Dog Training Advice - Territorial Aggression

In My Humble Opinion
1

My mother died last year. She left behind a wire fox terrier, who was her dog, but now belongs to my step-father. Casey’s always been a typical terrier, but sweet to people and enjoying playing with my dogs when he’d come to visit. In the last two years, he’s moved three times and lost his chosen person (he’s always liked my step-father, but sved most of his love for Mother). It was 6 months after her death before he would pick up a toy to play. He seemed to be getting back to his old self, but now, when he comes over he picks fights with my dogs (I took care of him in October and he ended up starting a fight that my two big dogs were going to finish. $450 in the ER later and he’s okay). And he’s growling at neighbors at his new house. Jim took him to the vet today and the vet said it sounded like territorial aggression. He prescribed some sort of tranquilizer, but said sometimes those make dogs more aggressive.

The family isn’t ready to put him down - my mother cared about him deeply, and we love the little guy. He’s not allowed to run lose and isn’t a danger to people, and he’s an only dog. Does anyone have any training tips that might help curb this behavior?

StG

2

I’m not a behaviorist or anything, but it would seem to me that the road to recovery is going to be long and tough. It seems like there was some depression after your mother died if he didn’t pick up a toy for 6 months. And then the moving around a lot would probably make him very insecure. But I’m sure all of that is stuff you’ve already heard or thought of already.

As cruel as it sounds - maybe keeping him relatively isolated in his own little area for a while (like, a few months) might help. Maybe something like an outdoor pen, or a caged off area of the basement. Obviously, bringing him for walks or other things would get him out - but just something to keep him contained and out of trouble. The thought being that a return to consistency of some sort for an extended period of time might do the lil fella some good.

I was going to ask how he is during walks and places that are obviously not ‘his’ - but in re-reading your OP - he starts fights with your dogs when he comes over, which is not ‘his’ house.

Also - consider bringing in a behaviorist. The tricky things with dogs (as I’m sure you know) is that every one is different, and half the trick is figuring out how to relate to each one. A behaviorist with a broader scope of experience might save you a lot of time and animal hospital ER visit costs in the long run.

3

I would agree with seperating him from your other two dogs, or if he does fine with one but not both at the same time, rotate them out. I live in a 7 (formerly 8) dog household, and we have a couple of dogs that have to be watched closely when all the dogs are out and if we are not able to watch, we’ll crate one or put up the baby gate and seperate dogs that way. I correct my dogs for any posturing (not in a panicked way, just a calm, firm “we don’t do that here” way). That includes “stink eye” :). Be aware of triggers (like throwing balls, giving treats/affection) that may make one dog feel like protecting its resource (you !)

The terrier is probably feeling very insecure, he’s got two big dogs to try to make sense off and terriers are not ones to hide from a stressful situation. So maybe smaller,calm doses together are better, don’t let it break your heart if they never play together again, just be happy if they will tolerate each other.

4

smokinjbc - Casey doesn’t normally live with me, but I’ve always kept him when Mother (and now Jim) were out of town. Going forward, I think when Jim has to be out of town, one of my siblings will stay at his place so Casey can be in familiar surroundings. Before my mother died, Casey would be somewhat dog aggressive when being walked on a leash, but otherwise he’d be fine, including out at my farm with my 6 dogs. I sort of thought this was a fear reaction more than a territorial one, but the vet says territory.

silk1976 - See above. We’re going to try to confine him more to his own house, with only leased walks when outside. I’m also going to advise Jim that when strangers come over it might be best to put Casey in a closed room.

Casey is very food motivated, so having visitors come over and give him treats might help.

Thanks for the advice.

StG

5

Bump for one last try before this thread sinks slowly into oblivion.
Does Elenfair no longer post?

StG

6

Another suggestion is to tire him out with daily walks. A tired dog is a happy dog.

Buy a pack for his back and weigh him down with water bottles or weights if you have too.

7

I wish I had some suggestions for you, but I have never dealt with aggression to be honest.

With your permission, I could post your original post on the Yahoo Answers site in the dog questions. There are several talented dog trainers and behaviorist there and they may have some suggestions.

