Fear-Aggressive with Strangers

Hi Cesar,

I have a nine-month-old Rat Terrier named Spike. He is terrified of strangers - especially tall men - and becomes very aggressive when approached. He has never been abused. We have had him since he was eight weeks old.

He was sick when he arrived and was not properly socialized around humans, and I think that is part of the problem. It is now to the point where we cannot have visitors in our apartment without confining him to the bedroom.; He chases, barks, and nips at anyone who tries to approach him. Sudden movements and noise set him off as well, and some nights he sits at the end of our bed, continually barking from a noise in the hallway. He is so sweet to us, and I want others to have the opportunity to see what a great personality and loving dog he is. All people tend to see is Spike in the RED zone - and most people are now afraid of him.

Do you have any tips for helping us to overcome his fear and aggression? I hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you!

Laura Moore

Dear Laura,

In my own dictionary, in order to be considered in the “red zone”, a dog has to be the attacker. Based on your description of Spike, he only becomes aggressive when people approach him, so he is not yet a red zone case.

Spike was in a weak state when he was introduced to you. Typically, when this occurs, the owner comforts the dog by giving him affection, which can foster antisocial behavior. Then, when the dog is well, the owner doesn’t practice leadership on a regular basis - or only tries to practice it when the dog becomes aggressive.

Spike will be able to show your guests how sweet he is when he feels respected. It’s important you tell your friends when they come into your home: “No touch. No talk. No eye contact.” By appearing to ignore the dog, they’re actually allowing him to come and smell them, which is basically acknowledging that they care that he is a dog and does things in “dog ways.”

You have to do your part, too! You must learn to master the walk. Seek professional help to show you how to walk the dog properly in different situations. I would recommend giving him plenty of exercise, so, when people come into your house, he is tired. Another suggestion is taking the dog to a swimming pool with supervision. This can boost his self-esteem and help him to become a balanced dog.

When Spike is properly exercised and people are approaching him correctly, he won’t have the need to defend his space, and you will be able to show him off!

Stay calm and assertive,

Cesar Millan

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Mon, 08/16/2010 - 1:29pm — heatherl9

8 month old German Shephard gone mad!

I have a german shephard that my boyfriend and I purchased from someone out of the newspaper. He was 7 weeks old when we got him and He was a sweet puppy until he got about 4 months old. We used to take him to the park almost everyday and have him socialize with everyone and their dogs but one day we took him to the vet just to get some regular shots and he was nuts! Every since then, we cannot have people that is not around him on a daily basic come into our home without moving him out of that room. The vet told us that another shephard with the same markings and the same age as our dog had came in and was the same aggressive way. Could this be just this certain blood line or something the breeder is responsible for?
Also, We cannot go for walks because he pulls on his leash so much hes gasping for breath. He tries to get to our neighbors pitbull and attack him when he goes outside. This dog was so loveable and to us, he still is. But to others, hes a monster. We have tried to be "the pack leader" but this dog is just so overpowering. Do you have any tips that can help us change this monster into the loving dog we once had?

Mon, 07/05/2010 - 7:27am — seansmom

Introducing new dogs

Hi Ceaser,
Hope you might have some suggestions for me. We adopted a 2 yr. old pit bull/ beagle/boxer and who knows what else last Sept. He had been hit by a car and dragged. He lived at the vets until he was well enough to be adopted (3 mos.) Watching your show and also a cat lover I knew to wait for him to come to me in our getting to know each other meetings. He had not been neuter, now is, and not socialized with people or other dogs. He has been doing quite well at both now. Our problem is with our daughter's German Shepard Puppy who is now much bigger than or dog. They have played together quite well in the past, but the next to the last time they had been together was Easter, when they had a great time. He did a two day road trip with me and while I walked him often, I am sure he was in need or a run. Tokk him to my daughters . Sean was on his leash when the "puppy" came running over, in a friendly manor. However shewalked right over him so her head was over his back and his head was under her stomach. He growled and bard and pushed her away. When we tried reintroducing them in the yard he went after her like he was really ready to fight growling barking an in attach mode. We ofcourse had to separate them. This dogs will have to spend time together and I wonder what the best way to reintroduce them is?
Sean"s mom

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 7:53pm — love_always

Agression/Territorial towards any guest

Hi Cesar- I really hope you can help me out!
My sister adopted a puppy: Maddy, while away at school and now is back home with her- we believe she is about 2 years old and think she is a Whip-it, pit bull mix; we are not sure since the Humane Society told her she would be a 25 pound jack russell and she definately is not and is about 60 pounds.

I really need your help on how to get rid of her aggressive issues. We think she was abused before my sister adopted her; is there a way to break her agression? No matter how many times someone may have been to our house- Maddy runs to the door and begins to bark and growl at the person. My friends can't even come in the house because she begins to growl and tries to nip at them.

