Yes, I do get a lot of clients who bring me dogs with aggressive behaviors. Please note that I do not call them “aggressive dogs,” as that labels the whole dog, when in fact most of these dogs are wonderful dogs most of the time with occasional moments of aggression. Not fair to saddle the whole dog with that label! Shoot – I’m a behavior professional and I have (and have had in the past) dogs with aggressive behaviors. Like our second Pomeranian, Scooter, who wasn’t always happy about being brushed…
I advertise that my business includes an aggression specialty and as a result I get a lot of referrals from veterinarians and other behavior professionals. Any professionals who refer to me are welcome to come sit in on the consult. I encourage them to do so, as I will often refer their clients back to them for follow up work – especially since some of them come from quite some distance away. If the client’s referring professional attends the session, they will be well prepared to help them with follow-up.
Here are this past week’s two aggression cases:
AGGRESSION CASE #1 – HAPPY; AUSSIE/LAB MIX
Happy, an Aussie/Lab mix, is five years old, a neutered male, and has lived his entire life in harmony with eight-year-old Arby, a German Shepherd mix. Until now. Any time we see a significant behavior change in an adult dog we know that something else has changed – something internal, something external, or both. In late January, Happy was diagnosed with bladder stones and had to have bladder surgery. A few days after he came home from that experience, the attacks on Arby began – three to four incidents in just a couple of weeks. The final attacks resulted in a redirected bite to Jenny when she tried to separate the dogs. When she contacted us, we advised her to keep the two completely separated until she could come for her consult.
Aggression is caused by stress. Not just the stress of the immediate trigger, but the combined stress of everything in the dog’s world at any given time. We call this “trigger stacking.” Medical issues are huge stressors, and it is quite likely that Happy was experiencing considerable discomfort even prior to the stones being diagnosed. It is also possible that on one or more occasions he associated Arby’s proximity with his pain, even though, in reality, Arby did nothing. Once this occurs, even though the pain has been resolved, the association can persist.
Other possible contributing factors could be:
1. Jenny shared that Happy has always been a high-anxiety dog. Indeed, Happy was panting and whining upon entering the training center and was clearly somewhat stressed throughout the entire two-hour session.
2. Happy and Arby’s humans went on vacation for a week shortly after Happy’s surgery, leaving the dogs with a pet sitter – another stressor.
3. I noted that Arby was limping as he moved around the room. At age eight, in addition to limited mobility due to lameness, Arby could be starting to lose clarity of vision and hearing. Any one or all of these could cause him to be less prompt in responding to Happy’s “Go away!” signals, causing Happy to escalate those signals to an attack to get his message across to Arby. This happens not infrequently with senior dogs. I urged my client to talk to their vet about pain medication for Arby...
We put up a barrier across the training center and allowed the dogs to interact through it. Things were peaceful with no overt tension from Happy until, about 10 minutes into the session, the dogs sniffed noses through the barrier and Happy briefly growled. Arby moved away, and things seemed to settle back down while we discussed the elements of the case.
One of the things I always do with aggression cases is list stressors and assign strategies to make as many stressors go away (or at least decrease) as possible. Reduce stress, reduce potential for aggression. We came up with 11 for Happy (I usually get somewhere between 10 and 20), with Abe, being separated in the home, and being left home alone as the three most significant.
Our strategy options are 1.) Counterconditioning and desensitization (CC&D – changing the dog’s association/opinion) 2.) Operant Conditioning (teaching a new, deliberate behavior that makes the dog happy – so it also changes his emotional state in the moment) 3.) Management (always a vitally important piece of any successful behavior modification program) 4.) Get Rid of It (the stressor, not the dog!) and 5.) Live With It (because we can’t make all stress go away).
About 70 minutes into the session, with Arby lying calmly on a blanket, minding his own business some 15 feet from Happy, Happy suddenly began growling at Arby again – this time a prolonged growl for about 10 seconds. There was no obvious trigger – Arby hadn’t moved and hadn’t even looked at Happy. Go figure. Is there still something internal with Happy? They had taken them to their vet the week before the consult to make sure he was happy and healthy – and the vet confirmed that he was not in pain. At least, that is, not in pain from the surgery… however, general practitioners are not always fully capable of a thorough pain exam and diagnosis…
Our Plan
I do “Commitments” with my clients to get their buy-in on our modification program going forward. We agree on the protocols we will be using, and then I have them tell me, realistically, how often they are able and willing to commit to practicing those.
Here are Happy’s commitments:
Behavior Modification Protocols/Minimum Commitments (more is fine/better):
1. Happy and Arby: CC&D at least 1 time per day, 5 or more days per week; as we did here, with both dogs on leashes – can have Abe walking past or can have both humans seated. Can also do parallel walking. Be sure to stay below threshold intensity (Crockpot, not Microwave). (Handout attached)
2. Touch: At least 1 time per day, 5 days per week; Link to an article on how we do this: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/training/on-target-training / .
3. Walk Away: At least 1 time per day, 5 days per week; Here: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/training/how-to-teach-your-dog-to-just-walk-away/ .
4. UPenn Relaxation Protocol: At least 1 time per day, 5 days per week; be sure to proceed very slowly – make sure Henry is very relaxed and comfortable with each module before proceeding to the next. (Protocol attached.)
I also encouraged my clients to put Happy back on the Trazadone their vet had provided, but perhaps at a reduced dosage (discuss with vet) since what they were giving him was making him groggy. We also discussed over-the-counter calming aids such as L-Theanine and Ashwaghanda, Adaptil, Thundershirt (not just for thunder!) icalmdog music (Through a Dog’s Ear), and more. I expect progress to be slow for this one… fingers are crossed!
AGGRESSION CASE #2 – GORDIE; COCKER/BORDER COLLIE MIX
Gordie is a nine-year-old neutered male Cocker/Border Collie mix. Unlike Happy, Gordie has had aggression issues all his life and has been on Fluoxetine (Prozac) since he was two years old. (Just increased dosage from 20mg to 30mg…) In fact, he delivered a severe bite to my clients’ 20-year-old daughter’s face eight years ago while resource guarding a pizza crust on the sofa. He was also, recently, quite aggressive when Larry tried to take a Bully Stick away from him.
Judy and Larry were managing Gordie’s behavior quite well until daughter April (now 28), husband Aiden and brand-new baby daughter Megan (now eight months old) all moved in last June. Gordie was quite taken with Megan at first – until she became mobile. Now he has decided she is very threatening, and growls anytime she crawls near. There is still tension between April and Gordie as well (likely in part because April still doesn’t trust him after the 2017 bite, and her body language communicates that), and Gordie is also not fond of Candy, the four-year-old spayed female Labrador Retriever who moved in with April and family. A whole lot of stressors going on here!!!
In our session, Candy was a typical Lab – friendly with everyone, outgoing, happy, goofy… while Gordie was more reserved, mostly hung out with Larry, and growled at Candy if the big dog ventured too close.
The very first thing I told this family was that “Gordie must not be loose in Megan’s presence when Megan is crawling around and Megan cannot crawl up to him!!!! EVER!!!! Unless and until we are successful in changing Gordie’s opinion of Megan, there is a huge risk in thinking that you will always be able to react quickly enough to remove dog or baby when the growl happens. Can you say “TRAGEDY!!!???” And if you continue to remove Gordie physically (with reprimands) you are only worsening his negative association with Megan (and hence his aggression) – “When the baby is around my humans get upset and bad things happen!”
I usually try to not be alarmist – but we simply cannot be casual about interactions between dogs and babies!
The second thing I told them was “We don’t just take things away from our dogs. EVER!!!” We teach a polite “Trade” behavior so our dog will happily and willingly give things up, and then we always trade for a treat.
Our Plan
Again, we listed stressors (Gordie has 12), assigned strategies and agreed on priorities and protocols:
Behavior Modification Protocols/Minimum Commitments (more is fine/better):
1. Find It/Search and I Come In Peace: April – multiple times per day – have treats in your pockets and/or in containers around the house and toss treats for Gordie when he is near you. Do at least one I Come in Peace per day. (Handouts Attached)
2. Megan: CC&D: At least 5 times per week, 15-20 minutes or more per session; do CC&D with Megan as we did here – sometimes with her crawling, but don’t let her get close enough to make him growl. (Handout attached)
3. UPenn Relaxation Protocol (Judy): At least 1 time per day, 5 days per week (or more). (Protocol attached)
4. Trade (Larry) – At least 1 time per day, 3 days per week (or more). (Handout attached)
Here’s hoping we can convince Gordie that Megan and April are his friends, but it’s likely to get harder, not easer, as Megan goes from crawling to toddling. Our backup plan: manage their interactions scrupulously until April and company move out. The plan is for that to happen sometime in the coming year. Meanwhile, I hope and pray that they got the management message loud and clear.
TRAINER ACADEMIES AND WORKSHOPS
Academies
We have been offering in-person Trainer Academies for more than 20 years and have never had trouble filling them. Until now. It hurts my heart to share that academy registrations so far this year are dismal. It also hurts my bank account, as a significant part of our revenue comes from our academies. Don’t know if it’s due to fears about the economy, the easy availability of on-line learning, or what… but if you are looking for a hands-on learning experience with a longtime, internationally acclaimed leader in force-free training (that’s me, blush) please consider us. We offer everything from our Level 1 Basic Dog Training and Behavior Academy to Canine Behavior Modification, Aggression, Advanced Training and Behavior Study, Cognition, and more. All taught hands-on, personally by me. You can find out more about our academies here: https://peaceablepaws.com/peaceable-paws-intern-academies/ and/or feel free to contact us at the number/email below.
Workshops
We also have a great list of workshops lined up for 2025. I’m teaching two (Shaping and Brain Candy), our wonderful Practice Manager/Lead Trainer Lucy McKnight is teaching two (Cooperative Care and Impulsivity), and our amazing Horse Trainer/Instructor Sam Steckel is even teaching one on Clicker Training/Cooperative Care for horses! You can find them all here: https://peaceablepaws.com/workshops/ or contact us.
Don’t wait too long, everything is starting soon!!!
A WILD AND WINDY TIME
Holy cow, it has been windy here!! Steady 20-25 mph, with gusts up to 50 and 60 mph, for more than 24 hours. I went to take the dogs out last night for their last bathroom break only to discover that some 75 feet of our backyard fence had blown down. HOLY WIND DAMAGE, BATMAN!!! And, of course, it’s not covered by our homeowner’s insurance. (It would if a tree fell on it though, apparently…) Hoping it all settles down soon. I’m hearing about crazy weather all across the country – everyone please stay safe!
Warm Woofs,
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
www.peaceablepaws.com ; info@peaceablepaws.com ; 301-582-9420
