Fear aggression success stories please

Now don't get me wrong, I love Cain to bits, I really do but goodness me is he a handful and a half! It'd not his fault. He had five different homes in the first 7 months of his life, was locked away abs unsocialised, abused by a man and bullied by another male dog. As such he has naturally developed fear aggression. His breed mix, GSD x Akita, doesn't really help as both are natural guard digs with a wariness of strangers. He was totally unsocialised in the vital period and has no idea how to interact properly with other dogs. He's either scared and defensive or over exited and pounds them with his paws or jumps on them...not good when he weighs 40kg!!!!

We have made massive progress in the 4 months we have had him. He is a million times better with men and will let most strangers stroke him. Unfortunately he does take random dislikes to some people for no apparent reason. He'll suddenly lunge, jump toward their face and growl. He's never shown any indication that he would bite, it Serbs to be the "I'm a big Shepherd jessie so I'm going to act big and hard and scare you off before you hurt me". I think it's all show, however i've always had him under enough control that he wouldn't get close enough to bite.

I always walk him on a halti. Initially it was because he pulled like a train and I physically couldn't walk him. I've been training him and he can do beautiful heelwork when he outs his mind to it, however if he lunges on the collar I cannot hold him. So for now I will continue to train him on the collar in quiet areas but always use a halti around people and digs so I can control him if he lunges.

He is improving around dogs but some dogs react badly to him, probably because he gives off nervous vibes. Play can get out of hand and suddenly he'll get scared and growly. He's on a strict slow exposure regime, trying to pull him out on a positive note and picking only friendly calm dogs. He cannot handle Labs, just too wiggly, it freaks him out!!!

We hav made massive progress, I know we have. But it feels like ever time I think we're getting somewhere, he'll randomly lunge. Like at dog training the other day he met a dog trainer who he met once before and was fine. She approached him properly, he let her oat him then without warning lunged up and growled. He's never dive that before, once a person has made physical contact and he knows they won't hurt him he's always been ok. I pulled him out, she got some treats and fed him then he was ok. But the whole episode threw me and it was something he'd never done before and I don't know what upset him so much. He has a DAP collar and turns into a lundy monster without it, it really helps him cope, but he had a fresh collar on do it wasn't that. I've ordered him some Bach's fear aggression drops to see if they help.

I just can't see me ever walking him off lead like a normal dog. I couldn't trust him. Worst vase senario he'd attack another dig or maybe a random person, best case he'd jump on a small child or flattern some poor other dog in play. He goes to training classes and out dog trainer walks him 3 days a week and is pleased with his progress, he thinks we will get him off lead one day. I hope we will but it just doesn't seem possible.

I need to hear some inspiring stories. I don't care if it take two years before I can trust him off lead, just to know it can be done, one day, would be enough. We ate giving h patience, love and time and just crossing our fingers that one day it'll pay off! I really dont expect too much from him too soon, I know it'd a long process, I just need to hear some positive tales.

So please tell me about your fear aggressive dogs, I'm sure there are worse cases than Cain, and how did they turn out in the end?

My dream is for Cain to be a PAT dog.....one day.......maybe not, bur it seems like a nice goal

Apologies for some funny typos. I typed this on my iPhone and it's put in some strange predictive text words. It's difficult to edit on the phone. Sorry!

I dont think we could be called a sucess story yet but we are a little further down the line than you
Mia was found as a stray and taken to the pound
When I got her she was v skinny, pretty sure the only training she had was to be hit and I doubt she had ever been on a lead in her life
She pulled like mad - B used to say walking her was like flying a crazy kite
She attacked Ben and bullied him constantly, she SCREAMED at any dog shaped shadow on the horizon, up on her back legs going totaly mental
Offlead - when I was brave enough to try it she was constantly racing off with a wee growl to check if there was anything that needed shouted at
She was so independent she just didnt care if I was there or not

She is not fixed by any means but 18 months on and
on good days she can walk with a strange dog the other side of the road, she can do tricks when there are dogs about (like at an agility show) I have her offlead every day - I have had to find places where she is calm and happy and meets nice dogs but she can get a good run
She has a recal
She can walk nicely on the lead
I actually just bought a halti and it arrived today - just to give me control if we end up in a croud we cant get out of so I can control her head and hopefully stop her barking up to a frenzy

There are bad days when she seems to be barking at everything, stressed and on the lookout for a fight

But I have to remember that every day used to be a bad day!
Today I had her in pets at home - happily prancing about and even looking at the rabbits without needing to scream at them
In the garden this afternoon there were dogs barking outside, she gave a little bark and turned back to me - no screaming!!

