5 mo. old Aggression - Page 1

Hi Everyone, I need your help. I have a 5 month old male, that has become dog aggresive. He has been in a puppy class and continues to show aggression. Last night on a walk, a 90 lb Lab came up to him and after a short nose to nose, my puppy went after him. It wasn't pretty. Fortunately, I got them seperated. He lives with a 5 y.o Shepherd and terrorizes him also, but he puts up with him for the most part. I have never had a dog that is dog aggressive, so any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Vette, Does this only seem to come about when ON leash ? I had a buyer of one of our pups call me and tell me that a pup was highly aggressive at 12 weeks old, My jaw dropped and I was dumbfounded, But as I asked questioned and listened to the scenerios one thing kept coming up, ON leash. Since our conversation they have done more OFF leash socialization with this pup and have learned that the leash was causing her to be aggressively initiating play. ON leash she could not initiate play in a normal fashion and because they would hold her back she would become frustrated and then her acting out seemed more on the aggresive side, But all she was doing was attempting to initiate play with the other dogs, Now I'm not saying go right out and turn this dog loose on another dog, you would need to know the other dog have a neutral area of containment and be readily available to make any corrections or changes in a moment, But you might find that it's the same. 5 month old should not be aggressive but the behavior might be being misinterpreted. Best of Luck.

There is a book by Emma Parsons called Click to Calm, healing the aggressive dog, that explains very clearly how to deal with exactly this problem using clicker training methods, you can find this on the Karen Pryor clicker training website.

oso gave a good reference , try to read it -- other things to consider -- the genetics of the dog --who are the parents / what are their behavioral traits too ? -- at what age did you acquire the pup?? at what age was it seperated from it's littermates and / or mother when/ at what age did you did you start to introduce your dog to other dogs ?/ now as fgar as you are concearned --how is the agression materialized / what ellicits the aggression?? is you dog insecure or it is trying to assert itself for resources ?? and how do you handle the aggression -- some words of advice -- work with someone that is experienced .. not just a so called trainer -- and look at the dogs eyes /ears /head a nd bdoy movement -- it is not as you read the dody language of the dog that so much matters --- books don't have it all / they are to dogmatic and to instructional in order to make a buck -- look for the subtle changers in body and facial expression that tell you your dog is feeling / hinking a certain way -- thses are the signals that it is about to respond and aggress -- you can counter condition berhaviors -- but i would add aside from not liking books -- Oso did give to you a good reference

If your 5 month old puppy continually beats up on your older dog and the older dog tolerates it, he will think that he should treat all other dogs like his older friend. Just like we learn not to greet strangers and friends with the same exuberance, a puppy has to learn the same thing. Separate him from his older friend as much as possible and socialize him with other dogs of all breeds and ages. There could also be a genetic component but at this point he needs to unlearn some obnoxious behavior. At a certain point, if he is really aggressive, you will have to teach him to avoid other dogs with positive motivation methods. In my experience with clients, punishment and aggression for his aggression usually does not work, only makes it worse.