my 3 y old male has started challenging other males

[vizzla]

Im so frustrated with my boy now. He has started challenge other males. He raises his tail and barks. We got the instructions from a dog-trainer to tell him not to rais his tale, so we push his tail down if i does that..

He guards me and my husband. He behaives perfectly with my father in law, he is off leachs and dont even notice other dogs, just pass them by! So smething we do is triggering him.

I read that a dog that challenge is prepared for a fight and punishing them in that moment gives them just that. We punish by geting angry and telling him to stop, blocking him with our body not to attack...

Help us!

 

[jax's_mommy]

Is he fixed? That might help with lowering the testosterone level.

I know its hard to relax on it after the first time. You automatically react the next time. I do the exact same thing. From past experience, and research. Dogs apparently can feel when we tense for that reaction through leash (not sure how though lol) and they will react to it.

It's tough, and puts him in stress as well. But try practicing walking him by male dogs, have a friend help out if they can. Practice relaxing and keeping calm. Do some breathing techniques that can help there when walking. If your calm and relax, he should be calm and relax as well

I had to do this with a pit bull who was dog aggressive. She was a ex fighting dog that we rescued (RIP BooBoo) After a lot of patients, and sometimes stressful, trails with that way. She got to the point were she stopped trying to after dogs when on walks. I was only 13 at that time, my step dad did most of that. But it was something that impacted in me and stuck with me. So I use this technique with every dog I've had since. Never having a problem since.

Hope it works out for you

 

[vizzla]

He is not fixed and I really dont want to do that.. If its not necessery...

Yes I must work on my calmness... I think I pretty calm up untill he starts barking. then I act like a human and tell him "no" even when I know he doesnt know words... So there I must find some other way. We often go for walks with other dogs, there ar fb- groups where you can ask for help and others will meet you and train.

 

[DeafDogs]

Ah yes dog aggression... fun stuff! I'm against punishment for this, all it does is make your dog believe that that dog is a problem, as you get mad at it too. Dogs more often than not get worse with punishment. You need to help him to avoid practicing the bad behaviour by avoiding what sets him off, at first.

One thing you can also do, to help keep yourself calm, it to sing a happy song (like happy birthday) out loud to your dog... you cant feel tense if you're happily singing a goofy song LOL.

If he's fine off leash, then he's likely feeling some leash anxiety... he cannot get away from the other dog when on leash, so he challenges them to try to get them to back off.

 

[Inkeri]

We have this issue x100 with our younger dog. He's a rescue from a russian dog-pound (he was found wandering the streets as a pup), so I think the problem is related to his past. He has quite nasty scars on his ears under the fur, so he's propably been in a fight at least once in his life.

He's now 13 months and we got him fixed about a month ago. The fixing hasn't helped much - at least not yet. But I don't think it will, since I think he's more afraid than angry...

We're making progress with small steps... We can already get closer to the other dog and if we turn around the next corner without a nearby passing he's cool with it. But still, if we get too close (as we often do, of course) he goes crazy. It doesn't matter if it's a small or big dog, male or female... It would be easier if he tried calming gestures first (like sniffing the ground or turning his head to the side), we could praise him for that and things might go smoother. When he sees a dog he's just ATTACK! I suppose he's never going to be a doggy-park dog, but I'd like him to at least ignore the other dogs...

What we've done is when he starts the stare we sit him down on our side and ask for contact - treat, then go further - stare - contact - treat etc... This has worked so far, but of course the passing is really slow!

And everybody here is so right about the calmness. You have to stay calm ( it's not easy!!!), without even noticing it you tight the leash, walk differently, stare at the unknown dog - all signs for your dog that it's an enemy dog, beware.

 

[Penny]

In my old neighborhood they had paths between houses that connected the streets to help kids to get to school. Very nice planning. However, some owners on these paths put up chain link fences, moved away, then new owners with dogs moved in. Can you imagine 2 dogs on the other side of the fence, barking their heads off when I was walking? It was quite a challenge to get through there with a doxie. There was no end to dogs behind fences but the chain link ones were the worst.

Beau knew 'Look at me' command. As I came closer to the path, we would practice 'look at me', and it got to the point I could kneel on the sidewalk with 2 dogs at the fence barking their heads off, and Beau would stand still, ignoring them and looking at me. It took a bit of time but when hubby came through the paths with me, his jaw fell open. Having a dog that is food motivated can work to your advantage. However, I liked to use kibble from his food portion of the day so that he didn't pack on the extra pounds in training. He didn't mind.

I hope that can work for you.