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Hi, I have a almost 2 year old BC that I've had since she was 6 weeks. And she has a very bad dog aggrssion issue I need some help with.

 

First of all, she's VERY VERY people friendly, will run up to anyone, and likes kids even more. She's still a jumper when it comes to people, which I've been trying to break her of since I got her. But with kids she will run up to them and sit in front of them or lay down and wait for them to pet her stomach. And if a kid picks up one of her toys, she will follow them everywhere, staring at them, until they throw it. One of my friends works at a school and when she was a baby, even now, I will bring her there so the kids can pet and play with her. The most ever was 8 or 9 at one time and her little tail never stopped. I still bring her everywhere I go, if a friend is having a party, I'll bring Harlow. If there's something going on downtown I'll bring her. Basically she goes everywhere I go except for work lol which is why she's so people friendly. Oh, and she loves my cats

 

Now my problem~~she is very dog aggressive. She won't run up and charge them or anything but if they come up and sniff her she'll loose it. Even little puppies. And it's even worse when she's on a leash. I've read alot about leash aggression and alot of it matches her. She does have a few 'dog friends' there's a Jack Russell and a Pit which can basically do anything and everything with her and she's great. Also a few dogs in the family she likes. I'm just not sure on what to do with her dog aggression. Like I said she's very friendly with people, strangers, etc, just strange dogs that get in her face.

 

Any suggestions would be great, thanks

 

The picture is her with one of her 'boyfriends' Chester

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Does she just do it with dogs that get in her face? Mick will attack any dog that gets rudely in his face, but is fine with dogs that aren't rude. Well, first he'll growl and snap...if they get in his face a second time, it's grounds for Mick to teach that dog a lesson. I don't even really consider it aggression on his part, just an expectation of some manners. I don't take him around in your face dogs. Dogs that aren't pushy in his face, he'll get along fabulously with.

 

He is bad at sharing with any dog, other than Sinead, though. I just don't put him into situations where he might have to share something of high value to him.

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My dog doesn't like other dogs in his face, either - and it's much worse when he's on leash. Early on, he could barely be within seeing distance of another dog without having a melt-down: growling, lunging, panicking. What worked well for him was walking behind other on-leash dogs. After he knew their scents and trusted their behavior, he would graduate to walking next to them. After five years, he's at the point where he's calm and confident with other dogs getting pretty close - as long as they don't literally get in his face. Honestly, at this point it's not worth my effort to try to fix that, because it would mean letting dogs get in his face and thus engaging Buddy's reactivity, which I think just reinforces it. (I even had him evaluated for a "Ruff Diamonds" reactive dog class - but the instructor didn't feel he was at a level where he needed that training.)

 

There IS a big difference between aggression and reacting to rudeness. My dog doesn't ever, ever willingly approach strange dogs. In fact, if we're in the woods, he'll walk to the side of the path and act like he's absolutely fascinated by some leaves he's sniffing, until the other dog passes, at which point he sniffs the scent they leave. If the other dog is small, calm, and friendly and they stand away from each other for several minutes, Buddy will tentatively approach for a butt sniff and maybe even a game of tag. Everything about Buddy says, "Please don't come on too strong. Please stay over there!" Nothing about him is forward-moving or lunging - unless the other dog violates his personal space bubble. Then it's invariably a growl, snap, or, in worst-case situations, a fight.

 

Early on, Buddy was extremely reactive with people as well. I have been pretty successful at making sure all his human interactions are GOOD, and he's finally at a point where he'll start approaching humans once in a while, hopeful of friendliness rather than fearful of danger. Unfortunately, I can't control his dog interactions that way, because I can't explain his psychology to other dogs who approach us. So, I work on a plan of warning others "My dog might not be friendly!" from a distance, and then hoping that they'll curb their dogs. We meet dozens and dozens of dogs, and Buddy's reactivity seems to be getting less and less as time passes. As long as he's got a few inches of air space, he won't get snappy. However, I no longer expect that he'll get entirely over this, so I just deal wtih management.

 

Good luck!

 

Mary

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My dog also has issues with dogs in her face. Though she is getting better, it's been quite a bit of work on my part. Her issues stem from fear (she is generally a fearful dog), so I've had to take it slow and keep things positive with her. I started with taking a reactive dog class at a positive training facility. The class size was only 5 dog/handler pairs and 2 trainers and for the first few classes, the dogs were separated by room dividers so they could not see each other. Our first class Daisy was shut down for about 75% of it due to fear, but I worked with her to get her used to the new people and the new place for a couple of classes, then we tackled working on behaviours that would help her focus on me while in the presence of other dogs. I also learned things like, not being afraid to tell people not to approach, doing a smooth 180 turn with Daisy's focus on me if another dog was approaching etc. I also worked on teaching her simple tricks like nose touching and shake a paw, things that she liked doing and tools I could use to distract her around other dogs. Once I was confident with my handling skills and learned not to let the stress go down the leash (!) I would take her to the park near my house, while keeping her far enough away from other dogs (keeping her under threshold) and we'd practice obedience and tricks and leave. Slowly, we'd be able to get closer and closer to the other dogs without a reaction. I continued to take other classes at this facility starting with quiet classes like obedience and worked up to a high paced recall class (taking it twice!) and a tricks class to get her used to being around other dogs, people and and learning how to restrain herself (self control issues too!) in a high energy environment.

