Is my dog being dominant?

How do you control it? My dog always dominates other dogs, head over the back etc. then a fight breaks out. Is there a way I can stop it? I am going to work harder on obedience ...

A difficult problem LS, and I'm not sure I can help.

How old is your dog?
Is he entire?
Does he ever initiate fights or is it always the other dog who reacts to his dominant behaviour?
Does he do this only to male dogs? If not has there been a fight with a bitch?
Does he do it to all dogs - small and large?
Any particular breed?
Does it happen with older or younger dogs, or is it always with his approximate age group?
Has he ever come off worst in a fight? - i.e. picked on a more dominant dog. If so how did he react?
Would you say the fights are 'serious' (blood shed), or just a lot of noise and posturing?
What do you when a fight breaks out?
Is he always off lead when it happens?
How does he react to other dogs when both are on-lead?

Obedience training will help to a degree to get him to focus on you or to recall before hostilities get a chance to break out. But, once they are into it dogs will become deaf to commands as all their concentration is on defence/attack and breaking will risk injury.

Distraction can also work if your timing is right. Commands such as "no bullying" given as soon as the head or paw is placed on the other dog's back can avoid trouble, but you will need to work on getting him to understand what that means.

If this is happening frequently, and only in off-lead situations where you have little or no control, then keeping him on lead would seem to be the answer until you have worked through the problem with him.

More questions than solutions - sorry

SB

Thanks SB, sorry I never thought to explain more. I was so upset yesterday after our incident with another owner. I rarely let Loki off lead around other dogs but we had a horrible encounter.

He is a year old and is entire - we might breed from him.

It is usually the other dog that reacts by growling. A typical scenario is Loki stalks on his belly to the other dog, stands up straight, they sniff each other, Loki sticks his head on the other dog's back, other dog growls and they fight. Alternatively, Loki stalks other dog, other dog sticks head on Loki's back, he sticks his head on other dog's back in retaliation, other dog grows and they fight. It's like the good, the bad and the ugly.

It is usually with male dogs, rarely a bitch, although it has been known.

Yep, he tends to try to dominate all sizes of dog. If the dog rolls over or whimpers happily or just accepts his head on their back - no probem - they play happily. He never just attackes other dogs violently just, it always starts with dominance.

He'll try to dominate any breed.

It's a good range of age groups, but not usually very old dogs. He has a friend around here who is a 9 year old staffy bitch and he loves her to bits and would walk through fire for her.

He never seems to come off badly - he seems quite able to handle himself . There has never, ever been any injury or blood. There is a big bundle with lots of growling and showing of teeth and the other dog ends up with lots of saliva on its throat but he hasn't inflicted any injuries.

If off lead - he will see a dog, even quite far away, and off he goes. Recall works well until another dog is around. Yesterday we were chatting to an ex-dog trainer and Loki was playing with her dog (a neutered male who growled when Loki tried to hump him, then they had a smal grapple then were okay). They were playing fetch (his fave game) and he spotted a dog in the distance and took off. Other dog was off lead. Next thing there was Loki standing over this dog, the dog was snarling like nothing I've ever seen, then a fight broke out. I never manage to see who 'throws the first punch' as it all happens so quickly.

At first I tried to get him to come away (before the fight broke out) by calling him in a happy voice, running in opposite direction and promising a game of fetch but apart from a glance, he ignored me. The other owner was getting angry so I had to approach them, then they fought and I had to wait for a pause so I could grab him.

Incidentally, I read that in a dog fight you should pull the the hind legs or tail rather than try to stick a hand in the collar - is that right? I have bought a water pistol today and I intend to carry with me a baking tray for loud noise to try to distract any fights.

If on lead, he does the same - throws himself on the ground and crawls towards the other dog. If the other owner looks okay with it I try to keep a loose lead and let the dogs meet, but he still tries to dominate. If the owner is unhappy I have to keep Loki away from their dog - then he starts barking and lunging.

I have bought a hali (hate it btw!) as the pulling is unbelievable. Even stop-start-changing direction isn't working now. Unfortunately he's worked out how to slip the halti off his nose but I am persevering.

I have decided to only let him run loose in remote areas (he really needs to kick his heels) so he is going to get a long remote run in the morning, then I'm going to try a halti walk later on, and a long-line recall walk later on still.

We are really clamping down at home (he gets squirted with water if he humps us, absolutely no access to bedrooms, sit/down/stay before every single thing like going outside, food, games, lead - we instigate games and finish them, we instigate fuss and finish it).

I don't mind him being confident but what I would like would be either he is aloof to other dogs unless they challenge him, or just up for a game with any dog and only fights them if they challenge him. I hate him going up to other dogs and sticking his head over theirs, or his paw on their back.

A typical pushy young dog, feeling his oats and thinking the world belongs to him

You are doing the right thing with making him do something for whatever he wants. That should help him understand that you are the leader and it is to his benefit to listen to you. If he displays any dominant type of behaviour at home put a word on it as you correct it. E.g. if he tries to stand over you say "bossy" in an annoyed or warning voice, and then "off" or "no", whatever, and reward his compliance.

Sounds as though the fights are just mouthy brawls as no blood is shed, but there is always the possibility that he will pick the wrong dog one day and get a severe telling off I don't need to tell you that you really have to get his recall up to scratch so that he will obey even under extreme distraction. You need to practice recall dozens of times a day, especially on walks. Keep him on a line so that he never gets the chance to ignore you. Maybe go right back to basics and work up to the point where you can call him away from friendly play with another dog. If you can get to that stage then you can start calling him away when he spots another dog while he is on a long line. Lots of time, practice and patience to achieve that I'm afraid.

In the meantime, letting him run in remote secure areas, or keeping him on a long line when there is the possiblity of meeting other dogs is the only way to achieve peace of mind.

For distraction a 'rattle can' may be more convenient to take with you rather than a baking tray

If he does get into a fight then keep hands well away from mouths. Fighting dogs are too hyped up to distinguish your hand from the opponent's flesh. Picking up by the hind legs and 'wheel-barrowing' backwards is probably the best way to break it up, but you need one person for each dog and you still need to be extremely careful that the dog does not turn & bite.

For eveyone's safety get that recall going

PS - I am sure you are aware that this behaviour could become even more pronounced once he has been used at stud.

typical pushy young dog, feeling his oats and thinking the world belongs to him


Thanks SB for your words of wisdom.

I agree with SB, good post!

I would be cautious of using a dog aggressive dog at stud, its the last thing you want to pas on, especially in a breed that is so new and in development. If I had a dog aggressive dog, I would never use it at stud, whatever the breed. JMO.
Dawn.

That's a very good point Dawn. We haven't any immediate plans. He seems to be more dominant than aggressive. He never starts the growling or fighting ...

Well we've made a good start with the humping - every time he tried it he got a squirt of water and gave up eventually. AMAZINGLY he even got off the settee this morning when I told him to. TWICE! And the walk went really well - eventually. After about 20 mins of stop-start and lots of ah-ah's and "no pulling" and "walk nicely", and lots of treats when he walked nicely or came to me - he walked like a dream for the next 40 mins or so.
WAHAY!

Sound good, I reckon he will be fine.
Dawn.

I REALLY hope so. We'll have to work very hard at it.
Thanks for the advice.