We want the old Moxie back!

September 2, 2008 9:46 AM

Why is my dog suddenly aggressive towards other dogs, and how can I try to reverse this recent trend?

My 3yr old half beagle half mutt female dog has recently become rather aggressive towards other dogs. We used to take her on walks with no problem, and she used to enjoy going to the dog park for a good run.

Now however, she often lunges at other dogs and growls and the hair on her back stands up when we're walking her, and we are afraid to take her back to the (finally) renovated dog run near us. She is perfectly fine with some dogs in the neighborhood (even lying on her back and exposing her belly to them when she sees them!), but with other dogs she will go nuts! We did have one experience at the dog park where a rather large dog was quite aggressive towards her, but there was no immediate change in her behavior following that little rumble. So we're not really sure what caused the change, or how to fix it.

We have been trying to make sure that when another dog is crossing our path we hold her close to us, and if she doesn't growl or lunge, we will praise her a lot. This doesn't seem to be having much effect, though, and I was wondering if any Mefites might have had similar problems and have been able to solve them? We are considering going to doggy training again with her to try and fix this problem, but I thought I'd ask here first. Thanks in advance!

posted by Grither to pets & animals (12 comments total)

My Rottweiler/Doberman mix became aggressive towards one of my other dogs when she started having thyroid issues. Since she's been on medication, she's been fine with all dogs.
posted by moosedogtoo at 10:05 AM on September 2, 2008

I suspect others with dog experience will give sage advice soon, but in the interim.. if the change was very sudden and there are no obvious causes, it could be a medical issue. For example, Lyme disease can cause sudden aggression in dogs.
posted by wackybrit at 10:06 AM on September 2, 2008

As the "sister" to two dogs who are of breeds prone to aggression (my mother has a Jack Russell and a part pit), the idea of going to a dog park is a bit scary for me, and I've read things online that corroborate that they can be a scary place for dogs, too. It sounds like your dog is submissive--therefore, she might be getting picked on at the dog park. Why not try some other form of doggy socializing--play dates or doggy hikes, perhaps--in an environment where the dogs are leashed, or at least in reduced numbers.

We have been trying to make sure that when another dog is crossing our path we hold her close to us, and if she doesn't growl or lunge, we will praise her a lot.

I've heard that tensing up--"holding her close"--can actually make the dog more nervous, because they sense that you're nervous. If possible, you should always hold the leash lax in these situations. Continue the praise, of course.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:07 AM on September 2, 2008

I've heard that tensing up--"holding her close"--can actually make the dog more nervous, because they sense that you're nervous. If possible, you should always hold the leash lax in these situations. Continue the praise, of course.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi

Yeah, I've heard/read this as well, so I try to nonchalantly hold a bit more of the leash than normal, but if I don't do anything, then she has too much of a chance to get at the other dog (thanks to our narrow sidewalks, and her truly unbelievable speed). Also, she had previously been fine in the dog parks, so it might be something a vet might have an idea about, as I hadn't thought along that route at all, so thanks for the suggestions moosedogtoo and wackybrit!
posted by Grither at 10:13 AM on September 2, 2008

Yeah, I've heard/read this as well, so I try to nonchalantly hold a bit more of the leash than normal, but if I don't do anything, then she has too much of a chance to get at the other dog (thanks to our narrow sidewalks, and her truly unbelievable speed). Also, she had previously been fine in the dog parks, so it might be something a vet might have an idea about, as I hadn't thought along that route at all, so thanks for the suggestions moosedogtoo and wackybrit!

Do you have her on a choke collar? If you do, try putting it high up, right behind her ears. I find it much easier to get control of a pulling dog that way.

While the vet stuff is a good idea, I still wouldn't discount the possibility that she was spooked by the experience with the aggressive dog, even if it's happened gradually. These things happen, unfortunately--my mom's pit has developed a phobia of thunderstorms after a neighbor threw a firecracker in our yard (jerk). Just like humans, they can develop all sorts of paranoias from traumatic experiences. If she's displaying dog aggression though, definitely keep her away from the park until you figure out the root of it. Really, safer for all the puppies involved.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:18 AM on September 2, 2008

No, we used to use a gentle leader, and that pretty much solved the pulling problem, but now we're back to just a regular leather collar. She no longer pulls 100% of the time like she used to, and it's only when she randomly decides she doesn't like a dog that she'll suddenly lunge for them, which can be when we're already almost past them, or before we get to them or whenever. Very unpredictable.

And yes, I'm not discounting a behavioral change, but it might be easier to eliminate other potential medical causes first by a visit to the vet. Any tips on training techniques for this particular problem are still more than welcome!
posted by Grither at 10:27 AM on September 2, 2008

I have a half-beagle mutt and the same thing happened: he was attacked by 2 larger dogs at a dog park and he hasn't been the same since (and this was several years ago). He used to be fine with all dogs, now there is roughly a 50/50 chance that he will either wag his tail and go play or immediately make a bee line for them and growl and attempt to tackle. Fortunately he has never bitten anyone or anything or even attempted to, but he is ~65lbs and sounds pretty vicious when he does it so I have had to pretty much give up on dog parks.

It was a gradual thing with him too, there wasn't a sudden change in behavior.

