Need Help

[DTrain]

I have a one year old BC. I have been training with him and recently took him to stock. He has been slow to learn and I have been waiting, he is coming along. He was the smallest and shyest of his litter but he comes from good stock. He is fixed. Just over a month ago we took him to a training session with other dogs. Since then he has been very aggressive with other dogs, barking and running after them etc. When he is in the truck he has a fit when we pass another dog. He was shy at first with stock but does show an interrest. This is new and he has never displayed aggressive behavior before. He wrestles and plays with our other dogs and he plays rough with people but he is a puppy. I am not sure what has happened or what we have done and I would like to get this out of him. Can you help, thanks.

[bc4ever]

Maybe you should post your question on a different board--the one titled Working Stock Dogs--when you first sign in. Might get more feedback there. Just a thought.

[Alaska]

Also, you will get more help if you use the subject line to describe your problem (instead of just "Need Help"). Some people (many?) do not read topics unless the subject line catches their interest.

[WyoBC]

Does he only fight with other dogs when he's working stock? Or at the place he works stock? He could be confused on whats going on and gets a bit cranky. It's a long shot, sure. How is he with other dogs? Like on a walk, or in the park? If he's not aggressive with them there, I would think it's because he's busy trying to know what to do with the stock. Do you have more information? Like when he's aggressice? Or if certin things set him off?

[DTrain]

Does he only fight with other dogs when he's working stock? Or at the place he works stock? He could be confused on whats going on and gets a bit cranky. It's a long shot, sure. How is he with other dogs? Like on a walk, or in the park? If he's not aggressive with them there, I would think it's because he's busy trying to know what to do with the stock. Do you have more information? Like when he's aggressice? Or if certin things set him off?

 

Hi, thanks for your help. I have not allowed him in a situation where he could actually fight. If walking he will pull on his leash jump and bark etc. I don't let him off his leash now when we are in situations where he could encounter another dog. If I do he will run to them and will not take his call-off command. In the truck he barks and jumps at the windows. He seems to be aggressive anywhere. This is disappointing, without other dogs around he takes his commands well. I have also noticed in the past month he will attempt to get to me first before my other dogs. He seems to want to be my centre of attention. He is not aggressive with them just very pushy. His father is my lead dog and by far my best dog. He is the dominant dog in the group but has never shown aggression. I have wondered if he is making an effort to be dominant. If so I would not have expected this from him and did not see it coming.

[juliepoudrier]

Maybe you should post your question on a different board--the one titled Working Stock Dogs--when you first sign in. Might get more feedback there. Just a thought.

I don't see why more feedback would be available elsewhere. This isn't a working or stockdog training question, it's a general behavior question.

 

J.

[kelpiegirl]

How old is he? How does he respond to corrections from you? How is he off leash around other dogs?

[bc4ever]

I don't see why more feedback would be available elsewhere. This isn't a working or stockdog training question, it's a general behavior question.

 

J.

 

Sorry. My mistake.

[MaryP]

I think this is a fairly common and often very frustrating problem. I think it's especially frustrating when you've not had this issue with other dogs and you don't know why you encountered it suddenly with this dog. Do I sound like someone who speaks from experience? My youngest dog is reactive towards other dogs and some people (men, mostly) when he is on leash. Off leash, he generally doesn't ever have any problems, though he can still be reactive towards people who approach him. It is a fear-based behavior. I don't know why he developed this behavior or if there might have been anything that I could have done to prevent it from developing. So many people, including me, talk about how their dog suddenly started exhibiting this reactive behavior and they don't know why. Often, it first shows up when the dog is transitioning from puppy-hood to adulthood. It tends to be a self-rewarding behavior, too. So, the more often they get to practice it, the more habitual it becomes. The first thing that I thought when I started seeing this behavior was, "I need to put a stop to this right now." But, it's not quite that simple. I've come to realize that I may never be able to completely eliminate the behavior. It's like telling a person who is afraid of spiders, "You will stop being afraid of spiders right now." But, I can learn to manage it and help my dog to be *less* reactive.

 

For me, the goal has been to lessen his reactivity by trying to (1) desensitize him to the things that cause him to react, and (2) teaching him a different response. I generally have pretty good luck when I'm working with just him. One of my biggest problems, though, is that I have multiple dogs and Skittles feeds off the energy of the other dogs. When they become excited, he becomes excited, but his excitement results in an inappropriate overreaction (aggression). I don't have time right now to explain everything that I've been doing with my dog to deal with this issue. But, I just wanted to sympathize with you and let you know that there are plenty of people out there that struggle with these behaviors, too. If I have time later, I'll try to describe what I've been doing (what has worked and what hasn't), but I'm sure you'll get some good advice from others here in the meantime.

[DTrain]

I think this is a fairly common and often very frustrating problem. I think it's especially frustrating when you've not had this issue with other dogs and you don't know why you encountered it suddenly with this dog. Do I sound like someone who speaks from experience? My youngest dog is reactive towards other dogs and some people (men, mostly) when he is on leash. Off leash, he generally doesn't ever have any problems, though he can still be reactive towards people who approach him. It is a fear-based behavior. I don't know why he developed this behavior or if there might have been anything that I could have done to prevent it from developing. So many people, including me, talk about how their dog suddenly started exhibiting this reactive behavior and they don't know why. Often, it first shows up when the dog is transitioning from puppy-hood to adulthood. It tends to be a self-rewarding behavior, too. So, the more often they get to practice it, the more habitual it becomes. The first thing that I thought when I started seeing this behavior was, "I need to put a stop to this right now." But, it's not quite that simple. I've come to realize that I may never be able to completely eliminate the behavior. It's like telling a person who is afraid of spiders, "You will stop being afraid of spiders right now." But, I can learn to manage it and help my dog to be *less* reactive.

