Hi
My dogs is too aggressive toward other dogs. If another big dog comes down the street(with a leash) he starts pulling and growling. I tell him no and use a choke collar to be able to control him. But sometimes he continues with this behavior others he stops. When he meets a medium or small dog he moves his tail approaches it and if the dog doesn’t summit he growls immediately. To my surprise small dogs sometimes come into my house through the fence and my dog plays with them.

Well last Friday I took my dog out and the neighbors bloodhound got out. I pulled my dog close to me(my legs) with his leach and with a choke collar. The other dog was standing about a 3 feet away while my dog was like a beast. The other dog wasn’t growling just standing straight while I was trying to scare him with a stick that I carry to keep away street dogs. With all this pulling and my dog blinded with anger suddenly my leg moved (behind and near the dog´s head )and my dog turned his head and bit my leg. It was only a second until I screamed, but enough for me to end up with several stitches.

I have been told that it was aggression redirection? what do you think? How can I prevent my dog getting blinded with anger (and me getting hurt)? How would you teach him to tolerate other dog waking by at a reasonable distance without showing aggression?

By the way the dog is very submissive to all family members, and has no problems with people in the street, he is 1.5 years old and walks and jogs with me three times a week since he was a puppy.

Matt, you need to change your name to your real first and last name, no handles.

http://leerburg.com/articles.htm

There is a list of Dog aggression articles at that link that I think you should read if you haven't already.

I would buy a muzzle to use when you are going to be around other dogs, or if you might be around other dogs. That way when you correct him you won't have to have stitches.

I use two methods depending on the dog.
First. You could put a pinch collar on and the secont he looks at the other dog you nail him. and I mean HARD. Three to four tmes and he will know its unacceptable.

second, Put on a e-collar.LOW stimulation. Get a friend with a dog and meet in a larg area like a field. The two of you enter the field from opposite ends. The instant your dog see,s the other push the button and leave the area. Re enter the area just as before, the instant he see,s the other dog push the button.
Continue to repeat, You will find you will start getting closer before he looks. Aftera few sessions he will look away the minute he see,s the other dog.

This works for me.
Good luck.

Ron

My male was dog aggressive until I put a prong collar on him and let him really have at the first growl. It took only two corrections and he now ignores other dogs.

Matt, it sounds to me like this has been going on for a while now?

What I would suggest, is start off keeping a distance from other dogs, where your dog can still give you his attention and walk on a loose leash. Use lots of positive reinforcement (whatever your dog likes; praise, petting, food, access to a toy) as long as the leash is loose, and he's focused on working with you. If his attention drifts to the other dog, issue a correction only as hard as you need to in order to interrupt his thought process and redirect him to working with you. Follow up the correction with a command such as "heel" or "watch me", and be sure to reward him when he focuses back on you. Timing and the ability to read your dog are important here. Also, remember to set him up to succeed. Don't try to do this at a distance that is so close to the other dog that he can't or won't give you his attention, and remember to keep your leash loose. You might have to cross the street when you see another dog, or even go the other way. When he is capable of working with you on a loose leash and giving you his attention at a certain distance, you can decrease the distance over time in small increments. Don't go from a distance of across the street to passing on the sidewalk all at once; that's too much of a leap.

The key here is that you're teaching him what you want (him to work with you instead of focusing on the other dog), and you're working on your leash handling skills and (keeping your dog in control on a loose leash).

For now, he doesn't have to meet other dogs while on leash. For some dogs, meeting other dogs on leash is stressful, and since your dog has been doing this for a while, his responses have already been reinforced. I'm sure that you're pretty tense when he's meeting other dogs too, and as they say sh** flows down the leash. You need to change your responses too. Plus, YOU should be making the decisions, and whether to meet another dog or not is one of them. Your dog might be thinking he's in control of the situation, and by taking control back from him, you'll be sending a powerful message.

Take a look at this pos. It's a protocol that works on crittering and dog to dog aggression.

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.