How to stop dog trying to attack other dogs

[BellaTheDog]

We have adopted a Jug. She is really sweet. However, if she sees another dog on the dog walk, she goes crazy, barking and growling and trying to attack them. Honestly, she’s like something from a rabies video.

Is there anything we can do? Thanks.

Speak to your vet and get referred to a registered behaviourist. It may be just excitement and lack of socialising, it may be that they were attacked in the past before you adopted her, they could be a number of things going on. A good behaviourist will be able to help.

In the meantime, for her and your own safety, it may also be worth muzzle training her. There's some advice on doing this in a positive way here: www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/training/muzzle-training

@bunnygeek it didn’t even occur to me to get her a muzzle! I will get one definitely.

A dog behaviourist was recommended to me, but the consultation alone is £250. It’s too much at the moment.

I would definitely recommend saving up for good behaviourist advice sooner rather than later. If anything, to make walks less stressful. Are you able to walk her in quieter areas/times without too many other dogs?

You need a dog trainer. It's probably either over excitement or fear which displays as aggression.

As a stop gap, try a special call and giving treats until she calls, or as she's small do a nudge and turn with the lead so she faces away and just get her out of the situation. Avoid walking in places with lots of other dogs. And absolutely never ever go to a dog park.

There is a large grass area across the road where we can walk her. If another dog comes along, I guess we can just take her home.

Can anybody recommend somewhere to buy a muzzle? I had a look at Pets Online but they don’t have her size.

Where did you adopt her from?

It is was a reputable rescue they will give you behavioural help

Your insurance often covers behavioural advice

Sorry to sound a bit off but your dogs behaviour training does need to be costed into having a dog just as much as a physical illness.

It could easily cost you much more in the long run if you do not tackle the issue now. A muzzle will not solve the problem you need to avoid contact with dogs until you have professional advice to act on.

However muzzle training is a good idea for all dogs.

She does seem to settle down with humans. When she saw the vet, she was going mental at him. Then within a minute she was letting him stick a thermometer up her bum and give her injections.

I am hoping she will eventually be the same with dogs. We don’t know how many dogs (if any) she had met before.

But I am looking into training. We can’t afford thousands but I’m happy to make sacrifices where I can to get some help.

Ditto everything @PollyRoulson said.

Your dog is fundamentally terrified of other dogs and is barking to make them go away. For that reason, you should keep her away from other dogs as much as possible until you can access a behaviourist. At the moment, every time she sees another dog she practices her behaviours and they become more ingrained.

Secure dog walking fields are useful for keeping her away from other dogs dogwalkingfields.com/

A muzzle can be a useful tool, but it solves nothing, and a dog can still injure another while wearing one, by punching. You shouldn't be allowing other dogs to get close enough that there is a risk of biting. If you must go down the muzzle route, get a basket style muzzle - they allow the dog to pant, drink and receive treats - unlike the soft cloth muzzles which clamp the mouth shut and have much greater welfare implications. This is a good basic brand companyofanimals.co.uk/brand/baskerville/

This isn't something that will get better by itself, and you absolutely do need professional behaviourist input. The good news is that they can give you a decent grounding in how to help your dog in one session - you may need follow up sessions, but it's not an ongoing weekly or monthly expense. If you have good insurance then behaviourists will be covered (e.g. PetPlan). You should also speak to the rescue - any half decent one will have behavioural support available - the last thing they want is for you to return the dog to them for avoidable reasons!

Literally anyone can call themselves a behaviourist, and there's very little correlation between the amount you pay and the quality - I've heard stories of absolute charlatans charging upwards of £800 while the qualified one down the road charges

@LadyWhistledownsQuill there is some great info there. Thank you so much!

Assuming you have your own garden, I would not walk her outside at all for a good while unless it's a secure field where you can drive your car in and get her in/out without seeing other dogs for a while. Concentrate on training her and improving your bond, tire her out mentally rather than physically.

Putting her in the situation where she reacts repeatedly is just reinforcing the behaviour.

Work up her bond with you, train her to pay attention to you. Work with a reputable trainer and then let them guide you. Many trainers have 'stooge' dogs where they can control a meet up, and work on decreasing the distance from a dog before yours reacts.

It will be a long road, but perhaps not as long as you think - and far more pleasant for the rest of her life for you all to be able to work up to enjoying walks. It's such a wonderful part of dog ownership.

Thanks @Whitney168. That’s good advice.

Dog-dog aggression can be very difficult and dangerous to address - as already said you need professional behaviourist advice and a longterm plan

Where did you adopt her from?
Could this have been one of the reasons she was rehomed?

