Hi All-

I've packed in as much as I could into this post to try and answer the typical questions I see from new posts. Sorry it's so long.

I have a 10 1/2 month old male Australian Shepherd we adopted from a rescue when he was 10 weeks old. This is our second Aussie and we based our decision to get another on our success with our first. (The first died at 13 years old of a heart condition about 2 years ago).


So he instantly bonded with the family pack. I work from home, so his early training was good and he clearly recognizes me as the pack leader. Spends most of his day in my office and he gets exercised daily during lunch. I keep him by my side all the time. He is fixed and has been in a crate since day 1 for night time, when we are gone, or when I need to be on a conference call. He loves the crate actually.


His obedience training was easy. He knows his commands (sit, stay, place (I call it go night-night), down, heel/wait, stay and come.

At about 5 months old, we noticed he was completely against meeting with or socializing with other dogs. Mind you he had not been exposed to negative experiences with other dogs so this was new to us. His vet visits became (and remain) a complete nightmare with him 'losing his mind' the second he alerts or sees another dog.

We went to a trainer (a real one, not PetCo). By the second class, we were told we would be having separate sessions because my dog was becoming such a distraction. We worked privately brushing up his obediance skills. Although not an expert, she theorized he might have mental imbalance.

This behavior has been consistent for the last 4-5 months. We are on a walk, we see a dog, I change direction or cross the street. I've worked with trying to change this behavior with mild success. I've had him to the point where we see the other dog, he sits and looks to me instead for a treat. I practice with a number of dogs in my neighborhood from behind fences. Been doing good and he won't bark or pull the leash. I even had him politely greeting my neighbors on walks. But lately it is like a switch has been thrown. He forgets what's he's learned and will go crazy at the same dog or human he saw just the day before. Only after a hard correction will he calm down. Then 10 seconds later he would be back at the same thing.

I've invested in the Dogtra collar and Ed's DVDs on collar training and dealing with aggressive dogs. Been employing the techniques and have had some success. But the overarching issue is he suddenly 'forgets' and I am back to square one- despite me being consistent in both training and corrections.


Over the last week, he has bolted twice out the door (something has never done before). Once he shot out after a UPS truck (which is at my house a lot, so it was not a new thing). I caught up to him a 1/4 mile away using the "Come!" command. He turned and came right back to me. Go figure. Mind you, I have him trained to sit there all day if I wanted him to while holding that door open. So this was new to me.

The second time we had just finished a walk and some recall training on the E-Collar, so he still had it on. My kids were playing in the yard with the same friends he sees on a regular basis. However, I have always kept him separated or on a drag leash with me the kid's friends around due to his unpredictability. Never had an incident and he always enjoyed a head scratch and a belly rub by the other kids under my supervision.

The door opened when I wasn't looking and he shot out and started barking wildly and jumping on one of the young children. It wasn't his 'play with me/happy to see you' bark, it was the bark and body language he uses when he sees another dog.

He ignored my quick commands as I ran over tried to stop him. Having the remote still in my pocket, I gave him a three quick nick corrections/commands with no result. I finally hit the 'constant' button with a loud NO..COME! and he backed off. I've never hit that button before and he yelped and immediately came close enough for me to grab his drag lead and remove him from the situation. He was clearly unnerved and I sent him to his crate to relax.

He’s also bit me twice through the skin. Once when he was barking at a dog through my fence (I have a privacy fence) and I was grabbing his collar. Recently I was correcting him as he alerted and barked wildly when he saw another dog. He decided to take it out on my calf with a quick bite and then returned to barking.

Like other posts I've read, he is great with our pack. Loves our indoor cat and clearly respects my commands (until lately). He isn't protective of his food, toys, or other objects. There is no growling, etc. But he is becoming more than a handful and I just cannot seem to manage it lately. I have spoken with an animal behaviorist and two other trainers. All have called him 'reactive' and said I will need to manage this the rest of his life. My vet even questioned if we are prepared to deal with this forever and to keep him muzzled. They too said he might have a chemical or neuro imbalance of some sort.

I am not truly committed to managing a dog this way for the next 15 years and cannot risk having him biting a child. It's no fun for anyone when we go out to family events, the park, our lake house, the dog has to be left at home. Not the 'dog life' we were used to with our previous dog- who we trained in less time. I’ve put a solid 3 months into working with him daily and I at a loss. I really don’t think I could re-home him based on these behaviors. This latest incident has me close having him put down.

Any thoughts?

Hi Robert and welcome,

First thing, has the vet done a complete blood chemistry on him to rule out any medical issues that may be contributing to his behavior?

