# Territorial Aggression?



## Smith3 (May 12, 2008)

When walking Koch around our apt complex, typically close to our apartment, she will bark her head off if she sees another dog anywhere near her. Only once in a blue moon will her hair stand up on her back, more often than not her tail is wagging. She won't run or pull hard for the other dog (she will move towards it, but slowly at our normal pace)

She is beyond perfect when she does meet other dogs when we take her out though (Although she does bark when playtime ends and we continue doing what we are doing). she has no fighting issues at all when interacting with other dogs, by far she is extremely friendly. 

Now, I know leash aggression could be a possibility, but i try not to tense up when we see another dog and keep slack in the leash. Typically I will reverse course if she locks in on another dog and starts barking. 

I guess the real issue here is, we find it hard to break her concentration when she does focus on another dog. Could this just be our problem, we don't make ourselves interesting enough? Could this also be part of territorial aggression? Is working on "look at me" and finding something more high reward to distract the real way to work on this?

To us, this is our last "thing" before we have the "perfect" dog - plus it is embarrasing when she goes crazy when she sees another animal, plus it isn't safe!


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## rgrim84 (May 8, 2009)

I'm having the same issues with my 7 month old, except he barks aggresively and pulls hard on the leash to get to the other dog. 

Someone told me that he is being protective of me, but I don't know if thats it.


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## UConnGSD (May 19, 2008)

Mine does similar things and I have been working on this for last few months. I am beginning to think it has to do with territorialism. Like yours, Wolfie is great when meeting dogs at daycare -- even the grouchy ones who growl at his kisses. He'll just push off to the next one. But within our neighborhood, whole different story. 

I back away as far as I can get -- basically until W stops acting nutso. Then I ply him with high value treats and keep asking "where's the puppy? show me the puppy." Basically, happy talk to counter his high stress level and to create a positive association with seeing another dog. I have noticed though that with some dogs, he will quiet down, accept the treats and just look while they march off. With certain others in the neighborhood, I could be dragging him a mile away and throwing steaks at him and it wouldn't make any difference.

He also does the territorial barking in the backyard and I am working on his recall in that setting. Approx 80% success rate so far.


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

Alot of us have this problem, my Bo too started at 5-6 months old.
He sees other dogs and starts barking and pulling toward them, hair up. My OB class trainer let me use her Gentle Leader during class and he hates it but it did stop him for the behaviour once he tried it and his nose got pulled down from the halter. I am thinking of buying it. The using on my walks, Like you said it is embarrassing.


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## Smith3 (May 12, 2008)

glad to see i am not alone! My situation is pretty much the same as others, great when we get away from our apt complex, when we get within it, we run into issues when she sees other animals.






> Originally Posted By: Heidi WAlot of us have this problem, my Bo too started at 5-6 months old.
> He sees other dogs and starts barking and pulling toward them, hair up. My OB class trainer let me use her Gentle Leader during class and he hates it but it did stop him for the behaviour once he tried it and his nose got pulled down from the halter. I am thinking of buying it. The using on my walks, Like you said it is embarrassing.


Yeah, it is def embarrasing - you have a "crazy" German Shepherd barking at another dog/person - doesn't win over hearts and minds! "Oh she is just a puppy" works when they are 20#, not approaching 80! It is def upsetting my girlfriend when she takes her out to do her business, so it is a priority to fix.

Our biggest issue is when she locks eyes in on another dog, she is impossible to break the concentration. Maybe we are just trying the wrong rewards. About the only thing that works 100% is if i bear hug her, pick her up, and hold her in the opposite direction. But, that gets old fast and gets really weird looks!


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## Smith3 (May 12, 2008)

Few results: Not much progress at all yet (in fact none)

Is the tug a no go? We took her out yesterday, she'd see a dog, bark - i'd pull the tug out and she would GO AT IT like no other - I mean it was like she caught a bunny and it was a live squeeky toy. My first instinct is - while it is a good distraction, this behavior with the tug is not beneficial, she is just taking aggression out on the tug.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

> Originally Posted By: Smith3Is the tug a no go? We took her out yesterday, she'd see a dog, bark - i'd pull the tug out and she would GO AT IT like no other - I mean it was like she caught a bunny and it was a live squeeky toy. My first instinct is - while it is a good distraction, this behavior with the tug is not beneficial, she is just taking aggression out on the tug.


Redirecting her excitement onto a toy is fine, but it sounds like you'd rather she not get so amped up in the first place. Getting her back after she's "locked on" to the other dog is really hard, it's best to get her attention before she's gotten to that point. One thing I've found that works great is those refillable squeeze tubes for camping - fill it with peanut butter. Most dogs love PB, and rather than trying to deliver treats to her quickly and consistently enough to keep her from flipping out, you just stick it in front of her face and let her lick it. I also have more success when we're stationary than when we're in motion (plus, less likely I'm going to be tripped by my dog!), so I put Keefer in a sit first. Start at a distance where she sees the other dog, but hasn't gone off yet and work with her there before trying to move her closer. Like UConnGSD, I will give him permission to look at the other dog rather than trying to keep his focus 100% on me, which is pretty much impossible anyway. 

