Dog Community

GSD/JRT "aggressive" to smaller dogs

Posted : 1/6/2011 9:58:15 AM

Hi all--

Hoping someone can offer a solution to a dog aggression/dominance issue my dog is having.

Her name is Maggie. She's about 16 months old, so decidedly in her adolescent phase. She's a cross breed of a German Shepherd and a Jack Russell Terrier, and in terms of size she's about half way between the size of a GSD and JRT (55 lbs). She LOVES people and is getting much better with greeting people politely. She's never had any dominance/aggression issues towards people and for that I'm thankful.

Unfortunately she is bad with smaller dogs. I can see several factors here so I'll try to explain all of them briefly.

We adopted her from a bad situation at 10 weeks -- flea infested, covered in dirt, possibly abused by her owners, definitely abused by the other dog she lived with (she had at least two cuts, including a nasty one on her chest below her neck that took several weeks to heal). I suspect that having been abused by the other dog plays a big role in her behavior now.

I've tried to socialize her as much as possible but because of life, where we lived, limited budget (we're young), etc. she gets limited interaction with other dogs. We have on occasion taken her to play with my partner's work friends, who have two dogs -- a rottie and great dane/gsd mix, both of whom are larger and older than Maggie. Maggie loves playing with them and they all get on well so long as no toys or food are involved (unsurprising). The one bad thing is we recently moved and we no longer see the work friends very often. Instead we often see my partner's extended family, most of whom have small dogs, and therein lies the problem.

With smaller dogs, Maggie is totally different. She's an incessant sniffer (I say she "noses" the other dog aggressively). She attempts to stand over top of the other dog, which is ALWAYS a direct challenge and clear attempt to exert authority. If the dog tries to move while Maggie is standing over it, Maggie snarls. Sometimes the other dog just seems to annoy Maggie or, you know, gets a little too overeager to sniff butts. Even if the smaller/younger dog is licking Maggie's mouth or presenting her belly, Maggie still reacts poorly... alternates between aggressive "nosing," as I say, and growling. When someone is holding the smaller dog, Maggie's ears are back, tail wagging, hackles down... Maggie still sniffs and noses a lot, but no aggressive behavior. When the smaller dog is put on the ground, Maggie's ears go up, tail still wags but also goes up, and hackles tend to come up as well, and she instantly tries to position herself over top of the smaller dog, growls, snaps occasionally, etc.

We have tried easing Maggie into being friendly with these smaller dogs and she's had exposure to them on several occasions since we moved two months ago. We have tried "guilting" and negative reinforcement (ie, timeouts and "bad dogs";). We have also tried calming, positive reinforcement (petting, "be nice... good girl!", even excessive treats) for good behavior. Nothing seems to make any difference for more than a few seconds. I want to allow the dogs to just be and see what happens, but with Maggie attempting to show such clear dominance and regular growling/snapping, I fear she might seriously hurt the smaller/younger dog if I tried to just let them establish their order. Not a good way to ensure acceptance with the in laws...

I'm very frustrated. I want to be able to allow my dog to socialize with other dogs and I hate having to worry about it every time I visit my girlfriend's family. But Maggie makes it a poor experience and instead of enjoying their company we end up just babysitting the dogs to make sure they're kept in separate rooms to avoid ugly scenes, etc.

Anyone have any ideas for what I might be able to do?

If so, many many thanks in advance...

espencer

Posted : 1/6/2011 3:21:49 PM

Tricky, tricky. By the way i wonder how they were able to mix a JRT and a GSD Stick out tongue

Liesje

Posted : 1/6/2011 3:45:28 PM

My guess is that you are "flooding" her and it's not working, it's not going to work. Flooding means you just constantly expose the dog to the trigger hoping the dog will become desensitized. In *some* cases, this can work but in many it doesn't because most owners don't understand what all is going on and end up putting way too much pressure on their dog and/or inadvertently rewarding and reinforcing the undesirable behaviors. An example of the latter would be, every time my cousin's dog flies into a rabid frenzy when she sees my dogs, my aunt picks her up, pets her, and talks to her gently. This is basically praising and rewarding her for acting aggressively towards other dogs. Not saying that's what you're doing, just saying.

Anyway, *if* you are to make progress, the progress is only made during the time *before* the dog reacts. If the dog starts reacting, then it's too late, you've missed your chance. You are probably too close to the other dog(s), there is too much discomfort and pressure on your dog and she's trying to tell you. If the dog reacts, then there needs to be more distance, better rewards, less distraction, or a combination of the three.

Go back to my cousin's dog that wanted (and tried) to kill my dogs even when they were ten yards away out the window... I used clicker training and food treats and within a few short (2-5 minute) sessions I had her dog and my dogs sitting quietly on the same couch. It is all about knowing just how close to get, when exactly to mark and reward the dog for good behavior, when to move the dogs farther apart to avoid bad behavior (notice the key word being avoid the bad behavior, not wait for it to happen and then correct it).

I would also be prepared for the dogs to never get along. I do not think it is rare or unreasonable for dogs to just plain not like other dogs. JRTs are fiesty and tenacious and GSDs are often dog aggressive and very selective about what dogs they will interact with, so you have these genetic trains working against you. If your dog is never accepting of all other dogs it does not mean you have a bad dog or you are a bad owner.

pjrcard

Posted : 1/6/2011 10:29:14 PM

Thanks for your thoughts. The idea makes sense -- the challenge will be striking that fine balance between too soon and too late. I've just started clicker training... it never made complete sense (and/or I didn't feel like trying it) before but I've been reading more about it, and I think Maggie gets the idea already too.

A couple other people have suggested this form of conditioning as well... But if anyone has any additional suggestions, ideas, or comments I'd be appreciative.

JackieG

Posted : 1/7/2011 7:07:20 AM

You might want to get Jean Donaldson's book "Fight". It's a good resource for dealing with dog aggression. JRT's (like many terriers) are prone to dog aggression. Not being socialized during puppyhood certainly contributed but it's possible that even if you had done tons of the right kind of socialization, she still may not have developed into a social butterfly. As Liesje said, not all dogs are going to like every dog they meet.

Punishment and trying to guilt the dog into behaving nicely around the small dogs isn't going to work, as you've discovered. Often when dogs are punished for aggressing toward another dog, it makes the problem worse. The dog associates the punishment with the presence of the other dog which is obviously not going to be successful in changing your dog's reaction. Guilt doesn't come into play, as dogs don't have any concept of this very human emotion. You feel guilt because your dog isn't being nice but your dog is simply being a dog and she doesn't care if it makes you feel guilty.

It's doubtful that Maggie would do real harm to these small dogs but I agre that it's not worth taking a chance. Keep them separated when you visit and keep the stress and anxiety over the issue to a minimum, as you work on desensitizing Maggie.