anyone have experience dealing with dog aggression?

[ClodMaxx]

love love love dogs, esp. boxers. they're smart, easily trainable (if you know how to deal with dominant dogs like them, rotties, shepherds, etc.) and great, great family pets.

i have 2 boxers, and both were rescues. my gf lives with me, and she has 2 pugs - both also were rescues. got my first boxer almost 2 years ago, and he was a handful - but it was just dominance. he would bark at everything, try to dominate every dog he came in contact with (including my parents 1 pound puppy) and was a general PITA. after working with him over the course of a year, he quickly became much more calm, and about as harmless as a lapcat.

got the 2nd boxer this past december more as a playmate for louie (the 1st boxer), and she's even more of a handful. she came from a home that had no rules or boundaries. no socialization of any kind. they 'accidentally' let her get pregnant at about 8 months old. she too attacks any dog she sees, including one of our pugs - of which had to be rushed to the emergency vet. i'm/we're giving her a 2nd chance, but i'm really stepping up training and guidance to be a better dog. making it clear that i am the alpha, and i don't like her dominance. basically stripping her of her alpha behavior, but in a humane way.

quite frankly, i'm amazed at how many people say to get rid of her. i understand their reaction, but i know i can work with her to help her become a completely different dog, like my first boxer. she has a ton of potential - she's already reacting very differently since i've stepped up the training. plus, i know i'm her best bet at having a good life. if i give her up, i doubt there will be many people as patient and driven to help her.

anyone else have experience helping prevent dog dominance/aggression?

louie is on the right, khloie (the work-in-progress) is on the left.

[nitrostarter]

Persistance is key! Don't give up!

[Bondonutz]

I can appreciate you owning rescue dogs, very admirable.

Just curious, Whats the poor pug think about giving the boxer a second chance ?
If it had a say, I'd bet it wouldn't want the monster around anymore ?

I don't own dogs, and never will but I like to watch the dog wisperer. Good luck with your training.

[ClodMaxx]

thanks guys.

if the pug had her way, i doubt there would be any other animals in the house but her, lol. the scuffle started with her sneaking her way over to khloie and attempting to take a rawhide. after almost losing her eye, i bet she learned a valuable lesson. she seriously looked like a demon dog when i rushed home. the globe wasn't punctured, but it was all swollen around it, and the eye was completely filled with blood. you couldn't even see the pupil. i jumped a little bit when i first saw her, lol.

[JThiessen]

Sounds to me like you are on the right track. Both our dogs are pound mutts also - absolutely no reason to go out and buy a pedigree dog when there are so many dogs that need a good home.

Do you know if there are any local trainers that have their own pack that you can put your dogs into for say a couple times a week. Just sounds to me like neither one has yet accepted that they arent the pack leader. Might take some time. Even so, you always have the risk of fights between dogs - and sometimes the ensuing damage isn't necessarily a bad thing. Your pug learned a lesson by trying to take the chew toy from her - might actually be the pug that needs to learn the pack rules???????

[Finnster]

IDK man. I have a Husky/Doby mix (from pound too.)

He's a good dog, but a PITA too. He knows I'm the alpha and doesn't start crap w/ me, but he always barks @ every dog on our walks. The only thing that has slowed him down is age and a little blindness and deafness. lol

He's fine once he "knows" a dog, but he has to act tough shit in front of all the other dogs he sees, even if its a 3lb puppy toy poodle.
At that point all I can manage to say to him is "really dog? really? You showed that puppy who's the baddass. Nice."


funny thing tho. The 18yo cat is the real alpha of the pack. The dogs are terrified of him. :)

[squeeforever]

Honestly, I only have 2 dogs, but I know exactly where your coming from. My year and a half old pitbull is VERY protective and possessive of me and she barked at EVERYTHING, yada yada. I've finally broke her for the most part, but if another dog gets in the yard or something, there not gonna get out alive most likely. She's as sweet as can be, but when a dog she doesn't know gets around her, its not gonna be pretty. For instance, I took her to the dog park, and I couldn't even let her loose. She tried to attack every dog that came near her and she even started foaming at the mouth. Funny thing was though, when I left her in the pen by her self, and walked off, she quit. Anyway, the barking is a pretty simple one usually. When they bark at something, bite her on the ear. Might sound strange, but I swear to God it works...