There's a game called Look At That! by Leslie McDevitt, who wrote the book Control Unleashed. You teach it first with an object that's not going to get her all worked up - put it behind your back, then whip it out, tell her to look at it, and then mark it when she does (a clicker is great for this) and then the idea is that she'll look at you for her reward. For that to happen she'll need to already be responding to a clicker or a verbal marker, and know that it means she did good and a reward will follow. I've used LAT many many times with both Keefer & Halo when they get too excited around other dogs when they're on leash and it works very well. You doing a whole bunch of things with this exercise - by putting it on cue, you're giving her permission to look at the other dog which she wants to do anyway, but now it's your idea, you're counter-conditioning her by pairing a food reward with the presence of other dogs and desensitizing her to them, and by marking when she's looking at the dog, which will make her turn her attention back to you (you may need to put the food in front of her face and lure her back to you the first few times you try this outside with a dog rather than at home with an inanimate object), you're interrupting her focus on the other dog so she doesn't have the chance to escalate. It's a bunch of quick looks and then back at you rather than a prolonged stare erupting into barking and lunging.


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## Smith3 (May 12, 2008)

Thanks for the input - I love the suggestions. I think the hardest part is dogs can "sense" other dogs before we can!









I believe we are going to adopt NILIF - it might stem a few of the issues we are having - but the training suggestions will go above and beyond. 

I picked up a few Leerburg DVD's (yes, I know several members have differing opinions) - but I like to have a wide variety of info before coming to a firm decision and before deciding to drop money on a specialist! ($50 DVD's are a lot cheaper than $100 sessions!)

Thanks again for the feedback, I hope to update on PROGRESS we will see with her. I know she can overcome it, WE just have to figure out what our weak links are and make them stronger!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Oh, definitely NILIF! I would have suggested it if I knew you weren't already doing it. That will work on her self control, which will be very beneficial. Keefer has self control issues, even with NILIF since he was 9 weeks old, I'm constantly having to remind him that he is indeed capable of controlling his impulses. I'm pretty sure his impulse control issues are the source of his reactivity. 

You can also do self control exercises with play, the tug is an excellent place to start. Will she give it up immediately on cue? Make her sit and make eye contact, or send her to a mat to lay down, and then release her to grab the toy and play some more.


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## Smith3 (May 12, 2008)

she most def won't give it up on cue yet - but we are working on it. We started NILIF today - we did it with playing frisbee, showing her that WE dictate when she will be able to go and get it, making her sit before tossing it ect. 

I think NILIF will be extremely beneficial to nipping these issues in the bud, it will be the biggest start at least.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

> Originally Posted By: Smith3We started NILIF today - we did it with playing frisbee, showing her that WE dictate when she will be able to go and get it, making her sit before tossing it ect.


That's perfect.








We did that from day one with all playtime. I never know when I've got a brand new puppy if s/he is going to end up needing hard line NILIF or not, so I routinely start it immediately so they learn right from the beginning that they have to do what I ask in order to get what they want. And the beautiful thing is that it's completely adaptable to any dog, no matter how young, you just adapt it as necessary based on the age, attention span, and training level of the dog, and then make it more challenging as their abilities increase. And if it turns out I've got an easy dog who is readily compliant I can always back off on the NILIF later, but I really don't have to, because by then the house rules are pretty ingrained and obeyed without undue fuss.

My dogs know they can stand there and stare at a toy all they want, it won't get thrown until they sit and look at ME, or my hubby if he's the one with the toy, until released. If she's not giving up the tug yet, try giving her whatever cue you plan to use and then sticking a treat right on her nose. When she drops the tug to get the treat, mark it, give her the treat, and then release her to take the tug again and play some more. Work towards not showing her the treat first and rewarding from your pocket, and then fading out the food reward entirely, so the continuation of play is the reward.


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## Smith3 (May 12, 2008)

Some thoughts: We have implemented the NILIF "way of living" and IMO you can already see some changes in her. 

Before she'd have a few toys laying out and go between them. We'd pet her whenever she would come up to us, we'd try to calm her down if she barked.

Now, none of it. She has been having more barking *AT* us (She never has before), but I am sure this is due to lack of attention. But, she seems to enjoy the attention we do give her more. 

I haven't seen any results outside yet, we haven't run into any dogs - but I am sure it will be a process to weed out those issues.


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## Smith3 (May 12, 2008)

Well, we have a had a lot of progress the last two weeks. 

We have incorporated NILIF (yes, sometimes it is hard) - she has had quite a few "GIVE ME ATTENTION" bark fests. 

We have been working on positive association outside. If she sees another dog and doesn't do anything, lots of praise. I do incorporate correction into it followed by praise if she corrects her behavior and gets quiet. 

Yesterday we passed a guy walking two pugs and she had a bit of growling but no barking or posturing, so we were QUITE happy! Lots of praise, lots of treats. Last week she did go crazy over a puppy, but there was a LOT going on distraction wise, she was a bit worked up. 

While I would like to stick to "100% positive" it is what it is. We've been walking a lot more due to her being behaved, so we are happy (and she is tired!).


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Great! 



> Originally Posted By: Smith3She has been having more barking *AT* us (She never has before), but I am sure this is due to lack of attention.


Yep, and the key is to completely ignore her while she does this, and _immediately_ praise and reward her (even if it's just looking at and petting her) the second she stops demanding your attention. At first she'll try harder, which sounds like the phase you're in now), but eventually she'll figure out the way to make you pay attention to her, to pet her, to play with her, is to be calm and quiet. I also try to catch mine in the act of NOT bugging me from time to time, and acknowledge that too, like praising them for just hanging out chewing on a bone.


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