 

For me, the goal has been to lessen his reactivity by trying to (1) desensitize him to the things that cause him to react, and (2) teaching him a different response. I generally have pretty good luck when I'm working with just him. One of my biggest problems, though, is that I have multiple dogs and Skittles feeds off the energy of the other dogs. When they become excited, he becomes excited, but his excitement results in an inappropriate overreaction (aggression). I don't have time right now to explain everything that I've been doing with my dog to deal with this issue. But, I just wanted to sympathize with you and let you know that there are plenty of people out there that struggle with these behaviors, too. If I have time later, I'll try to describe what I've been doing (what has worked and what hasn't), but I'm sure you'll get some good advice from others here in the meantime.

 

 

Hi Mary, thanks, I very much hope you come back and tell me more. He has not gotten into a fight with another dog but I am affraid it could happen. Also, I can't trust him in situations where other dogs are around. He does not always take his call-off command. Something did occur to me this morning. I also have his father who shows no aggressive behavior at all. It is often the case that the son can watch his father work. He does get excited to go to the stock and he is coming along but, he frequently plays with his dad. They wrestle etc, the usual stuff. Dad however does walk-ups on the puppy and will chase him if the puppy runs. Do you think there is something there.

[lrayburn]

DTrain,

Is your dog intact? If so, he may be acting out now because he has hit sexual maturity and is more willing to act on than he was previously. Many dogs' personalities change at about a year old (and again at 2-3 years). Behavioral modification is your best option and, if he is intact, neutering sometimes helps reduce the severity of the behavior. I would work on setting him up and actively retraining a new response to the problem when he is alone and then gradually work in your other dog(s).

 

Other people who breed and keep pups from their litters may be able to speak to the interplay between the father and son better than I can. However, I have seen several dogs (from working bird dog lines) where the son's behavior improved dramatically after the passing of the father. In some cases, particularly when both males are intact, there may be a level of competition/conflict between the two that we don't see as well as they do. If that is true, I would certainly recommend retraining the behaviors separately (even if he's pretty good alone, work hard and make him 100%) and then taking several steps back and retraining again when you introduce the father and/or another dog into the equation.

 

Lisa

[DTrain]

DTrain,

Is your dog intact? If so, he may be acting out now because he has hit sexual maturity and is more willing to act on than he was previously. Many dogs' personalities change at about a year old (and again at 2-3 years). Behavioral modification is your best option and, if he is intact, neutering sometimes helps reduce the severity of the behavior. I would work on setting him up and actively retraining a new response to the problem when he is alone and then gradually work in your other dog(s).

 

Other people who breed and keep pups from their litters may be able to speak to the interplay between the father and son better than I can. However, I have seen several dogs (from working bird dog lines) where the son's behavior improved dramatically after the passing of the father. In some cases, particularly when both males are intact, there may be a level of competition/conflict between the two that we don't see as well as they do. If that is true, I would certainly recommend retraining the behaviors separately (even if he's pretty good alone, work hard and make him 100%) and then taking several steps back and retraining again when you introduce the father and/or another dog into the equation.

 

Lisa

 

Thanks Lisa, I am glad you brought that up. I was thinking about this earlier today but it only led to more questions. The puppy is not intact although you would swear he is but dad is of course. We neutered the puppy thinking we would bring him down a bit and I did not want to carry the from line from him. Dad is from fantastic stock but the puppy was from a new line I did not like. Dad is only 4 so I hope it will be a very long time before he passes. The puppy has a sister and two brothers that all work on ranches and show no sighs of this behavior although I am told that like my puppy they were difficult to house train and are difficult to work with. I have plenty of time and I like the pup so I am going back to some basic training with him. I would love to here from a breeder who has encountered this and a trainer who has fixed it.

[sweet_ceana]

Both of my dogs have some similar issues. (LOL I hit the jack pot. The fiance says I attract animals with abnormal minds. I once had a cat that can only be described as autistic- seriously.... the vet and I had no other word to describe him) Ceana's issues are a little more complicated than Poke's because her issues stem from pain. Poke, on the other hand, has agression issues that have to do with fear and control. On leash he can be a nightmare. If I could I would let the little bugger off leash all the time, but that wouldn't solve the leash problems, only ignore them.

 

The biggest thing that I have done to improve Poke's behavior is enroll him in classes at petsmart. ( I for got to add Poke is almost 14 months old & we got him from rescue at 8 months) We finished the begginers class two weeks ago and the dog I first brought to class vs. the dog I have now are completely different. When I say different I am not talking about tricks. Poke could do everything in the class before we showed up (except his recall is now almost 100% and that is more of practice makes perfect ) Poke barked and freaked out for the first two weeks. He learned to calm down and focus on me and ignore everything else the next four weeks, and in the final two weeks my boy was actually thrilled to see the other dogs and people in class that had been so frightening 8 weeks before.