Mean Dog...

[Coach]

Hello everyone! Unfortunately my first post in awhile is filled with angst (my wife's, lol). Herschel turned 1 in December and over the last month or so he has come to love HIS space. That's pretty much whatever area he is in, has been, or might wanna' go. We have 3 other dogs, 2 pits and 1 Australian Sheppard mix, all are much older , 1 male and 2 female. Generally they get along but as of late the bully has started to come out. Herschel tries to punk all of them but he really has an issue with Santo (an 85 lb, male pit). He doesn't even have to do anything and Herschel will T off on him. Santo is very passive , so normally he just brushes Herschel off and carries on. But I know he has a switch and last night it flipped. Herschel immediately jumps on Santo's back and bites or tries to bite the head when he goes off. Well last night he found Santo's trigger, his ears and was firmly clamped down on one, now I got two raging mutts and I almost lost a foot. This was the worst of it, so far but I see it getting worse because Herschel locks on and it's getting harder to settle him down.

I really don't get it. The aggression seemed to come from nowhere and fast. These dogs are walked, socialized , ETC. It seems we did the right things with Herschel to prevent bad behavior like this but apparently he's going to need something extra. What, I do not know...

Open to suggestions, thanks!

 

[Pati Robins]

Is he neutered? Hes growing up so most likely he is trying to establish his position
Im sorry ,and i know it must be very stressful for all of you x


Even tho my girls are walked socialised lilly got constant problem with Shy being near her when she eats -when we visit in mil she got 2 cats and a dog and lilly dont have problem eating next to them

 

[Vikinggirl]

Hi I'm sorry I don't have any experience with this, but was going to suggest the same thing as Pati. Is Herscel neutered yet? Sometimes this can help with aggression, or bad habits like humping. Maybe it's because he's getting older and he's starting to show dominance, or he may be starting to show his terrible twos? Could it be that he knows Santo is older, and he's more passive, so he's bullying him? Maybe some training would help with Herscel. Hopefully some members with more experience will come along to help. Sorry you're going through this with Herscel, and I hope you find a solution. Please keep us posted. And where's the pics of the rest of your brood, please share.

 

[2BullyMama]

Hey there... I moved your thread to training so it would get more traffic.

could either of the pups be pain on or sick.... Sometimes sudden behavior change are a sign of pain and they are trying to protect themselves of remove the weak link from the pack?


Try keeping leash on Herschel while in the house so you can quickly grab and correct him.... Also, I place a couple 'sticky threads' in the training forum , one is Nothing inLife is Free, get Herschel in line with it no he will settle down. You may be doing ll this, but if any one in the house is not... Then it is not fully impacting him. Go back to basics with Herschel, it will tKe time, but the results will be worth it.

 

[cali baker]

Hi [MENTION=7451]Coach[/MENTION], I do not have much to add as I see you've gotten some great feedback already. Just wanted to say that I feel your pain, and you're not alone in this. My two boys have attacked one another several times in the past and now that I know the triggers, I try to prevent anything from happening before it's too late. Not always successful though but the fights have lessened. Good luck with this and check out those threads that Christine mentioned.

 

[Coach]

Thanks. He is not neutered and that will be a last resort. I'll check out those threads to see if there's anything in there that might help my wife. The situation doesn't bother me personally but it does need to be corrected. Some of the triggers are easy, toys, territory, etc but when he just flies off for literally no reason...

 

[bulldogs4me]

Thanks. He is not neutered and that will be a last resort. I'll check out those threads to see if there's anything in there that might help my wife. The situation doesn't bother me personally but it does need to be corrected. Some of the triggers are easy, toys, territory, etc but when he just flies off for literally no reason...

Are you planning to stud Herschel, is that why getting him neutered would be a last resort? Dogs are hard wired by nature that every 6 to 8 months they are meant to breed, now I'm sure you can imagine the level of frustration that happens when that primal instinct is not met, that in it self is the good reason to have a dog altered, male or female, plus hundreds of other health benefits.