Today two repair men came to pick up our TV and I could not even grab her to try putting her in a room because she was growling at me and trying to bite me. My boyfriend could not even get a hold of her. A trainer we had gone to told us to use a chain link collar to try to train her so I tried tugging it and saying "no" but she became more aggressive towards me until my boyfriend cornerd her in a room and shut the door.

Is there ANYTHING that you suggest we can do to make the aggression towards people coming in the house or even outside stop?? I am now afraid to be home alone with her if someone comes because I don't know if she will turn on me and try biting me again or worse the person at the door.

Please help! Thanks!!

Britney

Mon, 05/24/2010 - 7:05am — cassidykrista

fear aggression

I have a 6yo german shepard who was fear aggressive and i have 2 kids 2 & 5. I started my training by riding a bike with her every day until she was too tired to go on one hour, then walking about an hour every day now all i have to do is throw the kong with her in a very disciplined fashion about 15mins. to get rid of her excited energy. Then i started introducing her to new dogs at my house thru a fence so they were able to smell each other with out her biting i waited til both tails were wagging before i let them together with a leash then without. IN THE PAST she bit 2 people and 2 dogs she has been bite free for 6 months and has play dates once or twice a week. i read be the pack leader that helped alot. hope that info helps u and good luck

Mon, 05/10/2010 - 12:10pm — maggz44

agression with strangers and other dogs..

Hi Cesar,

I have a 5 month old border collie/pit bull his name is Harley.. and i got him when he was 2 months old he was such a sweet dog and loved everyone and everything.
now i take him on walks everyday and now he is starting to get aggressive when we pass someone on a bike or walking, he gets this very mean bark and tryes to jump on them and attack them. i normally have to sit him down on the side of the greenbelt and hold the leash really close to me so he cant move to go after them.. it is getting so bad im not sure i want to take him where theres people or animals..he has a thing with dogs now also. everytime we pass a dog he doesnt know even if the dog is fenced up he will snarl and show his teeth, jump into the air trying to get out of his collar to get the dog. im trying to stay calm and assertive but i just dont want him to bit anyone or hurt anything. he used to be the nices dog.. i used to take him to the dog park. now i dont go because its just getting so bad.
please help, what do i do.
thank you,
Maggie

Fri, 06/04/2010 - 7:23pm — maggz44

Cesar

i hope you can get back to me i rally need some help and advise..thanks maggie

Fri, 04/09/2010 - 8:37pm — cpalou

Fila Brasileño & the triplets

Dear Cesar:

It´s a pleasure to be in contact with you, My wife and me watch you everyday by TV from Argentina.

I had a 5 years old Fila Brasileño dog, he was really loyal dog and we really feel loved and very well protected with him, he had never had any kind of agression to my wife or myself, but he was extremely agressive with extrangers.

Paralely to this history,we were looking for a baby, but suddenly we realize we are going to have triplets!!, my wife is pregnant of triplets!! and is in the almost in her 5th month of pregnancy.

After analyzing the situation we decided to give the dog to another person with more space and time, and we found a person that wanted the dog.

The problem is that is very dificult this dog accepts some other person to be the boss, and even if sometimes seems to be not. agressive he finally shows agression to the new owner. (and you should know is a 60kg dog)

I know the Filas are very agressive with extrangers, but I wonder if there is any possibility that he will have a good dog, that respects him like the way he do it with me.

What should I do?
What should the new owner do?

Thank you in advance
Regards

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 11:47am — dniko1978

Fear Aggressive American Bulldog

We have a fearful American Bulldog named Ozzy. He is just over 1 year old. He wasn't socialized well with other people or dogs (only my 8 year old pug/lhaso mix). We live in a fairly rural area where there are no dog parks & not many other people out walking their dogs ( the ones who do walk their dogs, I think are unconsciously nervous & do things like cross to the other side of the road when they meet other people with dogs). He does not growl or bark at people when we are walking unless the people we meet act nervous towards him. How do I keep him from reacting to them? Also Ozzy growls at strangers that come to the house ( we do not have a lot of company over but would like to be able to ). Any suggestions on how we can get Ozzy to be less nervous when someone comes to the house? He is also very nervous of noises around the house if he isn't sure of who made then or where exactly they came from. If he hears the smallest noise he growls & barks, getting him to stop is almost impossible for me. Ozzy will also cower if he sees something like helium ballons etc that he isn't familiar with. Any help ar advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Nikki

Thu, 04/01/2010 - 9:25am — Mastiff.And.Moyen

Thanks

The Fear-Aggressive Rat Terrier response helped me; I have a 7 month old Bichon Frise Moyen Poodle mix female and she's been having barking/lunging/whining problems. It makes sense that she's satisfying herself with making a scene outside because she doesn't get the excitement she wants at home. Just today I did a longer training session with new commands and she's caught on very fast. She charged at the sliding glass doors a while ago to bark at the landscapers outside and with only two tries I was able to get her to sit, stop barking, and come back to me.

