Pet Dog is Vicious Towards Other Dogs

[Mowbray]

I hope someone can shed some light onto this.  When I walk my dog she always seems to bark and growls vicously towards other dogs.  She (Lady) snaps as them when they get too close to her.  I did read somewhere that dogs do this as they are scared of the other dog.

Lady is 10 years old and she never used to behave in this manner.

Is there anyway where I can help her to get used to other dogs?

[woofgang]

How long has she behaved like this? Have you had her eyesight and hearing checked as failure in these can make a dog nervous and self defensive

The trouble with this kind  of behaviour is that dogs are exceptional at reading their owners. If you start to expect it, Lady will start to expect to do it and the whole thing gets worse.

 I am assuming that your dog hasn't recently had any nasty experiences and is otherwise well in herself when I give this advice.

Best suggestion that I have is to enrol her at basic obedience classes. She will learn to be in the company of other dogs calmly and to concentrate on you instead of on them. Your vet might have a suggestion about a suitable class (ours does) or maybe you know other people with dogs who might suggest one. This can help if it is an eyesight or hearing problem as well.

Look for "gentle method" or similar training and explain your problem to the organiser before you go. If they talk about "discipline" and "showing who is boss" run a mile, if they talk about "sorting out your dog's problem" and "making her confident" or "getting het to trust you" then IMHO they'd be worth a go. Good luck and give Lady a cuddle from me

[PurplePixie]

Bang on Woofgang!

First thing I thought of was eyesight. My dog is a bit scared of children & she picked up a habit of barking & snapping at them as we walked to make them go away. Obviously I had to work on this very seriously...and with kindness & training that gave her faith in me & the confidence that I take charge of the situation & not let the children come too close, she has become a much safer dog.

My attitude had a lot to do with it & my fear that she would do some harm to a child wasn't helping. I find that if I walk confidently & chat to her in a calm way, then I can manage to walk past the fiercest dog or the noisiest child without a glance from her now.

Dogs can be a bit more defensive when they're on leads...and I am more careful whatever dog I'm walking. They all seem to act differently when they don't have the option of backing off & avoiding meeting.

Good luck & keep kindness & consistancy as your main key words in training & you won't go far wrong.

[woofgang]

I have a friend who runs dog training clasess, she says 90% of it it training the owner :-)

[doghandler]

Sorry if this shows up twice, but i posted it and it vanished!

so here goes again;

 

It is true that dogs can read fear from other dogs (and people) and they most definitely have a fight or flight instinct.

However it is also true that they can 'read' so much from their owners/handlers. It is an old but true saying that you communicate so much down the lead.
If I were to tense up when I see another dog coming towards us, my dog will act aggressively towards it - he thinks he needs to protect me because he senses I am tense - he interprets the tense as fear.

If Lady didn�t used to act this way, something must have happened to cause it?
Whatever has happened, it is becoming a problem which is compounded by the fact that you are keying her in every time a potential conflict appears by your body language.

I agree totally with the others above with regards to dog classes - she needs to be re socialised with other dogs, but more importantly, you need to see that she is okay with them and regain your confidence in her attitude so that you can correct your body language before the next time you are out together.
alternatively, arrange to meet some friends who have dogs that Lady knows, whilst on your walk, and re socialise her in this way.

It is very difficult to walk past another dog, knowing that your dog may well act aggressively towards it and not tense up or give out any body language, but you must learn to do this because dogs can read the slightest sign.
This is why people who are scared of dogs always get bitten, they give off the fear and the dog reads it and fights!

 

Hope this helps and good luck.