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Author
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Topic: Defensive dog
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Smauler
Junior Member
Member # 851
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posted April 09, 2004 12:58 AM
Hello all.
I'm posting here because my dog (three year old 1/2 german shephard / 1/2 rough collie) is becoming more and more aggressive towards people generally. He hasn't bitten anyone, and I don't think he will, but he has has a couple of nips at people he isn't sure about. He hates the postman, and now we have a postbox outside where he is allowed so we can get mail. I do not think he would bite anyone, but I hate having to take precautions just in case.
He is absolutely fine towards people he knows me or my family have accepted into the house. He does not go out a huge ammount from our land though, because we've got 10 acres or so.
I essentially just want to curb the aggression in him a little bit, and would like advice upon how to go about this. Do people think exposure to more people on a regular basis would help, I'm at a bit of a loss.
I have another dog as well, a mongrel female (mini black lab lookalike). She does not have any of the aggressive tendencies Toby does. She is spayed, Toby is not castrated though as yet. This was one of my thoughts, would castration help with the aggression?
Oh, and here's a pic from years ago. The perspective's weird though, he is about german shephard size.
http://www.isbd.biz/toby.jpg
ps. Why is the word "b**ch" censored on this forum?
Posts: 4 | Registered: Apr 2004
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ellierat
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Member # 612
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posted April 09, 2004 03:22 AM
Yes, get him castrated first, then socialize, with everyone and anyone, other dogs too, he is being territorial, I would say he has reached full maturity, this can happen as late as 3, depending on the breed.
If you can, go to a training school, you will get heaps of help from other people.
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I love my labs.
Posts: 880 | From: australia | Registered: Feb 2004
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Smauler
Junior Member
Member # 851
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posted April 09, 2004 03:59 AM
Do you think castration is the only answer, because it seems a litttle simplistic? (it may be such, I've not had a male dog before). Would he definately get less aggressive if castrated, too.
Posts: 4 | Registered: Apr 2004
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ellierat
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Member # 612
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posted April 09, 2004 04:02 AM
Yes, castration would help heaps, it will stop that awful male hormone running through his veins, he will be less territorial, at the moment anyone is a threat to his territory. It will not cure it all, it is just a start.
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I love my labs.
Posts: 880 | From: australia | Registered: Feb 2004
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Smauler
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Member # 851
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posted April 09, 2004 04:07 AM
*nod* Ok. I don't think he's going to like the next vet visit then ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) .
Also, on an different topic, he often seems to have trouble getting up... his hind legs seem stiff. Could this be something serious? I heard about German shephard's hip problems, I I don't know if that's anything to do with it.
Posts: 4 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Sirlocksley
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Member # 756
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posted April 09, 2004 06:31 AM
Dear smauler
In the training we do, we will put a lot of time into socializing the animal first. We use neutering as a last resort. It takes time to socialize, and you must do it a step at a time. Do you have your dog obedience trained ? This is a big step in controlling aggresive behavior. I cover all this in some training manuals/books I have put together.
As for his trouble getting up, have the Vet x-ray him for hip dysplazia. It is a common problem in shepherds, and the Vet should be able to help. This is not the cause of being aggressive twards some and not others. If this was the case, he would be snapping at everyone because of being in pain. Get a handle on this as soon as possible, if he bites a stranger, some states can order the dog to be put down.
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Joseph L. Bickel
www.obediencedogtraining.com
Posts: 10 | From: Indiana | Registered: Mar 2004
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ellierat
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Member # 612
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posted April 09, 2004 03:37 PM
Yes I agree is some cases castration is not the cure all for agression, but if you don't intend to breed, isn't it the natural thing and responsible thing to do. I don't dispute your training methods at all, as I see you have written on the subject and I am only going on 15 years of personal experience of owning and breeding dogs, but in this persons case, when you have a problem like this in an older dog, sometimes you have to be drastic, as stated she is on 10 acres, so am I and I don't get the opportunity to go to training as there is nothing here, we are out of any township. Castration was suggested as a half measure to help out before this dog bites someone and has to be put down.