Thank you!
- Mariah B.

Wed, 03/24/2010 - 8:50am — kmblank

Brody

Your Brody sounds a lot like my Nikko. We have had Nikko since he was 7 weeks old he is a Siberian Husky. Nikko started showing aggression already at 10 weeks old. He too growls at my youngest and any other people who approach him. He growls if he is under a table, in a cage or laying at mine or my husband's feet. We have been working with a behaviorial specialist and she has given us some helpful tips. When he is near my husband or I and he growls we have to get up and walk away from him very quickly with out saying a word to him. This has helped with my youngest daughter because he would snarl at her no matter what we did or said. The first time i did this he jumped up too like he was startled because he didn't know what was going on. He has reduced his growling at our daughter but we are still having issues with anyone outside the immediate family. What is really strange is that he likes some people he doesn't see often like my brother but growls at other he sees on a more regular basis. He has can also be aggressive with other dogs, not so much as to attack them but he plays extremely rough and sometimes I'm pretty sure he is not playing. Try the walking away thing that has helped us as far as our own kids.

Thu, 03/11/2010 - 2:29pm — barbarawhittaker

Aggresive with kids and strangers

I have a 8 month old Lab mix named Brody who growls when my 10 month old son crawls by him. Or when any of my girls, age range from 2 to 7 years gets near his crate while he is inside. Or when some one new comes around, like if i have him in the front yard while waiting for my oldest to get home from school and anyone that wants to come close to pet him he will growl. My son Noah doesnt pay attention to the dog while crawling around, but Brody still growls at him. Or if Brody is lying down around my husband or I and one of the kids comes toward us he will growl, but then he will get up and walk away. He will bark aggressivly if he is waiting outside in the back yard waiting to be let in and any of the kids goes to the door. We got Brody when he was 8 weeks old and he, from what we remember, he wouldn't growl at anyone. He has gotten worse. I take him for a walk/run for a half an hour 4 days out of the week and my husband runs him for 20 to 30 min at night 5 days a week. He was aggresive with his food when we first got him but he was easily trained out of that, the kids can sit right in front of him and he is fine, and we dont let him eat his food until he is calm. He walks with us just fine he doesnt pull and he walks right beside us no matter what pace we go. We took him to the vet because he had injured his leg and he was growling aggresivly at the vet tech and the Dr. As long as they werent paying attention to him he wasnt growling but to examine him he grolwed aggresivley but his tail was inbetween his legs. I don't know what to do, we have tried spraying him with a water bottle, that didnt work, we tried sitting there with him while the kids came by and that only works for so long but he still growls at the kids. He doesnt growl at me or my husband but he will at anyone else living in the house if they try to get put him in his crate or if they walk by him. When he was 10 to 12 weeks old and we took him to the vet and she was holding him and said that his growl well that was his way of talking.

Wed, 03/24/2010 - 8:21pm — Kasie Superdog

Charging and barking at people

I love my dog ... We have consulted 3 different trainers and their suggestions aren't working. We have a 17-mo black lab / blue heeler mix, her name is Kasie, about 55 lb, lovely temperament, loves her doggy friends and her human friends too.

When we are on walks, she will play happily with our other walking mates (usually 3-4 other dogs, with their owners & we meet daily). There are several miles of walking trails behind our house. When she sees people who she doesn't know approaching, she will stop, take a look and then charge the person or people, and run around them barking like a fiend. She's such a nice dog! famous last words, but she scares people. She does not nip or bite, just gets back on haunches and barks incessantly.

This started only a few months ago, with tall men only - she wouldn't be bothered with joggers, females, or cyclists - just dog-less men. Now she goes after everyone - if they don't have a dog. We tried training with distractions / reward, but it no longer works. A week ago we got a citronella collar and for 4 full days, it worked! we could all walk together and she wouldn't charge and bark because she didn't like the spray! Walks were beautiful and peaceful.

But at some point she decided that barking and charging was giving her more joy than anything else, and now she just ignores the stinky spray. I am walking her on leash only now and it is no fun for either of us. She's a high-energy dog, and she needs the play & interaction with other dogs.

How do we stop the charging and barking? We need to have fun again. I don't know what the triggers are for her charging and barking response, except maybe she feels fear, and/or because she likes barking, and/or she likes it when I chase after her to put her on leash; and maybe it's the herding instinct that's coming out.

Anyone out there who has experienced this and survived, I sure would like to hear from you!

Mon, 02/22/2010 - 7:25pm — suzydog

Fear/Aggression at Door

Allowing your dog to approach your visitors at his own pace is going to help a lot, as is telling your friends not to stare at him or approach him. But I've found it's at least as effective to have a bowl of your dog's favorite treats by the front door (pea-sized pieces, soft & stinky are the best) that you and visitors can casually and gently toss in your dog's direction -- no talking to the dog necessary -- whenever someone comes over, no matter what behavior your dog is exhibiting at that moment. It teaches your dog that when strangers or visitors come over, the bar is open! Woo-hoo!

After a few weeks of this treatment, your dog will start looking forward to visitors and will definitely become far less aggressive and fearful. See the Profit Motive article at http://www.dogdaysusa.com/theprofitmotive.html.

It's also really important that you walk this dog as much as you can outside the house and in different locations in order to tire him out, as Cesar says, as well as to generally broaden his horizons, so that visitors' comings & goings aren't such a big deal to him.

Good luck!
Suzydog

Fri, 02/26/2010 - 12:14pm — wilson_familyof4

New Aggression Signs

We have a 15 mth old amercan bulldog/rottie (bullweiller) mix named Riley. We've had him since he was 8 weeks old and we have never had a problem with him. He's never shown any kind of aggression, he learns very quickly and is a great dog. In Dec, we had a party and when someone went to pet him that he didn't know, he lunged and nipped AT him, but didn't bite. Almost to say "I don't like that, back away". We then leashed him and asked everyone to pls not acknowledge him, he doesn't know you. Let him come to you and get comfortable. Within an hour, he was everyone's best friend. We never had it happen again until yesterday. My friend came by, again someone Riley hasn't met and he met her at the door, he sniffed her and seemed ok but when she went to pet him, he lunged at her and really scared everyone. He's 15 mths and 140 lbs of muscle. I just want to make sure we're doing everything we can to avoid this. My husband and I have realized (as of last night) we can no longer let him go to the door first, we have to block him as we have seen Cesar do and ask everyone to PLS ignore him till he settles into his calm, submissive state. Is there anything else we should be doing?

Thank you for your help!

Sat, 02/06/2010 - 9:17am — Mamolah

FEAR- AGRESSION WITH CHILDREN AND STRANGERS

We have problem with German Shepherd that is very good inside of the house and on the walks, he won't eat until we will release him even when his food in front of his muzzle. However, when it comes to children it is complete disaster. We can't train him because nobody (and as parents we understand this) will allow their children to be an experiment on our close to 100lb German Shepherd. Unfortunately about a month ago we had an incident when our dog bit child by chasing away from our front door. Somehow front door was not completely closed and little girl came to ask our child to play. Our dog heard bell ring and as supposed to came to the door to bark and "protect". As I was coming to the door to see who is there I saw door being open. Nobody knows what exactly happened I was trying to stop our dog (Mishka). He charged after little girl and I was a 10 inches away from grabbing him. Little girl got very scared and ran and she fell. When I got to her I noticed that he bit her. I am not sure how it happened. To add problems other neighbors saw this happening and now as you can imagine kids won't come to play with our son. Please help. Stella

Fri, 04/30/2010 - 2:58pm — chrissy gordon

German Shepard

I have a German Shepard, and first thing I would do is teach your dog to understand the word no, by using it. Anything he does that you do not want him to do, is to give him a firm no and put your hand out every time you say no. Using treats with this when he does what you want him to do will also help. When he stops doing what you do not want him to do, say good boy and give a treat right away, he will associate the "no" with something good, and soon replace the treat with a good petting and something he likes to play with.
Now as for the girl, she should never run away, because a dogs instinct is to chase what ever runs. And yes they will bite. Help the girl or anyone else who comes to your door to not give eye contact with him and to ignore him. This will work. If he tries to bite them, have them stand still and ignore him, he cannot do anything to something that does not move, scream ect. You in turn say the word no, and make him sit or lay down. Do this everytime someone is around and if you take him out for walks or car rides, you must reinforce your no as you did at home. You must show him, you are the pack leader the dominate one and do not let him take over you. By keeping and repeating the no word when he listens, he will remember that when he does something good, he will get rewarded for it. Also play ball or a toy with him, something he really likes to do and keep playing that game with him. When they use up their energy they will be less likely to attack people and more interested in the toy or ball you played with them. You know how when police use German Shepards to find drugs what the dog gets when he finds the drugs? He gets his favoriate thing and the dog will keep searching for the drug till he finds it because Police train these dogs to hunt for drugs and then when (in training)the dog finds the drugs, the dog gets his favoriate toy or ball and the dog knows this. That is why they use German Shepards because they are fast learners, and they are a great pet. Keep teaching your dog all the time and it will benifit you and him.

Mon, 08/16/2010 - 1:39pm — heatherl9

THANKS!

