When my dog decided to play up when I went to put her in her crate. She would make it into a catch me if you can game, and if I reached for her collar she would threaten to nip me.

I would use a piece of the plastic dog fence I have to push her into her crate. It kept my fingers out of the way and I could put her away quickly in a calm controlled way. She no longer threatens to nip but will try to avoid going in to her crate sometimes unless tired.

But my dog is 18 months and I have only had her 7 months.

How old is your dog?

I really wouldn't recommend pushing a dog around with a bit of fence like this. By doing this you are only dealing with the symptoms (nipping etc) of the actual problem. It would be much better for you and the dog if you could find a more positive solution. I really think you need to try to understand things from the dogs point of view and then modify your behaviour to influence how much she wants to do things for you.

I find it strange that the dog has only recently started to behave like this after being reasonably good for five years with the same owners? have you had his thyroid checked? thyroid problems can cause, aggression where is wasnt before, appitite changes, coat changes, behaviour changes, if the thyroid is ok, as already mentioned the NILIF (nothing in life is free) programme may help, make the dog work for everything,

Mo

Yes, that is the interesting part, if the dog really was good for five years why change now Could it be he / she has detected a weakening of the leadership and is getting ready to make a bid for 'pack leader'

I agree with Mo, I missed you saying he was five.

What other training has this dog had? Does he walk well onlead, recall, behave off lead etc. ? Also, do you do any training in the house?

Sorry - i dont mean to interrupt or change the subject ....

i just want to ask quickly why some of you are against Ceasar? Ive seen many of his shows and I know he does sort of hit the dogs (although Im still not sure exactly what he is doing) but it never seemed mean or violent in anyway to me.

Im always amazed at how quickly he can turn a dog around. None of his methods have worked for me really... but thats because I really dont get exactly what hes doing most of the time.

I realise this may be a little controversial, because there are some very strong feelings about around the subject of neutering on this forum; but could this be a testosterone based problem? The aggression towards other male dogs seems to be a little telling. Just a thought...

I would have thought if it was just a testosterone ruled problem it would have raised its ugly head before now? normally it would have happened when the dog was reaching adulthood which is normally about the 18 months 2years sort of time, rather than over 5 years of age, although I will accept it could be the problem, but I personally have my doubts.

Mo

I agree entirely with what you have said. This problem may have been creeping up gradually over a period of time It's possible that only now that it's become intolerable have the owners realised there is a problem.