Fear aggression?

[kflanaga]

So, Simon (about 20 months old, fixed) has always been about the friendliest dog in the world. I?ve taken him to the dog park every day since he was first able to go at about three months old. He got in a few tussles with other dogs before he was a year old, but nothing serious, and after a year old, no fights at all, and no signs of aggression.
Well, you can probably see where this is going. A few weeks ago at the park, a standard poodle (a particularly nasty neighborhood dog) ran up to him, and stared him down for a few seconds. Simon just stood there watching him before the poodle attacked. It was nothing major, and I pulled them apart, but Simon had to be removed from the park as he wanted at that poodle in a bad way, and the poodle owner didn?t have the sense to realize that his dog started it (and not just from my perspective, the other owners there couldn?t believe he would bring his dog to a park, and he usually doesn?t). Anyway, about a week later, Simon was meeting a rottie. Both on leashes. They were sizing each other up as usual, and the dog attacked. Simon was freaked out again, but again, I had to drag him away growling and snarling like I?ve never seen.
Now I seem to have a problem. He seems to go after dogs. It seems to be attack first and ask questions later. In the two weeks since then, he has gone after every dog that looks at him sideways (about ten times). In most cases it is dogs he has been around dozens of times before, but if they stare at him, he attacks them. Almost exclusively males, and almost exclusively large dogs. There is one new neighborhood dog (not fixed, ugh) that he has taken a particular hatred for, and this dog he had never even met before he started trying to get at it.
I?ve read some threads, and this sounds like ?fear aggression?. Is that a correct assessment? I?ve been reinforcing his training, and taking him to the park and keeping him on the leash; rewarding him for good behavior (not lunging) and yelling ?NO!? for bad behavior. Is there anything else I can be doing? Should I not take him to the park at all for a little while? I don?t want to have the mean dog in the neighborhood!

 

[Adelle]

Unfortunately bad experiences like that can have a lasting effect and make your dog more defensive.

I cannot give you much advise but wanted to comment on the fact that you mention that you still bring him to the dog park but keep him on a leashed - thats a bad idea, its very frustrating for a dog to be leashed when all the others are off leash, and before you know it he may develop leash aggression. When dogs are afraid they have 2 natural reactions flee or fight if he is on a leash you remove the flee option and leave him no choice but to fight and if the other dogs in the park are off leash you cannot stop them approaching your dog. So I would suggest stop going to the park for a while then maybe arrange some play dates with some dogs he knows and allow him time to get over the other 2 incidents.

If it doesn't improve or gets worse you might want to work with a trainer using positive reinforcement methods to get him over this.

Good luck

Adelle

 

[ZachsMom]

My Zachary, now at the Rainbow Bridge, was attacked by a Bullmastiff that had wandered away from its yard. The attack was bad enough where Zach needed surgery to close wounds on his neck, he was 7 at the time. He was never the same after that, especially with large dogs. Prior to this attack Zach went to Doggie Day Care 2times a week and never had a problem (this was back in NY before I moved to CA).
I hired a behaviorist after the attack and she gave me some pointers.
- never tighten up on the leash as another dog approaches, this sends a warning signal to your dog to be on the defense.
- carry treats and use a happy voice when other dogs are in sight. Reward for good behavior.
- I used the "look" command to have Zach look at me, this sometimes prevented the awful stare down.
- I would bring Zach to the dog park but stay outside and try to make it a good experience for him. We would only go in at off hours - Zach couldn't handle the greetings of mulitple dogs when we first walked in.

Zach was definitely a chnaged dog after the attack and so was I. I now have a 2yr old white boxer and she did pick up on some of Zach's fears. I trained her to sit when another dog comes to say hello and tell her "ok" when she can get up and greet.

Good luck with Oscar. I know it can be really frustrating, but hang in there!

 

[Lissa&Roxy]

I have a mixed breed who never liked any other dogs, besides our own, which made me nervous everytime I walked her. For some reason even when I walked my late boxer Jakey-Poopoo's that nervous feeling stayed with me even tho I was walking a different dog. I think they can sense fear in their owners and even tho Jake was a big snugglepuss, everytime we passed another dog his hair would stand up as if he was ready to protect me. I have a new pup now, a white boxer and I'm making it a point to get her socialized as much as possible, but really I think I'm doing it more to get over my own nervousness! Your dog might just sense your fear and goes into protect mode. Of course I could not know what I'm talking about either LOL.. But good luck to you nonetheless.

 

[kflanaga]

I hear you about not taking him to the park, but I'm not willing to give up. He had so much fun there every day for over a year. But, I can't be irresponsible and let him off teh leash if I'm not sure he'll be good. He's been a bit better the past two days (on leash). He is now capable of ignoring the one dog he was absolutely fixated on attacking before, though if I let him go, I'm sure he would make a beeline for that dog, who is unfortunately unfixed, and a tad aggressive, making all teh male dogs uncomfortable. He played a bit today with a completely unfamiliar male dog, and while playing a bit more aggressively than I like (which I put a stop to when it happened) he wasn't attacking or anything.

