Dog Behaviour Advice - Dog Advice Articles

High Noon for Winston.

This week I received another telephone call relating to dog-to-dog aggression from some people that were going to purchase a property here in Spain. The previous owner had a very large Rottweiler cross that appeared aggressive to any dogs it met outside of its own territory. They said he previously lived with other dogs but if they could solve this aggression, they would be willing to adopt him as the owner was going to have to return him to the local dog shelter.

Going from their description, this dog sounded very large indeed and his weight was twice that of Winston. In addition, he sounded very aggressive and with so much strength, he was able to pull the current owners over when he set off after another dog.

This is not the first dog on the Spanish Dangerous dogs list that Winston has met with similar problems. This one though, certainly sounded the heaviest and meanest to date so we arranged that they came to see us at Noon on the following Wednesday.

The day before, I set out all my safety ropes and checked all the knots attached to the carabineers. I also checked Winston’s harness and set everything ready. I must say that this particular meeting did have me worried. As for Winston, I just wondered if he would be asking for more pay or would wish to look for safer employment.

As Winston lived the first two and a half years in a dog shelter, he knows all the doggy language of how to meet and get along with new dogs as they came and went in his run. He is also a powerful and agile dog so another that does try to attack him he can easily get out of their way. Normally he only wishes to meet and play with them. These are his skills that are so useful in the work that he does.

Now he is over six, he is beginning to slow down. Still his continuing willingness to meet and help so many other dogs whose owners had misdiagnosed theirs as dangerously aggressive. They were unaware that it was their anxiety and restricting their dogs instead of socialising them, that was the problem. The question though is how many people are willing to allow their dog to do the same, just for teaching sociability. Any sort of ordinary meeting is fraught with potential danger and not something worth the risk.

Some trainers often run what we call Growl Classes. This is where you can have muzzled aggressive dogs in order to teach them how to interact with one another. Once they quieten down enough they can go into a normal obedience training class. Sometimes in some classes, handlers have a dog fastened by a rope whilst the dog is on a slack strong lead. The dog is in the sit position next to the handler so that as a dog walks by, but out of reach, their owner corrects them if it makes any aggressive moves. It is important the lead remains slack. Any tension on the lead only makes them more aggressive. This means that the handler is teaching the dog they will not accept its aggressive behaviour. With practice, it will calm down. Again once calm, it will be able to enter a normal obedience Class.

I do stress the importance of using a muzzle for protection. I also recommend taping up the dog’s front dewclaws. These two safety measures effectively holster the dog’s two most damaging weapons. I know that many people, even when they know they have an aggressive dog, refuse ever to use such a piece of training equipment. Nevertheless, in the interests of safety, they are very necessary. For dogs registered under the Dangerous Dogs list, they are mandatory, along with the extra control and third party liability.

For such meetings I have to consider all the things that could go wrong. If for instance, a knot came undone or the owner or I fell over, the dog could become free. The resulting dogfight could be catastrophic. This is certainly the case when dealing with the larger and more powerful breeds.

Therefore, it was for this occasion that I set out all the lines so there was just a dog’s length overlap at one point. I further checked that all the equipment would take the potential strain of a dog using its full power to lunge at Winston.

At about forty minutes before they arrived, they called me to ask if I was still keeping to the appointment, as it was almost torrential rain. For me this was acceptable as most dogs do not like being out in the rain and they are less likely to fight. Usually I keep some buckets of water handy for the same reason.

I placed Winston’s harness on him and rigged him up ready for attaching him to the safety rope. I then placed him in the puppy run and waited for the dog to arrive.

Noon arrived and the owners drove into the garden. Winston was barking and wagging his tale as normal, but the good sign was the dog in the car did not make a noise at all. This even surprised the owners, as they were certain that seeing Winston he would show aggression towards him.

After some ten minutes talking, I asked them to get him out of the car on his lead. I placed my remote citronella collar on him but his head and neck were so big, it was tight on him.

Even though he could see Winston, he made no aggressive moves towards him at all. Looking at this dog, he was indeed huge. A lot of it though I think was allowing the dog to become overweight by the previous owner. This though was also an advantage as it meant the dog would not be as agile. Trying to move such bulk would offer Winston some defence. I took the dog for a walk into the training fields and I threw the ball for him. He did try to chase after it, but he was not able to accelerate well because of his excess weight.

After his bit of exercise, I brought him back and tried to put Winston’s muzzle on him, but his head was too big so I had to find another. I then fastened him to his safety line and the husband held his lead. I brought out Winston from the puppy run on his lead and placed his muzzle on him. I then attached him to the safety line and placed a knot in the rope so that the dogs could never reach one another for the moment. I then held Winston’s lead and let them look at each other. At first, the Rottweiler made some aggressive lunges and growls but the compressed air did make him back off.

Eventually after a few more attempts of aggression, he calmed down and I let out some of Winston’s line so that they could actually meet. Again, a few more aggressive growls and then with Winston’s line fully out, they could meet head to tail. Now the Rottweiler started to sniff at Winston who did not have any of his heckles raised. His tail was wagging all the time and he stood there as good as gold as this huge dog sniffed at him.

After that, with no more aggressive moves, I released both Winston and the Rottweiler from their lines. Still both muzzled I let Winston drag his lead on the ground whilst I held the Rottweilers. We then commenced walking in the training fields. Again, with no further signs of aggression, I was soon able to let the Rottweiler drag his lead also and though they never played, they did walk together without any problems.

I must always assume that such meetings, the problem could be one of major aggression. For this reason, I take as many precautions in order to protect both dogs from injury whilst Winston tries to make the other dog meet him and learn he means him no harm. This is what he does well.

Now the owners have seen for themselves that their dog can learn to meet others and not to fight. They must now continue their dog’s sociability training at a more convenient dog training school that will offer growl classes.

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