Expert: Jannie Balliett - 4/27/2010

Question
I have my male boxer for 3 weeks. He is 4 years old in November. He has spent his life contained at the side of a house. He was rarely walked and had little interaction with people. I walked him every night for 7 weeks before I took him home. He is great in many ways. He has never soiled the house even though he was never house trained. I have had him neutered and microchipped. He had diahorria very badly when I got him. I now have him on the correct food for him (Royal Cannin boxer 26). My problem with him is that he is distracted very easily when out in the park. He has to run up to every dog he sees even if they are far away and it is hard to get him back. He recently got into a fight with a male lab and from what I can gather he tends to start fights with male dogs around his own size. He has played with male dogs smaller than him. I cant read the signs and don't know where to start. He has no interest in chasing a ball or a stick. Can you give me any advice. thanks

Answer
Any dog that has been restrained his entire life, has not experienced what normal dogs do. He has not been socialized because of his restraint and neglect.

Imagine not interacting with others of your kind, or people. Imagine being restricted to one spot/area forever. Imagine depending on someone to feed and water you... and I imagine they did not as often as they were suppose to; therefore, he went without food and fresh water frequently. Imagine no stimulation and complete boredom.

He does not know what to do-- this is overwhelming to him.

To be able to run. To be able to eat and drink whenever he wants to. To be able to be touched. Imagine.

He is overly excited about the other dogs; about playing and running and interacting.

He has no social manners- does not know right from wrong.

It is normal to fight and over react to another dog for whatever reason that sets him off. Maybe he feels intimidated by that particular dog at the time and he is only behaving as any dog would; he is proving he is not a push over- he is in the fight or flight mode. So he fights. It is survival. It also shows the other dog(s) that he cannot be intimidate, pushed around, or anything taken from him (cannot take food or a bone from him if in the wild and in a pack, etc.) and that he will defend himself and is tough. It's a poker game; a bluff. It's him proving himself to show all others.

Imagine a wolf in the wild, in a pack (all dogs together are a pack-- he and you and your family, is his new pack), they have an order of rank; the alpha is the leader, others follow his orders, his rules, and are submissive to him. Then there is the lowest ranked-- the omega. The submissive servant. The one that gets the less and has no bearing on the pack.

Your boy does not have an order. He hasn't ever had a pack, a rank-- a place.

He can be instinctively trying to be an alpha. He definitely does not want to be an omega male.

I suggest that you gradually socialize him, allowing him to become part of the pack- whether it is at home, or at the dog park around other dogs. He needs to learn to behave accordingly, appropriately. He does need to learn that he does not have to fight to be who he is. He needs to learn that you and your family is his pack- not the other dogs at the dog park. Then he will be secure and comfortable in his stature and rank- identify with the norm.

Abused dogs all have problems and baggage- and 99% of it is knowing his place and being secure.

Instead of going to the dog park (for awhile), train him gradually with a relative or friend's dog at home, or their house- but I suggest at your home in your fenced back yard.

Allow him to watch and learn from this dog. Allow him to interact with that dog. Allow him to become secure around another dog. One at a time.

Then, if possible, add another dog in the mix: two and him, together.

This becomes a pack. They can teach him proper dog etiquette and behavior.

Once you feel that he is doing good; no fighting or aggression toward the others, then he has made progress and ready for the dog park.

Take him, but keep him on a leash. I suggest a harness with a leash attached to the harness. It is not only easier and more secure for you to handle him, but even more secure for him. He will feel more secure "attached" to you. Think of the harness and leash as an extension of yourself- he will feel a part of you.

Once this goes well, roaming the dog park (on his harness and leash) while showing good behavior, you can unleash him and supervise him. Observe his behavior- his ears, his stance, his vocal sounds- his body.

Also, a very good trick to show him to be submissive and that you are the alpha of the pack is:

1) Try a feeding technique: Put his dog dish on the counter/table with his food in it. Place a cookie or cracker on the counter/table "behind" the bowl (for you) and have him sit before you watching. Pick up the cookie or cracker and stand there eating it while NOT looking at him. Then, when finished, tell him to "eat" and place the bowl down in front of him to eat.

What this accomplishes is: he thinks you are getting the cookie or cracker out of his dog dish and eating FIRST like an ALPHA. He is in rank of the others and waiting for the alpha to give him permission to eat. An alpha in a pack in the wild, eats first and eats all he wants before any other eats. The alpha gives them permission to eat what is left over.

Do this everyday for a week or two, then go back to normal leaving his dog bowl down wherever you keep it normally.

2) When playing, (like in the evenings watching tv or something), sit down on the floor with him. Tell him to lay down, and if he does on command, turn him as much as possible onto his back to get him in the submissive position. If he doesn't know commands yet, then force him down in a laying position (Boxers don't do laying on their backs well- so his side is okay), and he should lift one back leg up allowing you to see all his belly. This is submissive when the leg is cocked up. He appears totally helpless, and that is his attitude to you: I am submissive to you- do what you will- attitude and stance.

I can walk up to my Boxers that are laying down napping, and they will automatically turn on their side and lift a leg allowing me to rub their belly. They are willingly being submissive to me because they know I am the alpha.

These two training exercises/techniques are the key to all other behaviors; they will learn commands and obey, and they will know you are the alpha- not the dog at the dog park, not anyone else- you are. And that is putting him in the proper rank order anywhere he goes- he is your submissive and you are his alpha, and all other dogs are just like him and part of a pack that follows your command (he thinks they do to).

I hope this has explained his behavior and cause (reasons why) and helps you to train him and modify his behavior armed with the knowledge of why he does what he does and how to become the leader-- the alpha which is the key to a successful relationship with your dog.