I have a dog who is very reactive with other dogs and kids, and although it took a real mental adjustment on my part, I find that managing her reactivity while working on desensitizing her to the things that she reacts to has not been as difficult as I had envisioned. (this does not include kids; she is simply not allowed to interact with kids other than my own son)

As far as the aggression that you personally experienced when he was reacting to another dog, this was redirected toward you (but meant for the dog) and he may have not even been aware of what he was doing. For this exact reason, it is probably not a good idea to correct him for his reactive aggression. If he associates the correction with the other dog, you have now reinforced in his mind that when he sees another dog it's a thing to be afraid of/react to.

If you want to give this dog a chance, there are a few things that you can do to make it 'doable'. First off, increase his exercise. A tired dog typically is much less reactive. Secondly, learn about marker training, if you don't already use it. Once you have learned about marker training (clicker training without the clicker) you can work on desensitizing him to those things that he reacts to. (again, I'm not suggesting interaction with kids other than your own)

There are lots of good threads here about desensitizing...

Lastly, stop correcting him for his reactivity. As you have seen, it's not helping him to become less reactive and quite likely it is exacerbating his aggression. For now, you need to manage it by not putting him in situations where he is likely to react.

Others will post soon who have more experience than me...

There could be some "fear stage" issues occurring. The ages where she noticed these behaviors happening made me think "fear stage". Then the behavior was reinforced making him think "see I should be afraid" through corrections. This is fixable with the right trainer. Where are you located?

Robert, I have posted this here numerous times..but for the sake of those that have not seen it..,.

Some of the things mentioned here may apply to your dog.

The Critical Fear Periods in Puppies
By: Nancy Frensley, CPDT, CAP1

Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Training Manager
The Critical Fear Periods in Puppies:
Seven to Nine Weeks
Four to Six Months
Approximately Eight to Nine Months
Approximately Twelve Months
Approximately Fourteen to Eighteen Months
During these periods, puppies may show fear of items, situations or people with whom they formerly felt safe. They may start barking at people entering a house or become fearful and startle at benign items like trash cans, drainpipes or even yard gnomes. They may crouch, shake and try to run away, submissively urinate or tell the scary thing/person to go away by showing an aggressive display (which could include piloerection, snarling, lunging or other unruly behavior.
You must be patient during these periods and keep to the familiar. These are not good times to introduce your puppy to new situations or people. Be very careful to avoid doling out punishment or reprimands. It’s vitally important that you understand that your dog is afraid and that you add to the fear when you reprimand or punish. This, in turn, can set the dog up for future aggression problems.
During these periods, introduce your puppy slowly to the situation, with good tasting treats, so that he or she does not experience fear. Control situations so that you can prevent a fearful response and show your puppy that you enjoy the situation. Use food treats and happy talk to lure your puppy up to scary objects. Teach the targeting exercise (touch your hand with his nose) and work on getting your puppy to “touch the goblin”.
When people visit your home during these periods, put your puppy in another room until visitors are settled in, then bring your puppy out on leash and praise for any show of confidence. Even have visitors toss good treats toward your puppy without approaching him or her.
_________________________

Not ANY kind of trainer but I do have a hi-drive reactive dog of cattle herding type.

My dog is much worse if 1) several days go by without a 3-4 mile run (my husband is a runner) or 2) no cows to push around. He seems to have a need to boss, to push something around. Our cows have very young calves now and herding has been limited. When there is no cattle work, he is more aggressive with both my ducks and with our other dog.
I think THIS dog you have may be the kind of dog that needs a serious job. Perhaps the last one didn't need this.
I hope you can figure out some other outlet for his drive and wish you the best.

Im certainly no authority but I will share that I worked on a horse farm. They brought home an aussie pup and by the next year, he had to be locked up anytime a delivery of any kind was being made. I never had ANY trouble with him whatsoever, altho I had heard he had bitten a few children. Owner called the barn one day and said she forgot the pepsi gu was coming ans asked me to lock him up. I saw him in the tack room and I called him to me. He lowered his head and came running at me and literally attacked me. This was 15 years ago and I have scars on my wrist and hip. I managed to grab his muzzle while two people in the barn attached lead ropes and drug him away from me...he was still trying to come after me. I was there before he was and he had seen me every day, all day. No explanation. I was told by his vet (who also has an aussie) that sometimes their breeding for the nice coats gets in the way of their temperaments and there are mmany aussies out there with a screw loose. Dont know if it's true..I just know the one that attacked me was whacked out. They ended up putting him down after he bit a couple more kids. Ripped one kid's ear off.

Thanks all. I've improved my searching 'skills' on this forum and have found some solid advice/success stories on reactive dogs, etc. I'm still plugging along.

Betty made a good point about this dog needing a job to do.

Besides basic manners/OB what type of training do you do with him? What kind of daily schedule does he have?

He's also a teenager and at times they can seem to forget everything they know and push boundaries - this can last until 2-3 y/o depending on the dog. They really need consistent handling and training at this age.