Dog to Dog Aggression

When dealing with dog-to-dog aggression, it is important to listen to your dog.

There are many reasons why your dog may be reacting aggressively to another dog. He may be afraid, he may be stressed because his space is being violated, he may feel the need to dominate, he may be protective of you, he may be very curious, or he may just be overly excited. Try to understand what he is trying to tell you.

As soon as you see that your dog is starting to get stressed, you should step in and interrupt before the situation escalates. You should also take your dog's age, health, temperament, and preferences into account when coming up with solutions for dog behavioral problems such as dog aggression.

Be calm and assertive.

Dogs are very sensitive to what their human is feeling. My dog picks up on what I'm feeling and reflects it, with a hundred times more intensity. Sometimes I am not even conscious of feeling nervous or stressed, but my dog notices it.

Once I start to calm myself down, my dog's behavior also improves.

A common mistake when meeting other dogs is to tense up and get fearful of what your dog may do. If you are afraid, your dog will be a hundred times more afraid and that will likely trigger an aggressive reaction.

Be careful not to put undue or continuous tension on the leash. Also, do not pull your dog straight back as that will likely cause a lunge forward response. To remove your dog, pull him to the side and quickly walk him past the other dog.

Ignore, Ignore, Ignore - Teach your dog avoidance.

When you see another dog, just ignore it and move along.

I have found that avoidance is most effective when **I** ignore the other dog and owner as well, i.e. no eye contact. I just keep my eyes forward and pass the other dog. That way your dog is learning from you that when we see another dog, we avoid, rather than confront.

Be careful not to crowd your dog. If he feels trapped between you and another dog, he may think he has no choice but to react aggressively. Do not stand still while trying to tug your dog away. Move away and your dog will come along with you. At the same time, you are creating space so that your dog will not feel trapped.

Do not let your dog obsess (i.e. unblinking stare) on the other dog. Sometimes my Shiba Inu will drop into a stalking-down-position, stare, and wait for the other dog to pass. Some people think that he is such a good dog for doing a Down when other dogs are coming towards him, but he is actually just waiting to pounce.

Do not allow this bad behavior, do not let your dog practice it, do not even let him think about it. Just move him along whenever you see another dog. If the other dog is somehow blocking you (e.g. if the owner is unable to control it) then turn back and walk away. Do not stare the other dog down and do not confront him, either through posture or by physically engaging him.

Challenging unknown dogs is a good way to get bitten.

Create space or block the other dog.

Another way to handle dog-to-dog aggression is to create space between your dog and the other dog by moving across the road, or into a driveway, and waiting for the other dog to pass. You may also move your dog behind a barrier (e.g. a car). If there are no barriers available, blocking your dog's view with your body is another possibility.

By doing this, you avoid a head on, more confrontational, passing.

I have tried all of these blocking techniques, but what still works best for me is to quickly move past the other dog. Whenever I wait for the other dog to pass, my dog uses that time to start obsessing. Dog treats and trying to get his attention do not work at this point because the other dog is too close and my dog is no longer listening.

The nice thing about walking my dog briskly past the other dog is that he has less time to stare, and he can't fully obsess because he must partly focus on walking.

This method of blocking, however, may work better for a fearful dog.

Be careful not to let your fearful dog forcefully pull you away as that may reinforce his phobia. Instead, create as much space as possible and move him behind some barriers. Then distract him from the other dog by doing simple commands and by using very high priority treats.

Some trainers suggest turning and walking away when you see another dog rather than passing him, or waiting for him to pass.

There are two problems with this method:

• If you turn away, the other dog will be following you and that usually causes your dog to keep looking back. I have tried this, and indeed my Shiba Inu keeps looking back.
• If you keep turning away, you may meet other dogs and get boxed in; especially if there are many dogs in your neighborhood.

Create neutral experiences.

Create as many neutral dog-to-dog meeting experiences as possible. If every time your dog sees another dog, you just pass by and nothing interesting happens, he will be less aggressive towards other dogs.

Being consistent with neutral greetings will build your dog's confidence. Through repetition, you are teaching him how to behave (just avoid and move along), and how not to behave (show dog-to-dog aggression), when another dog comes along. He will be more calm because he is not waiting in anticipation of a highly charged encounter, either for play or for confrontation.

