Keli&benj wrote:I think for now as I already do the avoidance ( hiding behind cars!) I'm going to concentrate on Benji's safe distance and dogs that he 's not reactive to close that distance. At the moment that is across the road. I can go for a week without having an episode but when it happens I do get disappointed. So for me and Benji it's treats treat treats when he sees a dog and narrow the gap between them.
to start out, I would caution against intentionally closing the gap. give the see other dog, get treat some time first. life will give you plenty of "gap closing" even if you don't want it to or are not ready for it. so my advice, don't push things at this point.
helping a dog like benji can't be looked at as something to get off the check list quickly, its a process, it takes time. how much, all depends on the dog, how often he is over threshold and many more details. I have had my dog 4 years now, in some areas he has made amazing progress, and has gone from fearful of any dog or person, to having dog pals, playing with dogs, and even seeking out attention from people other than me and my family. in others it feels like no change. I have a neighbor that in 6 weeks just doing see dog, get treat was able to get her fearful dog to a point that my dog took 2 years. it all just depends on the dog as to have fast things will progress. but if you force progress, you will ultimately take longer to reach your goals.
Keli&benj wrote:
I don't think Benji's problem is fear I think it is an over excitiness to play then he just can't control himself as I never allow him contact anymore. The dog he is really reactive too are mainly big dogs and with these he takes an instance dislike and these he wants to attack! It's hard getting in a dogs head
It is true, not all aggression is from fear. Frustration from never being able to interact with other dogs is also an accepted cause of aggression. however, this is FAR, FAR, FAR less common than fear based aggression. based on your descriptions, I strongly suggestion you continue to assume fear for now.
Dogs are just like us in the sense they are complex creatures, with a broad range of emotions. Things are never as simple as "oh it is just fear and nothing else". Like us, they do not experience just one emotion at a time or get locked into just one emotion. they can move from happy, to scared, to angry to frustrated back to happy in short periods of time just like we can.
it is entirely possible that sometimes Benji's emotional state is frustration not being able to go up to another dog, and others it's fear. without having a chance to really observe and get to know Benji there is no way I can guide you on when its one state or the other. But Benji does give off clues, the sound of his bark, the way he holds his mouth, position of the ears, how the tail is waging (
not all waging is happiness) or not, position of the tail and much, much more.
However, it is best to assume fear is the predominate driving emotion. The two main reasons for this is. 1. you won't make things worse. if you assume it is all frustration from not getting to go up to other dogs, but turn out to be wrong...you can make things worse, you risk dog fights, bites and even him killing a smaller dog. These are all possible and if he is already on the radar of the police, you don't want to risk even a minor scrape that is technically started by the other dog. But if you are wrong and this isn't fear at all, you do no harm. you kept him at safe distances, you watched his threshold distance, you redirected his attention etc, etc. you won't make a lot of progress if it's not fear, but your risk of getting worse is much, much smaller. 2. much of how you help a dog that is over excited verse fearful, in the beginning has a lot of overlap. so you aren't wasting your time. But if you are wrong and it is fear, the next steps in helping a dog that is over excited, loves dogs and is frustrated that he can go up to them....actual will make the fearful dog worse.
The love dogs, over excited, but socially inept and frustred dogs that is acting aggressively again is a much, much rarer "beast" than the fearful dog.
Keli&benj wrote:Jacks dad just to add that when Benji first started the aggression I got him checked out straight away. He got the all clear and the vet just put his aggression as him taking a dislike to the dog! Saying its normal dog behavior. Much good she was
That isn't actually all that unreasonable a diagnosis. without sound advice what to do next, not all that helpful, but one dog disliking another and the result being aggression, actually is pretty sound. I still think you need to operate from the assumption of your dog being fearful though.
Also, don't discount the possibility of your dog hiding pain or illness or that something minor missed a year ago hasn't progressed to something less minor today. my dog gets regular vet checks and we missed his teeth needing some work....for almost the entire time I have had him. He started going backwards in a few areas, health and behavior and my vet took us back to square one, no assumptions health wise, gave him a complete exam, discovered his teeth issues. we fixed that, and as he healed, he was able to better deal with his fear/stress triggers again.
Continue to keep tabs on his health. things change there too between vet visits. And health issues can cause aggression, or make it worse.
Keli&benj wrote:Also to add
I agree that the encounters with other dogs should be short and would be best if I lead Benji away but the problem is that he's too big and I'm only small. When he's totally lost it and lunging barking etc I have trouble moving him as I'm scared I'll lose my footing or he 'll get away from me ( this happened with the police women, it was a icy day and she kept bringing her Doberman closer and closer making Benji go madder and madder, I lost my footing and let him go
) with the harness I do feel I can keep hold and I just let him bark and jump etc until the dog has gone by. I will try stop doing this and try and remove him. I have seen Victoria with head harness' on big dogs but when I tried it I felt I had no control and tbh I was scared he would get out of it.
Again, I would argue for now, benji having encounters with other dogs is not a top priority, it's like number 978 on a list of 1000 things needing to be done...there isn't literally a 1000 things you need to be doing, just making a point about how important (or not) it is for benji to be having dog/dog encounters right now.
When things progress to the point it is helpful for him to meet and greet other dogs you will want to follow a 3 second rule to start...dogs start sniffing, 1...2...3.... call away or step between to separate them and let them have a break. sometimes if the encounters go too long, what starts as a nice, polite meet and greet "out of the blue" turns into a snarling, teeth baring, snark fest. again, your dog is already on the radar of the police, you need to be thinking about how things can go wrong and setting benji up for success. meet and greets at this time most likely are not the path to success for beji. Also, keep in mind, that some dogs just don't really care for other dogs. forced meet and greets for these dogs is most unhelpful at the stage you are in.
Right now, I would focus on the following
Benji sees other dog at his safe distance, gets super yummy treat, followed by a chance to do something else with you. play tug, do a silly trick, turn walk the other way etc. if he can't do the "something else", your too close to the other dog, move for distance and try a new distance with the next dog.
Get into the habit of seeing other dogs before benji. this takes practice. but you will get there. if you see the other dog first you can start planing ahead. do we need to turn go the other way. duck behind a parked car/tree/dumpster etc. or will there be enough distance to just keep moving forward and pass?
Giving Benji breaks. On Monday you avoid dogs at any and all distances, ideally you work it so that benji never even sees a dog. On Tuesday, maybe take him to a park with plenty of room for him to have his safe distance, when he sees a dog go into your routine. after 1 or 2 dogs, go for extra distance, finish your walk or go home. Wednesday, give him another break day. and so on.
always keep in mind. this isn't a race, and progress isn't always a strait line. There will be days "life" conspires against you and if it can, it will go wrong. or maybe benji is just not in the mood and so a little more "hair trigger" about the things that bother him. this is all normal and the best thing to do is call it a day and minimize the "damage". make the next day a "break day" and start over again.
But the less benji feels the need to go into his "aggression" behavior, the faster this all will go. which is why I give the advice I do. Safety first, then how do we set the dog up for success.
