Dog aggression - is he agressive, fearful, or both? What can do about it?

[MochaNut]

Mocha is my little who-knows-what mixed breed dog. I adopted him from a shelter about a month ago and my vet said that he is about 2 years old.
At home he is well behaved, but when he meets another dog while walking he can be quite difficult to handle. When he sees another dog from afar he watches it intensely and acts anxious (whimpering, marking territory, yawning). If a dog comes close he often lunges and barks. If I let him meet another dog he doesn't typically try to bite, but he doesn't relax and is fixated on the dog. After the dog passes, he frantically tries to mark territory.
I have limited experience with dogs so I do not know how to handle this behavior. He SEEMS to be acting aggressively out of fear, but I am not certain. I would like to work with a professional dog trainer directly, but we are living in S. Korea and professional trainers are difficult to come by (especially reputable English speaking trainers).
What should I do to correct this behavior? So far I have been bringing him to a nearby park where he can see other dogs playing and I do obedience drills with him (mostly "sit" and "down" with lots of treats). However, I do not know if this is an effective approach.

I realize that good intentions alone aren't enough to help to my dog, but I can't just ignore the issue either. I'm worried that if I don't work with him now this behavior may escalate to a much higher level of aggression. In the absence of a professional trainer, what steps should I take to address this issue?

Thank you for any insight that you can provide.

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Hi, The first steps is to understand why your dog is acting this way. You gave some good clues, but more will be helpful.

The fact that he is marking territory before and after the encounters is evidence that the dog is feeling responsible for dealing with the situation. The yawning may be either an insecurity with the situation itself or can possibly be some sort of conflict (causing insecurity) with you if you are verbally or physically correcting him during the situation. The whimpering is surely some kind of anxiety - whether it is anxiety due to restraint from being able to encounter the other dog or if it is because he doesn't want to encounter the other dog is determined by the rest of the body language.

The lunging when he is on the leash when the dog comes close - could be fear based or it can be frustration for not being able to control the environment while on leash. Could also (and most likely) a combo of both.

Here are some starter troubleshooting questions for you:

1. What is your dog's body language when he encounters another dog? Is his tail up high? low? is it wagging? Are his hackles up? Is there a change in his body language depending on if the other dog is at a distance compared to when they are interacting/

2. Are you seeing different behavior when you are off the dog's normal "turf"? Do you see less marking behavior compared to when he is in his normal neighborhood?

3. How is the dog in the home? Does he have any structure? Is he on the same resting places as you? Does he control your relationship - affection, games, etc?

These questions will help troubleshoot. One thing for certain is Mocha seems to deal with the situation in his own way. We will need to teach him to look to you for direction.

Keep in touch,

Mike

[MochaNut]

Sorry for the late reply!

1. Seeing another dog in the distance – When Mocha sees another dog, he has a forward stance, ears perked, and tail up high but not wagging. He often whimpers and slightly trembles. It isn’t too difficult to make him keep walking when he sees another dog from a distance.

Encountering another dog – When another dog is a few feet away, Mocha lunges and usually growls or barks. His ears are perked and tail up high; tail typically is not wagging and hackles aren’t up. (I’ve only seen hackles up once when a non-aggressive but assertive dog ran up to him). When I refuse to let him greet the other dog, he does not give up easily and continues to lunge and bark. When he does greet and interact with another dog his stance is forward and ears perked, tail high and not usually wagging. I’ve noticed that his body language sometimes elicits negative reactions from other dogs. Whether he actually greets the other dog or just sees it up close, it can be very difficult to make him walk away. He can be especially difficult to handle if the other dog is off-leash or running around.

2. I cannot detect a difference in behavior between when he is inside or outside of his neighborhood. He acts the same way whether we are just outside of our apartment building or in a new area. The only time that he acts a little different is if we enter an area that I think he perceives as another dog’s turf, in which case he is more subdued and acts nervous. For example, I walked him into a small pet store the other day where there was a resident Shitzu that was only a little smaller than Mocha. He didn’t bark, growl, lunge, or demonstrate any other obvious aggressive behavior, but he was stressed and he peed.

3. At home he does have structure.
Resting places: Since my husband and I brought him home a month ago he has not been allowed to share any of our resting places (including the sofa). He isn’t allowed in the bedroom at all – he knows this and doesn’t enter even though the door is usually open. He has his own blanket that he uses during the day and a crate that he sleeps in at night.
Games, affection: Mocha tries to beg for affection, but I ignore him when he does and I am careful to be the one who initiates the attention. This is something that we are still working on, but I can see that he is making progress. It used to be that he would bark or mouth when I ignored him, but now he usually just gives up rather than trying to push me to respond. If I want to pet him, I wait until he has given up and relaxed, then I invite him to come to me. As for games, I am the one who starts and ends the games, I also make sure to be the one in control during the game.