8

Go ahead, PapSett. I’d appreciate any feedback you get.

Shirley - When Casey was at my farm, he got lots of exercise, but it didn’t curb his aggressiveness. In fact, I think playing and wrestling with my dogs helped set it off.

StG

9

When he’s walked, is the leash just attached to his collar, or is there a harness or Gentle Leader-type thing?

We had a dog who didn’t get along with strange dogs while we walked him and one thing our vet mentioned that pulling at the neck could make the feelings of aggression worse. We did have fewer problems after we started using a harness.

10

Katriona - He’s on a harness when he’s walked on a leash. But he’s also aggressive off-leash, like when he’s in the house and a stranger comes in, or when he’s lose at my farm.

StG

11

Can your step-father hire a behaviorist or dog trainer to take a look at the dog? Vets are great for the medical stuff and not so much for the head stuff.

Also, this is a radical change in behavior since your mother passed away, correct? I was reading this and the first thing I thought was what is your step-father doing differently than your mom. Is he babying the dog? When the dog growls at strangers, what does he do? Pick the dog up? Try and soothe him? That kind of thing only reinforces the behavior you’re describing.

That said, I really think your step-father would benefit from a professional actually seeing the dog’s behavior. It’s a much better way to assess the situation. Not to mention, a professional might pick up on cues and other particularities that might trigger or aggravate the dog.

I’m sorry this wasn’t very helpful. It sounds like everyone (dog included) has been throught a lot in the past year. I hope things work out for the best.

12

valleyofthedolls - Well, Casey was dog-aggressive on-lead before my mother died, but mostly happy around dogs while off-lead and around people. She was more the one to excuse and reinforce bad behaviour. Jim was more the one who would correct him (although not with harsh physical punishment - he wasn’t abusive).

I think part of it is too much change for too long. with a side of aging crankiness thrown in. Casey’s about 7-8 now, not old for a little dog, but old enough to start feeling put upon.

I’ll suggest the behaviourist to Jim. I’m not sure where we’d find one - that’s different than just a trainer, right?

StG

13

OK… I posted the uestion, and I will copy the answers I ger here as I get them. Read some with a grain of salt, because anyone can go answer questions there, but there are some really knowlagable people there, too I’ll post more answers as they come in.

#1

It sounds like he needs a specialized obedience class. He needs to learn who’s the boss now that his original boss is gone. I would almost guess that in your dog’s grief, he’s acting out and maybe your stepfather hasn’t stepped into the alpha role.

My local trainer offers all kinds of obedience, not just regular obedience. They have special classes for shelter rescues because they often have lacked proper training in the past but they also offer rehab training for dogs who need to be re-socialized and reprogrammed.

It doesn’t hurt to call a trainer, the call is free and often any evaluation they offer is free too.

#2
Exercise, consistent discipline, & more supervised socialization, that way he can learn to be with other dogs/people & it is a chance to show him his unwanted behavior.

I’ve not had much experience with this either, but the above is what I would try.

#3
Hmm, tough question. It seems to be he is still trying to get used to the all of the new houses, and loosing your mother, this may take some time settling him in. You should try taking him to a training school to help him get back to normal. Well, good luck, and I’m very sorry about your mother :frowning: -Lexie ;
(she obviously missed the beginning of my post where I explained that I was posting for a friend…)

#4
(This guy is one of our experienced dog trainers there-he trained a national champion Schutzhund dog. He & I often butt heads tho because our training techniques are soooooo different… But I will say HE IS GOOD)
This sounds more like typical terrier animal aggression, not territory issues. The problem with dogs like that is that they are ALLOWED to express this side of them without being corrected and then, with time, it gets out of hand.

Meds are not going to do anything for him, that I know. The problem here is that his aggression has spilled out to humans and that can get dangerous. There are not that many options left…but, pick one of the two I will give you and I am not sure a person who is not strong enough will deal with either well.

One: The next time he even so much as “looks” at anything aggressively, you string him up by his choker and bring him to eye level while telling him to “knock the sht off”.
I mean every time, all the time, not when it has escalated to the point that he is foaming at the mouth, but, when he thinks about it.
When he realizes that his life itself is in danger, he will start to change his mind about acting like an idiot.

