Expert: Alan J Turner, SATS LL1 - 10/2/2006

Question
Hi there,
I have a 18 monh old staffordshire Bull terrier x labrador bitch who is such an affectionate girl.
Lately,we havent been able to let her off the lead as a jack russell went for her in the park one day and she snapped back.
This led to that dogs owner threatening me and saying that I had a vicious dog!!!
Since then she cannot be let off the lead as she will go for other dogs.I have bought a muzzle so that I can let her off but people seem very frightened of this,Anyway,she growled at a child as I walked my 7 year old to school today and I am very concerned that her whole temper is changing and she will turn vicious.I have another child age 2. My dog is exercised lots and at home we have cats and she loves them!!
She has not been spayed as we wanted to breed her possibly.
I would appreciate advice.
many thanks

Answer
Hi Laverne, Thanks for the questions. Dog-dog aggression is  usually a complex issue with no quick cure. You mentioned that your Lady growled at a child too. This complicates the case. It is very likely that her behavior is rooted in fear. Has she ever barked at, been shy or hesitant to approach strangers, kids, other dogs? Does she greet any of these with her head lowered or ears down? If so I'd suggest the book, The Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell.

Most scientists agree that All ....repeat ...ALL behaviors have equal amounts of genetic and environmental contributing factors. I usually advise people to think about this before breeding any dogs that have exhibited aggressive behaviors. That's just me, other will disagree - I'm sure. The bottom line is to recognize that it is very likely that aggressive behaviors may be passed down to future generations.

You have brought up several great topics- I'll forge ahead with my thoughts! I'm not suggesting this is what happened in your situation, but some version of the following scenario is likely anytime we visit the dog park.

Dog parks - dog parks can be great or not so great. It depends on the social skills of all the dogs. Suppose another person's dog has poor social skills and approaches your dog with threatening body postures. Suppose your dog uses a dog-acceptable method of saying "hey you're making me nervous - I don't want to play with you". Your dog does this with body language, tail position, ear position, leg position, et cetera.

Suppose the first dog continues to approach and your dog uses the next level of dog-legal language to avert a physical confrontation. The first dog ignores all the signals and encroaches on your dog's personal space. The situation escalates until it is resolved with agonistic behavior or even aggresisve behavior. Whose dog was at fault? Which owner should have intervened before the meeting errupted into a confrontation? Should we expect our dogs to turn the other cheek?

Terriers are not known for their passive personalities. Most terrier breeds were bred to hunt alone and not in packs. They were selected and bred for their tenacity and their determination. Watch any conformation competition and the terriers may break into a scrap with their neighbor competitor, for no apparent reason. The judges do not necessarily deduct for dog-dog rudeness between terriers!

That does not necessarily translate into "terriers are not good at dog parks". It does make terriers members in the group of breeds that at a higher risk than some other breeds for dog fights. Of course every dog is an individual and any breed specific generalization is not applicable to every member of the breed. That being said, let's look at your specific problems.

Your girl, (I've named her Lady) is approaching (or reached) social maturity (18-36 months)- this is when behavior changes are most reported. The incident at the dog park may or may not have any bearing on her behavior change. but instead is a sign of social maturity.

Rather than turn her loose at the dog park with a muzzle, (people are so weird about muzzles- aren't they? ), I would not take her to the dog park. Do you have any neighbors with friendly dogs or a doggie day care?

I have no idea of how you well you monitor your kids with Lady. Here is one of my thoughts about dogs and kids. . I would never leave any dog alone with any child under 10 or so. Kids don't know how to interact with dogs and vice versa. I know many many people will disagree but unfortunatley I have a slanted view. No one has called me to say "my dog and my child are terrific friends and my kid can do anything to the dog". People call me when their dog is growling or has bitten their child.

Here are some ideas for helping Lady cope with strange kids and strange dogs.

Does Lady know any obedience commands? If so, ask her to sit when children are approaching or when other dogs are approaching. Resist any temptation to correct her - this will only make it worse. For whatever reason, Lady feels threatened by the other dogs or kids (growling is a commmunication tool that says - "I'm uncomfortable, please move away"). If you correct her after she sees and reacts to the strangers, you are adding to her beliefs that strange kids or dogs are dangersous - because their presence is a releable predictor of another threat, your aggression.

Just ask her to sit, praise her for complying. If she cannot sit because she is too focused on the strangers, move away and ask her again. You job is to find a distance where she can focus on you and comply with your command. Practie at this distance and then move a bit closer and practice some more, a bit closer, practice, et cetera.

Teaching a two-finger taget is a good tool for this. In a quiet setting, say yes and then give her a treat. Repeat 5 times. Next, say, "here" and hold you two-fingers (index and middle) right in front (1 inch away) of her nose. Your hand should be empty (no treat in the two-finger target hand). The instant she bumps your target to sniff for a treat, say "yes" and then give her a treat. A clicker works better than saying yes. After she learns about the clicker, you would click when she bumps your target and then give her a treat.

To learn how to teach her with a clicker, check out one of these books. Clicking WIth Your Dog by Peggy Tillman or Click Here: For a Well Trained Dog by Deborah Jones.

Once she learns how to target, you have a tool to interrupt her aggressive behavior and focus on you, your target and earning a treat. If she is targeting your target, she can't be aggressive towards the strangers.

GO to a leashed park and get off the walking path. Find a distance where she sees the people with leashed dogs applraching, but is able to focus on your target. Wait for leashed dogs to approach. The instant she sees them give her the target command, "here". If she does not listen to you, move farther away and try again. Your goal is to find a distance where she can succeed. As time progresses, you can decrease the distance between her and the path where strange people and dogs pass by.

In summary, your goal is to teach her a behavior that is incompatible with growling (teach in a quiet location). Once she knows the behavior, ask for the behavior when she sees the strangers (kids or dogs). Practice at increasingly shorter distances from the strangers. Over time, she will respond to strangers - not by growling but by looking at you for instructions.  The first book I mentioned, The Cautious Canine, has detailed instructions for doing just this.

In addition to these exercises, review her diet (quality food only - no corn products and no by-products), obedience training program, amount of stimulating and challenging exercise (food dispensing toys like a kong work well for this), fetch, hide-n-seek (great game for kids and dogs), and her medical health.


Happy Training.
AT

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