snoops dog aggression

[frecks]

snoop has some serious dog aggression issues going on and im not sure if its his breed, the bad experiences he made or a mixture of both.

clearly, a lot of it is my fault..he senses my energy and that energy is pure panic everytime we get too close to another dog so that might play a big role too but now a bit about the background and facts.

most of you know tigger and snoop are littermates, right around the time when they turned one tigger started to attack snoop on an unfortunately very regular basis, i dont wanna lie, he probably bit him over 20 times.. when i was around they were seperated and we had no issues but when the ex was around things got ugly..he didnt wanna seperate them or he forgot to close doors, i did what i could but it wasnt enough to prevent fights.. atleast not with him around.
i say on purpose that tigger attacked snoop, not once did snoop attack tigger and not once did he really fight back, i think if he did it would have been a million times harder to break up the situation.

and snoop always had bad luck with other dogs, my friends german shepherd bit him back in arizona, one day i met up with another couple and their two pits, the girl said they were friendly and when snoop was trying to say hi one of them grabbed him by his neck and shook him..even niel, the always so calm and friendly old lady bit him once while i was in the hospital.im very pro-active, im always makin sure they are sound & safe, never in a potentially dangerous situation but in arizona things were difficult.

the "old" snoop was dog friendly, with males and females, even unaltered males. the new snoop will foam when another dog gets too close to him, has to wear a muzzle when in the vets waiting room.
he is a little human adoring lamb but ugh so complicated with dogs.
the day we arrived in berlin was the day when i introduced him to our two other dogs, tinka spayed female 11 yrs old and biggi spayed beagle 12 yrs old and he was accepting them right away and now almost 1 year later he hasnt shown any signs of aggression towards them whatsoever.
when i introduced him to aska, my friends female great dane he was snapping at her the first day, watching her closely the second day and letting her put his face in her mouth by the third day.
so obviously he can get along with some females but its been getting so much worse.. he has the few dogs he trusts completely but i dont know what i should do if we are put in a situation where he has to meet other dogs..im not sure how i should work on it, if it even makes sense to work on it, if ignoring dogs should be my goal or actually accepting other dogs..if its his breed or the past and how im able to find out..

he is my best buddy, he is loved by everyone and so much more social than aoki.if there is a chance for him to be better with dogs which also means being able to go to the big city with me, come to family events id be more than glad to use it.

any suggestions?

[ShilohsGirlJen]

I would work with a behaviorist. It almost sounds like with other dogs he is giving off a vibe or something. But I would work with someone who knows what they are doing to work with him. With Freedom it took training and time. We also worked to set her up not to have issues. One of our rules is a 6 foot radius when at stores and so on. We also worked with lots of praise and hugs when she was good and removed her when there was an issue. Furthermore we spent a lor of time socializing her with people in general making her feel more comfortable in all situations. One thing still is she gets more concerned when Lowe is around and there is a dog of concern. When Freedom did her CGC I tool Lowe out of the building so Freedom did not have to worry.

[frecks]

now that im here its so much easier for me to set him up for success and im doing everything you say, lots of praise,keeping the distance, socializing him with different people in different situations and we had some changes..before he was growling and barking at dogs when i walked him, now he is happy ignoring them as long as they dont get too close.
but ill have to look into a behaviorist, ill do 2 years of dog psychology starting this or next year and hopefully that will give me lots of insight too.
ive been wondering about the vibe he could have been giving off but im not so sure it was that, both dogs..german shepherd and pitbull were on the edge of sexual maturity and both of them are dog aggressive nowadays, but that niel bit him really threw me off. afterwards though they never had issues again.
my thought was that he is fear-aggressive and probably male aggressive because of his breed, he also seems to be doing better when he is not with me, as sad as it sounds.
last week when i was gone my aunt left the restaurant door open and when my mum took him outside he ran inside and was confronted with a male dachshound and he didnt do a thing..not bark, not growl..nothing.

[ShilohsGirlJen]

One of the things we ran into was our reactions. Sometimes we would get like here we go again when we would come across other dogs. we had to really work at staying calm when we came across other dogs. We also had to work at putting on the aires when we came across other dogs to help Freedom understand that, yes we saw the dog, yes we would work to help her, and yes we had control.

