Kingdom of Pets

Posted by Idan-Kashi
Jul 1, 2009

[SIZE="1"]*That's a new thread about the same problems I have posted here: [url]http://www.kingdomofpets.com/dog/forum/dog-behavior-problems/1228-agression-issues.html[/url] - the vet had checked and said it is nothing to do with the surgery he had, so here I reopen the topic in a more arranged thread.[/SIZE]

Kosmo is a one year old Malinois mixed castrated male, who I adopted 7-8 months ago from a shelter. Kosmo was alright and fine, just had some puppy issues and nothing special. In the last two months, Kosmo was developing some aggression issues and some more problems.

He is being territorial about my yard - if anybody gets out and closes the door behind him, Kosmo barks and jumps on the door. It also happens when there are birds outside on the yard etc., it's like he doesn't allow anybody to step outside without him being there. But if he can go out, he doesn't show any signs of aggression or anything like that, only when he is not able to walk out too.
This was the first signs of aggression Kosmo was showing.

Later on, Kosmo started to be even more aggressive about my father, (there is a leash attached to his place, that's instead of a crate) if he is tied to his place and my father passes by or just doing some stuff, he usually barks and lunges at him. He also sometimes bark at other family members that passing by - but this is very randomly, he sometimes does and sometimes doesn't.

There's a new problem that Kosmo started to show lately - sometimes when I take him out for a walk, he suddenly without any reason starts to bite and pull the leash with his mouth, while also growling and jumping up at me. If I try to take control over him by holding his collar he will try to bite my hand and gets even more crazy. There was a time where he did this and he managed to get released out of the collar, and he started to run and sprint around. Luckily, he listened to my recall and I managed to get him back.
From now on I take a few treats and when he starts to show this behavior I tell him to leave it and he leaves the leash and I reward. If I have no treats, he'll do it.
I started to work on a better "leave it", "drop it", and "heel" commands, in order to be fully controllable on this kind of situations, but as I mentioned - no treats - no responds.

What looks weird for me is that Kosmo doesn't show any other signs of aggression like food bowl aggression or dominance about his toys. That's all about his aggression issues.
Besides that, Kosmo has some other issues like:
-He usually doesn't comply or listen to my commands if I do not hold any treat or something he wants.
-He sometimes asks for attention by nipping / biting or by stealing something and running away.
-He can sometimes just start to nip while someone or even me petting him, and it happens a lot.
-He attempts to steal food from the counter and table, and we can barely eat normally if he is not tied or resting, because he bothers everyone at the table.

I also want to mention that I assume alpha dog techniques but I'm not sure about him understanding he is the lower rank. He doesn't get food from the table while we eat. I usually train him and work on his command a few times a day. Why does he still behaving like that?

I hope it's all enough details and sharp, if you still got any question just ask.
Thanks,
Idan

Posted by KOPsarah
Jul 3, 2009

Hi Idan, thanks for your new post,
You have said in the past that you practice alpha training regularly with your dog, I was wondering if you could outline exactly what you do and when. Also if he is aggressive to your father etc as he walks past the dogs place how do you react?

Posted by Idan-Kashi
Jul 3, 2009

-I do not let him to pass thru the doorway first, sometimes he will wait by command and sometimes I'll just hold him with the leash.
-He is not allowed to get up on beds etc., if he does I tell him to get off and point towards the floor, he usually doesn't respond at the same time but he'll get off.
-Premack principle - He always have to perform a command in order to eat his meal. Sometimes it's just sit and wait, sometimes I call him to me or to heel. He never start to eat his food until released.
-He doesn't get food from the table while we eat.
-I usually eat before he does.

About my father - it's not only when he passes near my dog's place, it's almost every movement he does. I usually avoid from responding, because nothing really helps. The way I was responding was grabbing him by the collar, telling him to sit and holding his muzzle. But it never helped.

Posted by kjd
Jul 4, 2009

Idan,

It sounds to me as if Kosmo is afraid of your father. When your father comes near where Kosmo is tied up, he cannot flee, so he attacks.

I know this isn't his only issue, but perhaps you can get someone to help you teach Kosmo your father is a good guy. Maybe he could start feeding him for a bit?
kjd

Posted by Idan-Kashi
Jul 5, 2009

[QUOTE=kjd;3791]Idan,

It sounds to me as if Kosmo is afraid of your father. When your father comes near where Kosmo is tied up, he cannot flee, so he attacks.

I know this isn't his only issue, but perhaps you can get someone to help you teach Kosmo your father is a good guy. Maybe he could start feeding him for a bit?
kjd[/QUOTE]

It doesn't look like he's afraid of him. It's not only when my father passing by his mat or place, it's also when he prepares to work at the morning or when he just stands in the kitchen. Also, Kosmo welcomes him when he comes home, so I don't think he is afraid of him.
What it might be, is my father's approach. Maybe if my father will walk him on the leash at home etc. and reward him for listening, it might work right?

Posted by kjd
Jul 5, 2009

[QUOTE=Idan Kashi;3793]
What it might be, is my father's approach. Maybe if my father will walk him on the leash at home etc. and reward him for listening, it might work right?[/QUOTE]

Yes, the more things your father does with Kosmo that show your father is alpha to Kosmo will help.

Posted by KOPsarah
Jul 8, 2009

Hi again Idan,
Malinois dogs are known for their leadership and dominance and this is what makes them excellent guard dogs. To make them excellent household dogs however alpha training is essential. It can be really hard to instate alpha training and be a calm non-aggressive/non-physical pack leader with these dogs because they are often physically stronger than people and are aware of this. I would highly recommend using a head collar such as a halti or gentle leader as a tool to help you and your father do alpha training with your dog. With the head collar on you will be easily able to control your dog and instantly remove him for time out whenever he challenges your dominance without actually touching, holding or dragging the dog or its collar. By pulling your dog by its normal collar etc you are saying to the dog in dog terms that you are trying to physically challenge it which implies to it that it is the leader and you are trying to challenge it in this role. This therefore leads to further dominance and aggression issues.

