Aggression - Any New Zealand experiences?

[pagen]

I never thought I'd need to use this forum to search for tips on how to treat aggression, up until now.

Backgound
We have two boxers - Ali who is 2 years, and Bronson who is 11 months. We've had Bronson since he was 8 weeks and they're both fixed. A few months ago we noticed that Ali was starting to be aggressive (pinning the other dog to the ground and snapping/growling) towards other dogs, and I don't think the sex of the dog came into it. Since then, we've tried to avoid the problem by taking them to places that are not over crowded with dogs. And if confronted - walk in the opposite direction.

Yesterday we decided that we'd only walk them on the lead, until we have the problem under control - which was fine, until we walked them again today and experienced another "episode". Ali lunged at a dog who was also on the lead and started attacking it, this prompted the other dog owner to kick Ali to make her stop. As you can imagine, my partner and I are both feeling pretty depressed about the whole thing.

What are we trying?
Clicker training ... yes we brought a clicker today, hoping that this will help ease the problem (As recommended in one the articles found here). We're also trying to be more consistant with our training and reinforce the dogs place in the hierachy.

Some of the articles included here are an interesting read but contain mostly Americian training resouces - not New Zealand based (I realise this isn't a NZ site). So I'm asking the New Zealand boxer owners out there who have aggressive boxers - have you managed to combat the problem? If so how? Did you seek advice from a training professional/behavioural expert - if so who?

I'm a little sceptical about people who say they are experts in animal behavioural issues so I'd really like to hear from someone locally who has had experience and would recommend someone.

Cheers
Nicola

 

[gmacleod]

There are quite a few New Zealanders on this board - and most of the training articles were written by an Australian. LOL - is that close enough?

With Ali, I suspect that what you were witnessing was (initially at least)typical adolescent snottiness. I think that's fairly common in boxer teenagers, females in particular - they can be bullies. What is required is continued socialisation and education on what is acceptable behaviour and what isn't. A lot of adolescents simply receive a bit of "education" from an older dog or two who won't tolerate that and let the adolescent know they're not appreciated. But you can participate too - by stopping her bahaviour and removing her from the other dogs for a minute or two, for a short training session instead. Then let her try again. The message sent here is "if you can't play nicely, then you won't play at all".

What happens when you take her out without Bronson? If you haven't tried that, then I'd suggest that you do. Take her to a relatively quiet park where she is *not* on a leash (one or other dog on a leash usually makes things worse) and can interact with a small number of other dogs. Preferably adult dogs rather than puppies. If you find that she's predominantly OK in that sort of situation, then you know that part of the problem is that she's protecting/guarding/being possessive of Bronson.

I can't recommend a specific trainer for you - despite having lived fairly recently in Wellington, I never used one there. But I would say that it is better to be confronting and trying to solve her issues now, rather than letting things get worse. I do realise that you're trying to do that, but I think that keeping her away from other dogs is actually likely to make the problem worse rather than better. Socialisation needs to be an ongoing thing. I would suggest that you do continue to socialise her with other dogs - the problem cannot be solved by keeping her away from them. And that may be easier without Bronson present - that way, she has no 'pack' to defend. Training classes with lots of other dogs around may also help. If nothing else, it means that she needs to learn to concentrate on other things than dog when in the presence of other dogs.

 

[pagen]

We normally do exercise them off the lead as they get a hell of a lot more exercise that way. Ali doesn't tend to go for dogs straight away when both dogs are off the lead, and I did think that she was trying to protect Bronson when she did attack. Bronson think's it's a game so he barks, squeels, yelps etc which seems to fire Ali up.

They each go to doggy daycare one day a fortnight, which gives them the chance to socialise with other dogs while we're both at work. The feedback from them is that they are scrappy with eachother, and other dogs - so we've had to send them on seperate days. So far, no negetive feedback. - but I must admit the owner is not big on his communicative skills!

What is normal adolescent snottiness?

 

[Checkers]

I have heard from a few people that Dolittle Dog Training is good. Now i have no idea if they are behaviourists or if they work out of Auckland, but you could give them a ring. Maybe they could point you in the right direction. Ring around a few vets too, they will probably have an idea of a good behaviourist