Aggression on walks in the neighborhood

[Snow]

Hi all -
Just thought i'd pose a question on a problem I am working on with Isis, my 2 year old. Lately (within the last 4 months) she has been starting to show aggression to other dogs when I am walking her in our neighborhood. Even dogs across the street she will go nuts and sometimes I have problems restraining her. It seems to be a territory thing as she is fine when I take her to pet stores or to the dog park/other people's houses - it is just when I am walking her around our place. And it also has coincided with her marking her territory around the neighborhood by peeing a bit here and there.
I take her out every morning and try to when I get home from work as well, although not every day. I use a halti and have recently incorporated a combination choke/regular collar - although I really did not want to do that! BUT after the last time she lost it and got out of her halti and I had her by a single string I decided I needed to make sure that didn't happen again! I have also tried to vary the route but in the morning there is only so far away from the house that I can go...
Any thoughts?
It seems to have worsened when I take her and our new little guy, Gage (pug) together, I am thinking that she is trying to protect him (probably). She has had general obedience classes and I am looking into getting her into more advanced ones with some of the trainers around here.
I am working with her as much as I can, have been trying to offer her super good treats as incentive to ignore the other dogs and to pay attention to me - have just started this so not sure as to results.
Thanks!

[Rottlva]

Have you tried correcting the behavior, or have you just ignored it??

Also, if she is exhibiting dog aggression, I would walk her and your pug separately as you don't want him to learn the behavior from her.

[Snow]

I have tried to correct it, never ignored it as it really makes the other dog owner nervous - that and I have a hard time holding on to her!
I have only started working with the collar/choke combo (couple of weeks), so I guess in that sense I probably haven't been truly correcting it in the past (?) just trying to restrain her and control her...
This behaviour really took me by surprise as she has never been anything but happy to see other dogs regardless of where we are. Then she seemed to only bark at those dogs that would bark at her, then it escalated.

[wiser]

my rottie girl behaves very similar when out on walks. when she see's other dogs walking or even squirrels or small animals running, she will tense up and when we get closer she tries to lunge and growl at the other animal.. i try to avoid this by crossing the street( which is a main road with basically the equivelant of 3 lanes wide) yet she still tends to want to lunge even from that far away..She has been well socialized and plays with many other dogs, big, small , males, females, all different breeds at least one or two times a week and isnt dog aggresive towards any of them.. i think she's just getting frustrated that she's on a leash and cant get over to greet them
I'lll be watching this thread to see other suggestions on what to do as im also at a loss as to what to do as well.

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by wiser

my rottie girl behaves very similar when out on walks. when she see's other dogs walking or even squirrels or small animals running, she will tense up and when we get closer she tries to lunge and growl at the other animal.. i try to avoid this by crossing the street( which is a main road with basically the equivelant of 3 lanes wide) yet she still tends to want to lunge even from that far away..She has been well socialized and plays with many other dogs, big, small , males, females, all different breeds at least one or two times a week and isnt dog aggresive towards any of them.. i think she's just getting frustrated that she's on a leash and cant get over to greet them
I'lll be watching this thread to see other suggestions on what to do as im also at a loss as to what to do as well.

Are you in training classes? A trainer would be able to help you figure out how to get her to walk nicely on a leash. What type of collar are you using?

[themaster]

I would say she is probably showing you dominance as she seems to have adopted a protective role that should be yours. The territorial marking would seem to suggets this also, don't allow her to mark, one pee break per walk, when you tell her she can.

If you are in control on the walk your Rott should be responding to what you want her to do and not doing her own thing. Correct any behaviour that you don't want as soon as it starts

I think you are right to be using the choke chain as long as you use it correctly, it sounds like you have her straining and pulling on it and this apart from being dangerous to her will make he pullling and aggression worse.

Give the correction and then treat when you get the desired response, I doubt you will have much success with using treats alone to distract as once the treat is gone she will likely return to the aggression.

