URGENT help/advice needed! (recall; dog-dog aggression; growled at person))

morning all,

as some of you know i recently got another springer. he's 5 years old and entire. he's been brilliant in the house, car, garden etc. not had any probs with him and my other springer girl bronte. as he pulls like a steam train on the lead i have been letting him off it (well letting a long lead trail behind him), and i have found he just shoots off like a bat out of hell! he just disappears from sight. when you call him back he either just ignores you or sometimes might look back, but just carries on running. if he's near enough to you and you can get his attention he'll just wait or come over to you. we practice re-call in the house and garden and he's fine, just comes back straight away, just seems to be when he's out! yesterday he was off his lead and we were nearing the end of our walk and he ran off. i asked a couple of people to keep their eyes open for him. i took bronte home, and headed off out again to look for him. as i was getting to where we were, one of the people i'd asked to keep their eyes open had him on the lead. the guy was very upset and called sam evil, he said he'd attacked his yorkshire terrier. the guy said he kicked sam to let go, but he wouldnt, said he was shaking him like a rag doll. i was very upset to hear this. the other day while we were out on the lead, he had a go at another dog (a pug). he seems to be fine with bitches and castrated males, but entire dogs its obviously a different story. now, do i work on him and shell out having him castrated (which i was anyway), have a trainer come over and sort his re-call etc out, or should i just send him back to the rescue place before i get too attached!??? any advice would be welcome as i want the best for him and me!!

1) Don't panic
2) Don't let him off lead again
3) Get a head harness (eg a Canny Collar), or a no-pull body harness (eg the Walkezee)
4) Do more recall training. This article may help: http://www.dogweb.co.uk/talkdogs/tra...call_8049.html
5) Getting him castrated may help, but be prepared for the fact that the dog-aggressive behaviour may now be learned. If so the problem is between his ears, not between his legs. Work on desensitizing him.
6) Enrol in an obedience training class.
7) Don't hesitate to ask for help on Dogweb.
8 ) Don't panic.
9) Don't panic.

hi shadowboxer,

thanks for your advice. i have already enrolled him for obedience classes on wednesday night, so i will see how he gets on there. is this dog aggressive behaviour ever going to go away or am i always going to have to keep him on his lead? maybe thats why he goes so mad when hes let off? maybe his last owner never let him off? my partner has just text me to say sam growled at him this morning. i dont know why, so i'll just have to give him the benefit of the doubt. he has never growled at me or bronte. i also have a trainer coming, but she cant come til 3rd may. as i say he's very obedient in the house and garden, but just goes a bit possessed when he's out! cheers

Do you know what were the circumstances surrounding the growl? How did your partner react to the growl? Growling is a gift to us from the dog to let us know that he is unhappy about something. If a dog is punished for growling the behaviour may be suppressed but the unhappiness is still there and, if the dog feels that it cannot warn it may go straight for the bite.

I think Sam would perhaps benefit for the Nothing in Life is Free program: http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm This will help him to learn respect for you and your partner.

If Sam is aggressive only toward entire dogs then castration may indeed help as it does in a large percentage of cases, but it is no guarantee. Much depends on what is fueling the aggression.

I think you will always need to be careful with letting him off his lead. He is after all a hunting dog and even with good recall may become deaf to command should he scent or sight 'quarry'.

If you want to give him a long run, invest in a long lead, like a lunge rein for horses.
This way, you still have hold of him, but he can still run, and if another dog approaches, you can still pull him back.

Hi there,

at the moment i do use a horse lunge line on him, but he just pulls me all over the place! i have looked at the walkezee harness, would i be able to use the 2 together as i feel he needs to have a good run on a long line?

i have asked my partner what happened this morning and he said sam was on the settee and he asked him to get off. sam ignored him, so my OH put his hand on him to shove him off, thats when he growled. so my OH left him. i will see what happens tonight when i get in!

Yes....it wouold be safer for him to be on a harness on a long line than a collar, as when he gets to the 'end' of the line, his neck won't jerk.

My dog pulled like a steam train, and she's very strong (bullmastiff), but you still shouldn't let go of the lead!
The more they pull and you let them pull, the more you will do it!

Your partner did the correct thing. I would put a house line on him (don't leave it on when you are not there to supervise in case he gets caught up in something and injured). The line will enable you to control him/remove him from furniture without the risk of physical confrontation.

Get started with the NILIF program at once

Sounds as though he is probably a nice boy who has been allowed to get away with too much and needs to learn manners and boundaries

Sounds as though he is probably a nice boy who has been allowed to get away with too much and needs to learn manners and boundaries [/QUOTE]

sam is a lovely boy and i think you are right that he has been allowed to get away with too much. i hope i can give him the security and stability he needs though. like i said ive enrolled him in obedience classes starting on weds night and i have also got a trainer coming over next week, so hopefully with all this help we'll get through this. oh....and all the help from you guys at dogweb!!

ps...maybe i'm giving up on the little guy too soon eh??