Now the triggers you mentioned ... toys & territory ... You and your wife need to become the Calm Assertive Pack Leaders or the "Alphas" of the home, Herschel needs to know that he doesn't "own" anything in the home, yard or anywhere for that matter, toys & territory included ... when he displays dominance over an object you & your wife need to take ownership of that space or toy (best if all other dogs are out of the room while doing this) I prefer to use the training technique "body blocking" when taking ownership of anything, walking into the dogs space and backing him away from the object or space and claiming it as yours (the pack leader) ... one thing to be aware of is your body language, you want to be Calm Assertive and never aggressive or over bearing, that could cause a dog to take the flight or fight response in where he feels he must fight to avoid being hurt. Take a deep breath, releasing any negative energy setting yourself in a Calm Assertive mode, walk forward causing the dog to back away from the object, keep a positive image in your mind helps, meaning in your mind you see the dog backing away and releasing said ownership to you ... if you see it you can teach it. Once you have claimed ownership of everything (including the other pack members) and put Herschel in a follower mode he will be less likely to try and claim any ownership or display dominance over the other dogs, he will know who the pack leader is and he will follow you and your lead.

 

[Petra]

Like bulldogs4me said... if they're not neutered they might need to get their frustrations out, this does not apply to all male dogs but it can be the reason for aggression. We had help from a dog trainer at one stage that during that time showed us how to do it Lets just say my dogs are from that moment neutered, lol. I'm a really bad pack leader myself so I'm not gonna try to give any advice about this, but I see you've gotten good feedback from others

 

[Coach]

Are you planning to stud Herschel, is that why getting him neutered would be a last resort? Dogs are hard wired by nature that every 6 to 8 months they are meant to breed, now I'm sure you can imagine the level of frustration that happens when that primal instinct is not met, that in it self is the good reason to have a dog altered, male or female, plus hundreds of other health benefits.

Now the triggers you mentioned ... toys & territory ... You and your wife need to become the Calm Assertive Pack Leaders or the "Alphas" of the home, Herschel needs to know that he doesn't "own" anything in the home, yard or anywhere for that matter, toys & territory included ... when he displays dominance over an object you & your wife need to take ownership of that space or toy (best if all other dogs are out of the room while doing this) I prefer to use the training technique "body blocking" when taking ownership of anything, walking into the dogs space and backing him away from the object or space and claiming it as yours (the pack leader) ... one thing to be aware of is your body language, you want to be Calm Assertive and never aggressive or over bearing, that could cause a dog to take the flight or fight response in where he feels he must fight to avoid being hurt. Take a deep breath, releasing any negative energy setting yourself in a Calm Assertive mode, walk forward causing the dog to back away from the object, keep a positive image in your mind helps, meaning in your mind you see the dog backing away and releasing said ownership to you ... if you see it you can teach it. Once you have claimed ownership of everything (including the other pack members) and put Herschel in a follower mode he will be less likely to try and claim any ownership or display dominance over the other dogs, he will know who the pack leader is and he will follow you and your lead.

How would he display dominance over an area/object if no other dogs are around? Do you suggest moving in when he wants one of his toys, and/or just backing him away from an area to claim the space?

 

[Petra]

The trainer we had told me when feeding my dogs I should first make them sit and then give them a sign/command when they're allowed to eat. And when they've eaten a bit he said to get the dogs attention again and make him/her sit again. He told me to stand between the dog and the bowl and then walk to the side and give sign/command to eat again and so on. He said it establishes you as the pack leader I did this with my bulldogs when they were younger and they've never had any food aggression towards humans... they do towards each other unfortunately so I can't have them eat in the same room

 

[Coach]

I think I'm going to just chain him to my foot, lol...

 

[2BullyMama]

I think I'm going to just chain him to my foot, lol...

new look of 'the ole ball and chain'