Not sure what to do about my 8 month old boxer boy Gus. I have posted before that he has had trouble with meeting children. Well over the last couple months it has seemed to escalated to strangers in general (both Big and Small). Some of the episodes were not his fault, but it is very difficult to know how to manage his behavior. He has been evaluated by a behaviorist and diagnosed as having Fear Aggression. We have also talked to our vet about him. It just seems like when someone meets him he is smelling them, and very nervous, and if someone tries to pet him he will growl. Not at everyone, but a very good majority. My biggest worry if is someone would just walk into my house and I can't get to him first. There have been times where someone has walked into our entryway and knocked on my kitchen door. Gus will run out to them and instantly start barking and look nervous. I worry that he will escalate and bite if someone put there hand down! I am just wondering if anyone else has any suggestions! We are desperate to try and help him, just not sure what else we can do to better help the fear based aggression. I know that controlling his enviornment and exposure are key, but sometimes that can be tricky.
Fear Aggression - Getting Worse
- Thread starter mrsrags
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avaboxer
Boxer Booster
Socializing
One big thing it sounds like to me is socialization. I had a lab who did the very same thing. We learned from her she had to get their smell then she greet them not the other way around. For us, this was easy because it was the holidays so I would tell our guest to sit at the table and get their drinks etc. ready and while I was doing that the lab had time to sniff everyone and get used to them being there. She never bit anyone. With children, they move faster creating more of a "fear factor". You may be able to create a diversion to her attention. You may also be able to give a stay command to her away from the door until she can control herself than gradually let her get closer. I have seen this on the dog whisper when it used to come on and he would gradually let them in the room with strangers. I hope some of this helps, but I am no expert just what I've done from my experiences.
One big thing it sounds like to me is socialization. I had a lab who did the very same thing. We learned from her she had to get their smell then she greet them not the other way around. For us, this was easy because it was the holidays so I would tell our guest to sit at the table and get their drinks etc. ready and while I was doing that the lab had time to sniff everyone and get used to them being there. She never bit anyone. With children, they move faster creating more of a "fear factor". You may be able to create a diversion to her attention. You may also be able to give a stay command to her away from the door until she can control herself than gradually let her get closer. I have seen this on the dog whisper when it used to come on and he would gradually let them in the room with strangers. I hope some of this helps, but I am no expert just what I've done from my experiences.
CrazyCharlie
Completely Boxer Crazy
Well first of all I would let Gus get comfortable before letting people pet him. As for people just coming into your house.... I know this is hard to stop because my house has a revolving door also.... but maybe ask your friends for their help too, as in they knock at the front door and you and gus walk to the door and make sure Gus is in a sit and he stays before you open the door. Then your friend can come in and gus will be allowed to sniff and smell and then he should become more comfortable.
I hope you can help Gus with his fear. Good Luck!
I hope you can help Gus with his fear. Good Luck!
Well thanks for all the information. When we saw the behavioralist they did give us some ideas of things to do with him. Mainly crating him when people come over and then letting him warm up to them before he gets let out of the crate. The problem with that is that if people ever come in unannounced it creates some difficulty. We do use high value treats when people come in. We have socialized him a lot! He went to work with me everyday! But as he got older things just changed in his personality. Our behavioralist feels like some of the behavior was probably a result of his genetics. I just hope that it doesn't continue to get worse as he gets older. We are in Michigan, and I am in a rural area! The behaviorist that I saw was located an hour away, and that was the closest one! I am really wishing that there was someone closer that i could work with more consistently.
murphman
Boxer Pal
My male boxer has fear aggression issues too. The thing that works the best for us (and the dog) is "no touch, no talk, no eye contact"...every stranger that comes into our home is told to ignore the dog. If people do this, things go smoothly. Dogs with these types of issues need to approach people and sniff on their own terms. Thsi builds their confidence as well. If a stranger approaches my dog with hand outstretched, and hunched over looking at him, my dog will respond by jumping up and snarling at the person. He doesn't go out of his way to be aggressive, but just doesn't like strangers getting in his face. If you haven't, try the ignoring. It works great for us.
ouesi
Boxer Booster
Turn going to his crate in to a game
Does he have a go to your crate command? Easiest way to teach this is to simply toss a treat in to his crate and say "crate" (or whatever you want the command to be) as he steps in to the crate to get the treat. Rinse and repeat until you can say "crate" without tossing a treat and he will go to his crate.
With the door, have a helper knock at the door while you and Gus are by the crate (you may need to leash Gus if you think he will ignore you and take off to the door). As soon as you hear the knock, say "crate" and toss a treat in to his crate. Big praise for compliance. Rinse and repeat until you get Gus looking for the treat in his crate when he hears a knock on the door. At this point, you can up the ante and have someone actually come in the house and holler "heloooo" etc., always making sure Gus goes to his crate as a reaction to someone entering the house. Lots and lots of reinforcement and rewards for going to and staying in his crate.
