aggression turning into fear, a good thing?

[loren Kristunas]

So Sage's interdog aggression is taking an interesting turn. We have been really working with her, identifiying where we were letting her be in charge and changing that, doing tons of obedience work at the river which is where she behaves worst, keeping her on leash all the time so she can't chase and bully dogs. She has pretty much stopped aggressing, which I would think is a great thing, but she is visibly more fearful with other dogs, head and tail between legs, hackles up, body curved away from the dog, trying to move away. My thought is that she has learned that aggression is not acceptable and isn't sure what to do instead to manage her fear. I think this is progress but maybe it's a problem? I guess I should positively reinforce the presence of other dogs to the hilt, but how do I do that without reinforcing the fearful behavior? Any thoughts on this change and it's meaning?

 

[opokki]

Reward her when the dogs are in view but are not so close that she is showing signs of fear. As soon as a dog is in sight begin a steady flow of treats, stop the flow when the dog is out of sight. Try to remain at a distance where she is only very slightly uncomfortable and gradually decrease distance as she becomes noticably more comfortable. As long as the other dogs are onleash you should be able to control the distance fairly well.

If ever a dog suddenly approaches out of your control you need to remove her from the situation. You want her to trust you so that she does not feel the need to act out on her own.

 

[bridey_01]

Dogs also feel significantly more threatened when on a leash (not saying you should let her off) as they have no way of escaping what they think could be a potential fight. I agree with the above post though, on the methods to bring her around.

 

[Renee750il]

It may very well be that her previous aggression was driven by fear. The fear remains but she's now without a method to 'act out.'

Anything you can do to increase her self confidence constructively should go a long way toward alleviating her fear - and thus her need to act out. Running through some obedience, tricks, just anything that she can succeed at and be lavishly rewarded for when she's out in public, especially where she may be confronted with seeing other dogs. A confident dog is usually a well mannered and happy one

 

[loren Kristunas]

Thanks for the input, she seems to need a greater distance in this fear stage than she did when she was aggressing, so we will give her that. I really feel this period is critical, she is begining to trust our leadership and we need to help her feel safe and confident since she isn't taking matters into her own hands anymore. We've been giving her hotdogs and treats in the presence of other dogs all along but will really turn up the positiveness of this, I think also having her do some training or other things that build confidence at a safe distance but in the presence of other dogs will be helpful.

 

[Doberluv]

You've got it! Great advise and you're doing everything right. (just be sure not to give treats IF she's acting up. Wait till she's calm)