 

Today, she is much better, I can go to off leash parks and as long as she's off leash, she can remove herself from any situation that makes her uncomfortable and get rewarded by it. She is starting to really enjoy off leash play and almost always stays under threshold.

 

While I was working with her, I started fostering dogs for a rescue. I did quite a bit of work with her before hand, but having another dog in your house is different. The dogs I fostered were all adult dogs and they were almost always strays, so had never been in a house etc. and I always picked them up the day of their spay/neuter surgery. It helped Daisy get used to them before they had a chance to be in her face. They were usually kind of timid and kind of out of it due to the surgery, so it gave Daisy a day or two to be ok with the dog in her house. I personally believe that having this rotating door of dogs really helped her understand there was nothing to be afraid of. Of course, this isn't something everyone can do or every dog is ok with, but it really helped me!

 

If you do a search for fear or reactivity, you will likely come upon other related threads and will likely find some really good book recommendations etc.

 

Good luck.

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I also have a reactive dog, that I believe is based in fear. He has come a long way, in the early days, he barely made it through obedience classes, because the other dogs were just too close for his comfort. It was also a challenge just walking him through the park, because he would react on leash to other dogs passing by. With time, he has improved a lot. It's no problem to walk him at the park and he rarely reacts to passing dogs. We worked on that with a combination of rewards for not reacting, and letting him know that acting out like that wasn't acceptable. But he will NEVER be a dog that is comfortable around most strange dogs, and will NEVER tolerate another dog coming up to his face. I just choose to not put him in situations where that will happen.

 

I don't think dogs have to say "hi" to dogs they don't know. I don't think dogs have to go to dog parks, play or socialize with dogs they don't know, UNLESS they enjoy that type of thing. If my dog is comfortable around some dogs (and he is, especially with my trainer's border collies), and gets along well with his packmates, that's enough for me. He's not going out of his way to start something with another dog, so I choose to just mangage his interactions for everyone's sake.

 

As Mary said, there is a big difference between aggression and reacting to rudeness (strange dog all up in your mug). If Harlow is fine with her buddies, and just dislikes strange dogs in her face, I personally wouldn't try too hard to "fix" her. I'd warn other people that your dog needs her space, and enforce a distance between Harlow and strange dogs. If you have friends or family that gets a new dog and you want them to be able to co-exist, then you take those introductions very slowly (good ideas in the above posts) and give Harlow the time and space she needs to get to know them on her terms.

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What exactly does she do when another dog gets in her face? I have found the border collie females expect some manners from other dogs and they can often express this with a snap or stiff posture, sometimes even going so far as pinning the other dog down. If she isn't actually hurting the other dog (breaking skin, etc) and if she stops as soon as the other dog backs off, it could be she's just expressing to the other dog that he's being rude and needs to mind his manners. I've often seen my girls do this with a new dog and then once they establish some rules, the two of them will play together.

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Thanks for all the responses. I could relate to alot of 'fear aggression' in her. If the dog ignores her and keeps walking she will do the same. Like i said she doesn't see a dog and just run at it attacking or anything. It's only when they get in her face. And it doesn't matter the age, size etc. The poor Great Dane she once snapped at cowered by his owner afterwards. Same with a Moscow Watch Dog.

 

If she's not on a leash she's alot better, but I'm pretty sure she can sense me getting nervous while holding the leash and tightening it up. I've been working on that with myself also.

 

Like I said, she's awesome with all people, it's just the strange, high energy bubbily dogs she gets weired out around.

 

Here's a picture of her buddy Quincy, all I need to do is say his name and she gets excited. He's the Pit mix that she worships :rolleyes:

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well I have some good news on Harlow's dog aggression.....

 

I took her to a guy here in Green Bay that is a really good dog trainer. He runs a doggy day care/boarding/behavior business. After asking me a bunch of questions he asked if he could see how she was with other dogs. I agreed, but was nervous. So he took her into a huge room with 3 other dogs, a Golden, Lab and a smaller mixed breed. He had me wait outside the room, but I could still see in through a smaller window. The dogs approched Harlow, and she put her head down and peed. Didn't show her teeth, growl, nip, nothing. After a few minutes the trainer asked me to enter the room....

 

I did and Harlow immediently came up to me and did a very tight circle around my legs, over and over, pushing me back. In the meantime any of the 3 dogs that approached she nipped at and showed her teeth. We left the room, and the trainer said what she was doing was guarding me. Asked if she's even snapped at a dog with me more that 10 feet away....no she hasn't. He said she was a very easy case and asked if I would consider day care. I said yes and 3 days later brought her there for the day. I guess she was nervous at first by ended up following the dogs around and made friends with a Bulldog puppy. Her brother from the same litter was also there that day.

 

The trainer said she is very very submissive with other dogs but feels she needs to protect me. Which I don't understand, since I can pick up new puppies, pet other dogs, etc and she never bats an eye. She could care less. I was bit by another dog at the dogpark over a year ago so that might have something to do with it....? Not sure. But I'm glad I can bring her to doggy day care and know she won't be aggressive towards the other dogs. They have 2 seperate rooms for dogs there, one for the more out going, in your face type dogs, one for submissive dogs. They said she will always be on the submissive side.

 

Since I started a 2nd job I'm so happy knowing I can bring her there and not leave her home all the time. And knowing it will tire her out!

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