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Post by Am on May 10, 2005 22:32:16 GMT -5
Ok, so last night Monsta and I were at our PP agility class. For those of you who don't know, my boy has dog-aggression problems - we stay on a leash in class, and try to avoid the other cocky dogs.
After the class I ended up talking to the head instructor about dog aggression.
She suggested that I praise Monsta when he was interacting nicely with other dogs, and ignore him when he was not.
She then brought out two dogs to introduce to Monsta (one de-sexed female and one entire female). He greeted both of them on his tip-toes, staring directly at them, with his tail right up and his ears slightly back.
She told me to praise him for this behaviour, because he wasn't actually growling at them.
I have a problem with this. As far as I can see, he was displaying rude and dominant body language. Although this encounter with the female dogs didn't end in a fight, there probably would have been a fight if he'd greeted another confident male dog this way. I don't think I should be praising him for that, because I don't want him thinking that I approve of that way of greeting strange dogs.
So, what I'm asking is - what do you guys think? Should I obey my instructor and reinforce him every time he has an encounter with another dog that doesn't end in a fight, no matter how rudely he's acted? Or do I only reward him when he greets other dogs politely (which honestly isn't very often).
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Post by Laura on May 11, 2005 14:22:33 GMT -5
Egads, I don't wish to be rude, but that trainer could fit her knowledge of dog behavior on the head of a pin and still have room for angels to dance . And what will ignoring his crappy behavior teach him when he's trying to shred another dogs face off? That certainly isn't fair to Monsta, he has no parameters to work within. He may not have been growling, but his body posture was telling you that his threshold was being breached, you were absolutely correct in your determination that he was acting like a snot. The trick is to catch him BEFORE he hits that point of aggression, not after, and certainly not during. By all means, praise him when he's relaxed around other dogs, but do not tolerate him acting like a bonehead ;D. This goes back to genetics and management, you can't change the genetics, but you can manage them.
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Post by Am on May 11, 2005 15:58:49 GMT -5
Thanks Laura! It's nice to know that my instincts about that weren't too far off. Another question - I'd correct him for belly growling at the strange dogs. Should I correct him for rude greeting behaviour too? My problem is that when he meets other dogs, he's always rude! So I'm worried that if I correct him just for being rude, he might get confused and think that he just gets corrected whenever he meets strange dogs. That might make him even more aggressive towards them, since every time he meets a strange dog, he gets a correction. Is it possible to teach him to give polite greeting behaviour to other dogs on command, so that I have something concrete to positively reinforce him for? Or if he's being rude, should I just remove him from the situation? But on the other hand, wouldn't that be reinforcing his rude behaviour? Aargh. (That was more than one question... sorry!)
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Post by Laura on May 11, 2005 21:52:14 GMT -5
Part of Monsta's problem is just a lack of social graces, as it were. He really hasn't quite gotten it that there's no need for defensive posturing when around other dogs. Which means NO displays of testosterone fueled nonsense ;D. So correcting him when he "belly growls" is ok, the trick is to match the level correction to the transgression. When he starts to grumble, a slight collar pop should be all that necessary to refocus him. Tippytoes and ears pulled back, a little harder. Hackles up and snarling should be met with a strong pop, and an immediate redirective command. Basically, you don't swat a fly with a sledgehammer, use the right level for the right circumstance . And most importantly, watch how YOU react to him when he does get pissy. A calm, almost emotionless handler will always have better control over their dog than one who is nervous and unsure, it's a leadership thang ;D, and the dog knows it.
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