agressive dog

[Tedfoxx]

A friend just gave me a 3 year old male setter that is very aggressive towards my other male dogs, he is OK with the female or if we are out in the field hunting, but around the kennel he likes to growl and snap at the other male dogs, he has had a few close contacts but no blood yet. I'm thinking about putting an e-collar on him and when he acts up with another dog then I'll give him the juice, would this work? You guys have any fix to this kind? I hate to put him down for this, but this type of behavior is not acceptable around here.

[Margaret]

It could well make him worse as he may take it that the other dogs are the cause of his pain and wish to attack them for it.

Having him neutered will help, but not cure it.

He is also trying to assert his place in your dog "pack" wants to be at the top, and you should indeed be doing something to stop it, but you need to try and think how the dog will interpret what you do or the outcome won't be the one you want.

[snips]

How long have you had him? Sometimes it just takes a while for dogs this age to get used to the other dogs.

[mountaindogs]

It could well make him worse as he may take it that the other dogs are the cause of his pain and wish to attack them for it....
He is also trying to assert his place in your dog "pack" wants to be at the top, and you should indeed be doing something to stop it, but you need to try and think how the dog will interpret what you do or the outcome won't be the one you want.

Wouldn't try the e-collar - I tried that once and had that exact problem.

Keep them apart and give it some time. You need to see if they will settle in and then figure out how they will order themselves.
I have had some luck with training the aggressor to back off, but a new dog probably won't listen to you very well in such an intense situation.

[Boomer]

If you plan on keeping this new dog then you better get used to the idea, that one day theres going to be a fight. You might be able to stop it from happing when your around, but one of these days it going to happen.. Sometimes its better to just let it happen and hope for the best. Sometimes it only lasts a sec. sometimes it gets out of hand, but trust me, its going to happen..
your milage may vary....
Boomer

[dhondtm]

Get professional help. Aggressive dogs can kill. Is the dog getting enough exercise? Do you take it for daily walks? Does the dog respect you? You have to be the alpha of your pack or your dog will continue to try and place himself above the rest. Before any training attempts be sure to tire out your dog on long walks. Take a hard look at what you are doing. Analyze your every move and behavior with this dog and the others. More than likely you are the cause of this behavior in your dog in some way. Professional help might be able to tell you what it is you need to change. No one on a forum is going to correct your problem with out observing the situation first hand.

[Ryan]

Whenever the dog gets aggressive just grab his scruff on his neck and shake the heck the heck outta him. After that shake him down onto his back. Make sure u growl at him the entire time.

[rschuster54303`]

Ryan Please send pictures with a sound byte....I am sorry I got this mental picture in my head and can't quit chuckling.


Rob

[Ryan]

lol never had to do it with mine shes a feamle. Not saying females dont get aggressive she just never has.

[Kevin]

Whenever the dog gets aggressive just grab his scruff on his neck and shake the heck the heck outta him. After that shake him down onto his back. Make sure u growl at him the entire time.

I might do that to a dog I have know for a while but would not do that to a dog I don't know yet, tedfoxx said he just got it 3 days ago. If the dog is truly aggressive you could be in for a suprise if you try to shake down a strange dog. He didn't mention any aggression towards people but better safe than sorry.

I would keep them seperated from each other for awhile but still in the same area. Once you have bonded with this new dog and asserted your dominance in non physical ways you could introduce them under a controlled situation.

Good luck!

[Ryan]

Whenever the dog gets aggressive just grab his scruff on his neck and shake the heck the heck outta him. After that shake him down onto his back. Make sure u growl at him the entire time.

I might do that to a dog I have know for a while but would not do that to a dog I don't know yet, tedfoxx said he just got it 3 days ago. If the dog is truly aggressive you could be in for a suprise if you try to shake down a strange dog. He didn't mention any aggression towards people but better safe than sorry.

I would keep them seperated from each other for awhile but still in the same area. Once you have bonded with this new dog and asserted your dominance in non physical ways you could introduce them under a controlled situation.

Good luck!

Kevin U gotta lay down the law early it will be easier to do. I do agree on seperating them but all this is gunna is give u more problems with aggression.

[Kevin]

Ryan,

If you have a truly aggressive dog, as a stranger I would not try to give him a shakedown, but that's just me.

[Ryan]

Your Right Kevin. I shoulda asked if the dog has shown any aggression what so ever to humans. Another good thing to try is a muzzle so the dogs cant bite each other but still fight it out.

[TNovoa]

Another good thing to try is a muzzle so the dogs cant bite each other but still fight it out.

This is not fair to the other males already living in harmony on his premises. This could cause the other males to become aggressive towards each other. Take it slow, kind of like introducing adult cats for the first time...that never goes over well!

