Please help..How can I get 2 dogs to get along..

[mctraill]

Its been a long time since I posted on here so here is some background...

I lived in the USA where I adopted a Labretriver Mix when she was 2. She attended doggie day camp until one day she was attacked by a large dog, since then she has not been to good around other dogs she is fearful but goes for fight rather than the flight. It wasnt really a great problem as we never really came acorss many dogs when out walking. However we have moved backed to the UK and I brought my dog back with me, she is now 7. Here everyone walks their dogs, every day we come across dogs, every time she growls and in some cases she lunges, I have her on a gentle leader which seems to help, we actually managed to walk past 3 dogs today with no growling or lunging....However this is what my real problem is:

My sisterinlaw has a Labradoodle, which is about 7 months old, my husbands family are very much dog people and the family complete with dogs meet at least twice a week. My dog does not get along with their dog, I have walked them together, they do really good, I always keep my dog on her gentle leader she has tried 3 times now to attack the other dog... I use the command Leave it when the other dog is around..

Please can you give me some advice, how can I get these two dogs to live in harmony...

 

[milos_mommy]

I recommend you order a book called Click To Calm, by Emma Parsons. It really, really has some great advice on getting dogs to get along.

Every time you give her the opportunity to growl/lunge at the other dog, you're reinforcing that the other dog is a "bad thing" and it will be harder to stop the aggression. As soon as your dog begins to look uncomfortable around the other dog, you need remove her from the situation. You can start by always rewarding her when she is calm around the other dog from a distance. Some dogs also feel trapped when on-leash, so get along better with other dogs off-leash (I don't recommend you put two dogs with aggression towards each other off leash together, but she might be calmer if you work behind a baby gate rather than on-leash). Going for walks together is good, if you keep enough distance between them that your dog is not barking or getting upset. You also need to stay relaxed, if you're worried about her getting into a fight or reacting, she will pick up on that and assume the other dog is scary so she needs to attack it.

Is she trying to hurt the other dog? If you keep them off leash together, does she avoid the other dog or go after her? Does she ignore the dog if the other dog is at a distance, or does she try to run to it and hurt it?

 

[mctraill]

I recommend you order a book called Click To Calm, by Emma Parsons. It really, really has some great advice on getting dogs to get along.


Is she trying to hurt the other dog? If you keep them off leash together, does she avoid the other dog or go after her? Does she ignore the dog if the other dog is at a distance, or does she try to run to it and hurt it?

Will look for the book and order it...

She goes after the dog and yes I beleive she tries to hurt it, poor little thing..

So let me get this right, as soon as she growls or maybe even before then, when she goes into alert mode, her ears go forward and she walks what seems like on her tip toes... I just need to walk her away so she cant see the dog...do I use any command or just walk her away?

 

[milos_mommy]

You can just say something like "let's go!" or "other way!", but it doesn't really need a command. You just want to get her away so she stops being so stimulated. At the point where she's on her toes, she's looking at the other dog like "a bad thing". She's not comfortable with it's presence. Getting her away will stop her from associating the other dog with being uncomfortable/agitated. If she isn't too upset or tense, just kind of staring or alert towards the other dog, try distracting her with commands like sit, give paw, etc. If she's calm enough to respond, you can reward her for listening to you and not obsessing. If she's too focused on the other dog, she's past her comfort zone and needs to be removed.

If she is calm, looking around, her body is loose, etc, you can reward her for glancing at the other dog.

There is a game called "Look At That" From the book Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. I haven't read the whole book, but it's highly recommended, and I do recommend you look up the training game Look At That.

Some dogs will never, ever get along, no matter how much training you do. But you should be able to at least walk them together, or have them on leash in the same area, without having them react to each other.

 

[Maxy24]

You walk the dog away to calm her down, that's not the actual training part though. Your dog is afraid, when she lunges she is basically panicking and trying to get the other dog away from her. If she is getting that stressed out then she should not be that close to the other dog, it's just too scary for her. You walk her away so she'll be able to feel safe and calm again.

So step one is keep her at a distance from the other dog where she feels comfortable and does not feel the need to panic.

Step two is to teach her that the other dog is safe and maybe even awesome. This is accomplished with treats. Reward her for looking at the other dog, even just glancing quickly. You want to get it in her head that the other dog is good for her. If she sniffs the other dog, even just air sniffing in her direction, reward her with a treat. Any positive interest in the dog should be rewarded.

Also reward her for not reacting to things that might normally set her off. For instance if the other dog barks and your dog stays calm you should reward her. Or if the dog comes too close and your dog doesn't react or just walks away reward that. If the dog runs by your dog and your dog remains calm, again, give a treat. For now, do not allow them to physically interact, it sounds like that is too much. Walking together is good, but keep it at a distance and reward your dog for looking at the other dog the whole time. Maybe walk behind the other dog and let your dog set the pace. If she wants to get closer for a bit of a sniff allow that, but for now keep it short so she doesn't start to get panicky. Let her sniff for a few seconds, then slow back down while rewarding her and allow the other dog to get further ahead again. Do not let them meet nose to nose and never force your dog to get closer to the other one. Do not let the puppy try and play with your dog, you might want to walk the pup on a front clip harness so that the owner can keep her from turning towards or jumping on your dog. I know from experience that when an excited puppy is being pulled away from another dog they tend to resist and rear up on their back feet which is scary for the other dog. In a front clip harness this doesn't happen.

Just remember that your dog is terrified of the other dog, she believes that at any moment that dog may decide to maul her, every quick movement may be that other dog starting to go for her. That is why she's doing this, to get that dangerous dog away from her before she get attacked. So don't get angry or frustrated with her, you need to try and change her emotions from fear to calmness or even happiness, you are not just changing the behavior, but the emotion.


So take it slow and keep it positive, good luck!