That was soo helpful!! I have a 8 month old shephard and he has turned and gone crazy! lol. I am tryin to work with him but my boyfriend just finds it easier to move him to another room...we need to be consistant because if we keep doing what we're doing, the dog is going to be confused. Thanks for you tip!

Wed, 02/24/2010 - 6:40am — Ahamilton

Fear based aggression of children & strangers

I read the entry about the fear aggressive German Shepherd with children. I have an 18 month old female American Bulldog that is terrified of children. From babies to 7 year olds she is very curious, but as soon as the child looks at her she perks her ears, growls, and/or barks and becomes very tense. I always try to correct her by redirecting her attention w/ a sharp touch, making her sit or laydown, saying "No!" sternly and/or laying her on the ground in a submissive posture. However, because she is 80lbs and very strong it becomes a power stuggle. Also it seems she typically feeds off the fear energy of the mother and/or child, so I end up having to just remove her.
My boyfriend & I are planning to get married and start a family in the next couple of years. I really want to correct these problems before I bring any other children into our home. Any suggestions on how to correct my bulldog's fear of children would be greatly appreciated!!!

Wed, 03/10/2010 - 3:19pm — Kellendros

Fear Based aggression BEAGLE

I have a beagle cross/ the owners told me she was a terrior/cocker mix but she acts and looks like a beagle? Anyways, she is 1 year old and she started showing signs of submission by peeing when people touched her, or submitting completly. Then when her brother was given away, she started the growling... she would randomly and I mean randomly growl... at nothing. and croutch really low all hair up. If she hears a dog bark her hair goes up. ON walks chilren she barks at, not threaten but like a beagle bark.. scares kids... and today down to the daycare, she back off from and barked at a child while she was tied on.. im scared wondering if muzzle is the way to go? I dont know how to train a nervous dog, I am doing everything I can, but im now starting to be nervous of her.. You can yell at her, or tug the leash or anything cause she cowers and gets worse.. I just dont know, she barks and seems to growl and be aggressive with other dogs.. IM thinking she is just scared of everything.. I try to walk by and ignor whatever it is.. but I cannot leave her alone at the daycare anymore, and im even afraid to have kids over.. as the growling is getting worse.. she doesnt do it to me and my boyfriend or my 2 year old son.. But other kids and strangers scare her.. How do I handle this? What technique do I do? Should I be less strict, I try and do everyhing ceaser says.. But putting her on her back when she is stressed makes her worse? oh my somemone anyone out there please help

Roberta
robertasdragon@hotmail.com

Wed, 03/10/2010 - 3:19pm — Kellendros

Fear Based aggression BEAGLE

Roberta
robertasdragon@hotmail.com

Thu, 04/08/2010 - 5:43pm — christinam

Fear Agression in a Beagle

Hi Roberta

I know what you are going through, we have a 6 year old beagle that has fear aggression. He is fine with my husband and myself as well as people he knows well. When someone comes to the door or when we take him for a walk and he runs into people or other dogs that's when the problems start. He barks, growls and has nipped a few people (men and children). After a year and a half of working with him he has gotten much better. What we had to do is muzzle him when new people came over, and tell them to completely ignore him. There was obviously some barking and growling from him for a few minutes, then he would calm down, see they meant no harm and even go up to them for affection. We are at the point now that we trust him enough that we do not muzzle him when a new person comes over and as long as they ignore him there are no problems.
I think your dog peeing is because she is afraid, our dog does the same thing when we take him to the vet.
I think the most important thing you can do is to "remain calm and assertive" like cesar says and don't be afraid of her or feel bad for her (she will sense that). And the absolute worst thing is to try and comfort her if she is scared (which is the first thing we as humans want to do).

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 4:33pm — Pukums88

MY 5 YEAR OLD DASHOUND ...

WELL, I HAVE A 5 YEAR OLD DASHOUND AND SHE IS OK WHEN MY HUSBAND TAKE HER FOR A WALK PEOPLE PASS BY AND SHE DOESNT MIND, EXCEPT WHEN SOMEONE IS APPROACHING MY HUSBAND FOR SOME REASON SHE STARTS BARKING AND OUR VET TOLD US SHE ACTS LIKE THAT BECAUSE SHE IS OVERPROTECTING HIM OR ME...

WHEN SHE WAS A PUPPY SHE MET OUR NEIGHBORS WHO ARE PEOPLE WHO GO BACK AND FORTH TO THE STATES OR CANADA, SHE LOVE THEM BECAUSE SHE MET THEM AS A PUPPY BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED IN THE MIDTIME (IM STILL TRYING TO FIGUORE OUT WHAT HAPPENED) THAT SHE FREAKS OUT WITH THE REST OF THE NEIGHBORS BUT NOT THOSE WHO SHE MET WHEN SHE WAS A BABY ...