What has helped me when we go on walks is to redirect him to do something else. If a dog is approaching and I can tell he's going to growl or pull I make him sit and then praise him or give him a treat once they've passed. I also have him on a training collar so if he starts to growl before I catch it I can snap it and say "NO!" (and then make him sit and positively reinforce the good behavior). He still lunges at dogs occasionally but now mostly he either ignores them or will look at me and whine a little bit with his "I want to go play but I know I'm not supposed to run over there" face but he won't pull or growl.
posted by bradbane at 11:17 AM on September 2, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I am not a dog trainer, but it sounds like you have a classic case of leash aggression on your hands. This is typically a fear reaction, a fight-'cause-I-don't-have-the-option-of-flight response. It can crop up for a variety of reasons, and can be the result of what your dog perceives as a traumatic experience. I have a very large dog who does not like other dogs (with the exception of our next-door neighbor's), so I unfortunately have a lot of experience with this. She was attacked by an off-leash dog while on a walk, so since then she has seen other dogs, on lead or off, as big giant threats, despite her being 110 pounds.

The key in rehabilitating Moxie is to keep her below her threshold. In other words, maintain a distance between you and approaching dogs so she doesn't react -- when she spots the dog in the distance, tell her to watch you, and when she looks at you, reward her with a treat. (Make sure you teach her the "watch me" command at home first.) If she's too distracted and ignores you and/or the enticement of a treat, you are too close to the other dog. You need to make sure you reward her before she has a chance to freak out about the other dog. Once the reward happens, if the other dog is still approaching and your dog is getting excited, turn around, or otherwise remove her from the situation before she has a chance to react.

Basically, "watch me" is your way to get her attention on you and not the other dog, and the reward a way for her to learn (or re-learn) that approaching dogs are a good thing, and not a horrible scary thing. Rinse/repeat with the "watch me"/reward, while closing the distance between her and approaching dogs -- you will need to *slowly* build up to this. It may take months before she doesn't react to a passing a dog (or maybe just days, given this is a new thing with her). Work every day to close the distance. We've done many a duck-and-dodge to keep our dog below her threshold, and had to spontaneously change our walk route on several occasions. The good news is she's getting better, but it has taken a loooong time -- part of it has to do with her breed, though (livestock guardian dog), which has a built-in dislike/distrust of strange dogs.

I highly recommend the book Feisty Fido by Patricia McConnell. It's short and jam-packed with useful training instruction (including the tip I mentioned above). Also, there are a lot of great resources online -- just Google "leash aggression." Make sure you stick to the positive only training tips, though -- correction or punishment-based training (including using choke collars) can exacerbate leash aggression. I learned this not only from experts, but unfortunately from experience, before I found the right training resources. Feel free to send me a MeFi mail, too.
posted by lovermont at 11:40 AM on September 2, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Oh, and nthing what others said above about getting her checked out by a vet first, just in case there's something medical going on.
posted by lovermont at 11:53 AM on September 2, 2008

What gender are the other dogs that she lunges at? A 3-year-old female dog is now mature and she may well be taking exception to other dominant females coming within her zone of proximity. Our 4-year-old border collie developed this behavior at around 3 years old, not with all female dogs, just dominant females. She just has to be top dog, when other uppity girls are around to compete ... :-)
posted by Susurration at 2:44 PM on September 2, 2008

I had a leash aggression issue with my dog for a while. I actually had an experience opposite lovermont, I tried positive reinforcement for months with no success and on recommendation from our trainer (very well respected trainer - been on mythbusters) eventually tried a prong collar which made all the difference in the world. Obviously YMMV. She steered us to prong collars over choke - according to her choke collars could have health effects long term.

With the prong the goal is to give it a snap as soon as your dog appears to be having a reaction to another dog (prongs and chokes should be snapped - not pulled) also position yourself between your dog and the approaching dog.
posted by bitdamaged at 3:12 PM on September 2, 2008

Seek professional help. Or at least another set of eyes and some hand's on help. Your local SPCA may have cheap classes. Maybe there's a meetup for DA dogs where you live. Google around, ask you vet, ask people with good dogs at the dog park who trained their dogs. (Go alone!)

This sounds like a situation where you are, if not fearful, uptight. Get help. This is a very common problem and it could be anything from sexual maturity to PST from an incident that you, being human, didn't notice. Or, it could be something else. The vet can rule out anything medical. If it's in her little head, you may never figure out the source, but you will be able to change the behavior - with the caveat that if she is seeing smaller dogs as prey you have a hard road ahead. If she's just ready to scrap with various dogs of various sizes, she can learn to chill.

You can train a dog to have better manners and change her perception of strange dogs by using treats, with a prong or a choke (or a flat collar for that matter), you can get her under control and manager her well with a head halter that you can start training from there. However, if you have not trained dogs before you don't want to do this on your own. You need to find methods you can understand and use comfortably, and you need to find people you click with to make sure you are using those methods correctly. And, most importantly, you need a foundation to build on - you can't go on same-old same-old in every other aspect of her life and expect big changes on this one issue.

Many, many people have dealt with this. From this side of the internet, I can't see what you dog is doing, but I can tell you that I've seen a plenty of dogs get their fuzzy little heads straight on this one.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:16 PM on September 2, 2008