[ClodMaxx]

haha, JT - you partially hit a nail on the head. they both think they should be alpha (the boxer and the pug) to some extent. my gf knows this about the pug too... it's funny. both her pugs are female, yet the one who got attacked tries to hump the other female pug. and she marks too.... with one rear leg up. it's bizarre. i think she got knocked down a few notches, though.

i have 2 cats too, and they rule the roost when they're up from the basement. the pugs have never bothered them, but both boxers have scars from the swipes. (cats aren't declawed)

squee, that's khloie exactly. she once slipped past me as i was walking out the door, and at that exact point a guy was walking a dog on our sidewalk. khloie bolted straight for the dog and instantly started attacking her. luckily i got there FAST and lifted her off the dog by the back of her neck. i wouldn't dare take her to a dog park (yet), as i know she'd attack everything she could. i'm going to slowly try and socialize her with other dogs starting tomorrow. a friend is bringing her big black pitbull mix to a park (neutral territory), and i'll start with khloie on her back and let the other dog spend a lot of time sniffing her. she should be plenty uncomfortable, but that's the point. overstimulation. once she's comfortable around samson, i'll bring another dog over, and another, and just keep doing that.

[swiftneed]

I have had my share of dogs Doberman,Husky, Duke,english bulldog, standard poodle, and now 2yorkies for my son, the english bulldog would pick on the standard poodle I used to separate them and train them to get along during the time I was home It took alot of watching and a careful eye to their action before the aggression starts is the trick do not let her even begin your the boss and stop her before she even begins look at her where she looks and stop immediately, yes my dogs got into fights but not that bad and now they cant be apart and love each other

[JThiessen]

Make sure that you feel comfortable that her dog is stable. I'm not a huge fan of Ceasar - but his process of using Big Daddy to help calm other dogs is a very good one. Its not his size, its his demeanor. One of those pugs could very well end up being the "sub-leader" of you pack. To dogs, its not the size, its thier temperment and attitude that makes them the pack leader. That's why I'd try to find a local trainer or dog walker that uses his own dogs - and they take you out of the equation, which you may very well be adding to the situation (not by anything you do, just in thier approach to each other while you are around).

[swiftneed]

And Duke thought he was small enough to lick you hello sweet very docile, Just try to use the same words and dont let her getaway with anything not even trying to take a toy you tell her when and all then she will become the dog you want and be able to bring other dogs to her without aggression

[George16]

When I was growing up, any aggressive dog ends up being slaughtered and eaten as appetizer during our drinking sessions. I'm not joking either. I have never been bitten by someone else's dog but I been bitten multiple times by our own dogs .

Anyway, have more patience in training them. I know I didn't have any back then.

[bryan]

We dont have any dogs at our house, but you also need to be aggresive.We adopted six cats from a recovery shelter last year."We meaning my wife and three kids".Yeah cats love empty R/C boxes.Good luck my friend.

[PBO]

I've owned a few dogs & have learned a few hard lessons along the way

Rescued dogs are often poorly socialised, abused animals that may never be 'brought back' to a point where they behave normally or predictably. I doubt I'd help out a poor pooch again...better to have them from a puppy & be responsible for the outcome, rather than DIY doggy renovations

ClodMaxx, I always though boxers were at the lower end of dog IQ?

[ClodMaxx]

i'm sure there are some boxers that are a few cans short of a six pack - but as a general rule (we have probably 10-15 boxers within 6 square blocks from me) they're smart. not 'teach them how to count' smart, but they're very eager to please....so long as they recognize you as the pack leader. that's the part about boxers (and other working/guarding dogs in the same category) that's tricky. feeble/wimpy/non-dominant people don't make good boxer owners. i'm 6'2", 250 pounds...with a loud, booming voice. i don't yell, but there are times they both jump with i'm not happy with what they're doing.