We still have a long way to go, but her progress is amazing!

(oh and she loves Ben now, she brings him toys for him to play with and if he has a chew she wants she does tricks for him )

My Shamus Pointer was terrified of big men, anyone standing behind him and dogs bigger than he was, plus entire males. After 3 years he`s as normal as a dippy GSP gets. I still have to recall him sometimes when I see a Boxer or Mastiff cos he`s breedist.
Hang on in there - it gets better, eventually.

My Kerry Blue female Cherry (now 9) was a right little bod as she used to be very fear reactive to other dogs being anywhere near her. She would jump up and down on her lead and scream. Very embarrassing!

We had crap advice first from a dog trainer who told me to shake her when she behaved badly near other dogs (!) but when we went on to positive methods of her coping with other dogs being near she improved (clicker and small pieces of cheese/sausage).

She is still frightened of large bouncy dogs and I still have to walk her on a flexi-lead but she is very good now as she will greet small dogs nicely and ignore large dogs as long as they don't charge up to her. I stop them doing this with a pet corrector spray as unfair of people to let their dogs do this to her as she gets very scared and stressed especially now she is waiting to have a cataract operation.

So, no-I can never have her off-lead behaving like a normal dog like Parker my other Kerry but yes she has improved and compared to what she used to be like is amazingly good.

This time eighteen months ago we thought Clifford would have to be rehomed elsewhere. Walks were a nightmare. It had got to the stage where he was going for (in a non-biting but very scarey way)most dogs he encountered. It had been made much worse by a bloke who tried to help us by overexposing him to even more dogs and then flinging a muzzle at us and telling us he was a lost cause. I couldn't imagine every having a laid back off-lead walk ever again.
Of course my tension had got worse and worse and we were feeding off eachother.
But I started to work on protecting him from what he was scared of, so he didnt have to 'sort out' those puppies and rude dogs. I started by keeping him alternately on short lead and a trailing line, rewarded all social play with his friends, got his recall sorted, and his down. For months I walked round the edge of the park and thought that was the best that would ever happen. But things dramatically improved.
I also learnt to confidentally tell people to keep their dog or puppy away if I had to.
He is now off lead on his park walks, mixes with dogs well- but I am vigilant in case a rude dog or puppy makes a nuisance of itself. They have sometimes but he has not gone for them or had any incident for a year.
He has developed a proper body language to show his discomfort that other dogs recognise and I'm no longer afraid of shouting to someone if their dog is annoying him.
I never thought we would get to this stage but we have.
At easter we stayed in a dog friendly b and b in weymouth where there were other dogs. Clifford didnt mix with them but saw them , but later was free and sociable on the beach. THe year before we had thought, if only he was one of those dogs that could go on the beach.
If there was a key word in this it was determination. We had to take control of his and our lives from the so called behaviourist who had just undermined our confidence and made us feel helpless and stupid.
But we had good internet support from a lady who had gone through the same thing and from a rescue centre worker who had seen it all.
Good luck!

I had the very same thing with my gsd when she was growing up, and at the time, I put it down to those "fear" periods. It got just as scarey as your dog's sudden outbursts quite honestly on occasions too!

I would take her up to my mum's care home from the age of about 5 months, and some days she'd walk in there, tail wagging, sit nicely, let people stroke her, and then I'd stand there chatting and she'd suddenly lunge at one of the male carers or even a female WHY? who knows! I had male friends coming to the house for early breakfasts before they went off for the day racing with my hubby, and we did everything right at the back door, and she was fine, even went off and laid down and ignored them, THEN an hour into them being here, I was chatting in the kitchen to one of them and she suddenly started her manic barking at him as if he was an intruder This would also happen with brother-in-law in her earlier days too, and no matter how I tried to calm the situation, nothing seemed to work, so to me, she became "unpredictable" which isn't good when you've got a young gsd about to approach the teenage stage.

