"STOP Over-reacting"

[BMoore]

Note: There's a lot going on here and I apologize if this is at all jumbled. Also please note my dog is NOT a resource guarder, and is NOT Possessive of me in any situation. She is also *FINE* with foster dogs that simply enter the home. So...uh....help?

So, when we purchased Uma, she was a perfect dog's dog. She was KENNELED with a Maltese for godssake.

I don't know if it's her becoming an adult, or the fact that we do protection work with her, but she's not always crazy about other dogs.

Here's the thing though, we can take her to say, a charity dog event (as we do often). She's big on raising her hackles (she does it when playing, excited, anything really) and will raise her hackles when first meeting a new dog. She'll then lower them and wag her tail. She can meet say, fifty dogs. No issue. Nothing.

And then it happens.

*BARK BARK BARK BARK LUNGE*

There's always one dog that seems to p*** her off. There's never anything the same about said dogs. They can be big, small, female, male, fixed, intact. It doesn't matter.
She'll be fine one minute, and the next well, not.
When this happens I figure she's had enough, or became overstimulated and we usually leave, or separate ourselves from the group for a cool down.

Now, I've taken her to a trainer regarding this, who was also a doggy-daycare owner. I told her I was worried about dog aggression and I frankly didn't want to stand for it. She worked with Uma for a few minutes between a fence leading to the day care dogs, and then popped Uma in.

Well, we knew she wasn't going to start a fight in a big pack of strange dogs. But for godsake, she did fine. The trainer was even IMPRESSED with her. "I don't think you saw it, but when my Shepherd was really in her face, she did this amazing 'get out of my face' move. She bobbed him in the head, and when he ignored her she came around again on the other paw and gave him another!" Apparently, she has very good manners, and is not just "Aggressive" out of no where. She knows how to properly initiate play, and how to properly and politely say "Get out of my face please".

The trainer suggested that maybe because of the protection training, and a small incident a few years ago involving an on-leash almost-attack (To which Uma was the victim) may be what's causing the issue. Maybe strange dogs are not considered a threat to Uma, but a threat to me.

Now, while this is certainly an interesting theory, we had no idea how to change the behavior.
Just the other day, we'd set up an appointment as a pet store to get some photos taken. No biggie, Uma goes to the pet store all the time. Anyway, the photographer is finishing with the family before us, the owners of a Great Dane, when the 8-month old GD puppy peeks out from behind it's owners and growls. Now, it was not a friendly growl, but Uma's reaction, in my opinion, was over the top.

She immediately jumped up from her sit-stay, and did what, in a totally different situation would have been a very nice bark and hold. The Great Dane hid behind his owner, who laughed. I on the other hand, was not happy.

Especially when a women from the counter decided to throw her two cents in. "See little-kid-I'm-ruining you can't trust THOSE dogs, I was already attacked by one, they're all mean,".

After that, no dog at the pet store was a friend. They were all enemies that either deserved close watching or a warning growl. As soon as our photos were done we were out of there.

While Uma is never aggressive towards people, her performance upset me. She's passed both her CGC test and her ATTS test with flying colors, and it bothers me that she isn't always the Canine Good Citizen I know her too be.

I'm not really sure what I'm asking. Does anyone else have similar issues? I met another GSD owner from our area who saw her random reaction to another dog and claimed that her dog did the exact same thing. She told me that she also, could not understand the issue as the dogs were never similar.

I don't know if the problem can be fixed, and either way I'll certainly continue to keep Uma both out of harms way and generally out of trouble.

Anyway, has anyone been through something similar with their dogs? Do you have any ideas?

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by BMoore

When this happens I figure she's had enough, or became overstimulated and we usually leave, or separate ourselves from the group for a cool down.

This would be my guess as well. When you take her away for a cool-down, does it seem to "reset" her system, or does she start right back where she left off?

The trainer suggested that maybe because of the protection training, and a small incident a few years ago involving an on-leash almost-attack (To which Uma was the victim) may be what's causing the issue. Maybe strange dogs are not considered a threat to Uma, but a threat to me.

This may be something to consider. I once had a dog that was either friendly or neutral to strange dogs as long as *I* didn't touch them. If I petted a strange dog, or if another dog ran up to me for petting, Storm would tell that dog to get lost. So it could be a resource guarding issue.

Do you notice a pattern of behavior on the part of the *handlers* whose dogs Uma doesn't like? Another thing Storm would do with other dogs was this "backup" routine; if she saw someone else correct their own dog, Storm would also snark at that dog. As if she was backing up the human. So is it possible Uma is picking up on something the handler is doing with their dog? Is the owner telling the dog "no", or "quiet", or any sort of reprimand? Is the leash taut? Is the owner nervous, trying to pull the dog back? Of course they probably are *after* she starts barking, but have you ever noticed what they were doing right before? Dogs can pick up on very subtle things that don't even come up on human radar.

While Uma is never aggressive towards people, her performance upset me. She's passed both her CGC test and her ATTS test with flying colors, and it bothers me that she isn't always the Canine Good Citizen I know her too be.

The fact that she is perfectly well-behaved up to a point, and then suddenly snaps, seems to point to the original thought: she is overstimulated, she's tired, she's had enough. Dogs (especially puppies) get tired and cranky just like kids do. How old is Uma?

