Dog Aggression Problem

[LoveMyKees]

I've been walking my Keeshond Max every day. He's an angel...when other dogs aren't around. The minute he sees another dog, big or small, he goes insane and chokes himself on the collar. The only thing I can do is stand there and pull until the other dogs pass. Today there were two labs walking across the street, and Max saw them and was jumping back and forth and pulling like crazy. My foot twisted and bent a wrong way, so now I have an injured ankle...

Whenever he comes face to face with a dog on a walk, they'll sniff for a few seconds, and then Max will get all aggressive and growl, and nip at the other dog! I don't know what to do...

Does anyone else have a dog that does this? Or have a cure for it? All I want is to be able to walk around other dogs without having to be yanked everywhere.

 

[Lizmo]

Well my dog will pull and bark and cry at other dogs she cannot get to. I have started to see with only some dogs that she will start to growl after a few seconds of sniffing. I am just trying to make her sit or go down when she does this. Also when they go into a bow position with other dogs that means they want to play and be friendly I have heard that you can put them in a bow position to let the other dog know it is okay. Have you tried a prong or martingale collar on your dog?? Good Luck!!

 

[LoveMyKees]

We have tried the prong collars, not the martingales. Right now we have the kind that if you pull it, it tightens, if you don't it loosens. That keeps him from dragging me a lot.

Its only the males he's aggressive with, not as much the females.

 

[Lizmo]

Have you tried distracting him with treats??

 

[LoveMyKees]

No, but I'll try that on our next walk!

 

[Lizmo]

Also make sure they are his FAV FAV treats!!!

 

[LoveMyKees]

We have these chicken strips that he loves, I'll try that! Thanks!

 

[Jack_Stone]

Maybe you should try a head collar. A snoot loop or a Gentle leader. It tells the dog your in charge and it makes him stop pulling (along with proper commands). I'm not advertising, just making a suggestion. http://www.Gentleleader.com So if your calm he should be calm since you would be top dog.

 

[elegy]

same-sex aggression is not uncommon in a lot of breeds.

what worked the best for me (i have two dog-aggro pit bulls) is to work very hard on teaching the dog an attention command. the command means look at my face and give me your attention no matter what else is going on. we had to start in a very boring place (ie, my livingroom) and gradually build up the distraction to the yard, then the street, then a field, then far away but in viewing distance of other dogs, and so on and so forth. you'll need to use awesome treats for this, especially when you're building distractions. (i use tunafish for my dogs most of the time- very stinky and they think it's wonderful.)

while you're doing this, it's ideal to avoid other dogs. every time your dog freaks out, he is self-rewarding in a big way, and it's just making the behavior even more likely to occur. so if you see another dog coming on a walk and you can, make a u-turn, duck down a side street, etc.

frequent obedience classes with an understanding and savvy instructor also saved our butts.