OT - another dog question

[KRC]

I had very similar problems with my German Shepard and my girlfriend and I were able to make huge strides with his development.  So while this maybe a long winded reply it is essential to being able to correct his problem behavior.

 

Dogs are pack animals and you and your girlfriend are part of his pack.  In the wild each pack has the alpha, or dominant member, and each other member is then ranked accordingly within the pack based on dominance. In reality your the alpha male of your pack, the question is does your dog realize that or not? In order to find out you simply need to watch the dogs behavior.

 

Does he walk threw doors first? Does he walk a few feet in front of you on the leash?Does he run up the stairs first or does he let you go and follow behind?

 

If he is doing any of this leading type behavior then your dog views himself as the alpha male, and when that is the case you will encounter the types of problems that your experiencing. The reason for this is its the alphas job to protect his pack, so if your dog views himself as the alpha he feels its his job to protect you and your girlfriend.

 

When you walk into the park what is going on in your mind? I ask this because dogs have a uncanny ability to sense their owners emotions even if they are not visibly showing them. Subconsciously your probably nervous at the park, nervous that he might have the outburst he keeps having, or nervous that your dog might put himself in danger by barking up the wrong tree. Well if thats the case your dog senses that nervousness. The problem is he relates that to you being afraid. As the alpha its his job to protect so he naturally becomes very aggressive toward other dogs or people.

 

So how do you go about correcting this behavior?

 

First you need to establish yourself as the alpha in his mind, and in order to do that you need to completely change the way you act around your dog. First of all your dog needs to understand that you are alway in control of him, and that he is not allowed to behave how he wants anymore. Don't let him sniff or interact with people or dogs unless you want him to. Don't let him go to the bathroom, or sniff the ground, or do anything unless that is precisely what you want. Constantly enforce good behavior with positive reinforcement, but more importantly ALWAYS punish him if he does something that you don't want him to do. NEVER let your dog lead, not threw doors, stairs, or on the leash. You need to establish yourself as the dominant one and thats a difficult proposition when your dog already believes himself to be just that. 

 

Here is a couple quick fixes that should help to mask the problem as you establish dominance. Relax as much as you possibly can at the park, remember if the dog senses any nervousness he will go into protective mode. Another thing you can do is incorporate another dog into your walks at the park. If you know of any other dogs bring them over before you leave to the park. Socialize your dog and the other dog and then take them both to the park. This will help to calm his nerves, distract him,  and also show him that other dogs at the park are not a threat to his pack.

 

Bottom line though is you need to establish dominance with him....Good luck

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VERY good advice. The only thing I can add to this, is trying Rescue Remedy before going to the dog park. It helps to clm the dog's nerves. It works wonders with my German Shepherd.

 

Continue to be positive. Also, do not let the dog off the leash. Let the dog socialize at the dog park, without letting her off the leash. Keep stressing the positive behaviors, while reprimanding bad behavior. Also, you might want to muzzle the dog while at the park.

[Coach Tuesday]

Thanks for the great advice, Millbank, Kzoo, Moose and Cajun especially. Millbank, that article is spot-on - Lola's "attacks" are actually noise/dominance displays - she's never injured a dog. And her outbursts usually occur while she's in her "free-for-all" mode, when she just runs wild through the park (which is why the fights happen more at smaller parks where she can't run as much). And you're spot-on that a lot of it has to do with her listening to us IN the park (i.e., coming to us every time we call her), which is something she's bad at and we've been working at it a lot. Kzoo, the Alpha Theory makes a lot of sense, and I would say that, the only time when my dog DOESN'T view me as the Alpha is in the park - all other times, she does whatever I want (and only does what I let her do). But you're right, I need to make sure she learns that the same rules apply to the park - we're working on that. Thanks for the help and understanding.

 

CT

[stevestojan]

VERY good advice. The only thing I can add to this, is trying Rescue Remedy before going to the dog park. It helps to clm the dog's nerves. It works wonders with my German Shepherd.

 

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During the Hurricanes here, I had to head west a bit to stay with friends. Anyway, I of course took my dog with me, but they had a dog as well. An un-neutered male puppy, that liked to hump EVERYthing. We kept them seperate, but my dog was still nervous in the situation. I gave her a few drops of rescue remedy and in about 1 minute she threw up. Just a heads up that it may upset their stomachs. (It could have something to do with the fact that its like 30% alchohol... ) But i have heard that it does work for alot of pups.

[Tony P]

My $.02:

 

Minus all of the canine psychology, just keep your dog on a leash.

 

I've been lucky with our labs and retrievers at our dog park as they have not been aggressive but I know that if they exhibit aggression, they'd be leashed, period EOS.

[Coach Tuesday]

My $.02:

 

Minus all of the canine psychology, just keep your dog on a leash.

 

I've been lucky with our labs and retrievers at our dog park as they have not been aggressive but I know that if they exhibit aggression, they'd be leashed, period EOS.

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It's definitely an opinion, one shared by some here (and some at the park). We're holding out hope that we can correct her behavior, because she plays well 90% of the time and because she only started exhibiting this stuff lately. But, if she can't learn to behave, we won't let her run around in the park - it would be a shame.