snapping at other dogs

[luckydog]

hi all

have not been visiting this site for a while as all has been good with my 4 yr old bc lucky.. but recently she has been getting very snappy with other dogs normally male or little dogs.. you can see that she is going to snap as her hackles start to go up and then she will snap at the other dog and of course the other dog then snaps back and today had quite a scuffle.. not good ... i really dont know what to do as i like letting her off the lead, she loves to run and play but i am starting to get very nervous letting her off.. should i buy a muzzle.. any advise will be takin on board and tried..

[INU]

Does she do it everytime or only when other dogs are in her space/face?

[luckydog]

Does she do it everytime or only when other dogs are in her space/face?

 

hi

only when other dogs are in her space.. they come over for a play/sniff and you will immediatly see her ears go back then her hackles go up and we call her.. but she ignores us as she doesnt want to move from the other dog..

[sweet_ceana]

My dog does this, and because of this behavior we keep her on a lead whenever we are around other dogs. We also warn other people that our dog has fear/ aggression issues so that if they do not want their dog any where near her they can call the dog back. I do not trust that every dog owner I come in contact even understands that she is a work in progress so the lead is paramount when they let fido charge up on her and then get pissed that she doesn't want to play. The lead is for her protection just as much as it is for the other dogs. I would highly suggest doing this with your dog if it is not responding to a recall in these situations.

Keep working with her around other dogs, just keep it controled. Ceana has grown in leaps and bounds since she was a troubled baby (although we did not understand what we saw at the time, hind sight shows that she had issues at even 5 weeks). Let her know that her behavior is not acceptable, but do it in a way that does not make the situation worse. If she is a good off a leash when there aren't other dogs present, preserve that. We play leash-less frisbee all the time with Ceana & she is great, but I would never let her loose around another dog unless I knew that they had already established a relationship.

[luckydog]

thank you for that reply that makes good sense.. is ceana ok when dogs off leash come bounding over to her when she is on leash.. as i also find this very difficult and annoying.. and lucky will snap then also

[sweet_ceana]

She is usually very on edge when they come bounding up on her. She is more comfortable approaching than being approached. When a dog comes bounding up we put Ceana in a sit stay and intercept the dog ourselves. Some dogs will calm down and then Ceana will approach them or they will approach her slow enough that she is ok. Others will continue to frighten her so we do not let her near them, we usually give their owners a heads up when this happens.

[luckydog]

ok thanks for that you have been very helpfull

[sweet_ceana]

My pleasure. Keep working with her and I am sure she will be fine.

[INU]

Mine started doing this when she was around a year old. Before that she was the most submissive dog and would roll whenever other dogs approached her. At some point, she must have realized snapping would stop other dogs from approaching her. She is not an agressive dog at all, she just didn't want to have anything to do with those rowdy and rude dogs. She'd do everything to avoid contact then if that didn't work, she'd curl her lips or do a airsnapping. I was adviced not to correct the behavior because other dogs were being rude and invading her space.

 

However, because of the work I do, I decided to put a stop to this.(I have to attend many PR events where children and parents don't understand dog behavior and they would think my dog is being agressive)

 

What I did was reward her whenever another dog approached her. In the beginning, I only worked with other dogs/owners that I trusted. Whenever a dog gets close, I'd praise her and reward. I had to be quick so that I could reward her before she got nervous. Eventually other dogs were able to sniff her face without her being snappy. Other dogs approaching = reward. If there are strange dogs, I'd block her before they get too close so she'd feel safe. I taught her a little trick so she would stand between my legs on command. I tell her to do that in situations like this. My job is to control the situation so that she doesn't have to protect herself when she feels insecure.

 

She still growl/snap when puppies do submissive licking. I don't correct her or step in because I know she's teaching the pups and she wouldn't hurt the pups.

 

If she snaps when other dogs are NOT in her space/face, then I do correct her. She does this with a couple of female dogs that we know. All I do is make the 'UAH' sound or touch her to get her attention. With her, that's usually enough to stop.

[hoku's mum]

We are dealing with some similar issues, and I am now reading a book called 'Fight' by Jean Donaldson. It is very good, and has opened my eyes a lot. She recommends something similar to what INU suggested for shy dogs. She outlines the different types of dog on dog aggression, and gives good practical advise on ways to deal with it. You may want to check it out.

 

Also, maybe try and make some play dates with dogs that Lucky gets along with to reinforce that other dogs are fun and not to be snapped at.

Good luck!

[mbc1963]

Sounds just like my dog!

 

He is really tense meeting dogs on leash, and sometimes even off leash, especially in the park that we walk in every morning, which I think he believes is HIS. In other, random, foresty parks, Buddy is pretty darn good at meeting - and every time he has a good meet, I mark it with his "Good Dog" high voice and a reward.

