How do you get a Catahoula to stop growling??

Question

I have a neutered two year old male Catahoula and two female Australian Shepherds (both spayed). My male catahoula is the dominant of the three and has a tendency to growl if one of them is not in the designated spot in the living room. I took him to a behavior specialist and I follow their tips on using my hand as a mouth and touching his neck to get him to stop. All he does is start growling at me while wagging his tail. I dont get it. If I grab his collar to "snap" him out of his focus on the other dogs, he gets even more aggresive and the hair on the back of his shoulder stands up. Am I doing something wrong? He attacked my older Aussie because she was standing in between him and I. I put him on the ground in a submissive position, let the older Aussie stand above him to show dominance, and now all of this is happening. Please help if you have a Catahoula..

Answer 1

You have disrupted the pack order in your house. You allowed a submissive dog to take a dominant position over the pack leader. Now the leader is fighting to re-establish his position in the pack. Until they work it out, he's not going to stop.

It sounds like your behavior specialist is trying to mimic the "touch" that Cesar Milan does on TV. Unfortunately, you may be the victim of someone playing dog trainer. I don't think they're going to restore peace in your house. In fact, I think your problems are bigger than you think and an amateur will only make them worse.

I would recommend you seek out the advice of a professional trainer who is experienced in dealing with aggressive dogs. (I'm not saying you have an aggressive dog. You need to find someone who can prevent your dog from becoming aggressive.)

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Edit:

I am very familiar with the Catahoula breed. They are not a very old breed and not overly common, making them close to their original working/hunting/herding history. As with any well-bred working dog, they need a leader and they need training. Without it, they will range anywhere from being a nuisance to outright dangerous.

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This being said, I think you need to seek a professional trainer. Do not rely on a book or someone reading a book to tell you how to fix your problems.

The term for the "putting him on the ground" move you used is called an Alpha Roll. There are times where it does work, like when the dog submits. I do not believe in telling someone to do it on their own - do you know what to do if the dog does not submit? Do you know what the consequences are if the dog challenges you and you lose? Are you aware that the dog may bite to get away from you?

If the answer to any of these is no, then you're not prepared to use the Alpha Roll.

Answer 2

All of the dogs in your pack are dominate animal just by their nature. They have a genetic history of working independently.

Take them on power walks and keep them in a position close to you and behind you. You MUST be in the lead out the door/gate and on the walk. You may have to start with each dog separately and then pack them up. All of your dogs need to look at you as the pack leader. Your Catahoula is just showing the females who the boss is. And you need to show the Catahoula who the REALLY BOSS is. You are using acceptable techniques but when you put him to the ground do you hold him there until he totally submits and will lay there without your hand on him. If he does not totally submit you haven't fixed the problem and one dose if not always enough. You can actually accomplish more with the power walks.

Watch body language and stop the Catahoula immediately if he shows body dominance, tail up and fixed eyes on the target and ears forward. You can normally tell and make a sharp noise and block his attention.

When you feed them, feed the most calm one first and pretend to take a bite of the bowl before setting it down. the pack leader always eats first. Make sure each is sitting and calm before you give the food. It is a gift from the leader and they have to earn it.

good info
http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/