Most reputable insurance policies will cover veterinary behavioural referral

How old is she and what is her background?
The aggression is a sign she is unhappy - it's worth sorting out for this reason alone.
But you can help by finding her quiet areas to walk at different times which aren't just the grass area opposite the house.
Try early morning walks when fewer dogs will be around, going to open places where you can see other dogs well in advance and avoid, places which are stimulating for her with lots of relaxing sniffy entertainment, different terrain where you can practice fun activities (paws up on a wall, balance on a log, jump over a ditch) which will build your bond & connection, help her strength & fitness & distract her from other dogs, so walks are interesting & stimulating and not a scary stressful parade around in front of things that terrify her.

I think another thing that really helps is simply watching her & getting to understand her body language - is she relaxed, or watchful, is she stressed, how does she change when she sees dogs?
So you can read her better & avoid stressing her out well in advance.
Plus it's fun & interesting to learn about doggy body language!

Agree with PP's re behaviourist. Where did you adopt her from? If it was a rescue centre they will quite often provide you with help from a behaviourist so may be worth talking to them before paying out loads for one.

If not a behaviourist, could the reason they were up for adoption be leading to this fear/aggression?

Agree with using a muzzle temporarily until you can get some help and avoiding busy areas. If using a muzzle though please get them used to it using positive techniques or you run the risk of making them more anxious. The link above is a good one on how to do this or if you google there will be some suggestions.

In the mean time keep on a lead aswell but don't tighten the lead when you spot a dog before they do - dogs can sense when you're anxious so if you get anxious at seeing another dog, your dog will think they need to protect you so "warn the dog off" so to speak

She’s fine until she sees another person or dog, then she goes mental. However, she does settle down when she meets people indoors. She’s very barky to begin with, but within 5 mins is your friend and is very loving.

I did notice when she was barking, that her back legs were down. Does that mean she’s scared? This was meeting a human. But as I said she was fine a few minutes later.

She does learn though. We have floor length windows so she can see people outside. A week ago she was barking at them, but now there are 2 boys with skateboards and she’s just watching them, but not barking.

I hope this means she is calming down.

She will still be in the adjusting phase of moving to a new life - for many rescues it can take weeks or months for them to regain their confidence.
Her being calmer when she sees things is good & you can reinforce this with treats & praise - perhaps watching calmly out the window together & rewarding when she is quiet.

Hi op. I have a rescue puggle who is the same when on the lead, she is terrifying! However we have learnt its just fear, she wasn't socialised as a puppy - she's now 8. Off the lead she is fine, barks at first then is always friendly, however it can be alarming for other dogs and owners. We live in the country so hardly meet anyone on our day to day walks but if we go to the beach or somewhere new she wears a Baskerville muzzle. They are brilliant, good luck.

I agree with other posters about being anxious as an owner, she definitely gets that. If I spot a dog that we don't know I sometimes just turn around and go the other way, but I give her a treat first and say come on let's go this way. She seems relieved that she doesn't have to react and comes quite happily.

I’ve come to the heartbreaking conclusion that we need to rehome her. We went through so much to get her but her behaviour is terrible. She tried to kill my mum’s cat, she launches herself at people in the street and I can’t even take the rubbish out without her constantly barking.

We love her so much. We have had dogs all my life and never had one like this. We looked for over 5 months to find a dog. We were so happy to finally get one. Oh God, this is so hard 😢.

The problem you describe can definitely be worked on but it is hard work and you will need a behaviourist. Where is the dog from?

I bought her from a couple who were relocating. I have never had a dog with behaviour problems before and just don’t have thousands of pounds available for therapy for her.

@BellaTheDog

I bought her from a couple who were relocating. I have never had a dog with behaviour problems before and just don’t have thousands of pounds available for therapy for her.

Is she insured? If so, with which provider?

As explained upthread, it's not thousands for a behaviourist, it's in the low hundreds. Have you approached one yet?

You will not find this dog especially easy to re-home - the "no kill" type rescues like Dogs Trust don't take in dogs with such significant behaviour problems, and the open door ones like Battersea put down a noticeable proportion of the dogs that come in, often for behaviour reasons. The RSPCA would almost certainly put your dog down (they put down an alarmingly high % of dogs that come their way - it doesn't take much). There just aren't that many people who relish the prospect of owning and working with a seriously reactive dog.

You do, at least, owe the dog a session with a behaviourist to give you some tools to work with her, and some hard work while using those tools.

I didn't have a dog with behaviour problems before I had mine (he was my first dog as an adult). I learned - it was a steep learning curve - he improved vastly, we can now live with each other, and the learning process made me a better dog owner. He'll never be the perfect dog, but that's fine, he can cope with life now. I don't regret it for a moment. There's no reason why you can't put in the effort with this dog.

Our behaviourist cost £160 and that was it. It was hard work but it was the same price as a quick trip to the vet for something basic. I know it feels overwhelming right now but once you start to see changes and bond with the dog you’ll want to put the effort in.