Agressive towards other male dogs when on leash

[TomRichard]

hey , i have a male rottweiler aprox 1.5 years old now. When i take him for walk and i encounter other people with male dogs he totaly freeks out? he starts with the standing up and stearing at the other dog and soon starts to make groumbeling sounds and shows real agression towards the other dog when he comes close.
he`s only doing this towards male dogs

What can i do to stop this?

[debbiej]

long story short, get in control. start teaching him you are the boss, and you don't like that kind of behavior. there are many many subtle ways to do this. watch him, watch his posture, his intent. come down hard when he even starts. get his attention, let him know you won't tolerate it. I grab my boy around the scruff and tell him no. not so much loud, but meaningful. socialize, train and train and socialize. get someone to help you, use a pinch collar very carefully. Use your head, watch carefully and nip aggressive behavior in the bud.

[TomRichard]

Ok i`l do that . Another question
When i grab him arround the scruff and tell him no he stills continue doing that .. its like he blocks away ewerything exept the other dog . i have also tryed to get his attension with a ball who he loves or a treat but that didnt help at all
i let him play with 2 boxers and another rottweiler couple times a week. one of the main problem were i live is people dont sosialice theyr dog much , i have even tryed to start a dog sosialicing meetings ( made posters and even hav a web page they can take a look at but still no one wants to meet up ) i had a nasty encounter with a german shepard for 5-6 months ago .. the german sheppard was not on a leash but my rottweiler were , at first it seemed allright cause the lady sayd the dog was a police dog so he would not go away from her side but suddenly the german sheppard attacked my dog ! the other dog was loose and the woman woundt do anything and i didnt quite know how to react so i let go of my dogs leach so at least he could defend him self cause of the german sheppard was going for my rottweiler throught after 2-3 sekonds the german sheppard was on the ground and were totaly submissive . after that they both got calm and we could get the leash on them , could this have anything to do why my dog is how he is? i am open to do what ever i can to solve this problem so thx for all help i can get

[RottiMomCT]

How long have you had him? How much training has he had with you? Is he neutered?

If he will not focus on you, remove him from the situation - walk away. Still let him know you are NOT happy with his behavior and he is being an idiot. Do not let him get past the posturing or staring - THAT is when you stop the THOUGHT of firing off at another dog. Once he is in 'idiot mode' and barking, lunging and acting like an idiot - you'll be hard pressed to get his attention with anything.

My first suggestion - obedience classes. Second suggestion - no socialization for him until his idiotic behavior is corrected.

I have a male rottie with a similar problem. He lives with a male rottie quite peacefully, but out for a walk and he encounters other dogs that are dominant, he will posture and pretty much act like an idiot - he won't back down if challenged.

What do I do? I do not let him get in those situations - I am very observant of him and the surroundings when we are out for a walk. If I see him staring or posturing at another dog, off we go in the opposite direction - I'm not going to let him get stupid. If I can get his attention with food (he is VERY motivated by food - VERY motivated!), then we'll continue our walk...if not, back in the other direction.

Sounds like you and I need to help our 'boys' get off their high horses and realize that WE make the rules and their behvaior will not be allowed as long as you and I are breathing

[Delminico]

I'm faced with similar issues with my Bully. Being an X-large dog he knows his strength now. He's still in possession of his manly bits. He's fine with all female dogs of any size. Very cordial. Has been socialized so much he's a fixture of friendliness to neighbors. Yet at 15 months he began to growl at any male dog who I petted. Then he almost drowned another male dog my friend had in our pool because that dog swam over to me with his ball. Prior to this both Greta the Rottweiler and my boy were having much fun wtih this other dog who's a Spinoni Italiano dog around the same age. Very good guys. My Exeter was growling so much and pushed this dog underwater. They came up snarling but not biting. Ever since are still friends but I can't pet my friend's male without Ex trying to start incidents or humping. He wears a pinch collar with handle on it so I can give strong corrections. Not easy on a huge dog with lots of skin that makes the collar slip down. He relents only when I use a big voice and am fast to correct. Now no male dogs are allowed to come up to him. I get in front and say big loud NO. Mostly people avoid him if they don't know him as they think he'll bite them though he loves most people. He doesn't like some men, mostly the cheeky men who I encounter on walks who make rude noises. It's other male dogs he doesn't like a bit now that he's growing more mature. Greta looks at him like he's the stupidest dog when he postures. It makes me laugh inside to see her look of disgust. She's telling me, "Momma can't we get rid of this fool?" Typical male who acts much like the men around here.

