# Aggression success story



## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

My little baby has just turned two. It was just after his first birthday that he began to show signs of both human and dog aggression. He became very protective of the family and had a few incidents of barking at strangers (never anything more then that). At this time he began to get very dog aggressive which I believe was a behavior he picked up from his sister.

I worked so hard on his human aggression as to me that is much worse. After 6 months he was back to his old self. However he has decided that jumping up on people who pay attention to him and rub him is very fun so now I have more work to do. Once I got his fear and barking under control I decided that Lunging and barking at other dogs just wasn't on anymore for either him or his sister. His sister Mya is very food motivated and once I have a tasty treat with me and ask her to watch me she will walk past another dog without a second glance but Axel has not interest in food or toys when there's another dog around. 

So I decided instead of avoiding dogs I would pass them at a safe distance and use positive reinforcement by rewarding him every time he stopped brking and made eye contact with me. Now we can walk past other dogs with little to no barking and he has even made friends! He plays (on the lead) with a few dogs we meet regularly and he is happy and tired when we get home 

For anyone out there who is having problems these sort of problems all I can say is don't give up on your dog. It might take a month it might take a year but some day you will start to see progress. Axel is in no means "fixed" but I can confidently walk past people without fear and I no that we are getting there with other dogs :groovy:


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## annap24 (Jul 22, 2014)

Axel13 said:


> My little baby has just turned two. It was just after his first birthday that he began to show signs of both human and dog aggression. He became very protective of the family and had a few incidents of barking at strangers (never anything more then that). At this time he began to get very dog aggressive which I believe was a behavior he picked up from his sister.
> 
> I worked so hard on his human aggression as to me that is much worse. After 6 months he was back to his old self. However he has decided that jumping up on people who pay attention to him and rub him is very fun so now I have more work to do. Once I got his fear and barking under control I decided that Lunging and barking at other dogs just wasn't on anymore for either him or his sister. His sister Mya is very food motivated and once I have a tasty treat with me and ask her to watch me she will walk past another dog without a second glance but Axel has not interest in food or toys when there's another dog around.
> 
> ...


Yay Axel! Congrats on your success.


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## sabledog3 (Apr 27, 2014)

awesome! great job!


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

That's great news.Love hearing how people work through problems and never give up!


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Congratulations, yet again another success story! Can I "assume" he walks well on a loose leash??


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## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

Thank you everyone! I am very proud of him


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## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

Chip18 said:


> Congratulations, yet again another success story! Can I "assume" he walks well on a loose leash??


He was terrible on the lead until recently. But since he has started to calm down he has gotten much better. He still pulls when he see's dogs. Have you any suggestions?


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## nezzz (Jan 20, 2013)

Axel13 said:


> He was terrible on the lead until recently. But since he has started to calm down he has gotten much better. He still pulls when he see's dogs. Have you any suggestions?


Before he starts to pull or even sees the other dog, get his attention and redirect. This way he loses focus on the other dogs. You need to be eagle eyed to do this though


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## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

nezzz said:


> Before he starts to pull or even sees the other dog, get his attention and redirect. This way he loses focus on the other dogs. You need to be eagle eyed to do this though


Thanks a million. I figured out today that a tug toy is the best thing for him to focus on. He had a brilliant day today and made friends with a retired greyhound. They had a nice supervised on the lead play and then another dog came along and we introduced them slowly and then all 3 of them where rolling around on the ground together  can't believe how well he is adjusting!


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Yes...it's great to hear of a leash aggression success....I'm still working on it...DA only


SuperG


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

I don't have aggression per say, what I have is a dog that barks out of excitement or for the purpose of alerting. I actually quite like it, but prefer it in my home and not outdoors. What I do is when captain barks at someone I say uh uh ! And I do an about face and start walking away for a few seconds until he stops barking. Then I turn back around and he is fine. Later during the same walked we passed more people and he didn't bark. Mission accomplished.,It also helps to remind myself not to put tension on the leash so he can feel that I am relaxed and therefore, he can be relaxed. Congrats on your leash aggression issues though, it seems like your pup is coming along. This is where the fun starts as you have noticed, and you and your dog can have nice, relaxing, happy walks together.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

BARBIElovesSAILOR said:


> I don't have aggression per say,


Denial will not help .....

Couldn't help myself...such a set up....


SuperG


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

SuperG said:


> Denial will not help .....
> 
> Couldn't help myself...such a set up....
> 
> ...



Haha yep I did. Lol.


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## B&Cgetapup (Nov 7, 2013)

We just reached the "too big for his britches" stage with our dog. So glad to see that the hard work we are putting into him will pay off! This really gave me a boost. Congrats on all your success!


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## Jayfeather (Dec 28, 2014)

Congratulations on your success! I'm still working on this with Koda. He's not exactly aggressive but is nervous so he will bark sometimes. Luckily I think I've finally gotten him over the barking part, now I need to get him comfortable and calm around dogs(he will just stand there and stare, oblivious to anything but the other dog). Lol, can't say it's easy to work on reactivity when there's nobody around in this cold! I'll be working on this more when it finally gets warmer. Glad about your success, it certainly gave me some hope for Koda!


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