Please help, were running out of options...

My husband and I adopted a 4 year old AKC Registered Malamute almost a year ago. When we adopted him his previous owner explained that he was a bit dog aggressive since they lived in a small apartment and had been bullied by a German Shepherd when he was about 2 and not properly socialized. At the time she failed to disclose that her ex had beaten and abused the dog, it wasn’t until he bit my hand the second day we had him that she told us this information.

Working with the dog was a real challenge at first but the mal soon became best friends with our wolf dog, they would play together for hours and became inseparable. His dog aggression had almost completely vanished and he was as sweet as can be. At around the 6 month mark the dogs started to have their tiffs for no apparent reason but then would go right back to being best buds. The tiffs have started becoming more and more frequent and both dogs have gotten their fair share of battle wounds, as well as my husband from trying to break them apart. In the past month the wolf dog has decided to stop listening to commands from us and completely avoids the mal.

We have tried to be patient and work with both dogs but nothing has helped, we have even started going to E-Collar training with the mal. We feel like we have tried everything with the mal but are afraid the wolf dog is going to be affected long term if something doesn’t change. My husband is at his wits end with the fighting and is ready to put the mal down. Someone please help!

Hello, and you sound to be in a nightmare situation. I am no expert in this sort of thing, and am sure that someone who is will be along before too long.

However I would say that E collar training is not something that most people on here would be happy with, to say the least. Are both dogs entire? If they are, the first step might be to neuter the least dominant one, and in the meantime keeping them apart whilst still able to see each other is probably sensible. (One in the kitchen, with a tall stair gate, for example).

For the moment, until you have a good training programme in place, avoiding confrontations is vital.

I am sorry for the dog fights, how old are your dogs now?

I would stop the ecollar lessons immediately. Dogs build up associations easily and dogs have been known to attack each other because of these collars being worn. I hope you have not gone to SMS because I'd do the opposite of recommending them after a friend of mine went to them for ecollar advice (she ended up being against the use of ecollars after she went to them).

What you need is a reputable behaviourist who doesn't use harsh methods. They may be able to look at your dogs and situation and work things out - for example if the problem is triggered by certain things.

However, if the problem is caused by hormones etc it may be harder to sort out, so still an assessment by someone reputable is best, esp. if your husband is considering euthanasia. You will never know unless you try this route whether or not he can be helped. I hope he can.

Sometimes aggression can be caused by medical issues which aren't spotted so sometimes I'd also recommend a vet visit and full check over.

Wys
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We are doing training with a reputable organization that has worked with police and military dogs. Our mal who is fixed is 5 now
and the wolf dog is 2.

You do not mention the age of the other dog or their status eg entire/neutered.

Has your vet given the dog the all clear? Have you asked for a referral to a reputable certified behaviourist?

This would be the best option I think so that the underlying causes could be identified and a behaviourial modification plan put in place (if appropriate).

I a not sure if or how e collar training would assist in this scenario?

In fact I would hazard a guess that it would only exacerbate the situation due to many reasons.

It may be that your environment is not suited to this particular indidividual dog and that it may do better elsewhere eg as an only dog or it may be that he has something wrong with him.

Either way, you need professional help and advice and I would urge you to contact a source as soon as possible.

I would totally agree with the above.

Either one of the dogs could have some underlying problem you are not aware of so a visit to the vet would be my first port of call, then a refereal to a qualified trained behaviouist would be next.

You sound really upset and I feel for you, this cannot be an easy situation to handle for either of you and your emotional state won't help matter either.

So getting an expert in who can guide you and give you the tools you need to handle the situation will make you feel more confident.

I hope it all works out for you and you can solve the problem xx

Are both dogs male?
Your research should have warned you thatMalmutes are very often anti social with other dogs of the same sex, they are more tolerant of youngsters but your other dog is now mature.

I would keep them apart, many malamute owners live this way.
It is a breed trait which yours clearly has and is also a learned behaviour.

Is he crate trained?
They may be ok on walks but I would never trust loose at home.

To be honest, police and military dog training is not always the best thing. I am never impressed by this alone, only by how they actually train. If they are using ecollars (esp, without suggesting a vet check etc) then I'd not be touching them if I am honest.

We have some great police/ex police trainers here in the Uk but the style of military training which the traditional ways are based upon was very harsh, some still base their methods on these old traditional ways which include choke chains, prongs, harsh corrections etc.

Independent breeds especially willnot respond very well to these methods...

Dr Ian Dunbar had Malamutes and he is well known for his reward based methods of training . You may enjoy going to Dog Star Daily which has a lot of training info on it by many different top trainers both US and UK.

Also try this, this is the website of one of the UKs top trainers/behaviourists, he is ex police instructor/trainer and does not recommend ecollars The info won't necessarily help with the problem directly but I hope it wil lshow that top trainers from police etc don't always approve of the harsher methods.

http://www.dog-secrets.co.uk/

http://www.dogstardaily.com/

http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/dog-aggression-FAQs

http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die

Out of interest, how is the ecollar meant to work to help this problem between your dogs? Is it about obedience training using the collar? I've seen several ways and one on line course with videos and I've been disturbed at the body language etc of the dogs in the vids.....

I do appreciate it is very hard to know what to do when you are at your wits end...

Wys
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Good post, it could be as simple as this .. in which case it will be very hard to alter and perhaps rehoming would be best?

Wys
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