Aggression regression... what to do and think?

[mbc1963]

I've told Buddy's story before, but short version: rescued at 18 months after being a street dog, came home VERY fear reactive to humans and dogs. I did a lot of reading, had a good behaviorist, worked on calm behavior, and he's come a long way. He can still be reactive when meeting strange big dogs and strange big humans, but he's predictable. Generally, when we're at a park away from his "home territory," he meets well, and his "leave it" is pretty reliable.

 

Last night, I took him to the park and he was walking kind of stiffly and slowly. I thought he looked like he was sore or sick, so I turned around to take him home, because I didn't want to do a long walk. On the way to the car, he met a tiny puppy on leash. Met fine, but growled a bit when the puppy jumped at him, so I took him away. As we left, the puppy got loose and CHARGED at Buddy, who was playing with a stick, got protective, and noisily corrected the puppy as she hit him. Just some saliva on the pup... PHEW! I don't usually do corrections for situations like this, because it's a natural instinct for a dog to be protective when another dog is charging at him like that, so I didn't sweat it too much.

 

Since Buddy had missed his long walk, I did take him over to the little green space where his friends congregate, thinking he needed some exercise. There were lots of dogs he's fine with, but a woman took out some chicken in the crowd of dogs, Buddy got jostled, and he went after a little Boston Terrier - the dog ended up with a cut under his eye. I agreed to pay for the vet and all, and the guy is very honorable and nice, and everyone said, "These things happen with dogs."

 

So today I avoided places with lots of dogs, thinking Buddy was feeling off and that he needed a calm walk in the forest. A couple dogs did cross our path, though, and Buddy wanted to take them all on! (Luckily, I was able to tell the owners ahead of time to leash their dogs until we got by.)

 

I'm just bereft, and don't know what to do! Obviously, I will avoid all "near occasions of sin" for the next week or so, to give Buddy a chance to feel better if he's sick with the doggie flu or something. I will take him to quiet woods in off hours, and maybe do on-leash walks with dogs who are very calm and ones he trusts. If he still seems "off" in 3 or 4 days, I'll take him to the vet, and I'll also call my behaviorist if he's still reactive/aggressive in a week.

 

How I deal with this depends on what's going on, obviously. If it's an "I don't feel good" thing, time should take care of it. But I'm wondering if the incident with the puppy charging him - no possible protection from me could keep him from having that pup come flying at him - and then having a big tussle in a crowd of dogs last night has "reset" him psychologically? Has anyone else experienced something like this - where a dog takes a big step backwards after moving mostly forward for a long time? I also think - though maybe it's my own imagination - that he's more frightened around strangers again today - tucking his tail down more quickly when people move to pat him, etc..

 

Certainly, my solution in the park today (hold him back away from the dogs, all tense) didn't help him - I know they read body language and leash tension, and I know I was sending all the wrong signals. I want to avoid getting myself into situations like that until I trust my dog again, so I don't reinforce his fear.

 

Any and all suggestions or possibilities are welcomed. I trust the people in this forum, and think some of you must have been down a similar road.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Mary

[MaggieDog]

A break from dogs should help, then a gradual reintroduction to friends. Maggie regresses every once in a while and I've tied it to her stress level - the more stress in her life, the more reactive she is. Is there anything that's changed in your routine w/ Buddy? Any new foods, people, furniture, etc.? Is it extremely hot where you are (heat can be a cause of lowered thresholds for people and animals ime)?

[PSmitty]

Mary, I wouldn't let one bad night convince you that Buddy's totally regressed. Honestly, I think he was pushed a bit too far. First of all, you noticed he was "off" in some way, and intended to turn back, which is good. Then the puppy charged him, which I guess couldn't have been helped, and it sounds like he issued a correction, not necessarily a bad thing in this case.

 

Now, not to make you feel bad, but after noticing he wasn't himself, and then he was pounced on by the puppy, you should have just taken him home to relax, but you pushed it by taking him to the dog park, where a combination of things went wrong, when he was already stressed over the edge by the earlier incident.

 

I would give him some rest and time away from the other dogs, people and situations that may cause him to react. You've brought him this far, so you know what to do for him, to help. Mostly right now give him some down time and make sure he's feeling better physically before you try to get him back out there. (maybe a vet visit if he's still off in a few days?)

 

I have a reactive dog, so I understand how upsetting it is to think he's come so far, and now this, but don't over-react. He'll be fine!

[SoloRiver]

Has anyone else experienced something like this - where a dog takes a big step backwards after moving mostly forward for a long time?

 

Yes. It happens. It'll happen again. Don't beat yourself up about it. Dogs have good days and bad days just like we do, and a series of bad experiences can cause a dog to regress a little. (Sometimes they regress for no obvious reason too.) Just take a few steps back and act like you're starting from scratch again for a week or so and then slowly go back to your normal routine.

 

I doubt he's been "reset" psychologically. But remember, just as a dog generally can't be permanently "reset" to the beginning by a couple of bad experiences, you also will generally never permanently "reset" the dog to a "normal" setting either. As long as you are willing to deal with a little slush on either end -- "my dog is probably never going to be perfect and normal, but I will be happy if he can do a reasonable impersonation of normal most of the time and can deal with some weirdness on occasion" -- you and Buddy will be just fine.

