Large dog fears?

[dutchman]

I need some advice on how to work with my new rescue Tanner. He is a mini longhair some where in the fifteen month to two year age range and seems to have a major fear and or aggression problem with large dogs. Tanner spent two and a half months in foster care and was a night deposit in a Dumb Friends League drop box before that so no long term history is known. I've had him for about four and a half weeks now. When ever he comes close to a large (close experience with Labs and and English Fox Hound) he expresses major aggressive behavior. He will growl, bark, snarl baring teeth and even nip at if allowed to get close to large dogs.

Needless to say I don't consider this acceptable behavior either he will get hurt or he will end up hurting someone if he comes into contact with them by accident. I'm trying to prevent any major confrontations at this point and an working with some meetings from my knee and at a close but not face to face distance with the Fox Hound who is our neighbor (he a big chicken at heart). Twice now when Charlie (the Fox Hound) has come over to our gate to say hello to Frank and Tanner when his owner was taking him out Tanner has lunged at the gate ripping the plastic garden barrier fencing I keep woven in our metal gate so the boys can't walk out by squeezing between the bars. Last night he ripped out a section large enough for Frank to get his whole head through.

Tanner gets along fine with my friends shelties and had no problem with a mini female dachshund who lives near us when her owner let her out to meet us recently. Both my boys (fixed) wanted to get to know her but she didn't want to have a thing to do with them. He also had no problem with my Dad's pug. Tanner has also shown some minor egression problems with some other small dogs growling and barking but no attacks. It was reported that he got along fine with other dachshunds and snausers (SP) in his foster home where he was one of six dogs.

Tanner also has some much less severe shyness aggression problems with people that we have been working on and I feel we are starting to make progress on those issues. While he will still growl at some new people it's no longer universal and there are those rare individual who he will accept attention from immediately. I keep a very close eye on him with new people since I don't want to take a chance on someone pushing him too fast and risking a bite.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Tom Frank, and Tanner

[Penny's Aunt]

Do you live in or near a large metropolitan area? There are usually trainers who will deal with aggression with "Growl Sessions": all the dogs are muzzled to level the field, then turned loose together. But I have only heard of this, not seen or experienced it.

But a GOOD group trainer may be able to help you. Find one, & call, explaining your dog's problem.

I am assuming that he is neutered, since he is a rescue dog. Testosterone-related aggression between males takes at least 2 months after neutering to show any improvement if there is going to be any.

Since he is differentiating between large & small dogs, he may have been attacked by larger dogs earlier in his life & is determined not to let it happen again.

Also, dogs deal with fear in one of only two ways: they run away from it or take the offensive & act nasty. Dogs that are leashed when they meet don't have the choice of running away, so frequently they show aggression, when they would not have if they met unleashed in a large fenced area.

You need some expert assistance with this, or it is only going to get worse. And the sooner you deal with it, the better.

[dutchman]

Thank you for the reply. I have started to check in on the possibility of some individual work at one of the two respected dog training schools in town (population ~110,000). So far just rather informal contact with an individual trainer from one of the schools who also was the instructor for a basic obedience class at the humane society that I took with Frank. Tanner the one with the aggression problem is neutered. He was neutered when rescue got him. He can be aggressive towards large dos when off leash and in his own front yard. If a large dog gets too close to our gate tanner will charge the gate and try to rip the mesh that is woven between the bars of our iron gate. I use to have a plastic garden border mesh woven into the gate but after twice getting holes torn in it big enough for tanner to fit through I replaced it with steel chicken wire. He has tried to attack the chicken wire at least twice. Please make a note of the potential dangers with using Chicken wire I noted in another thread. Tanner got his lower jaw stuck in the wire and I had to assist getting it out. I am now looking for some other type of wire mesh with a finer weave yet enough strength to resist Tanner's fits.

I've seen some mixed signs from him this past weekend regarding the aggression issue. On Saturday when we got home from a three mile walk he was rather well behaved for quite some time with my neighbors Fox Hound who was in his own yard while we were outside of his gate. Tanner even let Charlie (the Fox Hound) drink out of a common dish that Tanner was drinking out of with his head stuck through the gate into Charlie's yard. He spent a lot of time wagging his tail while watching Charlie from the gate only occasionally barking but then in more of the play pose with the tail still going. However there were two times he snarled and appeared to lunge at Charlie. On Sunday he attacked the chicken wire on our gate when Charlie and his people came over for a visit. A squirt bottle will settle him down very fast so at least I can regain control of him and bring him back out of the trance he appears to go into. The good behavior on Saturday may have been the result of the long walk before hand. That was the longest walk Tanner has made so far.

One of the dachshunds we had when I was growing up was attacked by a boxer on her first ever public walk and she would never trust any dog again. Even the neighbors dogs that she would run and pay with along the common chain link fence were not safe from her attack if they were placed on the same side of the fence. We never were able to get her over her fears.

I will try to do some more follow up with the local trainers. Right now work has been crazy and I haven't been able to get off to meet in person with them.

Thanks again,

Tom

[dutchman]

Just a quick note it appears we are making some progress at least with Charlie the English Fox Hound next door. Last night I walked out my gate to take the boys for a walk just before Charlie and his people came out for their walk. Tanner did much better he didn't try to charge Charlie with bared teeth. Tanner and Charlie did a lot of barking at each other but they appeared much more interested in playing than in starting a fight or running away. Can you believe Charlie the fox hound would try to hide from Tanner a miniature dachshund when tanner use to nip at him. We walked together for 2-3 blocks last night with Charlie out in front most of the time and my boys following. I think Frank my little extrovert almost felt left out with the attention that was being being focused on Tanner and Charlie. If all continues well with Charlie we will have to pick out our next victim (I mean training partner) to work with. I'm still not ruling out the possibility of seeking some professional advice on the best way to work with Tanner's problems but at least it does look like there is reason to hope we can overcome them.

Tom