EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE YOUNG FEMALE - Page 1

I HAVE A YOUNG FEMALE FOR SCHH, LESS THAN 1 YEAR, AND SHE IS EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE(NO HANDLER AGGRESSION)--VERY DRIVEY ETC. ETC. ETC. POSSESSED TO BITE--SLEEVE, PERSON ETC. SHE IS OK WALKING AROUND PEOPLE AS LONG AS NOBODY LOOKS AT HER. IF YOU LOOK AT HER, SHE AGGRESSIVELY BARKS AND WANTS TO COME AT YOU AND BITE. I BELIEVE I WILL BE ABLE TO GET THIS UNDER CONTROL WITH TRAINING HOWEVER I DO NOT WISH TO BREAK HER OF HER SPIRIT, AS I BELIEVE SHE IS REAL AND WOULD SHOW EXTREMELY WELL IN PROTECTION WORK. SHE IS NOT BARKING OUT OF FEAR, BUT RATHER AGGRESSIVE FIGHT. ANY SUGGESTIONS ON BEST TIME(IN AGE) AND SUGGESTED METHOD ON HOW TO GET HER TO ATLEAST BE ABLE TO PASS HER B(TEMPERAMENT TEST) WITHOUT RUINING HER STRONG PROTECTION POTENTIAL?

The dog you describe could not pass her BH and would be ineligible for Schutzhund/protection training. Sounds like she was not/is not being properly socialized. I am not so sure, she is not aggressive out of fear. Stephen

SGBH: I KNOW SHE COULD NOT PASS NOW. SHE WON'T HAVE TO FOR ANOTHER 8-9 MONTHS DUE TO AGE. I AM SURE SHE WAS NOT PROPERLY SOCIALIZED IN THE PAST, BUT WORKING ON IT NOW(ALOT). FEAR I BELIEVE I CAN DEFINITELY RULE OUT, HOWEVER I AM NO DOG PSYCHOLOGIST. SHE IS POSSESSED TO BITE, EVEN ME(MY SHIRT) IN PLAY--LOVES TO BITE. HOWEVER, VERY REAL WITH EVERYONE ELSE--WILL FIGHT FOR THE SLEEVE, DOMINATE(HUMP) THE HELPER, ETC. ETC. SHE IS CONFIDENT IN ALL SITUATIONS, FOOTING, ETC. ANYWAYS, SINCE I KNOW THE FIGHTING SPIRIT CAN BE "BEATEN" OUT OF A DOG, AND I WISH TO AVOID AND END UP WITH A STRONG, CONFIDENT, TOP LEVEL SCH PROTECTION FEMALE, I WAS JUST SEEKING SUGGESTIONS.

I have a female similiar. a 3-2 on Crok and Urs on the motherline. Has been socialized but very dominate and aggressive with helper and bites me if I allow it while heeling...DRIVES. Biggest problem with inexperienced handlers is they either beat the dog to death or they nag the dog to death. BUT! with their mediocre Corrections/Praise the dog never beleives them. If the dog is to compete in SchH they must follow rules. You must make a correction strong enough so that the dog beleives you and does not repeat it but also give the right type of praise after so that you do not destroy the relationship you have with your dog. Remember a pack leader is not a dictator. As in the wild a pack leader is strong, has presence and also HELPS the pack to survive. LEADERSHIP :) Good Luck

As in the wild a pack leader is strong, has presence and also HELPS the pack to survive. LEADERSHIP :) THANK YOU VHDOOSEK9, EXCELLENT RESPONSE. GENETICALLY, IF THE FEMALE IS REALLY THAT AGGRESSIVE, DOMINANT, ETC. ETC. WOULD IT NOT BE BEST TO PUT OFF COMPULSIVE OBEDIENCE ATLEAST UNTIL 15-18 MONTHS AS I BELIEVE MAY HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF PUTTING A YOUNG FEMALE IN TOO MUCH CONFLICT WITH HERSELF?

Alpha female??? If your interested, she might do real well in PSA. The dog is NOT a total loss, just needs to be redirected in a sport that fits her. Look into Jerry Bradshaw at Tarheel K9. You might pass it by him. He's the best in PSA in the country. At least a second opinion wouldn't hurt.

I had a female out of valium who was like this. but then she turned out to be hypothyroid. pls do check her T3,T4 and FT4 levels as these will tell u whether she is hypothyroid or not. also oestrogen levels may help. all the best. btw my female is as sweet as a lamb now.

Gsdonline, you can modify most behaviours without breaking a dogs spirit. She is still young and testing how far she can go. And from the sounds of it, she has had a lot of success with all sort of undesirable behaviours. Putting her in her place will not break her if she is as confident as you say. It is part of growing up. Providing corrections fit the situation and do not become abusive. This dog is not even a year yet and already she is calling the shots. Part of that is just how she is, another part though is that every time she has success with that behaviour it becomes a self-rewarding mechanism and confirms to her that she is doing things right. So she keeps doing it, and more of it too. You need to show her that aggression is ok here, but not there. Forget bite work at the moment. You know she will do it, so at this time there is no need to work at it. It is natural to her, you are not loosing anything by stopping that part of training for now. For starters, she needs to learn to focus on you. Once you have that firmly and securely established, then you redirect the aggression she shows to outward stimuli toward attention to you. In other words - she reacts aggressively towards another person, you demand that she focuses on you at that very moment: forget what is happening elsehwere girl, you need to look at me and only me. Result is the situation gets under control. She learns that what others do should not concern her, as long as she is focussing on you. When you release her from that focus, she can do her thing, for example later when you resume protection work. After redirecting focus is established you get her used to being touched by other people. She needs to accept having her tattoo checked for trials. She needs to allow to have her body touched or her teeth shown, for example by a judge if you ever want to get her breed surveyed, or more importantly by a vet. You can use a muzzle at the beginning so that the people that get into close contact with her can act in full confidence. Make being touched and looked at part of the daily routine, not just at the training grounds. Next step is that a sit means a sit, a down means a down, regardless of who looks at her. Consequence and control is really important here. You need to be very consequent in correcting every single attempt she makes of controlling the situation herself, in other words show aggression where she should instead focus on you. If you do not establish control now, this dog will later give you all sort of problems in the sport. Not outing will most likely be a sure bet, or setting bites to other body parts. In other words, even though you have a strong female, if you have no control and she gets disqualified it will be of no use to you. PSA is always an option. If you continue to have problems, sending her off to training is another option too. We have a top training facility in Germany, with trainers that can work problem dogs, so keep us in mind if you ever need help in that regard. Just because you find out later that you simply cannot work her does not mean someone else cannot either. She sounds like the kind of female that many working line enthusiasts would love to get their hands on. All that drive and ability is no good though if it cannot be put to use. Good handling ability is just as important. But that extra "bit" of gusto that she has certainly makes her an interesting female. Many a good dog never sees its full potential because the handler did not know how to train that particular dog. So keep at it. If you get stuck down the road and need specific help, eMail me privately.

Dogs perform best if they have clear picture of right and wrong. Hard correction and high reward should not break spirt of good dog. With consistancy, the dog knows how to get reward, not correction. A dog that learns this should be able to keep spirt especially a drivie one.

I can suggest a very good book to read, Schutzhund Obedience/ Training in Drive By Gottried Dildei / Sheila Booth you can get this book on Dogwise.com