Well D is coming on slowly but surely around other dogs. So after all my very negative posts about what a pain a dog aggressive dog is I thought I tell you what we have been up to!

He's still very much a work in progress and we still go to lots of training classes, he cannot be trusted around other strange dogs but he is getting there with dogs and situations he's used to and happy with. If you follow the link there is some pictures of him amongst other doggies at dog agility. He's the white and tan one with the muzzle!

http://www.pingyagility.co.uk/Memberspage.html

A very proud mum :lol: We are both loving the dog agility and can't wait for the warmer weather!

He looks like he's really enjoying it!

I think he does enjoy it. He somehow knows when it is a Saturday. My boyf takes him out for his normal morning walk and he then sits watching me until it's time to go and suddenly gets all excited (he is not allowed to be excited for walks) I think he likes Saturdays as he gets his big early morning walk, then agility for an hour and a half then we zoom off to Barnsley for an hour or so for his training run around with 15+ other dogs! He has a girlf ridgeback who he loves, :love: it's great to see his tail go as soon as he spots her! :lol:

Well done to you both.

If you can offer any info as to how you are making progress id love to know as my identical prob with 4-5 year old rescue dog seems to be one step forward and 2 back.

I didnt spring her from death row to send her back there though but she could have so much more freedom with a better attitude.

I don't think you can totally 'cure' it if it's bad, but it is possible to improve it!

I've tried quite a few techniques and the best one for seems to be the 'flooding' technique for us. Basically keeping him around dogs as much as possible in controlled training situations, use distraction techniques if you can, most people start on this first but D was so aggressive he was impossible to distract as he went from calm to 100% aggressive in a spilt second, even more intrusive distraction techniques (such as check and sprays) were completely useless, there was no time to distract as the aggression was instant and he meant business. It's not advised by most trainers but it's the only thing that has given us improvement.

He still is a pain when you meet strange dogs when out walking so cannot have freedom, but inside class training he has not worn a muzzle for 6 months and can be trusted if I leave the room to do a stay even if the other dogs are up and about. He wears his muzzle on the group walks but is allowed to play with the other dogs which allows him the chance to learn how to play and has quite a good dodge away and warning system sorted now if he is not happy instead of attacking. He has to be told sometimes to leave the other dogs alone as he can be OTT. If he does slip up he is called to heel, told off and has to walk offlead at my side for a good 5 minutes. Can't seem to transfer this to everyday though!

We were doing all that for a good 6 months before we started at agility as I had to trust him off lead around known dogs before I could take him to an agility club, being around other well controlled dogs is great for him he seems to somehow know they are not a threat though for some reason he still tries to go for dogs when out walking?! :loopy: But take him to a doggy open day and he's fine!

Mmmm

Im not altogether sold on the flooding as in my case it has proved traumatic for the "stooge" dogs.

The distraction is Pretty much all the stuff i have tried and thought was working but had a recent relapse which was (fortunately) non consequential as the muzzle averted any damage to the victim and the threatened dog didnt seize on the opportunity to retalliate on the muzzled aggressor.

........... nontheless very unpleasant experience for the intended victim and just feel that 6 months of steady progress goes in a moment of madness.

Could the age of the dog be a factor - is there an age where it has spent so long uncorrected and or actively encouraged to attack (i dont know its history) that it cant be reversed ? is there a cut off point where i just have to accept that it is what it is and adapt its lifestyle to damage limitation ?

I think now that i am more scared of the unpredictability after so much progress for such a massive let down. Thanks for the info.

Hello Evei

Glad your doing well. Its great that he can be off lead around other dogs now. It prob helping that he has the agility equipment to focus his energy on rather than worrying about the other dogs.

Im hoping to start coming with Dexter soon. Its been difficult as I often have to work most Sat mornings and Ive got a new little puppy to be out socialising. Im planning on coming down to watch this weekend (to see what its like) and I want to start coming regularly in the summer when its run in the evenings rather than at the weekend.

Oh and if you still wanted to meet in Graves park to practice letting D walk past Dexter ill be down there Sunday morning PM me if you free and still want to give it a go.

:lol: I agree about the age and training. D is always so eager to please and it is as though attacking has been taught to him or it is just so ingrained in his personaility that it will never go away. He was about a 1-2 years old when we got him, so yes, it is an adapted lifestyle to stop it. It does break my heart that I have to be so controlling and he has little freedom, unless it's a dog he has been introduced to and is not what I am used to as a dog owner in the past, it makes things much less enjoyable.

It normally take a 5 minutes introduction, walking side by side, D to make a lunge and be told off and then he is fine with the other dog :loopy: That's what sometimes makes me think he has been trained to be aggressive on meeting. Once told he knows it's wrong to attack them and he is good with them he can be off lead with them.

Like you I have not managed to get from this stage to allow him to be off lead to meet strange dogs.....I cannot ever see this happening he seems to need me to tell him when it is right/ wrong and the lead gives me the security if he has got too wound up...I'm letting it get longer and longer to try and give him the choice when I tell him what to do but if other dog owners let their off lead dogs come within lunging distance (which they often do) we cannot practise it.

The stoodge dogs at training are each other and the trainers dogs sort out the disagreements :lol: All the ones that would do any damage are muzzled , the really bad ones are also kept on training lines. I've only seen one not improve in the 6 months I've been going, which is a small bull breed that is completely mental. Not all the dogs there go for aggression, some are there for other walk related training issues.

For him it is learning the interactions and the doggy language, if that's a snarl off another dog to tell him to go away, an invition to play or an ignore. For me, I practise recall (he is excellent at this) ignoring other dogs, telling him to leave other dogs if I think the playing is getting too rough, or calling him away from other dogs that are being rude to him! All useful for when he is with dogs he is happy with.

The agility club is completely separate from the training place I go to by the way! :)

Hello Evei

Glad your doing well. Its great that he can be off lead around other dogs now. It prob helping that he has the agility equipment to focus his energy on rather than worrying about the other dogs.

Im hoping to start coming with Dexter soon. Its been difficult as I often have to work most Sat mornings and Ive got a new little puppy to be out socialising. Im planning on coming down to watch this weekend (to see what its like) and I want to start coming regularly in the summer when its run in the evenings rather than at the weekend.

Oh and if you still wanted to meet in Graves park to practice letting D walk past Dexter ill be down there Sunday morning PM me if you free and still want to give it a go.

:)Thanks, I think he enjoys it, it's that or the food! I'll most likely see you at the weekend. I go to the beginners session so if you see us come and say hello :wave: