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Oh no. Otto seems aggressive.

7K views 93 replies 17 participants last post by  glowingtoadfly 
#1 ·
Otto is about 6 months old now and he still has yet to get his rabies shot she we havent taken him out for socializing yet. When some comes around who isn't part of our household he barks (sometimes growls) and the hair on his back stands straight up. He even aggressively snapped at a cop that randomly came over to pet him. How can I nick this behavior in the bud before something aweful happens? Also, I should add that when someone he doesnt know comes into our house he does all these things (minus the snapping) and we keep him on a leash by our side and ignore his behavior until he calms down and is willing to be friendly. It takes all of 10 minutes for him to realize those people are okay.

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#3 ·
He doesn't need a rabies shot to be out socializing. Start taking him places, work from a distance at first, take lots of treats and praise when he watches people and dogs and other new things. Gradually work closer to things. He needs to see all kinds of different people (different colors and genders, old and young, handicapped, tall and short, etc) dogs, other animals, and other sorts of things (loud trucks, balloons, sewage grates, etc)..
 
#4 ·
If this dog has any chance of biting or nipping anyone then yes the rabies shot is needed, for his own protection.
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
We do take him for walks. He is very good during that time. He can see people out and about walking and he is fine. He ignores them. I guess it seems the problem is mainly at home. when I said socializing I meant that we aren't interactive with other people outside of our property with him woth us.I dont know how he would actually deal with people if i were to walk up and actually talk to someone. Im awful at explaining myself and giving the right details. Im sorry folks

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#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
We do take him for walks. He is very good during that time. He can see people out and about walking and he is fine. He ignores them. I guess it seems the problem is mainly at home. when I said socializing I meant that we aren't interactive with other people outside of our property with him woth us.I dont know how he would actually deal with people if i were to walk up and actually talk to someone. Im awful at explaining myself and giving the right details. Im sorry folks

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You explained it well. He's fine in public and an PSEUDO SWEARING at home with company.

Approach recommended is global it teaches a dog how you "expect" him to behave, it gives you control. Folks come over and tell the dog "go to bed"and "stay."

My guy is fine in public and not a fan of company but he is under my control and "knows" what I expect from him! :)
 
#8 ·
Why has he not had a rabies yet? Get him his rabies shot, and get him out! Take lots of really amazing treats and every time you pass a new person give him a treat. Don't ask that he interact with anyone yet, just get to see people and a source if good things.


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#16 ·
We are also having issues but they're the opposite of yours. Zoe seems fine with people coming over and was super friendly at the dog park when I visited her at puppy school....but if I walk her she acts like she wants to eat everyone we pass.
I am meeting with a new trainer on Thursday. I hope you can find someone who can help you with Otto :)

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#21 ·
The dog wouldn't stop reactivity on a command for a treat if it was really fearful. It also wouldn't take food.

It continues to display the barking because it is a conditioned behavior that was never punished. It's like not liking me speaking English so you decide to teach me French and reward me for speaking French, but I still speak English because I've never been dis-incentivized for it but I do speak French sometimes too. You can't ever treat that behavior away. It needs to be punished.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Basically the same as for +R. You see the behavior you mark with a no instead of a yes or a click and you punish. A prong or e collar nick on a punishment level would work. Then you pause for a few seconds and if you don't see the behavior then you can praise and treat.

The timing needs to be there though. Just like you click treat for behaviors you like the instant you see them you need to no and punish for behaviors you don't want to see the instant you see them. If you are consistent, ie you punish every single time you see the behavior the behavior will fade very quickly and eventually disappear completely. It will happen at a quick rate.

There are two dogs here for aggression issues one of them towards people that was so bad he wanted to kill staff members here. Think cujo level aggression. A +R only trainer ( a really good one) couldn't get him under control but she did do enough counter conditioning up front to where all I had to do was zap him about 7 times over the course of 3 weeks so far and he hasn't shown the behavior since. He even runs loose and unmuzzled at our cookouts now and gets fed burger by everybody, even strangers. The leash reactivity has been stopped dead too.
 
#24 ·
My idea is to get him to the point where he sees something that causes him to react and automatically looks at me for a treat, through training him that when he sees strangers and then focuses on me without barking, he gets marked and rewarded.
 
#33 ·
That is exactly what I did with my boy. Starting from a distance from people/other dogs and having him sit and look at me. I would click/treat a bunch of times. Slowly getting closer. It didn't take him long to figure out that if he focuses on me, he gets rewarded by going to say hi.
 
#26 ·
I know what your goal is. The problem is there's no disincentive to him not doing what you want. If the behavior is self reinforcing and it probably is to a certain degree he's doing it now just because it's fun to him. People might get startled or jump or give him attention and he's like ooh look what I can do when I do this.

Same thing happens to people who have dogs that like to mouth or jump on them and then people say oh just ignore it it will go away. Yeah maybe but probably not. You'll just have a dog that starts scratching your turned back up or continues to chew on your unreactive hand.
 
#27 ·
You could do it force free but I wouldn't recommend it. It would require stronger negative punishment though. So let's say the only time you ever fed him was when he was successful for not being reactive to strangers on a walk but the second he got reactive you said no as he did the behavior instantly stopped the walk went home and didn't feed him or give him the opportunity to eat again till the next walk then eventually you could stop that behavior but it would take forever and IMO it's better to just positive punish the dog.
 
#28 · (Edited)
I've gotten as far as I have by basically feeding him dinner and high value treats for not reacting on walks. He only gets fed for listening during a reaction or for not barking at all. I have been working really strongly on "fuss" "watch" "touch" and recall. He also gets fed for going in his crate and offering these behaviors on walks and in the yard.
 
#30 ·
I've gotten as far as I have by basically feeding him dinner and high value treats for not reacting on walks.
Unless you are feeding him "dinner" while on walks...immediately after not reacting during the walk...I would challenge the efficacy of feeding him dinner long after the desired result was displayed on your walk.

I tend to believe dogs live in the here and now, so any intended rewards or discipline need to be administered immediately for the dog to make the connection.

SuperG
 
#29 ·
..maybe I will try only feeding him when he doesn't react and saying no and taking him home when he does. Doesn't seem practical as I like being able to stop the reactions during longer walks so I can exercise the crazy nine month old pup..
 
#31 ·
Sorry if that wasn't clear... Playing with dogs while typing... I bring his dinner on walks and mark and feed him for not reacting and stopping reactions to listen to me. Also for obeying watch, heel, and recall commands on walks. In the moment.
 
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