You need to get into those training classes as soon as possible.

[Rottlva]

Often dogs that "only" agress other dogs while out walking have a problem with the confrontational head to head greeting that happens when we come upon another dog walking down the street. Although the food may distract her, it can also inadvertently reward the startings of aggressing. I like to make sure that my dog and the dog approaching him are not approaching head on, rather in a curved sort of fashion (think of an upside down C). This eliminates some of the confrontation. I also make sure that my dog is not giving any lasting eye contact to the dog on the other side. I do this by asking for a watch, or using a leave it and let's go to get him back where he's supposed to be.

There is a point where your dog will not aggress when passing another dog. It may be 5 feet away, it may be 50 feet away. You need to find where she is comfortable passing and is non reactive, but still aware, from there you can teach these alternative behaviors. Putting her above threshold all of the time is always setting her up to fail, and you are always doing damage control when you pass another dog. She can't learn when she's so worked up.

There are so many different collars/halters that you can use in your training....knowing your dog and more of the specifics of why she is aggressing, her triggers etc will decide which one is best for you and your situation. That being said, aggression is something that is best helped with an experienced trainer.

[Snow]

Hi again - thanks for your advice. While waiting for phone calls back from the dog trainer that was recommended by a few nice folks on this site i've been trying to work with her more and getting her out more, for shorter walks with no allowance for marking - without my little pug.
After waiting a few weeks and numerous phone calls to the recommended trainer, I tried another school who called me back right away =)
She is coming for a home visit on Sunday to assess Isis, and she has given me a few tips in the meantime which relieved me greatly. I hope to get her into classes soon after, as well as my wee pug.
Hope all goes well and I will keep working with my girl, hope to soon break this budding aggression! Eventually I'd like to get her into agility training - after some good obedience!

Thanks again for your help, as a newbie Rottie owner and dog owner I need all the help I can get so will be keeping up with the advice from this site!

[mjfish]

I have this problem with my GSDx...well, she is just psycho. She's 11yo, and I've tried just about everything with her. I'm at the point where I can manage it, but she hasn't gotten any better. I walk her with my Rottn Monster, and I do think that he has picked up some of her bad habits, so I think walking your pug separate is a good idea, at least for now. That being said, I really work on him because he is twice her size and just not the breed that I want other people thinking "oh look at that vicious dog, out of control".

After discussing this with my trainer, I've gotten some "tools" to use while out walking, which really are just obedience exercises in a different context.
1) Do formal heeling exercises, making circles and figure 8s so that the dog has to focus on you.
2) Do sits and "watch me" commands. I even step in between so my dog cannot eyeball the other dog, but must focus on me.
3) Sometimes, we'll pass fenced yards where the fence is right up against the sidewalk, and the dog in the yard comes right up to the fence. I'm taken by surprise every once in a while, and both my dogs have been known to react like idiots on occasions such as this. I VERY STRONGLY give a leash pop, and sometimes more than one. Now I'm talking VERY STRONGLY because the situation warrants it and a light pop on the leash just won't do. I will then make him sit on the sidewalk, next to the fence (not close, but by the yard, not farther down the walk), and focus on me. I will then decide if we do a couple of heeling exercises back and forth in front of the yard (kind of depends on how psycho the dog is going inside the yard).
4) Always make sure to say "good boy" or some other form of reward when he changes his behavior and does what I ask. This is very important -- don't forget the reward!

I even use the "ssshhh" or "aacckkk" sounds (a la Cesar Milan) while walking by some yards where the dog & fence are set farther back. I do this to stop any thoughts of either of them thinking then need to be goofy. If my Rott is looking towards the yard (or house even), I will make that sound and he looks forward. Again, I say good boy so he knows that's what I want him to do.

ETA: That's great that you've found a trainer, but take over the phone advice with a grain of salt until he/she can truly assess your dog in person. I guess for that matter, you should take advice over the internet the same way! Just use common sense...