Expert: Jill Connor, Ph.D. - 10/19/2008

Question
I would really like to get my dogs more socialized with people and other dogs.  I feel like they are getting very territorial and aggressive because they only see our family day to day.   We live in a smaller city (very spaced out), and there really isn’t anything like dog parks, or even people who walk there dogs (or walk around period).  Since most people have an acre or so as a back yard.

Our oldest dog Harmony (9 years), has past aggression problems with people and other dogs.  Including a bite history.  She was improving when we started doing daily walks and she got used to meeting people in the street (and having strangers feed her treats helped too :0P).  But now that we’ve moved away from the city, she’s regressed back.  She has had aggression problems for a long time.  When her mom had puppies we kept her, as well as 2 others, and the mom.  Big mistake.  It turned into a huge ordeal, weekly fights and vet visits.  As soon as I was old enough and moved, I took her with me just to get her out of the situation.  But because of almost 6 years of being picked on, and getting into fights she became aggressive towards other dogs and people (mainly men).   I started working with her to get used to people, and she did fine when introduced to my boyfriends cat.   And later when we got the puppy…she did “ok” with him.  It was a struggle when we first got him, but now that are practically inseparable.     

And our youngest Jack (just turned 1 year), is a 90lb lap dog, but even he gets weirded out if we have company over.   Not to mention he’s just like a kid, and copies everything Harmony does.  It usually takes an hour to get them to stop barking, and then when the person moves it starts all over again.    

What would you suggest we do? And my boyfriend worries about doing a 180, and making them TOO comfortable with strangers coming into our house or around us (which I think is a stretch in harmony’s case, but jack is still very easily molded)?   Is there a way to get a middle ground?  (If not I would rather them be nice to everyone than possible bite them).  It just feels like because we live in a city so spaced out, that unless we literally invited people over every weekend they won’t get ANY socialization with strangers.  

Thanks  

If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer.  

Answer
"Socialization" is the word people use to express habituating a dog to new people, situations, and other animals; the window of opportunity to create an ability in any dog to fully accept such events/entities slams shut at approximately (give or take) sixteen weeks of age.  What's left is an attempt to desensitize fear response and rehabituate the dog's natural proclivity (flight, fight, freeze) to the unknown.

You apparently have dogs of a specific breed (I would guess herding or guarding, perhaps Rottweilers, Mastiffs, GSDs, you don't mention this) who are well past the age of rehabituation.  The biggest problem in this mix is that the juveniles are looking toward the older dog (Harmony) to determine reaction INSTEAD OF TO YOU.  YOUR JOB is to establish psychological rank here so that your dogs DO NOT.  Also, you must take the youngest (Jack) and begin to seriously counter condition what he has observed is the "normal" response to "strangers" from Harmony.  Take him OUT (I don't care how far you have to travel) EVERY DAY and introduce him (slowly) to people and new situations.  Observe his body language closely; do NOT REWARD FEAR but wait until his learned fear response abates and THEN reward his NON fear state.  I have no idea how many of these dogs you have, but the fact that the (supposed) oldest has a bite history tells me you have a potentially very dangerous situation for visitors.  Inviting people into your home as an experiment to attempt to rehabilitate active aggression in your dogs is unconscionable.  You need the in person evaluation and guidance of a certified applied animal behaviorist.  And you need to learn a GREAT DEAL about managing a multiple dog household.  Read Patricia McConnell Ph.D.s book on this topic and learn about positive reinforcement training.

As for making a dog "too friendly'..there is NO SUCH THING.  Any dog who is temperamentally suited will come to the defense and/or aid of his/her "pack" members (that would be you).  Deliberately holding a dog back from learning to like and accept everyone is deliberately creating of that dog a frightened, possibly dangerous animal who will RUN AFTER biting, not exactly Rin Tin Tin.