The other is either keeping this dog under TOTAL control, no accidental meetings with people or dogs and that will be hard or just put him down.
These dogs are accidents looking for a place to happen and it is the humans that have allowed this behavior to start and manifest.
I am sure that some people here will tell you all about behaviorists BS and feeding the dog treats when he flairs up, but, that will just fuel his desire to act like an idiot. Choose and put into effect. Hope I helped!

14

Two more: (Greek is the schutzhund trainer)

I will just say that I am in total agreement with Greekman…I had to do this with a Peke that thought he was going to be the boss and he had it wrong…I was and he finally figured that out…

I’m in total agreement with Greek as well.

People have to stop feeling sorry or guilty for their animals’ behaviour and start addressing it as a real problem.
It’s like a child with an attitude problem…nobody wants to see that crap lol.

15

I think it helps to conceptually separate out play and walking as types of exercise. Heck, I would even divide walks into two types: stroll-and-sniff types vs. what I call power-pack walks. It has to do with the dog’s state of mind during each type of exercise. Play encourages excitement, and can bring out aggression. Strolling and sniffing usually puts the dog in charge and is kind of random, where the dog follows its whims, not yours.

I have three big dogs, all female. Two of which would really like to be dominant. This could be a big problem, if I let it. The really big key to our household peace is group walks where I take all three at once and they heal beside me while I power walk. Now, they do get opportunities to play and wrestle together, as well as chances to sniff around, but the baseline, most dependable form of exercise is the power walk.

The power-pack walk puts me in charge, keeps the dogs focused, reduces dog aggression with other dogs we meet on the way, and tires them out. Whenever another dog comes to visit or stay in our home, they meet while power walking out in the park. No posturing, no b.s. allowed. Just a brisk walk until they are all pointed the same direction, are tired, and are mentally in line. They all enter the home at the same time. If necessary, the dominant bullies enter last to put them in their place.

Does this make any sense? It has made an enormous difference, and we can now bring strange dogs into our home without a problem.

Regarding this advice: I’ve never used a choker and would never make a dog feel like its life was in danger. However, I use the stink eye on the walks and in the home. Any dog acts up, starts doing what I call the macho-bullshit posturing thing, we stop, I look the offender in the eye and tell her to knock it off. To begin with, we stopped a lot. You see one hair rise on the back of the neck, or the slightest stiffening, and you stop that behavior. It’s painstaking. But it pays off in the end.

16

Sign up for obedience classes that the owner attends with the dog. A trainer should be able to help this dog easily and being with other dogs and people will help, too. Tell the trainer about the problems and ask for assistance. I’ve been through similar situations with two dogs and going to classes every week helped more than I ever thought it could.

I would also wonder about any veterinarian who thinks the first or best solution to a behavior problem is drugs. Did the vet not say anything about training?

17

As someone who has worked for vets for many years, I would not recommend asking a veterinarian for advanced behaviorial advice unless they have special behavioral training. Most vets I’ve worked for are pet owners, not trainers and their education has very little to do with behavior. Routine advice, they have the resources to tell you how to accomplish basic house training and manners but they are often just repeating their source material.

They offer drugs because honestly, clients wear them out until that becomes their pat response. It’s something they can offer that will have some affect, as opposed to giving advice that the client often disregards anyways. Some vets do have behavioral training and there are licensed techs with special training in behavior as well, but most practices are focused on the health of animals, not the behavior.

18

Thanks for the info, Smokinjbc. That makes sense.

19

There’s a lot of overlap between the two professions. A good dog trainer would probably help your situation out as much as a behaviorist. I’d also second the idea of taking the dog to an obedience class. A group class might not specifically address the issues your step-father is having but they’re a good way to provide some structured and organized activity.

Forgot to mention one last thing, NLIF. It’s easy to do and is really helpful for dogs acting out of turn.

This is one link that describes it:

Or you can google and you’ll find more articles. You must be consistent when doing this or your work is for naught. It also might take a little while to see improvements which is why consistency is so important.