For example if you keep the head collar and a long leash on your dog while you are inside and your dog goes to bark at the back gate because there is someone out there you can quickly and easily show it this behavior is unacceptable. Simply use the lead attached to the head collar to calmly move your dog into another room for a 3 minute time out. It cannot fight you in this because it cannot pull against you with because the head collar means you are only attached to the dog by its nose muscles which it cannot pull you with unlike normal collars where you are attached to the strong muscles of the neck and shoulder. If as soon as you let it out again it barks again then repeat. Your dog should quickly pick up on this.

A head collar is also a very helpful tool for walking your dog because your dog cannot lunge at your or others and you can easily control it without having to drag it off you with its collar and therefore again you will not be physically challenging the dog. A head collar is definitely preferable to a prong collar as well because the prong collar physically challenges the dog and often therefore increases dominance and aggression. Getting your dog out for lots of exercise on the head collar should help reduce your dogs energy levels which will also be useful.

You can use the head collar and lead to let your father walk the dog and practice alpha training with it. Also if you have the dog on the head collar and lead inside and your father approaches, as soon as your dog is behaving inappropriately you can quickly and calmly move the dog to time out. You can also use the head collar to move your dog out of doorways, off couches and in other similar ways that all instate your position as alpha.

Ignoring the dog and calmly moving it to a time out is the best punishment tool for your dog because you are saying to your dog that you are the leader and as leader if members of your pack do not behave properly they will be cast away from the pack. Your attention is a your dogs most important resource and you have the power to give and take this with the head collar on.

I hope this helps and keep us updated on your progress.

Posted by Idan-Kashi
Jul 8, 2009

[QUOTE=KOPsarah;3806]Hi again Idan,
Malinois dogs are known for their leadership and dominance and this is what makes them excellent guard dogs. To make them excellent household dogs however alpha training is essential. It can be really hard to instate alpha training and be a calm non-aggressive/non-physical pack leader with these dogs because they are often physically stronger than people and are aware of this. I would highly recommend using a head collar such as a halti or gentle leader as a tool to help you and your father do alpha training with your dog. With the head collar on you will be easily able to control your dog and instantly remove him for time out whenever he challenges your dominance without actually touching, holding or dragging the dog or its collar. By pulling your dog by its normal collar etc you are saying to the dog in dog terms that you are trying to physically challenge it which implies to it that it is the leader and you are trying to challenge it in this role. This therefore leads to further dominance and aggression issues.

For example if you keep the head collar and a long leash on your dog while you are inside and your dog goes to bark at the back gate because there is someone out there you can quickly and easily show it this behavior is unacceptable. Simply use the lead attached to the head collar to calmly move your dog into another room for a 3 minute time out. It cannot fight you in this because it cannot pull against you with because the head collar means you are only attached to the dog by its nose muscles which it cannot pull you with unlike normal collars where you are attached to the strong muscles of the neck and shoulder. If as soon as you let it out again it barks again then repeat. Your dog should quickly pick up on this.

A head collar is also a very helpful tool for walking your dog because your dog cannot lunge at your or others and you can easily control it without having to drag it off you with its collar and therefore again you will not be physically challenging the dog. A head collar is definitely preferable to a prong collar as well because the prong collar physically challenges the dog and often therefore increases dominance and aggression. Getting your dog out for lots of exercise on the head collar should help reduce your dogs energy levels which will also be useful.

You can use the head collar and lead to let your father walk the dog and practice alpha training with it. Also if you have the dog on the head collar and lead inside and your father approaches, as soon as your dog is behaving inappropriately you can quickly and calmly move the dog to time out. You can also use the head collar to move your dog out of doorways, off couches and in other similar ways that all instate your position as alpha.

Ignoring the dog and calmly moving it to a time out is the best punishment tool for your dog because you are saying to your dog that you are the leader and as leader if members of your pack do not behave properly they will be cast away from the pack. Your attention is a your dogs most important resource and you have the power to give and take this with the head collar on.

I hope this helps and keep us updated on your progress.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your reply.
I will purchase a head collar and we'll see how it goes, I'll keep updating.

Posted by Idan-Kashi
Aug 5, 2009

Hello Sarah, here's a short update.
I've purchased the Halti a while ago and it works pretty good, I can walk Kosmo without any troubles and I enjoy the walk myself, and so does he. No pulling. I also can easily make sure he doesn't pick up junk from the ground and eat that. It gives me a full control over him.

Generally, while at home, Kosmo has a leash attached to him, and as you told me I remove him for 3 minutes from the area and put him in his place when he starts to bit/nip/attack/bother us and doesn't listen to me.
I'd like to know what should I do if Kosmo keeps behaving bad after the time-out? Another 3 minutes or a longer time-out?

About the aggression towards my father and the yard-territorial - I worked on that a few times and it was fine during training at all, but I couldn't stay consistent about that as my father couldn't participate due to a surgery he had, but I'm sure once he'll recover we'll get back to that.

Nowadays at Israel the weather is really hard, it's warm outside and therefore Kosmo is tired and got no energy. That's a good thing for me because most of the day (until evening) he just rest and doesn't make any troubles (moreover, he isn't aggressive and territorial). The problem begins at the night, he becomes over energetic and wanna run like a mad. But I found a way to solve it - I take him out and run fast with him until he gets tired.
As I mentioned, he is tired and only rest most of the day - he doesn't will to co-operate in training seasons and trips outside. How can I still maintain his obedience when he doesn't will to work at that heat.

That's all for now, thank you.

Some issues