I have a Bullmastiff/Boxer x Wolfhound/Bull Arab just under 2 years old. He is a lovely dog to anyone who is around him in his zone but he is quite aggressive to the neighbours if they are on the other side of the fence. He shows the worst aggression to the neighbour who is really scared of him and has thrown something at him before. He rushes at the fence in a very menacing way. He is extremely powerful and I am a small person so I cannot hold on to him to control him. He has even pulled my husband off his feet in a rush at the fence. He is not good with other dogs except the 2 he lives with or anything smaller than him and gets aggressive towards children when they are running around nearby or nextdoor shouting. He has not been brought up around small children and their shouting really disturbs him. He is a working dog and seems to think that he has to be in control at all times. He does listen to us as long as he is not in one of his aggressive moves. I would like to keep him but if we cannot control him I will have to give him away to be trained as a security dog or a hunting dog which I don't really want to do as he has a lovely personality with us. I hope you can help.
Hi nessa Your dog has two separate problems here, inter-dog aggression and aggression to humans. Inter-dog aggression is almost always a socialisation problem, while aggression to humans is usually a dominance problem. To train against both you need to have better control over the dog. For this I would recommend a head collar.
These are sold under many brand names including halti and gentle leader but are basically all the same. The idea is that instead of the collar going around the neck the collar goes around the nose but also has a part that clips behind the ears to hold it on. The lead is attached to a ring that hangs under the nose and when the dog pulls the nose band tightens. This is no way hurts the dog it is just annoying for the dog like someone holding your nose. However the main idea of the design is that the dog is attached to the lead via its nose and head rather than its neck and shoulder area where its powerful muscles are. The dog cannot pull you using only its nose so you can assert full control over the dogs behaviour because the dog can only go where you let it go. Also if you pull directly downwards on the leash the head collar will close the dogs jaw which can decrease the chance of biting. However if you feel at any point your dog may bite someone always put a muzzle on.
Dominance Problem First of all using the head collar on the dog go through your alpha dog training. Following the alpha dog training will definitely help show the dog its position. It is also important to remember the key points of dominance.
In a wild dog pack the dominant pack member controls : -access to food -access to favoured sleeping areas -any interactions with lower pack members -access to favoured items such as toys
In order to show your dog his position as bottom of the pack you and your whole family can take advantage of these keys points. For example
1) Your dog must be the last to eat at every meal and should never get treats from the table.
2) Your dog should never walk through doors before you. A good way to practice this is to walk around the house and make him sit at each doorway and wait.
3) If your dog is lying in the hallway or anywhere you have to get past make him move. If you think he will snap leave a lead on him so you can move him whilst maintaining a bit of distance.
4) When you arrive home completely ignore the dog for 15 minutes. Don't look at him, talk to him or pat him. After this go to him and give him some quiet attention only as long as he is relaxed and calm.
Only interact with the dog on your terms. If your or someone else is petting the dog or playing with it and it becomes aggressive or badly behaved immediately remove your attention from the dog by either removing yourself from the area or moving the dog to another area. You should do this without displaying any emotion such as anger just be a calm but decisive pack leader and the dog will appreciate knowing where it stands. Similarly you can assert your dominance by not allowing access to beds and couches or by only bringing out favourite toys when you want to play and removing them when you are finished.
Socialization While wearing the head collar the dog cannot pull you towards other dogs on walks etc so it learns to react more calmly to the situation and also to look to you for guidance as to how to react because you are in control of it. Because of this the head collar is a great socialisation tool. Take him for walks on it as often as you can, initially to areas with few dogs and people later to areas with many people and dogs. Go for a normal walk and be calm, if you tense as another dog or person approaches your dog will interpret this to mean that you the pack leader also think is a problem. As the dog or person gets closer you dog may attempt to growl and lunge. Make sure you are holding the leash vertically so the head collar can control his behavior. Ignore the bad behavior yourself but as soon as it stop praise him warmly. Trying to use treats in this situation is probably not appropriate as he may snap at your hand in his excitement over the other dog. Continue to praise calmness and ignore bad reactions. Walk calmy and firmly onwards and you dog will have to follow.
Once your dog has been out and about regularly on the head collar it should become desensitized to other people and other dogs away from its house. It may still have problems with neighbors over the fence so once its alpha dog training is also well underway consider approaching the neighbors and ask them if they are willing to help you to train your dog out of fence aggression. Have your neighbor on their side of the fence and your dog in the yard on the head collar and lead. Have your neighbor approach the fence. Ignore the dogs bad behavior and praise or treat as soon as the dog becomes calm. Then have them come closer and even lean over the fence as your dog gets better. Repeat several times in a session over several sessions and always make them friendly associations. Have the neighbors calm and quiet so the whole thing is rather boring and the dog should soon lose interest in anyone hanging around the fence.
There is a lot of work to be done with your dog but if you persist I'm sure you will soon have a lot less problems. Let me know how you get on and if you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask.
