Gus Is Being Aggressive

[Guest HoundyGirl]

I've had Gus for almost a year. When I adopted him, I was told he has aggression problems with small dogs. He's pretty well behaved for the most part because his personality is even-keeled and calm. Except where other dogs come in. When I first got him, I had help introducing him to my coonhound, Daisy, who is about 55 pounds. They were both muzzled and on-leash. They seemed to do well, and so far they have never gotten into a fight. They once in a while growl at each other but it's always obvious why: one getting to close to the other while eating a treat or something like that.

 

Gus, however, has a problem with other dogs. It's happened four times now. When I'd had him about a week, I introduced him to a boxer and he tried to nip the boxer on the head. He was interested in the boxer and seemed excited, not tense. He didn't growl. I wrote in here and was cautioned that he was very new and it was too soon to introduce him to other dogs. That made sense so I kept us to ourselves on walks and things were fine.

 

Then a few months after that, I took him to the vet. As we exited an exam room a small, fluffy dog passed in front of us. Gus bent down and bit the dog but only got hair. He growled a little bit. I now muzzle him at the vet's.

 

About six months ago, we were walking and another small, fluffy dog pulled out of its owner's grasp and ran up to Gus and Daisy. Gus attacked the dog, again only getting fur. He growled a lot. I was getting my mail at the time and was slow to react.

 

Yesterday, I was walking Gus and Daisy after work and there was a large, fluffy dog out with his owner playing frisbee. All dogs in my townhouse complex are supposed to be on leash, but he wasn't. (A lot aren't.) The dog came up to us and since it was a large dog, I figured Gus would be ok. I was wrong. He attacked the dog again only getting hair. He growled a lot. I thought I had a firm grim on him, but he pulled me a few feet towards the other dog while he was attacking. So now I know for sure that he has problems with large dogs as well as small ones.

 

I'm wondering what I can do to help him. I can certainly be even more vigilant about keeping us away from other dogs. As long as we don't run into any off-leash dogs I can control the situation.

 

I've done a lot of research into classes and the options aren't good here. There's one positive training methods trainer, but she has only puppy and agility classes scheduled so far. She will come out to the home, and I'm willing to do that, but his problems are all outside of the home. There's one training place that doesn't use rewards other than praise. I tried them with Daisy and it was a horrible experience. Hounds are so food motivated (most of them) that asking her to work for praise just didn't work. Plus they had me force her into position on sits and downs and it just felt so wrong. Then there's PetSmart. I also tried PetSmart with Daisy and it was fine, but their trainers aren't very knowledgeable and I'm afraid to sign him up for a class where the trainer is not used to dealing with aggression.

 

I've tried working with him myself and I think I need to go back to that. I'm not very good at training, but I tried using the approaches outlined in When Pigs Fly and I didn't really get him to do much more than nosing a box for a treat. He has an incredibly small attention span -- maybe five minutes tops -- and looses interest in getting the food after that point. So we worked in 5 minute chunks. I was more successful with Daisy and will get back to training with her. But working with him by myself means he won't have the chance to learn how to deal with other dogs.

 

Do I just go it alone and start with Watch Me for Gus so I can get his attention when another dog is around? I'm not sure it's realistic to expect him to ever interact with other dogs as the easy-going guy he normally is, but it'd be nice for him not to bite if we run across one off-leash.

 

I do recognize that he's inhibiting his bite a lot because he's only getting fur. I've been lucky so far and I don't want it to escalate. I'm just scared an off-leach dog is going to come up to us and Gus is going to draw blood.

 

He's really a good dog other than this. He did have a little sleep aggression, so I made him stop sleeping on my bed.

[krissy]

Summit has some "random aggression". I use quotations because I know it's not random I just can't see a dog from a distance and say he's going to have a problem with that dog or not until we get closer and his body language starts to change... there's no pattern really except that he likes all small dogs. Also I don't know that it's really aggression with him since he only objects to rude dogs.

 

What I've done with him that has been helping is the "watch me" command. We also go to places with lots of dogs. Not that I let him have closer interactions regularly (usually only with dogs we know and that I know he is good with) but it gives him the opportunity to see other dogs regularly so that they're less of an exciting stimulus for him. Imagine if you never saw another person for months and then all of a sudden one day on a walk you saw someone, you'd probably be pretty excited! I try to keep excitement down because that high level of arousal can lead to problems.