I STILL HAVE SOME HOPE AND BELIEVE SHE IS GOING TO CHANGE THIS BEHAVIOR SOMEDAY!!!

Tue, 04/13/2010 - 10:12am — dgspivey2

5month old Dachshund

I have a 5 month old female dachshound and I have a very similar story. She is aggressive and protective of me and my two girls, barks, bites or aggressively chases anyone who comes near us. Accept my Parents and in-laws who got to know her at 12 weeks old. I have tried to socialize her but whenever I am around she does this to strangers or people that come to visit or walk infront of the house. She has bitten my daughters friends and chased them around when they are spending the night. I don't trust her around or near children that come to spend the night with the girls. We had a family reunion last weekend and 60 adults and kids were at the house. I put her in the crate, but after hearing her cry loudly for hours decided I should try to introduce her to strangers and try to socialize her. One on my cusins said she would take her around on the leash. I was afraid, but she did ok. Her tail was so far under her body you could hardly tell she had a tail. I went back into the house and left her out with cousin. But the minute I came out she would growl and bite at whoever was close by. Gave her to my brother in law for a try and she did the same thing. Seems if Me and the girls are around she is agressive. She listens to my husband and is quite afraid of his tone and body language, but doesn't protect him. But still barks and acts crazy even if it is just him at home. She seems to be defending her home. Any suggestions on how to change this?

Tue, 01/05/2010 - 1:19pm — LISA66

Rat Terrier

Our Rat Terrier is 1 yr old and we've had him since he was 12 wks. My 6' 2" son picked him out at the SPCA and was by his side from day one. But this dog is afraid of strangers especially tall men. At first we thought he was a tired puppy when a friend came to see the puppy on his first night at home with us. The friend is also 6' 2". But the dog has never been afraid of my son, only ANYONE else that is tall, especially men. Why??? Should I tell tall visitors to ignore the dog and let the dog go to them to smell etc?

Sun, 01/03/2010 - 8:34pm — Eduardo PS

Fear - Aggresive with strangers II

As Laura Moore, we have a dog with problems when dealing with strangers. In our case, our dog is a german shepherd and is very difficult to find people who wants to collaborate with us trying to ignore a 100 pounds dog.

Another detail is that our dog has bitten 1 person: about 2 years ago, when he was about 1 year old, he escaped from the backyard and came to the dinning room, the housekeeper was there and without growling or barking, the dog bite her in the leg, a fast bite, leaving the mark of 1 teeth and running away from that person as soon as he bite. This was very strange because she had interacted with the dog a few times before without any problems.

Since that episode we have been very careful with the dog, when we walk him is with his collar, we don't allow people to get close and if it happens we try to distract the dog so he can ignore them.

Krieger (that is the name) is very sweet with the family but with strangers is aggressive and also with strange dogs. When we walk him and sees other dogs or cats, he becomes aggressive when they are close to us but never really attack or bite them, he only barks and tries to scare them.

He has been under basic training, learning how to sit, how to walk by the side, to stay, jump, to pass across obstacles, and others with and without leash, he can understand and follow orders but when facing such situations he loses almost all of his training.

Finally, something that we have in mind is what would happen when new family members arrive. We have less than 1 year married and we want to remove that behavior from Krieger before we have babies. Something we have dreamed is our (future) kids can share their first years with this wonderful dog.

Here in Guadalajara (Mexico) we couldn't find an specialist who really can help us with his behavior, tried different people but with no results.

I really hope you can help us Cesar. If you have tips, instructions or specific courses we can follow we'll take them.

Thank you

Cristina and Eduardo

Sat, 02/06/2010 - 9:21am — Mamolah

FEAR- AGRESSION WITH CHILDREN AND STRANGERS

Sun, 12/20/2009 - 11:04am — Ana Sol

Agressive- My dog hates my boyfriend

Hi Cesar!

My Name is Sol, I have a six-year-old german shepherd, her name is Mora. I always watch your show and I've been training Mora with your tricks and it's working! But I have a problem...

My dog is very jealous! especially with my boyfriend, Fabricio. For two years, he has been coming to my house, everyday, and Mora barks to him very aggressively and once it tried to bite him.

what can I do to correct this behavior and she acepts my boyfriend??

Thanks for your time!!

Merry Christmas!!

Ana Sol

Thu, 01/28/2010 - 3:21pm — angeluvzu

Mine hates my boyfriend too

My 4 year old chihuahua has been getting aggressive with my boyfriend. Peed on him in the car, peed on his bed, anytime he would try to call him, he would act scared, but i would watch from a distance and my boyfriend would be calm and soothing calling him over to come in from outside. After which he would go to pick him up and my dog would bare his teeth. today it went to an all time high when my boyfriend tried to give him a bath and my dog bite him twice and tried a 3rd time. i dont know what to do.