Do not let your dog practice any aggressive behaviors when meeting other dogs. The more he practices, the more aggressive he will be.

If your dog becomes aggressive during a walk, try to end the walk as soon as possible. Once in this mode, his adrenaline levels will be high for a fair duration and he will likely react aggressively to all the dogs that you meet. In this state, he will no longer be capable of learning, and will only be practicing dog aggressive behaviors.

Protect your dog from rude dogs and rude people.

If your dog is aggressive to dogs, keep him away from people and dogs with weak energy (e.g. fearful, excited, or frustrated energy). Keep other dogs and owners from coming into your dog's space. I usually just say a quick 'hi' to the people I meet, and move on.

If people with weak energy stop and want to meet my dog, I ask them nicely to move on because my dog is an excitable dog. It is fine and good to let your dog meet people with calm energy, but make sure to let them know how to best greet your dog, e.g. turn away when your dog jumps, no quick movements, no petting from above.

Use positive interrupts and keep encounters short.

If you are greeting another dog, you want to positively interrupt your dog every so often and make him refocus on you. Positively interrupt him many times if necessary so that he does not lose control of himself.

Whenever my dog is meeting a new dog I interrupt him after a very short duration (2-3 seconds). I quickly move/jog away from the other dog, while giving the positive interrupt command, e.g. Hey, hey. Initially, you may have to lightly tug your dog while moving away. Treat your dog for moving towards you on a loose leash. Make sure to treat well.

If your dog is too obsessed to move away and is strongly standing his ground, then you have waited too long to initiate the positive interrupt. The positive interrupt is also useful for dealing with human greetings, getting your dog away from a dirty/dangerous area, and getting your dog away from a dangerous object.

The key to a successful positive interrupt is to catch your dog early enough before he starts to obsess.

Be aware that your dog's natural look may trigger a dog aggressive reaction.

Some dogs, (e.g. spitz dogs) have a natural look (ears up, hair out, tail up) that is a very confident and dominant dog posture. This dominant look may instigate other dogs to respond in kind and start posturing as well. Dog to dog aggression could occur and ultimately a dog fight; if neither dog is willing to back down.

If you are unsure about a dog greeting, then just move on.

Desensitize your dog towards other dogs.

In the desensitization process, you get your dog to focus on you instead of other dogs or objects in the environment. Find some balanced, low energy dogs that you can practice desensitization exercises with. Have a friend engage the other dog so that he is staying in a fixed position and not focused on your dog.

Take your dog a far distance away, and get his attention by calling his name. If he looks at you, praise him, treat him, and move forward. Keep doing this until you get to a point where he won't give you his attention anymore. Then non-mark him (uh-oh) and move back and away from the other dog. Try and get your dog's attention again and once he gives it to you, stop, praise, and treat.

You can let him sit and watch the other dog as long as he is willing to give you his attention when you ask for it. Once you are comfortable with this, you may start moving forward towards the other dog again.

Make sure to stop before your dog starts obsessing and long before he becomes aggressive. If your dog becomes aggressive, then end the session. As you make progress, you may slowly increase the strength of the stimulus, for example, by letting the calm dog start moving and/or by getting a more energetic dog.

The desensitization process can be long and difficult. Dogs with lower "instinct thresholds" (the point at which they lose control and switch to instinct) will be much harder to desensitize. For desensitization to be successful, it is important to keep your dog below his instinct threshold at all times. However, consistent practice will also help to raise this threshold.

Do not expect too much, at once, from your dog. Make sure to treat and praise your dog very well if he voluntarily engages in avoidance maneuvers when faced with another dog. This includes looking away from the direction of the other dog, smelling and exploring the environment, or looking to you for direction.

Treat and praise even for small avoidance moves, e.g. looking away for only 1 second. If your dog will not accept treats from you, then he is too far gone and it is best to lead him away. Treats are only effective, for shaping behavior, when your dog is still thinking and not operating on instinct.

Keep practicing the exercises above with your dog and he will improve. As he matures, he will become more confident, be less dog aggressive, and be more comfortable around new things.