OK, Stan Rawlinson. You can google him, i would advise this I would be trying the APDT, APBC, UKRCB, CFBA

Then you may be accidentally teaching your dog to be have a go at others thru defensive handling???

This is a half check, and while isnt a bad piece of equipment per se, is perfect for sending your dog the wrong signals if you are defensive handling thru your own tension.
We are talking about the crossbreed, not the lurcher, right? A good fitting wide collar shoudnt slip off. Canac and Ancol collars are good. Good choice re the rattle bottle.

Dogs Trust do employ full time trainers and behaviourists.
They are employed to assess and train dogs in their centres, so they may have a good training history for your dog? Also, they are employed to help owners like yourself. I guess they would feel sad not knowing your are needing their support. I work for a rescue, i know i would feel this way. I would give them a call, especially as the cost would be much cheaper.

Then i would still advise as I did earlier, pick a new place or new time when you wont meet the sort of dogs that set him off. You need to go back a few steps and re-introduce him to dogs slowly. You really do need to get yourself involved with a good trainer that can use stooge dogs, if you cant arrange his doggie friends yourself. Maybe the
DT can help with this?

It is good you have worked out his comfort zone. If he flies at dogs at 6 feet away, then you need to start working on him at minimum of 7 feet away, even more. this is when you start your treat training and watch me commands. Base this on his language of calming signals, dont wait until he shows any stronger language.



I might be wrong here, but my instinct still tells me that if you have a wound up dog, then getting him to do energising and exciting things like ball chasing and agility might keep his adrenaline and arousal levels higher, making him most likely to react to other dogs. Its not like your agility club where he feels secure as he knows its a controlled environment.

I feel you need to focus everything that calms his mind and hormone levels, such as clicker training, sniffing the ground and other calming signals.

I'm a bit behind with the thread but you seem to have good gut feelings where your dog is concerned.

What many people don't realise or consider (because they're not used to thinking about behaviour in an in depth way) is that dogs adapt - and I suspect very strongly that your dog has adapted his behaviour to suit - ie he has worked that "looking dominant" "works" better for him than appearing submissive. I bet he gave off submissive signals to the 2 staffies who did not take any notice, and he's since trialled and practised subtly and very fast, and has worked out that the "I'm bigger and stronger and more aggressive than you" stance may work better.

It is therefore correct to say that sometimes a dog who appears very aggressive/"dominant" may just be desperately trying to scare the other dog/s away first, and may be so adept at it that we only see anger/fury/aggression/"dominance" etc

There is some info on this in James O Heare's books on aggression (he is a reputable behaviourist in the US who specialises in aggression in dogs).

There may be several reasons he doens't do this at agility, perhaps (and I'm guessing as there could be many explanations) because he is overwhelmed by there being so many dogs, so chooses to not "display" because of this, or perhaps because he is in a confident state of mind there due to his associating the place with happiness and enjoyment and perhaps never having had any altercations?

(I know of an owner of a very dog aggressive gsd who took him to a dog show and he did not show any aggression at all to any dog, although she didnt' get him close to any, but continued to do it away from the showground).

I actually saw my own dog some years ago literally try out several postures on walks after being attacked a few times, and this was within only 4 or so days I hope this may explain what seems to be happening He may also feel that "attack" is the best form of defence esp. now he is older and has the confidence of being more mature.

I would certainly get in touch with the DT behaviourists, if you are concerned about their resources you could always offer to help out or donate something? although I'm sure that's not necessary

Wys
x

Well all I can say is - I won`t be offended at you saying I`ve got half a brain if you don`t be offended if I don`t buy into the Cesar Milan speak.
OK?

thank you for your advice, I will take it on board.

I to have recently taken on a dog from a breeding kennel, a neapolitain mastiff, a mistake of that magnitude could mean the rescue would never be able to home her,
again thanks for the advice.
and here is some in return.

possibly your rush to do things is where your falling on your face with your new dog, it could take years or months to sort him out, go at the pace that suits the dog, not the one you want.

Do you think the DT would still help 4 years later? When we got him, he was a stray and hadn't been assessed but we were prepared to deal with any problems as we have no children to worry about and had no other dogs at the time.
Wysiwyg, that's exactly what i think happened although it started before that but it's taken a year to get him back to how he was before the attacks.
Krusewalker, thankyou for all your great replies! We do only prractice the agility in an open field where we know there will be no other dogs. We changed the place that we walk from the local park where he has had a few altercations to a field where we only see a few other dogs and it's much more open so he can see further which seems to calm him. I am re-reading all replies to try and take in the things I've undoubtably missed!

may I just add, below is what C&D said.
boxer boy, again you should take your own advice,

C&D's post reads to me like she has had the dog for two years now, she didnt say it took two years to get the dog to a normal level.

Yes, DT will help you throughout the life of your dog. There advice and training is all free as well. Hope they can give you some help x

Hello agin, just to add some more to addle your brain!

Your changes of routine sound wise, especially picking a place where you can see better.

I would recommend you put him back on a horse style long lunge line, especially of other dogs are about - this is NOT a flexi-lead:
I would practice using this in your garden first, and wear gloves! As it takes some practice feeding and trailing the lead. You can have it also trailing on the ground, but tie knots every foot, so then you can stand on it quickly without it upending you!

The advantages of this:

1) You can control all his training and movements
2) He cant fight - if he keeps fighting he is getting opportunity to repeat the unwanted behaviour, which he then finds rewarding due to the adrenaline, and a successful tactic if gets rid of dogs
3) He can be pulled away in an emergency
4) you wont risk making other dogs nervous, or risk undoing the work that other owners may be doing with their nervous dogs.
5) You wont risk undoing all your own good work
6) You wont risk getting prosecuted under the Dangerous Dogs Act if you avoid him getting into fights.

Sorry for rushed way i have posted, am eating dinner!

IMO you just can't rush some things, if you try to then it only sets you back. It has taken me 3 years to get where I am with Maddy, the first year I rushed it and that set us back worse than she was to start with as I had only been ingraining her behaviour and not improving it. I have seen a vast improvement in her by taking things slowly. She is now 'fairly' normal.

But then i'm not behaviourist so what would I know? Although it has to be said that I had 2 behaviourists assess her only to tell me things I already knew and was already doing so I can't be that stupid?

You certainly can't be stupid! To have made that much improvement you must know enough!
I have got a long training line, I hate flexis as there is no control and they seem to teach the dog to pull!
He is fine if the other dog ingnores him, but my other dog is very friendly and wants to play all the time. When she is with a dog, he seems to need to proterct hre and rushes in barking. Sometimes he will almost join in the game and does his excited bark, but the other dog usually gets confused (understandably!) and won't play.
Re the DDA, I have been led to believe that it doesn't apply to dog/dog aggression. When Dan got attacked the 2nd time (same 2 staffs) I ranrgrr trherrr police as the 11 yera old children walking them actually set them on mine and Myrtle was only 6 months old at the time. The police said they couldn't do a lot as it was only dog on dog.