Tue, 02/09/2010 - 5:22pm — Me1.0

Anti-social Chihuahua

I have a year and a half Chihuahua, who was kind of raised in a sheltered setting. He was born and raised alongside his parents, siblings, my parents and my siblings, but has always been a great dog. He fears strangers though, yet will tolerate them without aggression. When i brought my boyfriend over he warmed up to him fairly well. Yet when we brought him to our new place he developed a fear for my boyfriend, Josh. Cootie is absolutely terrified of Josh. He shakes and hides from him, barking at him from a distance. He spends most of the time when Josh is home underneath the bed or the couch, and i have to grab him, or coax him out. When Josh pets him, he shakes, pees on him, or tries to bite him. So we tried some of your advice. I take cootie on a walk almost everyday. When it is cold i play with him inside for at least an hour immediatly after i get home from work. Plus he plays with the cat running up and down the house. I'm sure he gets enough excersise. Josh also ignores Cootie. When Cootie barks he ignores him, and tries does not pet him or call him at all. We have been tryign this for three weeks and it doesnt seem to be working. What do i do? I want my dog and my boyfriend to get along....

Tue, 12/29/2009 - 9:39am — Lovemydaddy9

follow up to Ana's question as I think mine may fall in line

I am adopting a 4 1/2 yo Male Great Dane who is 160lbs. He was adopted from a foundation for Parkinsons aide at 1 yo. Over the last year with his family, he has gone through some challenges and is now aggressive and desocialized. He was chased down by cocker spaniels while being walked. He never attacked back towards the human or dogs. The 2 dogs then got out of the yard one day (gate left open by child)when the woman was walking the cockers down the street. The danes did not attack however the woman wound up face down and had a concussion etc...Since that episode, neighbors do not want to see him on the street and he has been desocialized. From what i understand he has never bitten and adult or child, however, he is very protective of children and has growled towards the adult with the child. I have an adult household with 3 other dogs (no adult males). I have had years of experience with training dogs, etc...and have owned danes in the past. I would like to know the best way to handle and retrain him to be accepting. Here is a letter from a person who tried to adopt him.

I am so sincerely sorry that Duke did not turn out to be a good match for us. He has so many great qualities and I do hope you find a good home for him. We loved meeting you and your family and are truly sorry that we were not able to share Duke’s life with you.

Clearly Duke is a very solid Alpha Dog with a lot of protective instincts that definitely extend to his family and especially to children.

While here with just Ray and me, he was fine. As you know he bonded best with Ray, and I think it was definitely because he knew that Ray was the softie in the family. He liked me, but Ray was definitely the chosen one. I am the dog trainer in the family. So I really worked on being very mild with him given his instincts to assert himself. However, his protective nature definitely extends to all children. He did not do well with our neighbor when he met him, largely I think because he had his child with him, and kept her close. Duke growled and barked aggressively at him the entire time he was here until his child separated from him and came over to me on the other side of the room. Then Duke got between him and his child and just kept a very watchful stance that basically kept our neighbor at bay. On Saturday he greeted our granddaughter well and was wonderful with her . However, once he realized that our daughter was in charge of her daughter, he became VERY AGGRESSIVE with our daughter.

The situation was this. He had done so well with our daughter, that I went into the kitchen, and Ray was in the bedroom. Our daughter was on the floor about 2 feet from Duke, talking with him and congratulating him on what a good dog he was. She was between Duke and her daughter. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Duke lunged at her growling and baring his teeth. She assumed a very meek position and he continued to be aggressive. I went into the living room and held him by the collar and soothed him. He backed off a bit and our daughter got up. She then remained in the living room with Duke and me, and Ray took our granddaughter away so that we could work with Duke. Our daughter continued to make eye contact with him and talk with him firmly, but consistently, Calling him to her. He refused most of the time, but any time he took a step forward she congratulated him, and any time he became aggressive I calmed him with soft but firm “it’s ok.” We spent about a half hour with this, until he finally took a few steps and went to his bed. At that point we went out for a while. When we returned to the house he was somewhat neutral to our daughter, and as she said, he seemed like a different dog.

This morning, Duke was with Ray and our granddaughter in my office while Ray played with our granddaughter. When our daughter called our granddaughter to come get dressed, Duke came to the doorway, bared his teeth at her growled and aggressively barked again. We ended the confrontation there by Ray handing me our granddaughter over Duke’s head and our daughter removing our granddaughter from the room, with either Ray or me standing between Duke and our Daughter at all times.

I truly believe Duke is one of the most Alpha dogs I have met. I think he would do well with a family where both are familiar with Great Danes or with a breed that is known for Alpha tendencies. It is my opinion that he should definitely not be with children and that his next home should know a lot about how to work with Alpha dogs. His protective instincts are extremely high and if he were to continue to be with children I think these instincts would continue to grow.

