My female has become very dog-aggressive! Help!

[Arya]

Hi everyone!

I have two Boxers at home, a 11 month old freshly neutered male (Krogan) and my 1.5 year spayed female (Echo). Echo was raised around lots of dogs. She went to the dog park weekly, socialized one-on-one with lots of individual dogs, went to two rounds of dog training, and has gone to lots of Boxer **************. She never had any problems with aggression, but she has always been a REACTIVE dog. Where Krogan is dopey, quiet, calm, and loving....Echo has always been a guard dog who is reactive on leash and more stimulated than Krogan.

Since about December, when we got Krogan at 6 month old, Echo has become extremely aggressive to other dogs. Not our own, but any other dogs. On a leash, she will literally pull me down the street embarassingly leaping and barking ferociously at any dog she sees or hears. The dog park is now completely out of the question. On three separate occasions, she has gotten into legitimate dog fights that she instigated. I have had to pull her off and I fear that she would try to kill another dog if I didn't stop it. She has yet to draw blood, but I wouldn't put it past her.

I'm just distressed over it all. We used to take the pair of them hiking, to the dog beach, to the dog park, and to friends' houses, but now we can't bring Echo anywhere. I'm so upset because I feel like we did everything right, but now I just don't know what to do next. Any solutions or ideas?

[LILYLARUE]

I would absolutely consult a behaviorist - NOT A TRAINER. See if your vet can recommend one. Make sure they are licensed and use positive reinforcement methods - no adversive devices like pain inducing collars or devices. You need to nip it in the bud before this becomes her learned response. Also, you may as well get a full thyroid panel, physical check up and blood workup from your vet a while. Any good behaviorist will require it along with working with your vet for any medications that would be required. Good Behaviorists look at the physical, physiological and psychological make up of the dog in order to asses based on the whole picture. Then will then work up a plan of training, counterconditioning, and desensitizing training for you to follow. YOU MUST BE DILIGENT! This is not a willy nilly I'll do it today but not tomorrow thing. It will be constant and continueous, repetitive and diligent training requirement.

You can help your dog change this behavior, and the sooner the better. My girl was extremely dog aggressive and with proper needed medications and diligent, daily training, she is now a dog that can approach other dogs with little reactions. I still am on top of her every second, and have learned what to look for in her body language to decide when she is capable and confident enough to approach and when she absolutely isn't.

I don't know how far you are from Marin County, but Trish King and their humane society is a well-reknowed, highly respected behaviorist. She holds classes and does some private training as well. If you are not close enough, then call and see who she can suggest. She works with the most highly aggressive dogs, people aggressive dogs, trained fighting dogs, and dogs that have maimed and turned them into loving pets. Of course, with the knowledge that the owners are just as diligent as the dog requires.

I will tell you, behaviorists do not come cheap. BUT, usually one or two visits with phone follow-ups are usually all that will be required. I paid for one of the top ones here on the east coast and paid $400. But only one 4 hr visit was required for her to assess, and give me a plan of training and teach me all I needed to know to help my girl. So really, it was well worth the cost and didn't take months of sessions that easily would have cost more than what I paid. What I learned I then used on all the foster dogs that came to my home since, and helped every one of them become happy, adoptable dogs. It was a learning experience that I will never forget and makes the fee priceless!

[KelasMom]

Originally Posted by Arya

She never had any problems with aggression, but she has always been a REACTIVE dog. Where Krogan is dopey, quiet, calm, and loving....Echo has always been a guard dog who is reactive on leash and more stimulated than Krogan.

I am having a similar problem. My 3 year old lab Bailey is so docile and laidback and my 2 year old boxer Kela is Definitely reactive. She gets freaked out by the smallest thing. Today, Bailey was reverse sneezing in the backyard during our normal playtime. This is a problem she has a lot during allergy weather so it's not like Kela isn't used to hearing it. Today, for some reason, it triggered her. In less than the blink of an eye, Kela was on top of Bailey with Bailey trying to run from her. Bailey is definitely NOT a fighter and I fear that Kela will hurt her or worse soon. The wierd thing is, at PetSmart and other dog-friendly stores, she is so friendly with other dogs; it's just Bailey, so far. Unfortunately I do not have the financial means to seek out a behavioral specialist so it has come to a point where I have thought about placing her in a new home to protect both her and Bailey. If you find anything that works to calm Echo, please let me know!

[KelasMom]

Special, Report

This is a very interesting article on recognizing subtle signs of aggression and treating them constantly.