Don't let anyone tell you that this is the way to go.

Hi Lauren,

Yes that is what I was thinking, I will try to find group obedience classes and see how she does there also liked the idea of taking her around other dogs on leash maybe they wont act like the once behind fences which are barking at the time. I will try your advices and will let you know how it went.
Thank you so much!

Almost any untrained dog would react to fence running the way she does. Dogs who are running a fence are displaying territorial aggression, most dogs will either respond with a "Woof you!" or shrink away.

Don't worry about it too much, just take steps to make sure it doesn't become a problem.

Still a pup and needs to be protected from too much exposure to stuff that makes her react IMO

Check out this article on puppy development. At 5 months, your pup is approaching the second "fear" stage - aggression increases - you can read about it.

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/DevelopmentalStages.html


Being the owner and the alpha beast, it's up to you to manage the dogs environment to prevent traumatizing events. I personally would avoid the situations where you know there will be other vocal/aggressive dogs. Take a different route - wouldn't hurt to find some new territory for socialization anyway. Unfortunately, sometimes it seems that those of us on this forum are among the few who actually manage our own animals!

(Oh - and not knowing what your dog has experienced, all dogs go through this - even schutzhund candidates).

very nice article Rob, i feel alot better now and i will keep working with her am confident its just a stage and she will get over it.
thanks

Consider this a training opportunity :-) When I have a pup this age, and they are responding like yours is (very normal considering what the other dogs are doing) I make sure I have either their favorite treat or toy on me while we are out, and as soon as I see the situation starting to happen, I whip out the treat/toy and we do "focus on me" as we walk past. If necessary the pup is eating the entire time, or tugging the entire time. It gives the pup something else to think about, other then the dog going nuts behind the fence. Basically it helps build a neutral reaction, which is the only reaction I want from my dogs in that specific situation. I don't want them going over to mix it up with the other dog, and I don't want them trying to run away, I just want them to ignore it.

Rob,
Thanks for the interesting article. It atleast gave me an idea whats going to be happening through the development stages when we get our new puppy! Thanks!

Kadi, i am trying to stay away from those loud dogs but when i do come across a similar situation i start playing with her and her tug and she does forgets about the dog completely, i think this is the solution to my problem plus working with her little by little on getting her around other trained/calm/non agressive dogs that would also help her get more used to seen other dogs out in the street/park ect. Thanks for the tip.