Expert: Lee Charles Kelley - 5/1/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have two dogs a blueheller cross and a retriever cross.  My blueheller has an
aggression problem with other female dogs especially my boyfriends much
bigger shepherd cross that out weighs her by almost twice as much.  She is
great with my other dog and my roommates lab that lives with me, but i am
unable to have her around my boyfriends dog without a fight.  My dog has
been hurt quite badly twice now from us pulling them apart (our bad, we
know now that is not what to do in a dog fight).  My boyfriend and i are
planning to buy a house together soon and we are looking for any help or
training that will socialize the dogs together.  I would love to find a trainer
that would train my heeler to understand fighting is not an option.  Please
can anyone help.

ANGE

ANSWER: Hi, Angela,

Thanks for the question.

This sounds like something that should be handled by a local trainer, in person, not over the internet. I can give you some simple suggestions, but without being there, or at least talking to you on the phone, I don't know how effective any advice I could give you might be.

I will say that if you can take your blue heeler and your boyfriend's shepherd on long walks together on a regular basis, so that they get walk side-by-side in the park or somewhere close to nature, after a few weeks of this they may start to get along the way your heeler does with the two dogs who live with her. My feeling (and it's just a feeling, since I haven't observed her behavior firsthand) is that your heeler sees your boyfriend's dog not as a packmate but as a member of a rival pack. Taking long walks together would, over time, have a tendency to change that emotional dynamic. She would start to feel that the other dog ISN'T a rival, but is a fellow pack member. And the pack instinct is really about group harmony, not who's most dominant.

Here are some links that might be helpful:

http://tinyurl.com/2q2esp ("Is Your Dog Dominant or Just Feeling Anxious?")

http://www.tiny.cc/walking2dogs (how walking 2 dogs together creates harmony)

Also: How much hard vigorous playful activity does she get every day? Do you ever play tug-of-war with her, and let her win? These two things can greatly reduce a lot of pent-up tension in aggressive dogs.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

LCK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your advice.  We have started the walks together a few
weeks ago.  I am working on not being so tence around the dogs.  I am still
very afraid that another altercatiion will happen.  We are planning to move in
together in a few weeks so i am just planning to keep them separated by
fence and always in different rooms.  I would love to find a kennel or a camp
of sorts to take my heeler too for some intense training,  She is just so smart
that i feel like she needs to learn to be the non agressive dog that i know she
can be.  Do you know of any places that do things like that?  That will take
your dog for a week and train her?

Thanks again
ANGELA

ANSWER: Sure. Where do you live?

LCK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again, i do live in Canada in the rockie mountains in British columbia.  I am
moving down to southern BC.  The Nelson area, so i am on the Spokane boarder.  
Thanks so much for your help.

Answer
Hi again.

What I'd do, if I were you, is look for a trainer that understands that aggression is a symptom of fear, not dominance. I would be very leery of anyone who believes in the "alpha theory," or the idea that dogs have an instinct to follow the pack leader, which they've inherited from wolves. It turns out that wild wolf packs don't really have a pack leader. And most of the behaviors we've all been taught are about dominance or trying to be alpha don't exist in wild wolf packs.

I would also work with that person directly; I wouldn't send my dog "off to be trained." That might work, it might not. Sometimes the dog will be on their best behavior when the trainer is around, but revert to their old habits once they're back home.

Best of luck. Feel free to let me know how it goes.

LCK