Is it aggression? Can it be corrected?

[Sworth]

I have a 7 1/2 mo old boxer and I'm worried about his behavior. If he is inside (and I have treats) he follows my every command. He can be so sweet and is great with my 2 yr old BUT he plays extremely rough, has no bite inhibition, jumps and has broken skin. If my kids try to grab his collar to pull him off the couch he "mouths" them. I cannot seem to get him to stop. To top things of, as soon as he's off leash in the yard he goes into crazy mode. Running full speed past me, growling, hair standing up on his back, he jumps at me, grabs my arm and will shake. He totally ignore my commands in the yard. When I do finally get him in the house he runs and hides in his crate like he knows he was wrong. I'm sure most of the inside behavior, the rough play, can be corrected if I just find the right technique but it's his behavior outside that really worries me. He is 67 lbs and getting hard to control. Has anyone ever had experience with this? I am currently contacting some local trainers but is this something that a professional trainer can correct? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[johann]

First, your kids should not be grabbing his collar to move him. Really, no one should- grabbing at the neck is considered an aggressive move by many dogs. The fact that he mouths them instead of a true bite is probably a good sign- he does have some bite inhibition. The two year old should never be left unsupervised (even for a second) with him. I'd not let the kids engage him in any sort of rough play or any play if he/they can't stay under control. If they're old enough, they can work on some basic obedience stuff with your assistance/supervision (sitting for feedings, down, etc). If he'll drop toys on command, fetch can be a great way for older kids to interact with dogs.
How much exercise does he get? The backyard behavior sounds like pretty typical adolescent boxer stuff (except for grabbing your arm and shaking). My 7 yr old will still go nuts if he's been cooped up for a while.
I'd greatly increase his exercise (we had great luck with doggie daycare when Johann was younger, but make sure you find a good one if you go that route) and contact a trainer (make sure you find one that is positive reinforcement based). They'll be able to give you management ideas and some basic obedience skills. This doesn't sound like aggression to me, it sounds like a bratty adolescent who is seeing what he can get away with and needs more chance to run. Definitely get a good trainer out to see him and give you an assessment ASAP.

 

[rena]

I have to agree with the advice above. It sounds to me like you have a young boy that doesn't have an outlet for all his energy. Doggie daycare has always been factored in as part of the cost of raising a boxer in our family. We also attended regular training and practiced a lot. I have the advantage of having family members with lots of land, so we had regular run sessions that included play with other dogs. My first girl was ball motivated so catch was a regular activity. My boy doesn't care about getting a ball, but he likes to "find it". I would suggest finding activities that give him a release of physical energy and activities that challenge him mentally also. I've found a tired boxer is a good boxer. It took my first boxer much longer (in terms of years old) to settle down. My boy we had to slow down at 3 because of bad heart, so now it we have to get creative with more metal challenges, but doggie day care is still a frequent treat to his daily routine.

No advice with children - always just had fur babies. Good Luck.

 

[LoveMyDoggie]

If your puppy is that big in no way should your kids be grabbing him by the collar. Besides the dog not looking at this in a favorable way it could also cause harm to your children and/or your dog. Daisy still runs around like a crazy girl in our back yard if she has not been walked enough and with the brutal cold we are having that has happened more times than not. I do have to watch her because if I get in her way when she is going 100 MPH I will regret it more than her. As others have said, find her a great trainer and if she is treat motivated you should have no problems in training her. Overall sounds like a Boxer puppy to me.

 

[Sworth]

Thank you all for your advice. I was walking him a mile each day. Since I originally posted this I have increased his exercise and purchased treat puzzles for mental stimulation and I have definitely noticed a difference as far as his "crazyness" goes. He still ignores most of my commands (unless I have treats) and mouths everyone (though it seems to be in an excited, greeting you type way). I'm am relieved to know that this is probably typical boxer behavior. I have narrowed it down to 2 trainers in the area but besides positive reinforcement based training do you prefer group or private lessons? I'm wondering what would be more effective for him considering his obedience is the worst when there is any type of distractions. Thanks in advance.

 

[whiskers]

I agree with the above - mostly sounds like an overaroused/underexercised young dog.

Don't let the kids grab his collar to get him off the couch. If he needs to be moved off, have him see you toss a treat on the floor so that he gets up to get it. You can say the word "off" as he's getting down so that he learns to associate a word with the behavior. You can also make this a training game, and practice encouraging him to jump on and off the couch, rewarding him each time he jumps off. Just things to make getting off the couch less threatening and no big deal. You can also keep a leash attached to his collar so that you can grab the leash and guide him down that way. That's also less threatening than a collar grab. Or, you can also just make the couch off limits to him.

He needs more training in order to obey you outside. It is waaayyy more distracting outside than it is in the house. And dogs also typically don't generalize things well, which means they pretty much need to be taught how to respond in a variety of environments. For example, he might be awesome at obeying a 'sit' command in your living room. But he needs to be taught that 'sit' still means 'sit' in the backyard, too - because to him, it's a different picture now, and the word needs a meaning attached to it again. But once you have him sitting reliably in the backyard.... doesn't mean he'll do it in the front yard. Or at the park. Or at the pet store. Etc etc etc. Any time you go to a new environment or somewhere with more distractions, you might have to take 10 steps backwards to work with your dog and let him be successful. For example, my dogs know what sit means. They'll obey it in many circumstances. There are some times though where the environment is just too overwhelming, and in order to get them to sit I have to stick a treat at their nose and lure them into position as if they're learning for the first time. That's fine. They learn.

What are you doing when he jumps at you and grabs your arm? Are you trying to engage him in play at that moment or are you just standing there doing nothing when he jumps at you? See if you can direct that energy into something else before he takes it out on you, ie throw a toy for him to go get. Keep a leash on him (doesn't have to be long) so that if he does start to get too amped, you can (calmly) take his leash and hook him to something until he calms down. He needs consistency here to learn that that behavior lands him in a timeout and makes the play stop.

I would definitely increase the amount of exercise this guy is getting and enroll him in some obedience classes. I think you'd notice a huge improvement.

 

[johann]

I wanted to add, that playing tug (when done correctly!) can be a great outlet for dogs and helps burn energy. I wouldn't start that until he has some basic commands like drop it and enough. Always end the game on your terms, have designated tug toys (learn from my mistake, my boxer tries to play tug with tennis balls, LOL).
Also, you can look into relaxation training or mat training. We did this a ton with our boxer as a youngster. I'm sure you can search forums and come up with a few threads on how to mat train. It helps them have a designated command to relax and a place to do it (mat)