Then make 110% sure his crate is always his safe haven. Do not let visitors (especially children) disturb him in his crate - not even look at him!
TwoDogs
Boxer Insane
Manage the environment to prevent the situation from arising. Lock your door so people have to ring the bell or knock. Put a sign outside that says "training the dog, please knock first". Create a buffer zone between the entrance way and the rest of the house using babygates. That way if people come in, their is an "air-lock" of safety where Gus can't get to them. You've realized that Gus has a behavioral issue that you need to work to change, it is your responsibility to alter the home environment to make that change possible. If that means inconveniencing your family and friends and hounding them to get them to knock before entering, then that's what you have to do.
Train an alternative behavior to super-reliability. Put going to his crate on cue. Reward it with the best treats ever. Practice it over and over and over until you can call out "kennel" and he will go running to the crate. Practice it and proof it to include the door bell rings and you cue "kennel" and he runs in to the crate. Someone knocks on the door and you yell "kennel" and he runs to his crate. You open the door with no ring or knock and yell "kennel". Someone else opens the door or jiggles the handle and you yell "kennel". Do all of these things in practice. You will be proofing for all the distractions that come with an uninvited visitor before you actually have an uninvited visitor--over and over and over until it is an automatic response to go to his crate when he hears the word "kennel". Once you get the behavior reliably, practice it every single day and reward the heck out of it.
My female doesn't do well with people entering our house. She is fear-aggressive. I manage the environment by locking my front door always. I've trained her to go to her crate from anywhere inside or outside the house. Just this morning our neighbor rang the bell and I was scrambling to make myself look presentable and all I had to do was holler "kennel" and I knew the dogs would go to their crates and stay there while I answered the door. My family is famous for just opening the unlocked back door when they visit (maybe 3 times a year). In those first few seconds, they are still "strangers" to my dogs. I can yell "kennel" and my dogs will run to their crates even with them walking through the door because it is such a highly rewarded behavior.
Are you working with the behaviorist on Gus' fear issues? Fear-aggressive behavior doesn't get better on it's own. Gus is at a critical age where intensive desensitization and counter-conditioning will have the greatest effect on his fear. If he were my dog, I'd take action sooner rather than later.
Train an alternative behavior to super-reliability. Put going to his crate on cue. Reward it with the best treats ever. Practice it over and over and over until you can call out "kennel" and he will go running to the crate. Practice it and proof it to include the door bell rings and you cue "kennel" and he runs in to the crate. Someone knocks on the door and you yell "kennel" and he runs to his crate. You open the door with no ring or knock and yell "kennel". Someone else opens the door or jiggles the handle and you yell "kennel". Do all of these things in practice. You will be proofing for all the distractions that come with an uninvited visitor before you actually have an uninvited visitor--over and over and over until it is an automatic response to go to his crate when he hears the word "kennel". Once you get the behavior reliably, practice it every single day and reward the heck out of it.
My female doesn't do well with people entering our house. She is fear-aggressive. I manage the environment by locking my front door always. I've trained her to go to her crate from anywhere inside or outside the house. Just this morning our neighbor rang the bell and I was scrambling to make myself look presentable and all I had to do was holler "kennel" and I knew the dogs would go to their crates and stay there while I answered the door. My family is famous for just opening the unlocked back door when they visit (maybe 3 times a year). In those first few seconds, they are still "strangers" to my dogs. I can yell "kennel" and my dogs will run to their crates even with them walking through the door because it is such a highly rewarded behavior.
Are you working with the behaviorist on Gus' fear issues? Fear-aggressive behavior doesn't get better on it's own. Gus is at a critical age where intensive desensitization and counter-conditioning will have the greatest effect on his fear. If he were my dog, I'd take action sooner rather than later.
Thanks for the responses....we are working on the training him to crate when people come to the door. We do not have it yet, but it is getting a little better. He is just so DETERMINED! You can actually tell that he thinks about whether he really wants the treat or not...no matter what it is! We are locking the door all the time, it just makes it easier, and I don't stress about someone coming in. I will have to find a sign....I do not have one yet. We are not working with the behavorist all the time, only because of the distance. There is not a behaviorist within 90 minutes of my house. Hopefully some of the above ideas will continue to work.....we just haven't had good sucess yet with him LIKING his crate. He will go in it for a treat, but then within not long will cry, and if we have company he will bark and want out! I hope this will improve of change. I don''t know if this is just a puppy thing, a boxer thing, or if it will be a forever thing with the crate. I hope he grows to like it! We try and make it a positive and NEVER use it for punishment. Hopefully we will start to see progress!
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