 

Dealing with reactive dogs takes a lot of management on top of active behavioral modification. "Management" is not a dirty word; do it if you have to. I do it all the time.

[Tassie]

Adding to the great advice already given, I would say a couple of things.

 

The incident with the puppy would have been alarming for you - but reading it, ISTM that Buddy displayed a nice degree of self-control - hopefully the puppy and the puppy's owner might have learnt a valuable lesson. (The park thing was probably a bit too much for him after that - but again, given the situation, it doesn't look as though Buddy went completely over-the-top aggressive. The cut under the eye could maybe have been 'accidental' damage from the scuffle.)

 

All of that said, I think you're right in avoiding uncontrolled situations as far as possible for a little while. If you have some good friends (human and dog) who will do some parallel leash walking with you and Buddy for a while, that would be great. I've found it one of the best things for combining getting exercise, getting some (limited) safe interaction with other dogs, and enabling reinforcement of calm behaviour.

 

And Melanie is right - management goes on for ever. My 5 year old boy - who I've had from puppyhood, and who's been trained and socialized - is still quite reactive, to the extent that I need to monitor his interactions with unknown or untrusted dogs fairly closely - that's OK - that's life.

 

Sounds like you've helped Buddy come a long way - and all of that good work will still be in place.

[Alaska]

Not sure how you got him to be less reactive in the first place, but if you used counter-conditioning, then I would think a little remedial counter conditioning could be a good thing right now. It might help him "remember" that he doesn't need to be so reactive. By remedial counter conditioning, I mean you should find a dog or person that he's almost totally okay with, NOT one that clearly scares him, and reinforce the heck out of him handling that simple challenge.

 

I haven't really dealt with the reactive thing the way you have, but I have seen dogs become superstitious, and if you don't do something to show them the superstition is groundless, the superstition can get more and more cemented in their minds. I had a dog that suddenly refused to walk around a building a certain way. She got more and more serious about not going that way, until one day I lured her through it with extra good treats, and poof! Once she saw there was no longer a demon hiding there (who knows what demon she thought was there -- I have no idea), the superstition vanished.

 

So if Buddy is indeed flipping back over into thinking "I need to scare all strange dogs into staying at a distance," reinforcing him for coming close to a not-too-scary dog without aggressing could remind him that he has other options. Just an idea.

 

I would defer to what Melanie wrote, though, because unlike me she really does know what she's talking about...athough maybe this isn't all that different from her suggestion, now that I reread it.

[Guest WoobiesMom]

I can't add to the excellent advice and info you've already gotten but wanted to add that you are not alone. My dog is extremely fearful but not aggressive. Yes, we've had setbacks. In fact, he's been doing a bit of a slow backwards slide lately that is just not getting much better. I know it's hard to deal with, be patient, and stay the course but it sounds like your head is exactly in the right spot. You're ready to deal with it and you have a plan. Can't ask for more than that!

 

Good luck!

[bc4pack]

I just want to add a teensy bit of emphasis to what Paula mentioned....

 

Stress is cumulative... little things do add up and it really helps to be aware of that, not just

with reactive dogs but all dogs.

 

Jean Donaldson does a good job of going through this in "Culture Clash"... just in case anyone is

interested.

 

Oh and yeah, a regression is pretty normal but I'll bet it won't take even half the time to get back to

where you were.

[mbc1963]

Thanks a lot for all your responses! I'm just being really careful and not putting any stress on the dog - hoping he'll regain his sense of equilibrium. The dog who was hurt went to the vet yesterday and was fine - no stitches, just some antibiotic cream, and the owners were really nice about the whole thing - thank heavens!

 

Mary

[Lizmo]

Mary, I wouldn't let one bad night convince you that Buddy's totally regressed.

 

I agree with this statement made. There is no reason why he would suddenly become "aggressive" after not for so long. I think something may be bothering him. Ear infection, stomach hurting, ect. The possible causes for him to be in any discomfort would be doing this.

[mbc1963]

Update:

 

After two days of regressing pretty far back into reactivity, Buddy seems to have turned the corner again. A Very Large Dog approached us in the woods today, and Buddy was on leash, but he didn't react. Ditto later with a small dog. Buddy seems to be happy to see other dogs again, or at least neutral - rather than aggressive. I'm crossing my fingers that this was all a couple days of just not feeling good! I'm definitely going to have to watch Buddy really closely in the future, and keep his stress levels really low when he's feeling sick.

 

Boy, am I happy to have my almost-mellow dog back. I didn't really enjoy saying hello to that reactive dog I used to live with! Thanks again for everyone who offered suggestions. They helped my psychological state, if not my dog's!

 

Mary

[Tassie]

Oh, that's good to hear, Mary. That will make you feel a lot better, and a lot more confident of Buddy - and that confidence will go down the leash. As you say, you will likely always have to watch and manage situations - but it's good to know that you've got your mellow Buddy back (and I still think he was exercising some self-restraint on both those occasions - hence the little damage on the other dog.)

 

There's no doubt stress and tiredness can affect the dog's reactions. We were having photos taken yesterday of the successful dogs and handlers at a tracking trial. My Kirra (rarely a party animal, but usually neutral at least) was very tired and got quite snarky with the Vizsla male who was next to us - it was like "Quit looking at me" - luckily I settled her down with a treat for long enough to get the photo taken.