Dog aggression..?

Question

What is the best way to deal with an aggressive and overprotective male Doberman? He is one year and three months old.

He lives in a house with a large garden. As soon as I take him for a walk outside he shows aggression towards strangers and other dogs, when someone is coming towards me, or running close, sometimes just passing by. He tries to jump on them and bite. I have good control of him in terms of obedience, but I don't know what to do with his aggressive behavior, please HELP

Answer 1

OK you've heard the neutering idea but it's a Little late.
You say you have the standard obedience thing handled but you need to keep working on that.

The problem stems from a lack of socialization when he was younger so now it's going to be much harder. Here's how I'd go about it:
Go to your local strip mall with your dog on a leash. get as close as you can to the moving crowds without initiating the aggressive behaviour and do some general obedience training (sit heel play dead etc.) and generously reward him for good behaviour.

Over a rather short period you will notice that you can get closer and closer to the crowd without eliciting the reaction.

Once you have achieved that do the same thing where people are jogging and riding bikes.

After a time he will be associating crowds with getting your attention and rewards than with other people.

Once he is comfortable with these two try a dog park. Your goal here is for him to stay on heel and quietly sit while you talk with a stranger.

It's going to take time but right now you have a dangerous predator and you have a responsibility to all around you to change his behavior.

Answer 2

Need more info what is he doing that show aggreassion and in what circumstances.

Added:

To the so called vet. You should know they don't want aggressive dogs as gaard dogs. Only the best temperment for a good training.

Does he give warning such as barking or growling. Do you have time for a reaction before the behavior gets out of control? If you see someone coming your way start preparing yourself. If he starts to bark or growl walk him in circle in the same spot. This take his eyes off of the target and gives him focus elswhere.

Pepsie - You are a "handler" and the best you could come up with is training classes??

Answer 3

Aggression is a tricky thing. There can be multiple reasons for it and most start with LACK of socialization. But to accurately help you, more needs to be known about your dog's behaviors.

One of my current Dobermans was labeled with "Fear-Motivated Aggression." This is aggression that occurs when the dog is frightened, regardless of whether or not there is something to be afraid of. She would frequently attempt to avoid an encounter by backing up while growling. If cornered, she would snap and attempt to bite because she didn't understand what was happening around her. We worked on her confidence then put her through FORMAL protection training to ensure she knew when it was appropriate to be a tough guy!

So, you really do need to start with understanding the behavior and treating it based on diagnosis. A good animal behavior specialist sounds in order.

Answer 4

You are in need of some Alpha training. Particularly with a powerful breed like Doberman, this can turn into a potentially dangerous situation.

Aggression can be fearful or dominant. In either case, your dog does not view you as the leader of his pack. Dobermans are instincually very protective breed and will test you constantly, especially in the younger years.

There are lots of resources available on the subject. Just do a search on "Canine Alpha Training."

Answer 5

You have a amle doberman who is doing just exactly what the doberman was bred and designed to do.
Protect the humans and the home. This dog was bred and designed to be a personal protection dog. It is their nature.
First have the dog neutered.
Second get someone who does behavioral training and work one on one with them and the dog. This way they can see first hand excatly what is happening and how you are dealing with what happens.
I do this all the time for our rescue. I would recommend you work one on one until you learn to control the dog than get into a training class. In a class setting it gives you plenty of distractions and stuff going on to test the dogs bond with the handler. Once you train with the dog on a regular basis he will learn to look to you for guideance as to how he should be reacting to things. You will be able to give him the right signals as to how he should be reacting. Class provides lots of things going on and teachs the dog to look to the handler for guideance in all situtaions.
But first you have to be able to control the dog.

Answer 6

Neutering is the best first suggestion. Most behaviorists won't even talk to you about aggression without him being neutered. If he's already neutered, or you object to this idea... you might want to place him with a service that provides trained guard dogs for protection or law enforcement. He might be just the personality that they are looking for. Then you can start over with a new pet and start training early and young.

Answer 7

Some dogs show Territorial aggression wether its protecting you their territory or themselves. It is not how we as humans perceive things it is more how our dogs do. Your dog may see these things or experiences as a threat to him or you and he is acting as what he sees appropriate. Did you socialize him as a puppy and is he neutered? Male dogs left unneutered tend to be way more aggressive than a neutered male. You may want to consider that as an option as well as trying to socialize him in obedience classes.

Answer 8

Training classes

Answer 9

Get in touch with a behaviourist/trainer. This is something that needs to be dealt with professionally, before something happens. Also, you don't want to contribute to a bad reputation for Dobermans.

Answer 10

hey there, We taught my 6yo pitbull puddles to stop barking at night in just 5 days. Great results - worth the effort. All we had to use was the Dog discipline magic system we researched with google.