Any tips on my female's animal aggression? - Page 1

I have a 2 year old female GSD from German show lines. She was socialized with many different farm animals, other dogs. Recently she started attacking smaller dogs and my goats and chickens. She only does this if she is out of my eye sight. If I am outside with her, she won't do it. Needless to say, she is now either in house, or put in her pen to use bathroom. I take her on runs and spend a lot of time with her. I just don't know how to break her of this, since she only does this behavior when she is alone. She is very sweet and relaxed around my kids, and family. It's only directed towards animals.. Any tips or info is appreciated! Thank you..

Erin, it sounds very much like you are dealing with prey aggression. The only sure cure is to do what you are doing: do NOT let her out of your sight!

Watch how she acts when other animals are around, when she thinks you are not looking. Prey aggression shows as very intent focus on the other animal, similar to the way a dog would focus on a ball just before you throw it. She may also lower her head and start to stalk the other animal.

It is very hard to eliminate, because it's a very basic, instinctive drive. Correcting it is going to require catching her in the act. And it sounds like she's too smart for that! 

I actually have a dog with prey aggression towards other dogs and small animals. I am working with the dog on leash, teaching her to ignore other dogs by demanding she focus on me. Any time she looks at the other dog, I draw her back to me, either with the 'watch' command, or by turning her away so she can't see the other dog. If she actually lunges at the other animal, she gets a strong leash correction with a prong collar. (She's got a high pain threshold, and even the prong doesn't seem to make much of an impression on her sometimes, so don't think I'm being cruel!)

It is going to take a lot of time and patience before i will trust her off leash with my other dogs, And then, I likely will NEVER be able to trust her around them when she's not being supervised!

 

Thank you for your replies!! Least now I know I am not the only one with this issue.. lol.. It's funny because I've owned 3 other female GSDs in my life time, and they all had this issue to some extent.. Now my males have all been, "Hey you!! Wanna be friends??" lol.. I guess I knew she has been destined to a life of supervision, least until she becomes too old to move fast, loses her eye sight and teeth :)  I even tried an electric collar, hiding in house, trying to set her up with loose goats.. She seemed to know that something was up, she ignored goats completely.. If I am out in  the yard with her, and a cat runs by, she will actually avert her face away from cat, and look at me, almost saying, "I swear I am a changed dog!"  But as soon as she is alone in her pen, I see her through window running fence line after animals. As soon as I bring her in, she lays down, right next to cat.. I feel bad, as I wish I could allow her the run of 20 acres with my male, but after numerous killed goats and chickens,and neighbors refusing to keep their dogs in own yard, I had to resort to keeping her up.. Also she exhibits zero toy / ball drive.. Seems like she prefers live game :(  Sorry to hear about the squirrel! That is something Vega would do, and parade it around for neighbors to see!! LoL

any undesirable traits can be managed through basic obedience. Since dogs are creatures of habit the undesirable traits can be solved through a process of extinction if properly managed with obedience 100% of the time and not allowed to engage in the inappropriate behavior. But keep in mind you have the law of intermittent reinforcement. Meaning you cant allow the dog to successfully engage in that particular behavior and if you are not present to intervene in said behavior then the dog must be confined in a manor that doesnt allow the dog to engage in said behavior.

I could walk you through a process but the dog must first learn basic obedience to the point of the dog understands fully what is expected of it with its basic commands. Then you can move into proofing and by using the reactiveness as distraction for proofing basic obedience you will enable the dog to understand that its not appropriate. Then anytime while dog is free and not under obedience and the dog tries to engage in said behavior, before its able to engage there needs to be  immediate intervention and directed with obedience. This way there is a clear understanding that this is not what is desired through repetition in the dogs mind and over the course of time and repetitions the behavior will extinct itself or at least be at a manageable level.

Personally i would recommend a trainer that knows you and your dog to get advice from as internet training rarely works. So many intricacies with timing, mechanics, and many people have different approaches its difficult to fully comprehend everything necessary to complete the task at hand to help you manage or solve your issue. 



1 more major thing. Have you had training using an e-collar? has your dog been conditioned to the use of an e-collar properly? (professional help) The use of an e-collar is much more intricate than most believe. So please proceed using this tool carefully and or seek help. I have personally used them to break dogs from pursuing game( any animal perceived as prey by dog) but it has to be done very carefully with a dog that has been conditioned and requires precise timing and adequate stimulation levels. Its not an easy tool to learn to use appropriately and if used inappropriately can be more detrimental than beneficial. So please consult someone knowledgeable with the tool(e-collar) before using it. 

 

Sam, you need to re-read the OP's posts: I even tried an electric collar, hiding in house, trying to set her up with loose goats.. She seemed to know that something was up, she ignored goats completely.

That is the statement I read!!!! The Op was intending to use the collar. In what regards was not described.

Simply making sure the OP was not simply using an ecollar as a negative punitive tool without conditioning the dog to it for proper use.
As so many people do!   


So quite frankly I dont need to re-read the OPs post with all do respect. I posted off the Op's statement.

All the best!!!!
 

Maya is the same. She has an insatiable desire to chase stuff. I could tell my horses were ready to kill her and I knew something had to be done in a more extreme way then just basic obedience. I started with an e collar, and it worked like a charm. She would chase the tractor and the e collar cured that. She chased a fox twice out onto the road by winding her way through the old fence, down to the river and out onto the road. The e collar cured that as well.
My e collar battery died and it was going to cost me $70.00 to replace the battery part. I noticed that our TSC store had collars on sale for $30.00. There is no shock to it , but a really loud buzz and really strong vibration. She wears it outside and all I have to do is beep it and she stops whatever she is doing and comes. I feel badly that I had to shock her way back when, however, she is still alive today, and at the end of the day, I think that is what really matters. I am also glad that this new collar works as well as the shock collar worked.

So my question to the OP and to others is this.  Is this an instinctive behavior or is this a learned behavior?  I realize neither is good, but just curious.  Thx  Nan