Little Dog Attacks
 

So my maltese/shih tzu is 4 years old. He is so submissive with adults and children, never ever have i seen him aggressive around us. He is esentially a wuss. He runs from little dogs or will play with them until he gets too scared. BUT. He will in the most horrible, most aggressive way, ATTACK big dogs. These dogs can be as big as german sheppards, akitas, labs, etc. who would essentially kill him if they got the chance. SO i am wondering how to change this problem and stop my wussy dog from attacking the big guys???? Thoughts? Thank you

Sounds like fear aggression to me. He sees the big dogs as a threat so he attacks them before they can attack him. Unfortunately, he's probably going to run into a big dog that will retaliate sooner or later. Does this happen whenever he sees a big dog, or just if the big dog is on property that your dog considers his territory?

Can you tell us a bit more about the situations when your dog runs into these other dogs? (Is it off-leash, on-leash, same sidewalk, etc.)

What is your response to this?

What does your dog do, when you say that he eventually gets 'scared' of playing with little dogs?

How long have you had him?

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what kind of aggression or frustration is happening here, without seeing your dog in person. However dogs do not see one another for their size. They live in the moment, and react to the moment. To dogs, size means nothing. They don't "think" that they are big or little.
The large breeds you've stated can elicit an aggressive reaction in dogs with inter-dog aggression because of the way they look physically. (Pointy ears, etc.)

Interesting as I have another foster dog in a home (neighbour) that is having the same problem. I also am trying different tactics to remedy this problem but I cannot distract him. I have literally tried everything. I have changed collars, brought hotdogs, toys...I am running out of ideas. He is a 2 year old terrier/shih zsu.

I will be watching this thread closely since I also need to pick other's brains here. I am at a total lose.

So Pets gang.....how about some solutions and kill 2 birds with one stone.:thumbs up

I will not impose my situation in this thread but I am going to consult it frequently. :D

Hi - thank you for your responses. I have considered the fear aggression, and it makes the most sense. Thanks

A little more context for you: this happens when he is on-leash, off-leash (which doesn't happen often now because of this) - or when the dog is on his property. YOu name the situation, and it happens. He will actually run to the dog to attack it, not just if the dog gets in his face. I usually pull hard on his leash, say bad boy in a loud tone, and he gets the picture and will sulk all night, but I am not sure he understands why i am mad at him. I have had him since he was 12 weeks old so almost 4 years. When he is scared or afraid of the smaller dogs he will just sit and not move, roll on his back, or jump up on my legs wanting to be picked up like a child, sheltered from the dogs below. But if a big dog is there, he will growl and try and jump out of my arms to bite them. It makes no sense. I am thinking about a muzzle, because if a dog is just walking by minding his own business mattie will watch and then instant attack. Scary. I will look into how to help fear aggression...sounds like that is on the right track! Thoughts? Thank you so much!!

BenMax - I came across this during my research. Mattie was attacked when he was younger, not bitten, just scared and I think it might stem from that incident. Anyways, here is the info.
Thanks

Fear Aggression:

Fear aggression is a result of a dog acting out of fear of an event or another dog. Fear aggression is typically more difficult to break than dominance aggression because of the complexities of the causes. Suffice to say, one should approach fear aggression quite carefully, as dogs can be quite unpredictable when acting out of fear.

What causes fear aggression?

1. Poor socialization. If owners did not properly socialize their dog when he was a pup, he may be shy or nervous around a whole slew of things. That nervousness can lead to aggression.

2. Poor breeding. Some dogs, regardless of breed, can be born with "weak nerves" that make a dog more predisposed towards nervous behaviour. When working with a dog who has these weak nerves, progress can be made, however patience is a virtue. It can take a long time for a dog who is fearful of everything to come around.

3. Traumatic event. Sometimes a dog may be attacked when he is young and that may leave a lasting impression on him. This is often the case with pups who were attacked by other dogs. Intense socialization is often needed to help this dog recover (see Molly's "Tail")

4. Abuse. Sometimes dogs are aggressive out of fear of humans. This occurs most commonly in rescue dogs who have been saved from an abusive home. Anything could trigger the fear, whether it be a particular scent, noise, or article of clothing that someone wears.

