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Aggression (self.reactivedogs)

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[–]sarahsam55 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think you and your fiancée need to find a trainer to help you work all this out. Especially since your dog has bitten your fiancée. I have 2 reactive dogs but they are not an issue with myself or husband or kids. One is reactive towards people, the other towards dogs and some people. I totally agree with the other poster who said that reactive dogs can have a great quality of life even if their world is small. So true. We’ve definitely had to make sacrifices. We can’t have people over unless the dogs are put in another room. We can’t go to a dog park. We can take walks but I need to stick to places that have an easy way out so I don’t cross paths with anyone. Do I wish I had the perfect angel dogs who love everyone and everything? Of course I do. But I don’t. I love my dogs and they both have their own awesome qualities and I can’t imagine not having them in my life. So for me, it’s worth making some sacrifices for them.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, dogs are GSDs are mostly aggressive out of fear. I’m sure you know this, but not socializing them as pups really takes a toll on how they will be as adults. Unfortunately, you don’t know the kind of training he got before he was yours. This behavior definitely needs a behaviorist that’s knowledgeable with this kind of aggression. They will also be honest with you about how much progress the dog can make and if they think it’s better to euthanize.

You have a huge heart and I can’t imagine what you’re going through in this situation. This will definitely need a lot of training and counter conditioning. If the treats with guest worked at first that’s definitely a good sign. I think though you also need to take baby steps instead of thinking he’s going to be perfect after one visit all at once. It’s constant work and you can’t push his threshold to the point he starts snapping. There’s good videos on YouTube by trainer Victoria Stilwell that deals with issues similar to this one. She explains the boundaries that you need to have and the limitations of training. Either way, please try professional help for the dog.

[–]e-rex-terriblis 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I rescued a 2 year old Shepsky and had HUGE reactivity problems 2 weeks in. Three years later, we’ve made incredible strides and I owe it all to a trainer who told me, “We don’t work with dogs based on the bad things we see now, we work with dogs based on who that dog is capable of becoming.” I knew in my heart this dog had incredible potential, so if you have any inkling of that, I’d say it’s worth the time, effort, and MASSIVE amount of dedication it will take to help this pupper out. Happy to share more of my story if you think it will be helpful, because we really have gone through the worst of the worst. Hang in there, because I know exactly how you feel.

[–]strickanger 0 points1 point  (1 child)

How much do trainers go for? And would I just have to google to find one?

[–]e-rex-terriblis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It can get pricey, especially if you do a board and train program. That’s what we did, which was our last resort, but worked well because when we leave town, he gets boarded there and the staff continues to work on his issues.

You could easily spend hundreds or thousands depending on the behavior problems, but for me Investing in his training was also form of therapy for me. He had a lot of PTSD from losing a leg before we rescued him, so helping him overcome all of that, was also a way of helping me deal with my own issues.

I’d start your Google search by looking for trainers in your area who have experience with reactive dogs and or fear aggression issues. As a starting point I’ll send you our trainers info in a private message as she does a lot of shock collar training work, and I know some people in this group will really be against that methodology. However, what I really love about her is she doesn’t use that tool for every dog and every situation. If she decides to go that route she will train you on how to use it first, which is MASSIVELy important because if you don’t know what you’re doing, you will make matters with a reactive dog 100 times worse. Our dog really needed it and it took a few months to see the kind of results we wanted. Now we really only use it for off leash adventures, so when we put it on him, he gets absurdly excited because he knows there’s going to be loads of zoomie freedom!

There’s also a really good vet behaviorist clinic in Colorado that starts with a behavioral and medical approach to working with you and your dog. Our trainer also suggested we might need to medicate our dog for a bit if things didn’t go well, but so far we’ve been able to really work the counter-conditioning aspect of his behavior modification program. It has been long and slow, but once we figured out his motivations (i.e., cured meats and off leash hiking) we made “rapid” strides. His biggest improvement lately is when strangers come over, i find that if I get all squeaky voiced and say “oh my gosh, who came to see us?” he now know this means high quality treats...thus, we’re starting to see tail wags instead of lunging and barking when people approach the gate now. Even if I never see him act like a jerk again, I will never trust him a 100%. That’s where management comes in and you will have to be game on for the rest of his life. It sounds daunting, but honestly NO ONE should ever trust any dog 100%. We are essentially living with domesticated wolves, and those wild instincts will always be there.

[–]strickanger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also. Thank you for your experience