Hi all, have not posted for awhile or even looked in. Shame on me. Well, I'm not sure if this is in the right place for what problem I'm having with my boy. This is a neutered 3 yr. old male rottie from Schutzhund lines. He was sold by the prior owners and returned at five months to them for being shy. This is a dog that I obtained at 1.5 years old, when they couldn't sell him. He stayed in the kennel most of the time and was not in very good shape when I got him. He is one of my cart driving dogs and I don't see much shyness in him anymore. But I'm not sure what's going on when this happens:
I'm out driving with my female hooked alongside my boy. Any dogs that are out he has this big alert, picks up speed and wants to keep the dog in sight, if we're passing by or whatever. I'm trying to keep his head straight (i'm sitting down about six feet behind him) and he's bound and determined to pull over by this dog. Normally, I can tap him lightly with a light riding whip and he moves on out. But if he has one of these dogs in his sight, he'll crank his head around and become aggressive to whatever it is that is touching him. I smacked him on the butt to get him to stop his growling and staring (not the solution in this case) and he got worse. I wanted to see if the aggression was aimed at me but I could handle him without his fixing on my hand or body. But if I brought the whip up to his face (just holding it still), about two feet away, he wanted to bite it. Now if he's not around a loose dog, I can touch him with the whip, no problem, no aggression, nothing. Is this dog aggression or fight drive? I know the prior owners worked him on a sleeve as they were quite proud of his bite energy. He's very good with dogs at my house, I baby sit friends dogs once in a while and he's just fine. I just don't know how to stop his pushiness when we're out and about. This does not happen if he is on a leash. I can pass loose dogs leading him and he'll look but I can move him on with a firm snap of the collar and no problem. Any feedback would be appreciated. Susan

Susan,
The body language you describe sounds very similar to my dog aggressive bitch, only she does this on leash. Perhaps the reason your dog doesn't do this on leash is that you are clearly in control, but when he's pulling a cart, he has some wiggle room. He's pulling, he's got momentum going, and he can try to move in the direction of the other dog. My concern would be that one day, he may be successful at that, then you'll have a big mess on your hands! I wish I could help you with a solution, but I'm drawing a blank.

Hi Lisa, I think you're right, this must be dog aggression that is showing up during a specific activity. When they cart, they must be confident, bold dogs to do the work, and now it seems he's making up his own mind on how to react. I don't know if a correction involving physical discomfort is the way to go, as it seems to intensify his aggression. I was even considering purchase of an e-collar to use as a correction. But I'm not sure I'm barking up the wrong tree. :rolleyes: If nothing else comes to light, I will put him in a pinch, exit the cart, give him a good leash correction, and walk ahead, in heel position. I was hoping to come up with some type of correction while remaining seated, maybe I"ll create some type of ejection seat that puts me up where the action is and then quietly retracts me into driving position!!! Susan

Yes, if he's responding aggressively to corrections, it may not be the right way to go. If he's already in a heightened state, then you correct him, it intensifies it even more, it could backfire and make him want at that other dog even more. I like your idea of getting off the cart and leading him past the distraction on leash. This is you taking the control away from him.

Thanks Lisa, two heads are always better than one. I will go with the exit the cart routine. You are absolutely right that his aggression will increase if subjected to any "distant" correction. I'll be getting my prong set up for tonight! Susan

Sounds like a good plan. I hope it works. Keep us posted.

Possibly one reason that you are seeing more dog aggression is that your boy is beside another dog and that always makes dogs a little bolder if they think they have a bit of back-up to kick butt. Does your cart have a good braking system?
If your dog figures out that you can be off your cart in a heartbeat and adminster a strong correction he might think twice. When they know you are at a bit of a disadvantage to get to them they tend to try and get away with stuff. Good Luck and happy carting - we are sledding on snow here but your cart arrangment looks pretty neat and is something I would like to give a try some day!

Hi Lynne, the cart does not have brakes. If I have to brake suddenly, I just stand up in between the shafts, there's no floor in the cart. I use a modified halti with reins and train the dogs similar to horses. The dog brakes the cart with the use of breeching, or "butt strap." I don't usually need quick stops, but my boy has been volunteering them when asked to go on by loose dogs. Tonight I took him out alone, there was that usual little Chihuahua on the same corner, waiting for us to go by. This time his owner was out and picked him up. My boy did his usual alert, and when his head could no longer keep him in sight, he stopped. I got out quickly, got to his head, popped him with the micro-pinch. He walked on with me, no grumbling or threat display. I got back in, and off we went. Now, I'm not sure if this is going to work out okay, but it was a lot better than the attitude I got last night when I swatted him on the rear end. I'm getting ready for a carting show next month, hope we get over this little "bump" in the road! He seems to go by dogs on leashes, and dogs behind fences without stopping. I think because we have been chased before, the loose dogs are more of a threat to him,,,,and rightfully so. I have never had a fight on my hands, I manage to keep loose dogs away. But the boy is much more of a handful than the girls. I have to say tonights' drive was a joy, a nice four miles and I was calling most of the shots. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Susan

This sounds like a case of dog to dog aggression.

Please read my article on this at

http://www.leerburg.com/ubb//ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=000028#000001

If this link doesn’t work do a search for the word “crittering” under the member number 131.