Treating aggressive dog between training sessions

[Jacol123]

Hi, I have read and watched carefully all about rehabilitation of aggression and have some questions. Now I'm working with an aggressive (level 5) golden retriever who has badly bitten his former owners. Now he will be taken from the shellter and we will start the rehabilitation program. I will be very grateful for some suggestions how to treat this dog between the training sessions. How should he be treated in his daily routine? Crate training? Always with a muzzle during walking on leash? How do you think? Shoud he have some time to get used to his new environment, or would it be better to start the trainings immediately after he arrives at his new home?
Thank you for answer.

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

What is the bite history. Can you write all the events that lead to the bites?
True level 5's have to be handled very carefully and a history is the best thing to start with in making a plan for training.

No matter what the history - for starters dont jump into "formal" training too soon. Always start with predictable relationship building and structure. The first thing most of these dogs need is trust in the handler.

Interested in more details. May be a good one to blog about that we can follow as more info is added to the aggression rehab sections. I'm sure I can help.

[Jacol123]

Thank you for the answer. So, let me tell more about bite history and about previous accidents and reasons of putting the dog to the shelter and recommending to euthanize him.
Bono is the male, no neutered golden retriever in the age of 18 months weight 44 kg (97 pounds). He was taken from the breeder in age of 8 weeks and growing with his family: 2 grandparents, 2 parents, and a young son (16 y.o).
First time he showed the teeth in December 2008. After this accident (without hurting anybody) they have decided to train this dog in obedience in one of the private schools. Unfortunately the trainer in that school was incompetent. His pieces of advice concerning treating the dog were very dangerous and stupid. He told that if the dog is growling - they should grab his neck, throw the dog to the floor and shake him hard. Of course, they used prong collar too, to improve this effect of terror upon the dog.
Few months later the dog started growling, when anybody put his hand towards him. Aside from growling, peeing appeared - the vicious scroll was rising up. The more he was feeling terrified – the more they were pushing him.
Although the dog was under constant pressure, in every day situations he was left without any control. He could jump over the bed, jumped on the incoming people, etc.
At the same time he had no free walking behind the fence, no exercises and building bond with his owners. All commands were given shouting and the people often loosed their temper. When the guests came to the house - dog had to be out. He was barking, scratching the door, peeing.
First seriously bite happened in November 2009. A lady from the neighbourhood came to the house and said „hello” to the dog, shaking his paw. The dog has bitten her hand seriously. She had to go to the hospital to stitch the wounds.
The owners asked me for consultation. I have seen the fearful and unsure dog, also conflicted between approach and avoidance. I showed the owners some exercises with clicker to redirect his attention, and associate the presence of human with pleasure, not with fear -You can see it on YT

After I left the owner did nothing with the dog except more isolation and pressure.
On the 29th of December the dog bit very seriously his owner (the lady). The circumstances were as usual: some guest were coming to the house. The dog was frustrated in the isolation. After they left- the owner brought the dog outside. The dog ran around her and jumped biting very hard her arm and hand. The lady had to go to the hospital. The doctor said that if she didn’t have a winter jacket - her arm would be damaged.
After this accident the family decided to put the dog to the shelter and to put him to sleep. During rage observation in the shelter one of my colleagues - mrs Dorota decided to give this dog a second chance.
Since yesterday the dog lives in her home with two other dogs - male golden retriever and female labrador.
First hours in the new house shows that Bono has a good contact with other dogs, jumps immediately to the couch and defences food. As so far, Bono doesn’t like crate and avoids it. Yesterday evening he attacked Dorota. In the evening she was resting on the couch, and her dog Frodo was next to her. Bono approached and Dorota touched his neck gently. In one second Bono started to attack her and jump. Frodo (the second dog) defended his owner and disciplined Bono without any problem.
I know that now the new dog is in totally new environment and he must have time do adopt in the new home. But now I’m concerning next steps to plan to rehabilitate him from aggression towards people.

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Thanks for the excellent history and video.

It seems clear to me we have a conflicted dog that is reacting to the touch because he understands that the human hands may sometimes be reaching to administer discipline. Good example of how dogs and humans suffer by the aftershocks of rough training. An unneutered male Golden with an obvious stronger personality will often decide to fight back and "correct" the person reaching for him in a way that makes him feel uncomfortable.

Definitely a category 5 at this point, but fortuntely I believe he can be shifted down easily to a category 4 with some trust building and structure. Once a category 4 dogs become safer to work with.

I have outlined some relationship building rules here in the members area:
http://www.selfhelpdogtraining.com/E...ationship.html

You will have to sign in to the self help section to get to the page. I can't stress how important of a first step that is. Everything a person does with that dog at this point should be based on establishing a respectful relationship at the leadership position. this can be done safely by manageing the obvious triggers and following the rules outlined. For instance, at least two of the bites would have never occured just by following this way which I always use standard for all dogs.

As far as starting obedience, you cant go wrong by continuing with the clicker until more trust is built. Tell me what you think of the info on the link. Another thing to definitely do to give this dog the best possible chance is to remove those testicles! It wont solve any problems at this point but was certainly a factor in getting him to where he is now. Less testosterone will help him be less intense at the least. I hope Bono is still around and safe.

My hunkie video #1 is a loose example of some relationship guidelines with a new aggression rehab case:

[Jacol123]

Dear Mike,
Thank you for the answer. Today Bono will have orchidectomy. He will be castrated. And this is very important point in his rehabilitation.
I have studied very carefully all materials about aggressive behaviour rehabilitation, and I agree with your point of view.
Last few days Bono refused to get into the crate. He didn’t want to eat anything in the crate, and he preferred starving to eating. He also tried to take his muzzle off. Now Dorota is incorporating all important things concerning her leadership and is trying to establish proper relationship with this dog. We have given up crate training so far. Bono simply is afraid of this crate and we wouldn’t like to give him more stress. Instead of that we avoid confrontations, and exerts management: Bono has no access to the furniture, no free access to bed. During feeding time Dorota leaves him alone, and immediately removes a bowl when Bono finishes eating. Now we need some time after operation for Bono to recover. We are planning to start with basic training probably next week.
Concerning clicker training. This movie was taken when I was in the house of former Bono owners. I tried teach them how to replace confrontation with positive attitude. And now I agree with you. First we must establish good leadership and trust, then we can introduce more things, even clicker training. I look forward to your answer and I promise to take more movies from the rehabilitation process.
Thank you for all your suggestions and help.
Here you can see Bono just before the operation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giuTxMRy7X0

[Jacol123]

We just started rehabilitaion program with Bono. Here you can watch first two meetings taken last week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUpOLPjdSk

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Jacek,

Your videos of Bono are excellent! Very good job! Love all your youtube videos actually!

[Jacol123]

Hello folks
Here you can watch our next stage of work with Bono - the aggressive golden mix. Now we concentrate on teaching Bono to perform commands in lo to moderate distractions. So far we use flat collar only. The dog wears a muzzle for safety.

Best regards
Jacek

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Great Stuff Jacek! Very impressive! Bono was very lucky to find you!