# Aggressive to dogs, really need some help!



## Laurasch (Jul 1, 2008)

I would really appreciate some advice about how to retrain Pepper to meet and greet other dogs well. I started taking him to the dog park at 6 months and he did very well for a year. He would do sniff circle greetings with all dogs, big and small, and sometimes have great play games with other small dogs, mostly one on one. 

One odd behavior, if he liked the look of a little dog, he would lay down flat, wait, then charge, and fly by, startling the other dog. Then try to get it to play. But since he'd startled it, he rarely got the other one to play. It looked like he was not so sure of himself, so wanted to get them off balance first. 

Now to the nut of the problem - a couple months ago he decided that puppies are evil. At first it was only if the puppy was batting at him or jumping on him. Instead of his old small, appropriate correction, he'd really growl and go after them. Then he ran up to a couple first, they'd done nothing, and growl rough, mouth, and chase them, even when they did lots of good submissive things. Now I'm keeping him on leash or in my arms and he starts growling the minute he sees them. It's also extending to adults. On leash, if we pass by dogs, instead of frendly, excited wags, it's now aggressive barking. He will stop immediately if I ask him to sit, etc and offer treat rewards. Then he's focused on me and ignores them completely. He's not getting the connection, not associating good behavior when near other dogs with treats.

This seems totally bizarre. He was well socialized and doing very well - at the dog park, in training classes (loved off leash play in the puppy classes), at shows, walks around town, pet stores, etc. He used to love to play with other little dogs, now when they visit, he wants a few minutes of play then is so done. 

One of his litter mates recently showed the same aggressive behavior to a couple other dogs. These litter mates are very alike in many other physical and temperament aspects. Someone else told me her dog went through this too before he turned two as well. Is there a chance it's a temporary maturation thing?

Should I pull out all the training stops to fix this? I think probably yes, but how? I'm a positive trainer and don't want him to associate negative corrections with the other dogs, think it will raise his stress level. Do you agree or is this one of the 'so serious must give a strong correction' things? I'm so torn on how to handle this. Please help!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Laura, I would not rely on corrections. Unless you are a professional ,corrections are difficult to perform correctly. And if not done properly ,can worsen the problem. Sounds like you have caught this early enough . It can get worse if not resolved . But to give you a better idea about what's involved here, I would read this article by Nicole Wilde. You want to create good associations ,Classical conditioning , when meeting dogs and other people which you seem to have learned. If you find you cannot make any progress ,I would seek a professional; but like the article says, it is important to find the right type. Here is the article 
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/getting-grip-aggression


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