Aggression towards other dogs

[Tesla]

Tesla just turned 4 this year and since then she has become very aggressive towards other dogs while on walks and at the dog park. We used to regularly visit the dog parks around us without a problem. Now she will barely let a dog approach her without growling and snapping- and the other dog can be completely calm when approaching her. She won't even sniff/let the other dog sniff her before she's set off. I'm not sure what to do to break this new habit of hers. She never responded to clicker training as a puppy so I don't think I can go that route. Does anybody have advice for this?

Thanks!

[tanza]

Full medical check up first thing including a full/complete Thyroid panel, not just the T3/4 that 99% of Vets do. If that checks out then you might just have to live with it…. As my Basenjis aged they became less tolerant of strange dogs....

[Tesla]

I was unaware of that. I definitely will do that at our checkup. Thanks!

[agilebasenji]

Also read Control Unleashed. You will learn about thresholds and desensitization. You may also want to look into BAT (behavior adjustment training) by Grisha Stewart. Click to Calm by Parsons and Bringing Light to Shadow might also be helpful books

[tanza]

If your Basenji's check up is soon, great, if not, I would not put it off…... having the thyroid checked. Low thyroid in Basenjis is an issue and in a Basenji, low normal is usually too low

[Tesla]

Her check up is this month, so timing works out fortunately.

[Chealsie508]

Had the same issue, once oakley hit maturity he turned dog aggressive- went to tufts behaviorist to have his thyroid panel drawn bc out vet didn't do the FULL thyroid panel and when it came back normal I had my answer: he's dog aggressive! Not to say he doesn't have a few dogs he has grown comfortable with and is fairly reliable (FAIRLY) in controlled non food situations. Can be a breed issue unfortunately (and some
May not agree)

[Tesla]

@Chealsie508:

Had the same issue, once oakley hit maturity he turned dog aggressive- went to tufts behaviorist to have his thyroid panel drawn bc out vet didn't do the FULL thyroid panel and when it came back normal I had my answer: he's dog aggressive! Not to say he doesn't have a few dogs he has grown comfortable with and is fairly reliable (FAIRLY) in controlled non food situations. Can be a breed issue unfortunately (and some
May not agree)

What all do you consider on a full thyroid panel? So I can be sure to mention it when I go into the vet.

[tanza]

http://www.offa.org/pdf/thyapp_bw.pdf - application

You can get other Thyroid information from www.offa.org and then scroll to Thyroid

[Chealsie508]

What Pat said, if you just go to your vet and ask for a thyroid (even a full thyroid) you won't get it. I printed the OFFA paperwork and made sure my behaviorist would do it because they have to do the blood draw and spin it at the vets then send specific samples to OFFA to be tested- this ENSURES that your tests will be based on the breed standard (of which Pat mentioned that with Basenjis a low thyroid is often too low to be considered normal). I felt great comfort in the accuracy of the results even though they weren't what I was hoping for. Sounds bad but I was hoping his thyroid was low so I had an explanation of his behavior but once the results came back normal the next step was working with a behaviorist…To this day oakley has decided he "doesn't need buddies" and prefers his one pal (sometimes ��)

[DebraDownSouth]

Sad understanding LOL @ Chealsie508. No joke. Ditto on Sayblee… full thyroid and HOPING that was it. No. Dog aggressive to the extreme, yes. Only dog she did not ever fight was our male Rottie, whom she loved, and our older rottie bitch who she had the good sense not to take on.

[Buddys Pal]

ok, so the overall assumption is that this is dog aggressive, but there are variable demonstrations of aggression. Aggression where the dog wants to kill the object (dog, other animal,…) or if it is fear aggression, then the thyroid has nothing (probably) to do with the 'aggressing' towards the other dog. If the dog has a fear or inability to socialize with other dogs, then the growling, lunging, last resort bite,(if that variable is actually followed through or if the snapping is done and the fearful dog retreats)...all have different methodologies of rehab with the fearful dog making better decisions in the area of his/her tolerance trigger. CAT or BAT is what you want to talk over with a behaviorist or trainer with the knowledge.