Expert: Suzanne Harris BSc CPDT - 10/15/2008

Question
I have a 4 year old Golden Retriever.  Whenever another unknown dog nears us,  ie at the beach, or while out on a walk she growls, shows teeth and becomes aggressive.  What is the best way to break her of this?  We don't have alot of opportunity to be around other dogs.  Time is an issue.  She is normally at home (husband works out of the house)

Answer
Dear Lori,

I apologize for taking 6 days to answer your question.  For some reason the answer I submitted last week didn't "take".  In any case, your best bet here is to gradually acclimate your dog to the presence of other dogs.  Generally what this entails is praising her and treating her whenever other dogs are present, starting out at distances which do not stress her enough to elicit the aggression response.  It is still OK to treat her if she does show stress, because we are trying to get her to enjoy the presence of other dogs no matter what happens; "the bar is open", so to speak, when another dog is around.  Eventually she will start to look to you or your husband for the happy reinforcement whenever another dog comes around, rather than fixating on the other dog and doing what she can to scare them off.  However, do your best to deliver treats 50% of the time or more BEFORE she has started to show signs of agitation.  The way to do this is to stay at a distance you know has not caused her stress in the past.  Gradually over the weeks you will see that decreasing the distance between her and the other dog will be easier, and if you keep it up you should eventually be able to be quite close to passing dogs without a problem.  Since she's 4 years old, and since you don't have a lot of opportunity to be around other dogs, this may take some time.  My guess with her age and maybe 2 training opportunities a week is that it would take 3-4 months before you can get the ease you're looking for.

Many trainers can assist you in this desensitization process.  I recommend doing a trainer search at http://www.apdt.com check several references for any trainer, and follow your gut instinct to determine the best one for you.

Your dog's reaction to other dogs is based in fear of the unknown.  She needs to gain confidence around other dogs by learning that other dogs are not a threat to her.  Learning this goes against normal dog instinct, which naturally guides them after age 1 year to suspect almost anything to which they have not had a lot of early socialization or desensitization by frequent exposure.  There are cage-free behavior-based dog daycares which may be able to help you and it would be worth the time to research what's available in your area.  The benefit here is that she could make a lot of progress in the socialization/confidence-building area, and cut your behavior modification time in half or even less, depending on how often you could bring her there.  If you find a place I'd say it's imperative that she get a very slow and gradual introduction to the other dogs.  What I do at my daycare is keep the new dogs behind a fence where they can meet and greet without getting jumped on or otherwise overwhelmed, and we don't put them in with all the dogs until the new dog is clearly indicating that she's ready to play.  Even then we might introduce her to the other dogs one at a time, allowing the group into the main room one at a time with continual supervision.

Good luck and thanks for writing!
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com