Aggression towards all males, strangers in house

Hi froggy thanks for your post.

The problems you are having with your dog are associated with it's confusion over its role in the pack. If a dog is unsure of it's position in the pack because they don’t identify anyone as leader, they feel forced to assume the dominant role themselves. Your dog may have had a bad experience with males in the past an now sees them as a threat. Because it also sees itself as pack leader it feels obliged to protect itself, you and anyone else in it's pack from this threat. To solve this problem you need to do your alpha dog training with the dog so that she sees you as the strong calm leader who will deal with any threats and sees her role as a calm secure follower who need not deal with threats.

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) the dog must be the last to eat at every meal and should never get treats from the table.

2) The 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.

It is important that many people work with the dog so she knows that all humans are above her in the pack. A she comes to accept her position at the bottom of the pack reward her for her any calm behavior around visitors and males. Introduce your dog to males in a calm and non-threatening way. Keep your dog under control on a leash and preferably a head collar so she cannot pull or lunge. Start with the male at quite a distance ignoring any bad behavior from your dog and rewarding any calm non aggressive behavior. As your dog becomes calmer you can bring him slightly closer. This will have to be done very slowly over several sessions and with several men. Remember the overall goal is to let your dog know that you are the leader and you expect calm behavior.

Also always be cautious when handling your dog making sure that it does not redirect its aggression at you. The headcollar can be useful here as puling downwards on it will shut the jaw but remember it is not a muzzle and there is still a need for caution. Good luck with your training and feel free to contact me again if you have any further questions.

Hi sorry for the confusion I meant to say "so she knows all humans are above her in the pack". You say your dog is aggressive without prejudice to all strangers. This sounds like she is not submissive to some people and that she thinks she is in charge of aggressively defending you and/or the house from potential dangers such as strangers and all males, which is a role normally taken by the pack leader not the lowest member. This sort of behavior is usually considered territorial dominance. If you feel this is not the case please give me more details so we can work out a different solution for your dog.

Thanks for your post and I hope we can work out how to help your little girl.