Rescue dog displaying dog-on-dog aggression - mortified!

[SobaSoma]

Just over a month ago I took home a 5-year old rescue JRT cross and he's turned out to be perfect except for one major thing. He's displaying aggression with other dogs and I've just come back from a walk during which he attacked a mini-pinscher and injured it slightly. Luckily the owner was very understanding but it was a huge shock. He's super-friendly with ALL other people and loves my cat (although the feeling's not mutual).

Basically he's very unpredictable; sometimes he's fine with other dogs but what can start as a friendly mutual-sniffing session comes to an abrupt end when he seems to snap and attack them. He was a stray so have no back-history and I'm thinking it's based on fear because of something that happened to him. I'm not going to let him off-lead now and DD will be too scared to walk him on her own. I'm also thinking I should get a muzzle so other owners know to give us a wide berth. Does anyone have any exprience of this, can it be trained out of him? Thanks.

Take him to a training school ASAP. A good one will sort him. I've seen nasty little dog syndrome be more or less sorted in about three x 1 hour weekly sessions. He may be over protective of you. There is hope and the advice of a professional out there.

Good luck

at 5 months..maybe this isn't going to be forever.

obedience training will help with damage limitation though - a dog that comes back, even if it still hates other dogs, should never get to act on that.

a muzzle isn't necessary - being on a lead should be enough. (though other owners can be twats and let their dogs come right up to yours whatever you do, if your dog is on a lead, you can stop it from doing any harm)

if you want to work on recall find somewhere you can see other dogs coming a good distance away - and yes get some training.

some dogs don't grow out of this though, and can't be trained out of it.

Hi OP. I agree with Lou - try a training school. At 5 years old though, this could be tough. Good luck.

Do get some help with this.

Look Dog technique will help also BAT will be great. Video on facebook wil demonstrate BAT techique BAT Video

Do not go to a trainer who recommends any kind of rattle bottles, spraying the dog with water or restraining or punishing the dog. This will only make the situation worse.

Usually this is a fear reaction and needs gentle but appropriate training.

Hi, this problem is very common across all types of dogs and is very often due to fear. You've only had the dog for just over a month so its early days for a rescue dog (particularly if its had a bad time). This type of fear aggression can be dealt with, but it could take a while. Best to avoid busy dog areas for the moment. We have a rescue dog that showed just this kind of behaviour and it was also unpredictable - six months down the line and she's a calmer dog who is a lot less reactive. I used a technique by which you distract the dog, usually with treats, to prevent it reacting as our dog reacted when it was on the lead. I would keep the sniffing sessions to a minimum and on the lead and just before it all goes pear-shaped lead him away and treat and praise. The idea is to reinforce the idea that the meeting other dogs is fantastic and nothing to be scared of. Of course if he reacts then no treat. There is a lot of information about this method on-line. It has worked a treat for our dog. its still a work in progress, but I no longer feel nervous about walking the dog. Good luck.

Thanks everybody for the great advice. OPL your post has given me hope and I'll sleep better tonight! I'll try getting him to focus on me by using treats if he gets distracted by another dog and certainly keep him on a short lead. And Cuebill yes, I reckon this is probably fear-related and it might take time to see some changes.

Cuebill just had a look at BAT, seems very helpful, many thanks!

Hi Charlearose, interesting point. He's not aggressive with all dogs so yes it's possible so will observe whilst keeping him firmly out of trouble!

My dog is a rescue dog and had the same problem.... I say had as its a lot better now. If any dog sniffed her for lets say 'any thing longer than appropriate' she would turn on them and pin them to the floor. It wasn't proper fighting, just barking in their faces, no blood, but sounded terrible. It also happens if they keep following her or heaven forbid... sniff her face and mouth first as apparently this is really bad manners in dog world...they always sniff bottoms first , or so I've been told.
So like Charlearose says, look at the other dogs manners to see why your dog is reacting like that to only some dogs.

magic that's really interesting as that was the problem with our rescue dog. After weeks of thinking it was always some problem with her, I read up on how dogs are supposed to greet each other and what they perceive as an aggressive stance. And it was really bad-mannered dogs that she couldn't tolerate - those dogs who charged up to her and were suddenly at her bottom sniffing - apparently dogs are supposed to approach slowly and sideways on then some signal passes between them as to whether sniffing is allowed. Also dogs walking towards her staring - staring is very confrontational in the dog world. We were out the other day and she was off lead and I saw this dog just hurtling towards her. He was at her bottom before she had time to even realise there was a dog there. Needless to say she gave him an earful and chased him away, although he was quite persistent. I called her and she stopped, but quite frankly the dog deserved every bit of aggression she showed (barking, growling, teeth baring). A few months ago I would have been mortified, but now I think well hope she's taught him a few manners, as she won't hurt him, but next time he does that with another dog he may not be so lucky. (the owner was about 50 m away and didn't seem bothered about the confrontation at all - probably happens all the time to her dog)

the distraction and treat technique I've used I think has made my dog more trusting of me, more tolerant of bad manners (within reason) and less fearful of other dogs in general. I am very careful of which dogs she meets off lead though - I also let her meet only well-mannered dogs now.