[Hounds_N_Leo]

Please don't take this the wrong way but if he has friends and pack already that he trusts WHY is it so important that accept any other dogs? It is actually NOT natural canine behavior to be accepting of any dog that shows up...even on neutral ground. That is the reaction of a puppy..a fully mature dog will assess and react...not always positively.

I think dog parks have really put forward this falsehood that a social, uncaring dog that allows any amt of rudeness...is normal. It is not, not for every dog.

Now off the soapbox.

You should not be trying IMO...to get your boy to "like other dogs" but to focus on YOU, when other dogs are around. To that end find his trigger space...the space where he reacts and work just outside of that and have him WATCH ME, HERE or whatever command you have to get his focus to be on you. Reward the HECK out of him whenever he gives you proper focus around another dog.

The idea is...in the vets office to have him staring on you, doing commands while other dogs pass by. You CAN accomplish this if you are consistent about it.

IMO you also need to exude confidence and knowledge that YOU have control and YOU will not allow other dogs to invade his space or taken him further than he wants to go. Once he senses that he will tone down the overt aggro behavior and look to you...to keep him safe.

That's just my .02

[frecks]

thats kind of what i was trying to say, im pretty sure he wont make new friends and he doesnt have to, but he has to stop focusing on the dogs and focus on me instead.
we have a great bond, he listens very well when we are around people but i have to admit he doesnt listen that well when he sees dogs, he doesnt pay attention to me, ignores my commands and actions. like ive stated before, on walks he finally ignores other dogs, he will watch me instead, ill praise him and that praise makes him very happy and driven to get more of it but in the vets office he is a nightmare, extremely insecure and defensive. to me it seems like he doesnt trust me in that specific setting, maybe he feels like i cant protect him or he has to protect me, maybe its like that because the ex was hitting both of us, could there be a connection?
its like a switch, he turns from lamb to lion.

to your question, naah not taking anything the wrong way, im being super honest here and i expect honest answers.
im not a fan of dogparks, out of my two dogs i trust aoki with most dogs but doesnt mean i can trust the other dogs, i prefer private playdates with dogs and people i know.
its just that we are living in a restaurant and everytime we go outside we have to pass the hallway that the customers use when they need to pee
i need to be confident that if someone forgets to close a door and a dog is in the restaurant that snoop wont drive nuts but listen to me instead and follow my command.

so this post is much more about how do i get him to listen to me at ALL times, trust me at ALL times

[Hounds_N_Leo]

you need to get his focus OFF other dogs and ONTO...you...a toy or food...something ELSE. High drive dogs can have that drive channeled elsewhere and sometimes into very productive things if the owner is consistent.

You need to work on being confident around him...that is a biggie. Think what you would LIKE to have happen, not what you fear MIGHT happen. Positive vizualisation....

[ALDOGMOM]

We have worked with a trainer one on one and consulted with a behaviorist about Birdie..They both told me to do EXACTLY what Gina wrote with Birdie.

Work on getting the focus back on you...
I use "watch me!" with Birdie and it has really helped a lot...Last night she was in a down-stay while my neighbor and her Sheltie had stopped to talk when Birdie and I were on a walk...The second she started to hyper-focus on Maggie I would ask her to "watch me!"....My neighbor and I enjoyed a nice visit without incident...

The only other advice I would give you (and you've already received it) is to watch your own body language...It is very hard not to become tense when you know you have a dog that is getting ready to open up a can of whoop ass on another dog....

[ShilohsGirlJen]

I agree, no dog should be forced to like other dogs. But there is a need to be polite when out in society. IE no lunging and so on. One of the things I always watch is to make sure there is a 6 foot circle around me that other dogs cannot get to my girl. I know it is not always possible and not everyone cooperates but it allows you some work room.

[Mac45]

Kayla sounds a lot like Snoop. Loves people, other dogs.....not so much.
We've been working on it. Doing pretty much what everyone has been saying here.
The biggest thing, at least with Kayla, has been to get her attention when she sees another dog, but BEFORE she really acts up.
She's really food motivated, so we use treats.
She's slowly catching on to the idea, that if she doesn't act crazy, she get's treats and lots of attention.
We still have a long way to go, but she's much much better than she was just 6 months ago.
The good thing is, it's not hard, it just takes LOTS of time.