I hope this description of our experience with him helps you to communicate Duke’s needs to MAGDRL, and that you find a great home for him. He was a great friend to Ray and me, as long as we did not have any one else here.

Thanks!

Tue, 01/05/2010 - 12:52pm — nunny

mine may as well

I have a Dane husky mix. Both are alpha breeds. He is a very good dog for the most part. i sent you an e-mail about him. He is lovable to every one and everything but blonds. I do not get the glazed eyes, no change of personality, but if i turn my back or walk away he will bite.
He is now 13 and I'm not going to let people make me put him down because of this i just wish i could find out how to stop it. Since they came in the yard against my wishes and have been told of the biting they are in the wrong. He was a rescue 13 years ago. when he was just 2 months old. badly abused and the pond was going to put him down saying he was not trainable. i took him and other then the one area he has been the best dog. I socialize ferule cats and he is a great help. they can use him as a trampoline and he just looks at them like could you move just a little to the right where i etch. lol little children can ride him and pull on him not even a growl.
At night he turn into a guard dog never barking at animals but let a stranger come to any house around mine and he will go off. The people around me love him. if you belong he will not bark and if the person goes to a door he stops but if the person is going to anything else he goes nuts. Its his job and he know it. he does not jump the finse or go out the gate even when open. I need to know if there is a way to brake him because i will be getting another abused dog and will need to learn how to stop this type behaver.
thank you very much
nunny

Fri, 01/08/2010 - 6:41pm — nunny

mine as well part two

Hi again
I'm going to explain a little better i hope. When i say that bear bites i mean its not a growl lunge then bite. It is a quick turn bite and turn back.I read your books and am pack leader i train him over the years i didn't know it was being pack leader but reading show that was what i am. he can be trusted alone with others animals children even babes. i have did the leaded displeasure, i have went so far as doing the one thing i can't really see the pinch collar and setting him up with my best friend who is blond. over The years i thought at least one day he mite be trustworthy, this did not happen. I'm not sure what causes him to bite only a blond but being thirteen now i can keep him happy but will not think about another fighting dog when i can't brake bear of this. Its not him its me but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with him. When I'm with him he is fine, Deven who is a dishwater blond he is OK with alone. but let a true blond come close to him i turn my head he will bite that quick. Jan and i did the leader displacer with her being pack leader like in the book. when i turned around he bit her. No she isn't suing me (hehe) The thing that confuses me is that its is not a aggressive bite or its not telegraphed like a i don't like you. I have watch most of your shows and love to watch you i learn something new from every one that i have watched.
I confess i even use some of your training for the cats. I have not failed to socialize any cat to people and dogs with bears help.He is getting older now and can't move as well as he used to so I'm looking for a younger worked to help letting bear relax and be happy work when he wants to and sleep when he wants to. I'm not wanting to put him down or exclude him from the cats but i need to look for a new one as i know that he will leave me and i will lose part of myself when he does.
When i first got bear he was taken in a dog fighting raid. he was two months old and had already scared ears head and neck. I fought to get him had to pay extra ins. for him and we moved out of the city to a farm to keep him. He did great with broght the first litter of kittens in when he was only with us a month i can tell you i was scared, didn't show it but i was. He not only didn't get aggressive he help socialize them by laying next to the cage they were in. On his own he would lick any one that came close to the side of the cage. when i watched for a week and felt safe in what the kitten would do i opened the cage and left it open since i worked one on one with the kittens they would do one of two things stay in the cage or run and hide. expecting them to hide everywhere and bear to do a dog thing bark i was ready. to my saprize they didn't run they huddled next to bear and bear didn't bark or move. I was not trusting bear then so kept watch, bear being a fighting dog i thought he would attack when i left the room or turn my back but i was training both so i had to bite my lip hold my breath and trust him. he has been the best dog ever since.
I'm going blind and we had a visiting nurse who was white blond. She didn't make it to the house bear came up behind us a bit her on the butt. not hard but she would not come back. i held bear down and showed him that was not behavior i wished from him. next time it was after we had to move back into the city. We had been back about a year. there was a sign on the gate no trespassing one of the neighborhood kids saw my grand kids in the back yard and came in she was blond bear bit her on the leg. again not hard but enough to scare her bad. The grand kids even told the little girl he bit. they did try to sue us. my best friend Jan is a white blond, she volunteered to help with bear she came in i turn around a bear true to form bit her she held him down showing the leader displeasure. he submitted right away but about 5 minutes later when we were talking he bit her again. she held him down again and again about 5 minutes later another bite.
the bites are not hart but its still a bite. next i put a pinch collar on him we started over, the same results. a zip collar same. Bear is my best child and friend, i don't want him to teach this to the new dog. I know he will if i can't figger out what i'm doing wrong.