Other: Recently I read on this website about reclaiming food that a dog refuses or loses interest in. I have begun doing this and have also stopped leaving his toys/rawhides where he can access them freely (except for when he is home alone).

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

It looks like you are on the right track with everything you are doing! Good job!

Seems as if he is a little too concerned about the dogs in his environment. The fact that there isn't much tail wagging seems to reflect that he doesn't have a strong desire to engage with them, but he is concerned, ,and hesitant to put himself in a vulnerable position (let his guard down).

If you keep up with the pack structure exercises - you should be communicating to him that you want the position to lead him in those situations. Really the next step would be to start executing an obedience plan that will help to guide him into a better behavior in those situations. From there we can then start a desensitizing or counter conditioning plan.

How is he with a formal "heel"? I would start with working on all phase 1 exercises. Especially the "climb" and the "heel" will be important in the early phases. Have him master these in a low to no distraction environment. Wouldn't try it around the other dogs yet.

Here is the phase 1 heel (you will need to ultimately reach at least a phase 2 "heel":


keep in touch!

[jocomoreno]

Whats a good approach to desensitizing dogs with a fear based aggression towards dogs in proximity, ie; face to face greetings or hyperactive dogs? Theres not much problem with dogs walking around or sniffing in passing. Only in the two situations, or similar situations, I mentioned above. Would it be a similar approach to the video; Elu and Hunkie rehab? It seems that Hunkie has more of a control thing towards other dogs but I would imagine the desensitizing would be the same.

Operations at home are pretty well established and there is another dog at home that gets along fine. No fights.

Its a fear based behavior that im sure of. Tail low (not tucked), hackles up, gets defensive and wont let guard down around other dogs, head stays low.

Got some ideas in mind. Just wondering what the guys at k91 think.

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Generally, I try to make the old behavior as difficult for the dog so that I can work on counter conditioning. If I am stationary with the dog, I will put the dog in a sit ASAP and do resistance training asap TOWARD the dog of focus. This usually throws the dog off enough since they have to concentrate on holding muscles opposite of their natural response. I then quickly slide up and down the leash to counter condition with treats or my sweet luv'n! If the dog breaks, I use appropriate corrections (while keeping normal calm attitude and praise).

If heeling it is very important to have timing DEAD on. If the dog is in heel position but looking at other dog this is the same as breaking position and immediately do appropriate body language warning, followed by appropriate correction (if dog doesnt respond to body language). This makes it hard for the dog to focus on the other dog and makes the other dog a cue to pay closer attention to you and be counter-conditioned. Even if the your dog is in correct heeling position, but looking straight ahead at an on coming dog keep doing slow steps and changing pace.

For REALLY difficult dogs I wait until the dog is off-leash trained and heel with the dog off-leash. Have a second handler walk opposite side of distraction with a light-line attached to the "off-leash" dog. This gives the dog the feel they have no safety net and are more likely to pay attention to the handler and get over the hump. Obviously the leash handler of the dog and helper must be true LEASH NINJAS and know how to lock the leash well and know how to avoid contact with other dog in worse case scenario. Extra "safety" collars (slip loop) and a muzzle can be helpful too. At the beginning of the "leash ninja" video you can sort of see the technique of resistance toward the distraction when the two dogs lunge at eachother, but in the case of a focused training effort I would remain facing the dog during resistance and keep coming back to counter-condition. The video shows the technique just as an emergency move.

[jocomoreno]

Awesome thank you

[jocomoreno]

Do you think a pinch collar would be a good idea in this scenario? Im thinking the pinch would cause her to react or have a negative association if she went to lunge at the dog. Right now im thinking a slip loop only with muzzle

[Teresa]

Generally speaking you should be practicing in this type of scenario when phase 3 is complete. Therefore I would recommend using a pinch collar and a remote. When using the pinch collar, if you have practiced using the Leash Ninja technique, the dog is not really hitting the end of the leash full force, because you are catching the dog smoothly. Also if you are giving corrections using the hand pumps, and not sharp pops, the dog will rarely react negatively to the correction. If the dog is not responding to the hand pumps, then you can correct with the remote. This usually is the most effective, gentlest and safest way to go for the dog.

If you dont want to use a remote, then a slip loop is ultimately going to be the way to go. The slip loop can be effective but it should be noted that the slip loop has potential to damage the dog's trachea, due to the way it cinches up.

Using a muzzle regardless of the type of collar is also essential.


Hope this helps!

Happy Training!
Teresa