Fear aggression has got really, really bad :-(

[MyDogAttacksOtherDogs]

Have name changed for this as I have posted before about my dog and I don't want to be recognized in RL.

We have had our rescue dog for over three years. We got him as a puppy (14 weeks) and he was absolutely brilliant for the first two years although he always had dreadful recall, whatever we tried to do. He also from day one disliked 'flat faced' dogs such as Boxers and Pugs and showed aggression to them but we researched this and were not too concerned as apparently it is a 'known' thing amongst dog experts.

However, in the last year, for absolutely no reason we can fathom, he has become terribly aggressive towards all other dogs. This is particularly when he is on the lead but not always. He lunges, snarls and barks at other dogs and also at cars, bicycles (today a group of bikes with children on them ). No one else has walked him in the past year apart from us so it can't be that something has happened to him that we don't know about.
In the house he is a dream…loving, friendly, obedient and great with the DCs and other people. But out on walks he has become unbearable and we are and and at people commenting about our 'chien mechant' - nasty dog - (we live in France) and parents pulling their children away from him when they hear him making his awful noises and lunging at other dogs. For the last few months we have walked him at the quietest times of the day to try and avoid other dogs…but they can't always be avoided. We cannot take him into town with us anymore, or to any event with lots of people as he becomes extremely stressed and literally tries to attack any passing dog, big or small.

We have tried distraction techniques till the cows have come home…high value treats, praise, you name it but it has not worked and in fact he is getting worse. Various dog trainers we have read about seem to advocate distraction but it doesn't work with our dog…we have been trying for the best part of a year.

We are now at the point where we can't ask any friends to look after him now and again, if we want to go off for a few hours, as we can't trust anyone else to take him for a walk due to his aggression. He is fine in the house but he is a largish dog (labrador sized) and needs walks…he can't live the rest of his life never leaving a house and garden. Plus, part of having a dog (for us) is that they are part of the family and mostly he comes with us wherever we go…but this has become impossible.

I am very upset about all of this and I don't know what to do. I have looked for dog behaviorists but the one or two I have found are much too far away and not feasible. But, what would they do that we haven't tried already?

If you have read this far, thank you, and any words of advice would be so welcome as we are at the end of our tether. We love our dog but we can't spend the next 10 or so years with him housebound.

Proper regulation within the industry would be fantastic.

There are loads of trainers near me but not a single one is an APBC member. In fact there isn't an APBC member in my county or the two other nearest counties.

There's one IMDT student member about an hour away.

It's such a minefield trying to find decent trainers or behaviourists. I've tried so many classes locally and not stuck with a single one as none turned out to be remotely beneficial

Same here. We've had to travel first for over two hours, then an hour and a half to consult different behaviourists, which really isn't sustainable for repeat visits - although we will be revisiting the second one a few times regardless.

Just found out there's a student member of the IMDT living a couple of streets away though. So that's worth knowing, especially as he seems to have decent rep locally as well.

I am a registered APBC dog behaviourist - I would always travel to the clients house. You need to see the dog in its own environment. I do an assessment visit which is usually over 2 hours long bu can easily be longer. My clients will then get a written report and behavioural plan and follow up calls and advice for life.

Re the original problem. Fear aggression is difficult but with the correct guidance huge improvement can be made. All dogs do improve with distance and stress reduction. I would imagine that the distance you are leaving is not far enough. Some dogs have to start with stuffed dogs at the distance of over two football pitches - these dogs will make improvements.

BAT, LAT etc are great and do work but are extremely hard to do without guidance or stooge dogs. Using dogs out walking is hard as you cannot now how the unknown dogs will behave.

In your situation I would work on lowering stress levels. Avoid all dogs, if you do see dogs coming change direction, if you are approached by off lead dogs send them away and leg it!

Do not take him into situations that he finds difficult - I would aim to do this for at least a month or so. At home introduce the clicker - this will build his confidence and can at a later date be introduce for the Look at the dog game.

If you do want more info feel free to pm

I agree, the behaviourist seeing the dog in it's own environment is the ideal, but it pushes the price up due to travel expenses which makes it cost prohibitive for some people and it's not really an option for someone that lives abroad. Obviously not a problem if you have a registered behaviourist in your area though.

Thank you all
I really, really appreciate the replies and the time you've taken to post. I need to read each one carefully, with DH.

I am not an expert....but just wanted to encourage you...

my adult rescue springer was (and sometimes still is) fear aggressive. I managed it by totally avoiding stressful situations for her (walking away from the approaching dog, swapping sides of the enormous field etc etc) she gradually and slowly de-stressed. She's never going to want to be buddies with any but her few besties, I still cross the road so she does not have to be meeting any dog nose to nose. if i make a mistake and we round a corner onto another dog she gets stressed, snarly and goes backwards for a dayor 2. She is at her best with lots of open space around with dogs doing dog things....she does not want to play, not ever, but she can peacefully co-exist with others now. Took about a year, and I will never ever take her off lead to the local park where the dogs rush around madly chasing each other (who thinks that's fun anyway!).

I learned lots by watching dog behaviourists on video show body language so I learned what stresses her...not what I think stresses her, and also how to nip over-interested stressy eye locking in the bud.

Good luck

I recently managed to break the cycle with my dog. She was fear aggressive to dogs and cars from puppyhood. I couldn't walk her near roads as she would go mental at the cars. I had to drive to a park to take her for a walk. Her behaviour escalated and one occasion she bit me as she was freaking out about a dog. She then over time started to refuse to walk at the park literally lying on the ground until I walked in the direction of the car. She (in the car) would then watch me walk my other dog round the park. The vet said there was little i could do and said she was psychotic (she has no interest in food/treats). This was last feb.
I was offered a job in june and I just knew I couldn't let this to continue as she would need a walk before being left alone.

So I basically took control and forced her to walk at the park. As soon as she would start to hesitate i would pick her up walk three steps then put her down. The basically got her past the mental block. It only took days before she snapped out of the behaviour. But then the miracle happened. We went on holiday to cornwall taking the dogs with us. Theres loads of dogs where we stay so normally we would leave her at the cottage if we wanted to go to the pub. But she suddenly stopped reacting to other dogs. We even took her to a pub beer garden where there were other dogs very close by and no barking.

Then in september (when i started my job and ds started new school) i decided it would save time if i walked my son to school with the dogs instead of dropping him in car and driving to park. And you know what? She stopped barking at the cars too! She had barked at cars for nearly 6 years and id tried loads of things and nothing worked (i cried several times whilst attempting to walk her). Then I showed her I was in control with the walking and suddenly she trusted me! So its been 3months and she is like a new dog really happy. I've chucked away the muzzle she used to wear and shes made a doggie friend. She has barked a couple of times at cars and on both occasions it was when me and Ds were arguing or having cross words (you've not brushed your teeth?!!! ) she picked up on energy and barked.

So i now know it was all me. She only wanted a calm leader and then she could relax. Please try and take control and try not to get tense!

I am also in a France and know of a couple of decent behaviourists who will travel for an initial consultation and then offer support over the phone. If you want I can pm you details (I am in the south 81/31).