[BMoore]

She is a little over three years old. I never even thought about her worrying about what the humans were doing, but now that you mention it, many times the owner of the dog she gets angry with is nervous, or pulling on the dog.

After she cools down, she does seem to reset, although it's for a much shorter period of time. What could be three hours at the start of the day turns into twenty minutes.

As far as resource guarding, would she not pull the same stunts in the home? Maybe not with our other resident dog, but with our foster's as well?

I'm starting to lean towards her just having enough. I've been consistently worried that she was just dog aggressive, but the fact that she only snaps after awhile or when challenged (Growled, glared at etc) probably does point to the fact that she's just finished.

She does a similar thing when she's playing with our neighbors small children (3 y.o. and 8 y.o.) she loves kids, but once she's had enough she wanders off to be on her own and we end the play date. Maybe because she's out on a leash and doesn't have the option to wander off, she's just making a bold statement compared to what would be a much quieter one.

[msvette2u]

It's also related, I'm sure, to your tension, as that travels down the leash into the dog. Where you get tense and frustrated, your dog feels the need to "take over" because you're having symptoms of stress, the dog may interpret that as fear.

Especially if the behavior is only noted on leash.

Have you looked at Reactive dog training techniques?

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by BMoore

She is a little over three years old. I never even thought about her worrying about what the humans were doing, but now that you mention it, many times the owner of the dog she gets angry with is nervous, or pulling on the dog.

Yeah, Storm used to think that she was responsible for correcting any dog that seemed to be misbehaving, and would take notice if there seemed to be a conflict between a dog and its owner. She would always wait for the dog's owner to make the first move, however. Perhaps Uma is being more proactive.

As far as resource guarding, would she not pull the same stunts in the home? Maybe not with our other resident dog, but with our foster's as well?

It may just be a thing with dogs she doesn't know. Or it may not be resource guarding at all; it may have more to do with her feeling tired, overstimulated, or cranky.

She does a similar thing when she's playing with our neighbors small children (3 y.o. and 8 y.o.) she loves kids, but once she's had enough she wanders off to be on her own and we end the play date. Maybe because she's out on a leash and doesn't have the option to wander off, she's just making a bold statement compared to what would be a much quieter one.

Yep. Dogs can behave very differently on-leash as opposed to off-leash; usually they are more aggressive on-leash. This is because, as you said, the dog perceives that there is no opportunity to simply walk away from a stressful situation. So you have two issues here: figuring out what the initial trigger is, and then helping Uma to understand that she can walk away from the situation (even while on-leash).

When she goes off on another dog, what are you usually doing? Walking? Standing still? Sitting? Waiting in line? Approaching another dog, or being approached? Walking toward each other? Walking beside each other? Running? Talking? Not talking? So many little things to think about.

So when she does go off, I'd simply turn around and walk away, and keep going like nothing happened. Keeping in mind that she's feeling overstimulated, and not to put her into situations where she could go into overdrive. The idea is to let her know that she *can* walk away from a tense situation rather than acting out, and that it is preferable to do so.

[bocron]

Originally Posted by BMoore

There's always one dog that seems to p*** her off. There's never anything the same about said dogs. They can be big, small, female, male, fixed, intact. It doesn't matter.

While to you there not be anything "the same" about said dogs, that may not be the case for Uma.

Each of the dogs she's had an issue with may very well be displaying a behavior that we humans can't see. My guess is that each of the dogs is exhibiting a fear/aggressive thing that Uma is totally picking up on and reacting to, or some sort of sneaky underhanded thing that she reads as threatening, and mostly to you. We have seen this with a few of our dogs, they react to a dog who is seemingly "doing nothing" but will later on show their true colors, usually with a less confident dog (chicken sh** butt bite type of thing).
I'm always amazed how one of ours will pick up on this almost immediately.
Great Danes are famous for it, as are Boxers, Akitas and Dobermans (these are the breeds I see it with most around our place).

Off the top of my head I'd say you need to get a bomb proof down command. As she matures she won't feel like she has to call these dogs out and will be able to overlook the behavior, especially if on a down and she trusts you to handle things. Our one male will now just raise a lip like a grumpy old man muttering under his breath about "kids today". I will take note of whatever dog annoys him and just keep an eye on it.

Of course I could totally be full of crap .

Annette

[sashadog]

I went through the exact same thing with our girl Sasha. She would be fine sometimes but other times she would just explode. Doing the same thing you're describing with the lunging, barking, etc. I finally feel that I have figured it out. Although with some dogs it can be very subtle, all the dogs she goes off on whether they're a Newfie or a tiny toy dog, stare at her. If the other dog doesn't make eye contact, it's no big deal but if they stare her down, even in just an inquisitive way, she feels like she has to scare them off.

Once I realized, in my opinion, what was setting her off, I taught her a "no dog" command. It's a command that we only use for other dogs and it essentially is a "watch me" that I will give her if I notice the other dog has any interest what so ever in Sasha. It has worked very well for us and I even taught it to my other dogs since they aren't particularly patient with ill mannered dogs.

As Annette said, I could be full of crap too but this is what worked for me!! Good luck!!