The other problem is that I'm starting a new job with longer hours, and was going to rely on doggie day care, but now I don't think that will be possible.

 

[kodismom]

Ugh... I know all to well how frustrating this behavior can be. My girl Kodi is the greatest dog in the world, loving and playful, she would bite her foot off before hurting a human. In fact, I have watched her lay beside a newborn baby and just shake because she wanted to lick the baby. (she did get a few licks in!!)

Unfortunately, I have to avoid taking Kodi for walks during peak times due to the fact that she is terribly aggressive with all dogs... We adopted her at 3 years of age and the owners did not mention this problem. You mention the "stare down" and that is exactly what she does. I can count to about 2 before the fight is on. If the dog submits to her than it is noisy and scary but she won't hurt the dog. BUT if the dog fights back - watch out!

I have tried obedience training, getting her to look at me, (fat chance, she doesn't know I exist when she is in her mode) treats, halties, etc. The only method that has worked for me is the use of a shock collar. It sounds horrific I know but I have only needed to use the button that makes a high pitched noise. For whatever reason, that noise breaks through her focus and stops her in her tracks. It is hard to not have a leash on her but I think it is good in a way because she isn't reading my stress through the leash. And I know this adds to her aggression.

If you find anything else that works, I would love to know about it. I love my dog so much but it is NO fun dealing with this issue.

Good luck!

Allison (kodismom)

 

[tcarlisle]

All it takes is one incident. All fears are treated the same way -- desensitization training. This means don't put your dog in the situation where this can repeat, and over time he will improve. Will he return to the way he was? Probably not.

If you keep putting the dog in an environment where he can be attacked, he will be attacked again. You have to control the environment to build up his comfort level. Perhaps you can go during non-peak times when there is only one or two other dogs that you know are not aggressive or dominant.

The advice about the leash was spot on -- if you leave the dog on a leash he will become leash aggressive and that is an even bigger problem.

I won't be popular for this -- but if you insist on taking the dog back to a dog park, the next time he is attacked let him win. He probably is only looking to defend himself and not be dominated over. If he attacks another dog, be prepared to be liable.

Dog parks are good, but at the same time they are horrible. Most people at dog parks have no idea about dog pack behavior, and it is a big accident waiting to happen. For example, there is a reason you don't bring food or water inside the off leash area -- the dogs can get aggressive over it. In particlaur, you don't bring the dog's own food or water bowl -- that is his territory and he will protect it. You don't bring Fido's favorite toy -- same reason. You don't sit and laugh when the dogs mount each other. People don't know and/or don't care so the result is that the dogs are put in an environment where it doesn't take long for the dogs to act like dogs and do what comes natural.

BTW -- when I use the word "you" above I don't mean you personally, I mean "one in general".

You and your dog were victim of this, and now you are paying the price. In general, dog parks are a bad idea.

 

[WorkingMom]

We gave up on the dog park too. Which stinks b/c I loved it as much as the dogs did. We had the same situation.... a dog attacked mine & the owner just didn't seem to care & of course everyone thought MY dog was the problem b/c he was the mean, tough looking boxer - it couldn't have possibly been the scrappy mutt with the bandana around his neck.

The next time we went after that - it was on. The first dog that even looked at Sampson & it was "game on".

So we left & decided after speaking to others with the same experiences, its just not safe. We don't have enough dog parks for a city the size of Atlanta - so everyone goes to the main one & sometimes there are easily 50-60 dogs or more. It's just a big swirling madness of drama about to unfold at any moment.

We just play with "doggie friends" we know are safe & remember the fun of the dog park b4 things got out of hand.

Good luck!

 

[kflanaga]

Thanks for the advice.

This was not really a dog park, but an unoofficial place where people let their dogs off leash. Everyone knows everyone, and it is just one time a day. The dog that attacked Simon was only very rarely around (as he has a tendency to attack pretty much everyone). It was my fault for staying when I saw him coming. I KNEW there would be a problem. I also thought I was a horrible person, because I did very briefly consider letting Simon have at him for a few extra seconds, as this is a particularly nasty (and 40 pound lighter) dog. But, I broke up the fight.

To update, I've still been going, but Simon stays on leash. He's been fine with that except for this one new (male) dog that he absolutely hates. If that dog walks by, Simon goes insane. And this dog, while a bit dominant, has done nothing to him (except hump, the one time I wasn't paying close enough attention. But Simon hates getting humped). But, he is adjusting to this dog, as he doesn't seem to obsess over it anymore. Guess I'll just keep doing this for awhile.