 

I did work very hard on the "leave it" command early on - if I even saw a dog coming toward us, I would do the "leave it" command about any stick or prize Buddy had, because he's possessive. He learns that he needs to stop paying attention to whatever it is if I say "leave it," and he does know this means dogs when he's about to aggress, too - not that I always am able to stop it! But his tolerance varies, so I watch him really closely and if I think he's tense or thirsty or too hot, I just avoid the whole thing whenever possible!

 

One thing Patricia McConnell and my trainer both recommended was watching the behavior and doing the "leave it" IMMEDIATELY when I saw Buddy's body language change. ("The Other ENd of the Leash" is really good for showcasing the early signs of aggression - with Buddy it's a stiffening, tense look, a sidelong, cautious stare, and sliding forward of his commisure.) So, as soon as he starts to look like he might aggress, I do a "leave it" and that seems much more effective than doing it after he's already decided to go ahead.

 

I do keep Buddy on leash in tense situations, and have started actually asking people to leave a couple feet between their leashed dog and Buddy, so Buddy can decide whether he wants to approach or not. Sometimes, he pulls forward, tail wagging, and I let him go - other times, he shows no interest, and I trust him and move on. This seems to be working better than my old method - actually walking a curve away from the other dog. (That seemed to be telling Buddy that meeting other dogs was bad... while letting him meet safely, I hope, will help him gain confidence. Time will tell!)

 

It is VERY frustrating when your dog is on leash and tense, and other dogs are off leash and not under control. That's the toughest situation for me! I wish I knew an easy answer to that - keeping Buddy on leash doesn't necessarily prevent a fight, and then Buddy is stuck on a leash with me attached! Yikes! (Just last week, the neighbor's dog got loose and tossed himself at Buddy - and after we got the other dog away, poor Buddy ended up with the leash looped around two of his legs and his stomach, crying pitifully!)

 

Good luck! I know this is a really stressful problem. I'd also like to hear from others who worked on this successfully.

 

Mary

[Bo Peep]

I had a dog that played great with others except when she was on a leash. For some reason she felt like she couldn't defend herself. It came as quite a shock to me because I never had a problem with her before and she was raised with other dogs and going places where other dogs were. I finally figured out it was the leash. If she was loose, she was fine. So, when we went to a dog outing where she had to be leashed I had to keep my eye on her very carefully or out of nowhere she would turn and bite another dog. Sweetest dog in the world. (except that) I never could fix it, but I could keep it under control. Sorry if I couldn't be of any help.

[luckydog]

yet again you all on this site have helped me a great deal.. when it is told to you it just makes so much sense.. Budduys body language is exactly what lucky is doing and yours also Inu.. i will also look out for that book "fight"

no she is absoloutly fine with dogs she knows she is more in there space... lol... also when we go camping she is mostly great .. just some dogs she takes a dislike too. but as also said earlier lucky is the softest most loving dog to any human even child.. they all get licked and no way of stopping her.. so i will start working with her on ALL the recommendations.. thanks all. June and Lucky.

[flrpwr52]

Kya my 7 month old started this at 5 months. If a dog would come running up at us she would go running at that dog, full mohawk. I couldn't have a baby getting in fights with full grown Rotties and Labs so I had her drag a leash and when I saw another dog coming I calmly picked up her leash and got her attention on me or just walked the other way.

 

This did seem to help but where we got the best response from was obedience class. At first she didn't like the other dogs being close to her but by telling her to watch me and keeping her attention we worked through it. The leave it command helps wonders and I felt those were the only words I uttered for weeks.

 

Now we can go to the dog park without a leash dragging behind her and when another dog approaches she is aware but does not always go after them. I do get her attention and praise her when she ignores them. I won't take treats to the dog park but I will toss her ball for her and that's her reward.

 

Another thing our trainer told us to try was when we see another dog coming, that she hasn't seen yet, make her sit with her back to that dog and keep her attention. This works very well also, but the dog has to be on a leash.

 

My other 2 are not fear aggressive and this is all new to me. At first I didn't want people to think she was a mean dog or a bully so I tried to explain. I found out we have many cement heads that frequent our dog park and with all the talking in the world they would not understand. So I did what I had to do for Kya. She is now more relaxed and so am I. Now we play and don't worry as much about the other dogs.

 

One thing I have to add, when other dogs do approach us my attention is fully on Kya and my other 2 girls. I never pet or look at the other dog until I know my girls are OK with that dog in their space.

[Memaw]

I am just now experiencing aggressive behavior with my seven year old BC towards all dogs. She bit my little Yorkie. She has attacked a German Shepherd and a hound. Not sure what to do. I don’t want her to kill my yorkie. Funny she just started this. She has always run loose around the house for we live in the woods. I am gonna tie her up for awhile but I hate to do that. Any ideas. I hate to put her down.