[Ryan]

Another good thing to try is a muzzle so the dogs cant bite each other but still fight it out.

This is not fair to the other males already living in harmony on his premises. This could cause the other males to become aggressive towards each other. Take it slow, kind of like introducing adult cats for the first time...that never goes over well!

your right its not fair. but is it fair that an aggressive dog was brought into the "pack" before a test meeting to see if the dogs would get along? Is it fair to the new dog that he cant bite while the others can?

try putting each dog on a 20 foot cc. one person holds each dog and they stand on the opposite side of the yard. allow the dogs free run on the cc. if any dog shows aggression of any sign quickly reel him in. Once the dogs can walk around without growling at each other slowly start to move toward each other. Eventually the dogs will meet and you will need to be closer so go with a 6 foot leash.

I would try this in a bird feild before i moved into the yard.

Try caging them next to eachother so they can toutch moses but can get their teeth on each other.

I hate to say it but a little physical punishment might be in order. Sit in a lawn chair and have the new dog between your legs. Allow the current dogs to come in. When the setter growls give him a little smack on the nose and scold him with a deep angry voice. This worked with our other dog when we first brought bailey home.

[Ayres]

I tend to agree with dhondtm here, that professional help might be the order of the day. Aggression is rooted in the dog's mental, not physical, so it's best to cure the problem and not just treat the symptoms (if it can be done).

Using force to exert dominance may put the aggressive dog into submission but there's always going to be that underlying thought process that the dog will have, going "someday he won't be around and I'll be ready to snap."

A pro should be better capable to identify and address the root of the aggression so that by treating the cause itself, the symptoms of aggression cease to exist. That "treatment" may very well be a larger exertion of dominance over the aggressive dog, but it's better to have such a thing supervised by someone you trust knows most about that type of situation, and after that person has had an opportunity to witness the aggression firsthand.

[Kurzhaar]

I am sure this will offend some since is probably isn't PC, but what the heck that hasn't stopped me much in the past.

There are too many good dogs with stable temperments out there to waste time with an aggressive dog. I won't tolerate aggressive dogs at my place, pure and simple!!!

Jim

[Duane M]

My thoughts as well Jim. I had a very nice young Pointer a few years back with agression problems and despite working with the dog on the problem he was never good around male dogs, no problem with any females. I ended up selling him to a man who hunted alone and only had a female, he could not believe I sold him so cheap and to this day is very happy with the dog but will not breed him due to the possibility of that trait passing to pups. Too many good ones to beat yourself trying to fix what may be unfixable.

[Tedfoxx]

thanks to you'al that offered help in private and public, I worked him 3 day stright, I think he is over the problem now or at least, he has not started anything since Sunday. i'lll keep a close eye on him for the time being

[statelyweims]

I certainly wouldn't use any force tactics to try and solve this.
Remember the old adage, violence begets violence. This is very true in dog training, so alpha rolls, scruff shakes and e collars are certainly a fast way to increasing the aggression rather than ending it, and may very well put you in a position that could get someone hurt.
I'm curious how the dog is doing now that you're past day 3. It takes a minimum of 3 days for a dog to first settle in. When doing behavior evaluations at animal shelters, I won't even look at a dog till day 4. Its just not fair to the dog and doesn't give an accurate picture before then.
I'd be interested to hear more about what all this dog is doing. Growls and grumbles with no physical contact are all part of dogs establishing pack order. If that's all it is, I prefer to take a hands off stance and allow the dogs to settle in on their own. But, the unfortunate part of the web is that its hard to evaluate a dog without seeing it and there's just not enough info in an email post to really know what all is going on with this boy.
Good luck!
MB

[Tedfoxx]

Well. this is what I did. I was told I needed a choke collar, so I got one from the feed store and put it on this setter and let him ware it in his kennel on the first day, on the 2nd day I moved out the 2 female dogs on both side of his run and placed the male dogs that he has problems with in those 2 stalls. right of way he was growl and snaring at therm. then I get in his stall and put on a leash to his choke collar, when he showed any type of aggression towards the dogs next to him, I would tug and pull on the lease so the collar would pinch and choke his neck, I would repeat the tugging till he quits, I did this 4 times that day and took him in the house with me. The next day I put him back in that stall and repeated the process, but this time I added "NO"while I was tugging on him, I also did this 4~5 times and put him in the house. On Sunday, I changed the 2 male dogs to my nutered lab and another male pup that I have and repeat the process. I've been rotating the dogs in those stalls since Sunday, he has not got out of line yet but I'm keeping a very close watch over him and continue over the next few weeks.