Dog aggressive

[Sebastian]

I have a 9 year old female, she has always been great around people and dogs until another dog bit her. Now she is very aggressive at approaching dogs. It is embarassing and frustrating. Any suggestions on how to help her through this?

[lauralopez]

I have this problem with my 5 year old male basenji. He was fine with other dogs and people until he met up with some aggressive dogs at a dog park that started dominating him. It's like he changed over night and never forgot the incident. I would love to hear from others who have changed their dog's habit of being aggressive due to an incident. Believe me, I've tried.

All I can say is due remain calm and try not to transfer any bad vibes thru the leash. Try to approach with calm, assertive and positive energy. If you can find at least one dog who has a calm balance attitude and can deal with your dog in a calm manner, I believe that will help. My dog once met a very calm balance lab dog and after his initial aggressive attitude, they ran together and played. It was this dog's balance nature that influenced my dog and he didn't feel threatened. Don't let your feelings of embarassment or frustration influence your dog. They really do pick up on your feelings. Try to remove those feelings when you're out with your dog. I hope this helps. I wish I could help more. But I truly feel that basenjis are smart dogs and they never forget. It's hard but they are worth it.

[Quercus]

<<but i="" truly="" feel="" that="" basenjis="" are="" smart="" dogs="" and="" they="" never="" forget="">>

Oh, they absolutely never forget…and unlike other dogs, they rarely forgive....

Sebastian, there are quite a few threads about dog aggression, and a few tips. My quick and dirty answer would be teach her a "watch" command; and read the book "Click to Calm" by Emma Parsons. You can find at Dogwise.com or maybe Amazon.</but>

[listeme]

I totally get the embarrassment factor: some little old lady with a cute little fluffy white dog is leaning in saying "oh, what a handsome dog, is she friendly?" And the handsome dog starts swearing and lunging at Fluffy. But I also kind of get where the dog is coming from, too. A few years ago, a Sheltie bit me on the calf – not terribly, not stitches-worthy, but out of the blue, and to be honest, I still think Shelties are demons now. When I see one, I don't swear and lunge but I do cross the street to avoid one. I'm still, well, afraid of them. Irrational, but there you have it.

So my advice, such as it is, won't really help your basenji; listen to other people for that :). My advice is really to you. Tell the little old lady. Tell the dog owners you meet. "She's still very afraid of other dogs because she got bitten last month." It really will help with the embarrassment factor. Explanation and communication in this kind of situation help us as much as it helps the people we are in contact with.

[Quercus]

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I agree, I think people understand this explanation.

[lvoss]

My oldest basenji who will be 9 in December has been attacked by a dog once every year of his life. Three time the dog dashed out of door as we were on a walk, twice by loose dogs in the area, twice by dogs that had owners drop the leash, and once at a dog show. Nicky really doesn't like other dogs near him when he is out. His experience is that other dogs will attack him so he gets worked because he is expecting hostility from the other dogs.
We have been working with him in obedience on getting him to a point so the distance between him and the dog before he reacts is smaller. We had a bit of a setback in July when the dogs were attacked by two loose dogs when my husband was walking them. But we made some great progress after that attack when our obedience class took an entire class to work on walking our dogs near each other and using calming signals to relax the dogs. We walked in curves and when our dog noticed another dog, and looked back at us we would click and toss the treat on the ground. Nicky will always have a need for a larger space between him and other dogs but he is doing much better.
We had also started last year clicking and treating any time he looked at another dog without reacting, when I click his response is to look back at me to get his treat so he doesn't start the staring that usually is the first step in the chain of behavior.

[Sebastian]

Thanks for all the great advice!

[pedro]

hi, my boy hates dobermans because he was attacked by one, the little ones are fine!!!!.go figure!!. try to introduce through the fence it might take months!!. but give it a try. i didthis last week with a med ,size dob and he wasnt realy sure what to do but didnt'growl or napp at the dog!!!. try this and let me know how it goes, still trying thangs myself too. i'll keep u informed if something works!!.