How do I change my small dog's aggressive behavior toward other dogs?

Question

He was neglected, wild stray I adopted. He will challenge pit bulls and the dog training advice doesn't help. He is good with people and responds to reward training.

Answer 1

Strays have a habit of defending them selves from other. Have you tried spraying him with water in the face when his acts up toward the other dogs and say NO? and keeping doing until he learns. It will take time. I had to do it with an older dog that I brought into my home as a teen. Good luck

Answer 2

Shelters euthanize dogs that are aggressive because there are tons of other dogs that aren't... and they don't have unlimited space, funds or time to train. True aggression can't be fixed. Some dogs can be controlled but there's always a chance there could be a problem. There is a huge difference between human aggression and dog aggression. If the dog is aggresssive to humans, I lean toward euthanizing the dog and moving on to the next one. Dog aggression can be controled by environment. It's a tragic situation when a dog is aggressive but honestly, it's no different (to me) than a dog having a fatal disease like cancer. It's not the dog's fault but it is still fatal.

Answer 3

There are several things you may or may not have tried already:
1. Have the dog neutered.
2. Find out if he reacts to EVERY dog, or only some dogs.
3. Begin a NILIF and controlled feeding program.
Also, make sure you don't put him in a situation where he is "challenging pit bulls" at all. Every time he practices this behaviour, it makes a path in his brain (think a river running, eroding it's way deeper and deeper into the ground). Keep him safe and confortable while you work on his behaviour.
As far as actually changing his behaviour around other dogs, it can be done, but I would need alot more information to provide specific tips.

Answer 4

This dog need socialization and training. You and the dog need to enroll in a good obedience training class. Sounds very much like your dog is fear aggressive, that is it fears other dogs. Not uncommon for a dog with that history. So you need to socialize him and that will teach him that there isn't anything to fear and train him at the same time. The training will give the dog confidence and teach it that a human and dog relationship is desired.

Do not ever use a squirt bottle on a dog with this history. That is a the last thing you want to do is have the dog fear you. Squirt bottles work because they are aversion training. You might as well roll up a newspaper and swat the dog, just as effective.

Answer 5

Watch The Dog Whisperer! That is the best show and it really works! Try snapping your fingers at him instead of yelling when he is doing something unacceptable(go towards him, shoulders held high, and make a kind of shhh noise and snap and point at him and he will back away). My doxie was crazy before I learned this..It even works on my husky and once they learn they get corrected EVERY TIME they do this behavior then they will stop it(it didn't take long with my dogs).

Also, try lying him on his back and holding him down and letting bigger dog(s) come and smell of him..When he realizes he can't do anything he will give up and (hopefully) eventually give up the aggression. When a dog is on their back they are "submissive" and when you hold them down and they stop fighting it then they are surrendering to you..This will help him mind you and be more obedient.

Good luck!

Answer 6

First off, kudos for adopting a stray! It sounds like your pup has a problem with being in charge. He is a big dog in a little dog's body. I have two doxies who think they can take on a lion. You could try showing your dog who's in charge by laying him on his side/back and putting a bigger (preferrably much calmer, more secure, even tempered) dog over him. Make sure to hold your dog down lightly...enough that he can't get up to attack until you feel him relax and accept the fact that he isn't in charge. Because he was a stray, he is used to having his way, having to fight for his place in the world. He's not used to having to obey the social rules. You might have to do this little exercise for a few weeks until he doesn't fight you anymore and just accepts the bigger dog. I'm no expert by any means so please be very very careful when doing this. I did this with my dogs and it worked. I even put them on their backs and pressed (LIGHTLY but enough to let them know I was there) my hand to their throats to simulate a dog mouth to let them know...I, not them, was in charge around the house. Made training them soooo much easier. Hope this helps some and let us know how this works.

Answer 7

You need to socialize him take him with a dog you know won't be aggressive back and keep them both on leashes and whenever your dog starts to be aggressive pull on the leash and tell him "NO" and when he is friendly towards the other dog give him a treat and lots of praise

Answer 8

if he responds to reward training then make him sit and have another dog pass in front of him---if he sits still give him a reward, if not redirect him to sit and try again: I personally have never had luck with punishing animals: training methods based on reward and redirection works best...good luck!