How to Train Your Dog to Not Attack Other Dogs

Hello, First, I would stop going to the dog park and to a doggie daycare where she is put with the other dogs. The more she practices the aggression, the worse it is likely to get, plus it puts others in danger. There are daycares out there that kennel dogs who need it, separately and have activities you can sign up for the daycare workers to walk, practice agility, or provide another form of exercise individually. For the aggression itself, I recommend hiring a professional trainer who specializes in behavior issues like aggression and has access to lots of other well mannered, dog friendly dogs. I would work with a qualified trainer, with safety measures like a basket muzzle, to gradually desensitize pup to other dogs, using obedience command practice to help pup stay less aroused and in the thinking part of their brain and out of fight or flight. I would begin training at a distance where pup can tolerate other dogs at, rewarding pup's obedience during obedience command practice, having the other dogs just be in the background. As pup improves and becomes calmer and unconcerned about the other dog being in the area, then I would very gradually decrease the distance, practice with the dog moving about more or making more noise in the distance, rewarding pup's continued focus on you and calmness around the other dog. This process would be done over lots of different training sessions, where distance is decreased as pup's body language shows that they are ready. Once the dogs are within a few feet of each other and pup is unconcerned, you could practice having them walk past each other, then eventually go on a walk with each other with the safety of distance and/or a basket muzzle for safety. When pup is okay with one dog, then you would start at the beginning with a new dog, until you had worked up to the walk again with that dog. Once pup was fine with the first two dogs, then you would continue this process with at least a dozen different dogs, until pup is generalizing the training to all dogs, and more relaxed around dogs in general. When working with a reactive or aggressive dog, be aware that a basket muzzle is sometimes needed too, even if the other dog is further away, because an aroused dog will sometimes direct their aggression toward whoever is closest, such as you - the one walking them. Training with an aggressive or reactive dog needs to be done carefully, and ideally under the supervision of someone experienced with handling an aggressive or reactive dog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XzwUmSHyIc&list=PLXtcKXk-QWojGYcl1NCg5UA5geEnmpx4a&index=39 Some dogs naturally lack the impulse control to do well in unstructured, highly arousing environments where there are lots of other dogs wrestling and running. Those dogs often need environments where they can socialize with more structure and boundaries and with better leadership from the owner. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

March 6, 2023

Hello, Many dogs will attach the exact same person or dog who attacked them in the past. Whether or not they tend to attack the same type of person (like an adult male or female child) or dog breed (like a Labrador), often has to do with their previous level of socialization before they were attacked. If a dog has never been socialized around a certain type of person and their only experience with that type of person was someone attacking them, they may assume that all adult white males are dangerous for example. If the dog had many pleasant experiences with adult white males before the attack with the one individual, then they are likely to associate the attack just with that one individual and not all similar looking people for example. This can vary some dog to dog, but often the dog's previous socialization experiences will affect their view of others who are similar to the attacker afterwards. An attack toward the same person is likely though, especially if the person or other dog was the one who provoked the attack initially. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

March 6, 2023