[frenchyG]

I don't know if this will help at all because all dogs are different, but here is what I did:

When I first got my rottie he wasn't socialized at all and was pretty dominant towards other male dogs. What I did with him was bring him to the dog park where there are lots of other dogs and people. I put a comfort muzzle on him(the strap variety) and let him roam around while directing him.

Anytime other dogs got aggressive he wasn't able to 'snap' back and forced to walk away. This only took all of about 2 hrs 1 day. Now, anytime I walk him he is probably the most civil dog at any park, other dogs will show aggression and all he will do is turn and walk away...a true gentlemen.

I've also found that when we meet another aggressive dog and we do the whole walking away bit, if we continue to be followed by the aggressor I will usualy stop at a certain point, this lets my guy know that he is now able to put his foot down and protect his own space. I am truly amazed at how well and how fast that type of training worked. He seems to almost distinguish personal boundaries and when another dog has truly infringed upon his personal space.

[dogatemykarma]

If you want your dog to stop being aggressive, you have to stop acting aggressively towards his behaviour. He is only reacting aggressively as a last response. The other posters are correct in that you need to watch his cues for fear/nervousness ramping up to lunging/barking. He is stressing out because he feels unsafe. Your job is to keep him safe, so just tighten up the leash in your left hand, across your front/legs, and walk 180º in the opposite direction. This way you have shown your dog you have removed him from the 'threat' he perceives. If you 'correct' your dog or react, as most trainers recommend, you are showing him that you are not in control, and thus he needs to keep his own behaviour going for survival. Keep an eye on him to watch for signs of stress/alerting around other dogs. The minute you notice it, walk away. Once he's reacted, and his neuro-pathways are blocked by fight/flight response, it's too late. This way, you slowly desensitize his perceived danger, and let him know you are calmly keeping him safe. There are many more steps to take in the home, before you go out, to follow this path, but this is very effective crisis management. If you battle your dog for 'dominance' he will only get worse, as he will trust you less.

[TomRichard]

i acualy done this the last month and it has done WONDERS to my dog! not only hes more calm he actualy ignore the other dog until i say so

[tmatty]

I'm not so sure about the idea that the young male is responding to feeling unsafe, although he might be. I don't know your dog. My own experience with my male was more like adolescent machoism. I started him in the conf. ring when he was about 9 months. Had no dog issues until he was about 16 months. He would notice a male quite a ways off and as we got closer the eyeballing would start then the stare down, then the low gutteral rumble, to full out growls, as we passed. I was really upset as this developed, but many other handlers advised me to keep dilagent and consistant with instant corrections and he would grow out of it. That it was his age and he was testing his boundries. I was very consistant about correcting him at the first sign of eyeballing another dog, male or female. He is now 25 months and will sit or lay quietly around hundreds of dogs at the conformation shows when I put him in a down stay. I suppose that everyone has their own oppinion on this, but in my home I rule and there is no battle for dominance. I don't allow my dogs to cross that line. That may sound harsh, but I know I can take any of my dogs anywhere, anytime and I can trust their behavior in any situation, or at the very least I know my own ability to controll their behavior. TomRichard....good luck with you own male and keep doing what ever it is that is working for you.

[Judi W]

I tend to agree that it is much more likely that the dog is going around on the muscle than that he is responding fearfully. Typical "I'm a big guy now" attitude with young adults that can spill over if care is not taken.

[HerculesMomma]

Originally Posted by TomRichard

Ok i`l do that . Another question
When i grab him arround the scruff and tell him no he stills continue doing that .. its like he blocks away ewerything exept the other dog . i have also tryed to get his attension with a ball who he loves or a treat but that didnt help at all

Then insert yourself between your dog and whatever has his attention. I have used this techniques (thanks to others suggestions here) to body block my dog from whatever he is focusing on. I have done a dance with him many of times to keep his eye contact off whatever he is zooming in on.

I do not allow my male dog to stare at any dog, let alone another male! My boy likes to get growly with a few males in our training class. I simply do not allow it and make certain direct eye contact is not permitted.