Quote:
Originally Posted by kwvining
My GSD began showing aggression towards other dogs when on our walks. He never shows it when off-leash, but when he is on leash and sees another dog on leash, especially if they are coming up from behind, he simply wants to kick the other dog's butt. He weighs 110 lbs and was becoming almost uncontrollable even with a prong collar. Our vet said to smack the dog under the chin, pull him up close on the leash, and scold him severely as soon as the early signs of coming aggression were seen. It has worked beautifully. I hate the idea of hitting the dog, but when even leash corrections don't work, there isn't much left in the arsenal. But it worked surprisingly good. We had one "session" using this technique, and now, he goes on alert when other dogs approach, but now he doesn't go into aggressive mode.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that when using physical corrections as such on a dog, they may learn to "hide the warning signs" (Staring, slow swish of the tail, growling, barking, etc.) and then you're left with a loaded canon that may go after another dog without any notice? I'm sure it's easier to see this as a result of those physical corrections off leash, but would it not be the same principal even on? Suppose you were to assume the aggressive behavior had been eliminated, approached another dog on a walk, then found out your dog was just hiding their initial signs of fear? Could be a very bad situation...