 

We too have problems with loose dogs on occasion and there's really no good solution. Our trainer recommends using "the voice of God" kind of like you might if there was a child running towards you and your dog. It doesn't work quite as well on dogs I find, but I'll use a stern voice and tell the dog to go home, to sit, etc. Chances are though that off leash dogs that stray that far from their owner probably don't have reliable training. You can try throwing treats as well. The dog may go for the treats and allow you to make a getaway with your dogs. I haven't had to try that one yet. Dogs that don't listen to me I occasionally try to intimidate. Not sure that's the best word, but basically I just try to shoo them away using body language and a loud stern voice. Dealing with loose dogs is a problem when you have a reactive dog to deal with as well. Try to stay calm when dealing with the dog so you don't work your own dog up more. I often yell to the owner (if present) to call off their dog. The most frustrating thing is when loose dogs come running up to you and the owners are all nonchalent and like "he's friendly!". Yeah, he may be friendly, but my dog isn't. Especially if it's a small dog, if the owner is being like that just tell him your dog can and will eat his dog. That usually makes them hustle.

 

I think there's something to be said that your dog has "attacked" 4 times and only gotten fur. If he wanted to bite he could and would have. Sounds like he's warning the other dog to stay out of his space moreso than trying to eat them.

 

You should call that trainer who does housecalls. Getting his attention reliably in the house is he first step. If you can't get his attention with nothing else going on you're not going to get his attention with the distractions of the outside world. Also, ask the trainer if she will do a housecall and take you guys for a walk. Go somewhere you know there will be other dogs, or set up with friends who have dogs and have them meet you on your walking route so you're guaranteed to have a meeting with another dog while the trainer is there. Keep in mind too that while training other behaviours may not have any direct impact on this issue, it may be helpful indirectly. Obedience training teaches a dog to listen to you, to pay attention to you, builds a bond so that your dog will trust you, and teaches impulse control. All of these things are indirectly going to help you work on his aggression. I know that for Summit part of the reason he gets into trouble with large, rude males is because he feels insecure and goes on the offensive. As we've been doing training he's gotten better, and I'm sure it's because he's learned that I am in control of the situations I put us in. He trusts me more (and we've only had him 6 months so I'm sure things will continue to get better) and that translates into greater tolerance. We always work on "watch me" commands with other dogs nearby, and we also have started working on "leave it" if he keeps looking over his shoulder at another dog.

[mychip1]

Nothing wrong with walking him with a muzzle....it protects him from getting in trouble as a result of people who don't control their off leash dogs....

[GeorgeofNE]

This is EXACTLY the way my George is. He learned to get along with my parents' two dogs because he was in their house on a leash, muzzled, for six hours the first time they met (my parents dogs could not be more mellow and passive!).

 

George is what they call a "breed snob." He loves all greyhounds without exception, and no other dogs of any size, shape, or color. Except, as I said above, he did accept my parents' dogs (both of whom are now deceased).

 

I have no real problem with this. I keep him at heel when another dog is near, and give that dog sufficient berth, and it's all good. I make sure people with dogs on leashes who start to approach us stop by saying, "I'm sorry, he's not friendly with other dogs."

 

Unleashed dogs I holler to the owner, "My dog is not friendly, and there is a leash law in this town. Please put your dog on a leash."

 

If they don't, and their dog approaches, I'm able to get George away. He's not VICIOUS, he's just...it's almost as if he wants to taste the strange creature to see what it is cause he's yet to figure out that not all dogs look like a Greyhound!

 

When I take him on the ferry to Nantucket, or to the vet, I do muzzle him. These are places where other dogs are leashed and attended, although often not very carefully attended. It's just too close quarters for me to risk George nipping someone 'cause they let their little kid handle the dog.

 

I had hoped he would figure it all out; I've had him for four years, but there has been no change, so I just deal with it! Doesn't bother me, really.

[fsugrad]

Gus sounds a lot like my Robin. If it's not a greyhound or whippet, it's prey as far as Robin's concerned. If we're going somewhere we think there are going to be other breeds of dogs (ie to one of our greyhound group events, where there are sometimes dogs of other breeds) we muzzle him just in case. He is how he is, and we love him just the way he is.

 

We don't muzzle him when we walk him.

Robin absolutely loves people and is very affectionate, but he can't be trusted around any other breed of dog. On top of that, he's a big boy.

He might not start something, but he will surely finish it if given the chance.

 

You might want to read this thread about others' experiences with high prey/breed snob hounds...

 

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/269051-what-of-hounds-would-you-guesstimate-are-high-prey/page__p__4857671__hl__prey__fromsearch__1#entry4857671

Edited May 4, 2011 by fsugrad

[Guest HoundyGirl]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. It sounds like training will improve the situation by improving our relationship, which I'm all for. And it's ok with me if this is just how Gus is. I still love him and am willing to protect him from dangerous situations.