Solutions:

1. Socializing. Whatever the dog is fearful of, steady, progressive socialization is the most important part of the cure.

2. Obedience Training. Obedience training helps build confidence in a dog as well as a lasting respect and deep trust for the owner. This helps a dog immensely in overcoming his fear.

3. Exercise. Exercise always helps! Regular exercise depletes some of the dog's nervous energy.

First off... Shih-tzuX :flirt::cloud9::lovestruck: I am :crazy: for 'em!

ok, now on to the the post...

Melei has the same issue, but her's is with all dogs. She loves cats, rabbits and ferrets. But not dogs. She is starting to improve, but she still goes rambo on them if they get anywhere near her butt.

We have been working on it alot, and one hint I can share is this...
Find a fence, a good open chainlink one. allow your little one to start smelling the other dog through the fence and move her away if she starts to show signs of going squirrly on you. if you watch her face you can usually see when the agression is going to start. most shihtzuX have [I]very[/I] [I]expressive[/I] faces. start with only a few seconds and build up the time she spends close to the other dog. and make sure to give lots of praise and lovies when she does it nicely. talking in a low soothing voice while she is sniffing the other dog can help too. Just don't make the [B]huge[/B] mistake I made soooo many times when I first got Melei and pick her up everytime another dog shows up. I took an small issue and turned it into a major problem because I did not know better at the time. :o
I find it is safer cause Melei can not sink any teeth in and the other dog can not respond too quickly for me to respond.
With more info, I might have more ideas for you both :)

I dunno about the fear aggression thing in this case. It really does not sound like classic fear aggression.
The larger dogs don't even have to be that close to him to elicit a reaction from what I'm reading (correct?).
Obviously he perceives them as a threat but I don't know if he's attacking from fear, necessarily. It sounds more like he's going into "protection" mode (think of a dog attacking an intruder that has broken into the house and is threatening the owner).
I would read more about working with dogs that have a strong protective instinct, rather than dogs that simply have fear aggression, this dog does not really fit the latter, IMO.
Perhaps from prior experience (you mentioned him being bitten when younger) he perceives the larger dogs as threats to himself and has family, elicited a strong attack. The problem is this was not addressed and redirected immediately.

I'm not really sure what specific advice to give you because your dog doesn't really fit the common scenarios as far as aggression goes. I think your best bet is having him assessed in person, there's going to be a lot of body language and environmental things involved that will need to be seen to start fixing the behavior.

You mentioned him literally trying to jump out of your arms trying to bite them. I would really try to avoid holding him in this situation since it's most likely making him think what he's doing is correct. Unless the other dog is on the verge of attacking him or something, leave him on the ground.

Have you tried the "look at me" command? You correct, redirect his attention to you and reward for his attention being averted. You have to start this first when you're not too close to the larger dogs and he's yet to go crazy trying to attack them. He so much as looks at them correct and redirect his attention. One of the problems with this is timing right, which is also why I'd suggest a trainer. When using rewards to redirect aggression you can accidentally reward the aggression itself if you're not shown exactly WHEN to reward.

The problem with you just saying "NO! BAD DOG!" after he's attacked is that he's already completed the act. It's like yelling at a dog after it had an accident on the floor, you need to catch just as they start to do it. If you say/do something too far afterward they're not going to know what they're being punished for. As a dog, he also expects YOU to take care of dangerous situations, so he's wondering why you've allowed this larger dog into your territory, allowed him to attack and are now punishing him after the act (obviously I'm anthropomorphizing a bit but I couldn't think of an easier way to explain it).
Once he's in attack mode you're too late on the correcting and training. It needs to be done as soon as his attention goes towards a dog you know is going to elicit the behavior. This is going to take a pretty firm grasp of dog body language, otherwise you're not going to know when to correct and redirect.

To expand on the protection theory...think of a dog that guards sheep. He sees a coyote off in the distance and it's his job to go after it and drive it off before it can get to the sheep. A dog in this instance isn't attacking out of fear. Does that make sense? I think this is more what we're looking at in your dog from your description, rather than just plain old fear aggression. The larger dog is a perceived threat and must be driven off before something bad can happen.

I agree. This doesn't sound like fear aggression. How have things been since you posted?