One day, I had walked with a friend for a whole hour in the woods with her old lab, and my dog was fine with her. We finished the walk, and decided to pop into that care home again where my mum was, and she came with me. She was stood at the foot of the bed and mum was in her chair and Zena was leaning over my mum giving her kisses. I pulled her off and made her lie down. Then this friend of mine went over to my mum, bent over her and gave her a kiss, turned around and Zena was there, so she went to give her a stroke, but she "thinks" she got down on the floor, and Zena went berserk at her, barking and lungeing at her (I still had her onlead thank God!).

Anyhooo, that was all a very long time ago, coz this dog is now 19 months old or thereabouts, and have to say, she is absolutely fine with everybody, even MEN, who she didn't like at all last year, and although I will never say never, at least I know that now I am in total control of her, she would listen if I objected to any of her outbursts (I think, I hope, coz it just hasn't happened since!). I suppose the bottom line is, because of what has happened in the past, it's made me a lot more aware of her capabilities, so everyone that comes here is told to ignore her until SHE is ready to go up to them and it works. The other morning I had two police officers call at the house, and the top half of the stable door was open, and Zena was doing her usual barking with her feet stuck on the top of the door, and the lady policewoman, just put her hand nonchalently over that door Zena sniffed it, then licked it and dropped off the door and was quiet! They're strange creatures these gsd's aren't they!!! This is a first for me with situations like I had, and Zena is my 8th shepherd!

I went to meet my breeder last week-end at a big show (she does obedience), and met my current dog's sister, and as I greeted her, I did it all properly, just like your trainer did with your dog, and yet she backed off, barked and growled, but I wasn't scared (I have her sister remember!), so I got down on the floor, spoke to her gently and she came to me and kissed me. So don't think anything you are doing is wrong, this dog is owned by an obedience trainer, she has many dogs, she's well used to shepherds and yet this happened! Personally, I think your dog has a lot going on in it's head, maybe time will cure it, maybe more training, who knows, I just wish you luck, I have experience of what you went through, but I can't tell you what I've done to cure it, it's just sort of happened! Good luck to you, keep up the good work, let's hope you get a turn around like I have.

The other morning I had a delivery man arrive, and unbeknown to me, I thought we were alone on our driveway, but I'd left the french doors open and Zena came zooming out, yelling and barking at him, and I yelled at her, he did the RIGHT thing, he just stood there and held out his hand (he was probably frozen to the spot poor man!!!), and Zena hesitantly went over to his hand and sniffed it then licked it, and came running over to me coz I was saying "cheese" in the bootroom so I could shut her away in there! Phew! Then another delivery man actually wanted to meet her coz he had shepherd, so I let her out, armed him suitably with some cheese, and within 20 seconds he was playing ball out there with her! You see, it CAN be done, just keep working on it!

Hi,

I had something similar with Zane when he was growing up. Now he's training to be an assistance dog, is going to be PAT tested and can go offlead (has been able to for a loingtime now) whether there are other dogs about or not.

As a young pup he was quite skittish. It was obvious he wanted to say hello and be sociable but there was somethign stopping him every time. And he woudl do the lunging and barking to show he was a big tough GSD before anyone else could say or do anything. Typical big wimp!

It's already been said in previous posts - you have to have the determination to work with him every day. Expose him only slowly with things that YOU are comfortabe with. If you're not happy about something, go back a step and reinforce what he already knows. This way, he's less like;ly to feed off you if you get nervous.

Now Zane is a very calm, gently dog. Having said that, if he sees another dog he knows he can play with, he loves the splat game and at almost 60Kg, he's quite a lump. He also still thinks he can sit on my lap in the evening!

You need patience, determination and to persevere. Let Cain do things at his own pace and if things aren't going quite as planned, take a step back and do it again. There's no time limit (unless you set yourself one) and to be PAT tested is an excellent goal to work towards.

Good luck.

Laura xx

DONT have him neutered.

I wrote a thread a while ago now about my two dogs, and how far Honey has come its too long to copy or to write out again so I'll just link to it

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=120241

(just ignore all of the spelling mistakes )

I think that the most important things that you can do for a dog with Fear Aggression is just give them as much time as you can, set them up as much as you can for success, learn how to read their body langauge, learn how you can affect them, good and bad. The worst thing you can do though IMO is pull or tug at the lead of a dog before it goes into attack if it does, Honey is more vocal, but if you pull a lead that can trigger the dog to explode with all them emotions inside.

Never give up hope that you can help Cain, with hard work you can, but never forget that even if he goes six months to a year without an episode (in the future, fingers crossed he will), you can never fully trust him not to react either