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I love my labs.
Posts: 880 | From: australia | Registered: Feb 2004
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Smauler
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posted April 10, 2004 09:32 PM
Thanks for the posts Sirlocksley and ellierat. We don't intend on breeding with him, so that's not the issue. However, he does not seem at all intent on it himself (at least since our female mongrel was spayed, she was having false pregnancies too). The main issue I have with castration, as with any surgery, is that it's a bit drastic.
Toby's pretty well trained. What I mean by this is that he will come when you want him to, you've just got to raise your voice a bit to get his attention sometimes. He's not perfect by any means, but if I'm close to him he'll be pretty much completely under control.
The issue is when I'm not there, and the fact I'm not 100% sure about him if I'm not close. He makes a huge ammount of noise at people who are at our gate, for example. I know (generally) when a dog is just barking at someone, and when a dog is showing more aggressive tendencies. What worries me is that he's showing a little more of the latter.
On a positive note, soon after I posted the original messages, two people came to our door and tried to sell the gospel to me. I held him for a minute, and he calmed down, then I let him go, and he was fine (even though I was telling them to go away). Heh, they even kicked his ball for him (he has fetch etched into his brain somewhere. He cannot stop fetching that dumb ball).
ellierat, I do not think in any normal circumstances he would bite anyone (he's probably too much of a coward anyway, he'll run away before bite anyone), but I think in some circumstances he might. I guess any dog will in some circumstances, but my feeling with Toby is a bit different from most of my other dogs. Like you said, however, I don't even want to worry about my dog being aggressive at all. I live in the UK, btw, and I could be put in prison and sued if he bites a burglar, for example (yes the law is that stupid). And he would probably be put down if he bit anyone, which is why I am concerned.
Sirlocksley, I will take him to the vet regarding hip dysplazia. He's absolutely fine running around most of the time, but most of the running comes from the front end, doesn't it?
Anyway, thank you again for the responses. OMG I can waffle for hours.... When I do take him to the vet, I'll ask about all the points you've raised.
Posts: 4 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Crystal7883
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Member # 796
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posted April 17, 2004 08:01 PM
I seem to have the same problem..My dog is very aggressive towards people outside the family...The mailman will not give me my mail if my front door is open (mail box is attached to house)...
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"No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich." - Louis Sabin
Posts: 77 | From: USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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NicoleLJ
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Member # 291
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posted April 17, 2004 08:15 PM
This is something I am familiar with and the first thing I will say is it can be fixed usually and fixing the dog, male or female does help a whole lot. It can take a while and with some you will just have to take extra precautions.
Here are my first suggestions buy a wire mesh muzzle. Not the type that keeps their mouth closed, the one that they can wear and still bark, eat, drink and pant. THe purpose for this is that you need to take this dog out into crowds of strangers as much as possible with this muzzle on. The dog can try and snapp at people, don't worry with this muzzle no one can get hurt. Make sure you have plenty of treats with you. Try and get strangers to hold a treat in their hand like they are feeding a horse. Palm flat and fingers pointing down. The dog can get the treat by licking it out of the persons hand. I personally like to do this with the dogs dinner. I always used dry food. Most people had no problem with this. And most dogs will start seeing going out into public as dinner time and love walking up to people. This does take time. Lots of time but most of the time it works. I had to keep one dog it didn't work on. She is my old lady right now. She was used for dog fighting. So with her I just never tie her outside unless I am there too and if people are in the house she is not comfortable with she is down in her crate or muzzled. It was either the precautions or the pound would put her down. Anyway you can try that and see what happens.
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Lets teach the public to spay and neuter pets and leave breeding up to the experts, to help decrease the thousands of animals destroyed monthly in shelters and pounds around the world.
Posts: 82 | From: Raymond. Alberta | Registered: Oct 2003
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