Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly  You might want to try this method for a while to see if you can work this out yourself since you have small dogs, and if not, employ a trainer:
If I had two fighters, I would study the body language of the attacker just before the attack for a few days with a soft muzzle on her. If she reacts badly to the muzzle, leave it off & be prepared to separate them during the training should she go ahead & attack while learning.
But you must start to see what body language she exhibits prior to attack. Does she raise her head, put her ears forward, back, cock/lower her tail, wall/squint her eyes, lower her head somewhat, hunch up her body, gaze steadily in a lock-on look - stuff like that. Watch her every single movement & get a good feel for what she does because she will send out body language to you & the other dog - all dogs do. They may be subtle but once you are aware of them, you recognize what it is that telegraphs her coming attack.
Then, once you see that behavior start, discipline her right then. Get up & go over to her, make eye contact, point & say "uh uh" in a no-nonsense voice(not a mad or threatening voice - just stay in the calm trainer/teacher mode as you are working to help this dog avoid going into the attack mode & she needs your help. Stay calm & matter of fact. If she continues that behavior or starts to growl or stand up, just calmly reach down & approximate the dominate or alpha dog in a pack's discipline by placing your hand in a claw-like clasp on the back of the dog's neck & keep it there - no verbalizing at this point. Don't say a word, just let the body language of yours & your fingers do the talking. Do not get angry, or dig in or or hurt her or anything like that - just place the fingers like teeth of an alpha dog over the back of the neck & hold. This just tells the dog in terms they instinctively "get" that, hey, enough of that. Once she stops the body language and/or growling, bared teeth IMMEDIATELY take your hand away & walk away, no words, but looking back over your shoulder with eye contact with her. Turn right around if she resumes aggressive body language & repeat.
Here is the important part. You must do this every single time you see her start to lock-on or assume the body language that shows she is obsessing over the other dog. Every single time. By doing this, you will slowly but kindly teach her that you as the leader of this group disagree with her behavior & intend to stop it. You are the leader, you set the rules & enforce them - not her. Then, as I said, the moment she stops that behavior, you stop. That teaches her that by calming down & stopping the beginning of aggression, discipline stops but that you watch her all the way back to your chair. Alpha dogs use long, steady eye contact in sending message to underlings all the time. Often, just a look is all it ever takes with them.
You cannot get emotional or mad or frustrated during this repetitive teaching process as that will only add your nervous or angry energy to the excitement she's working into & will tend to escalate the probability of attack. Just stay in robot mode - dog alerts on other dog, you say "uh oh" with a stern look & if the dog doesn't look away or stop the behavior, you administer some canine-type discipline, stopping the moment the dog gives way, while keeping a stern eye on when retreating.
It will take time, persistence, and getting a handle on your emotions at the aggression, staying patient & it will take it day after day with some dogs for quite some time. And, it will have to be resumed, even after a nice, quiet period of this behavior stopping, once the behavior resumes, as it probably will.
Once you dog gets to the point of stopping that body language with just your words, I would reward that AFTER A WHILE but not the first two weeks. But after a while once the dog seems to start to police itself & relax its alerting to the other dog, walking over & giving a small treat without fanfare or words will further teach the dog that stopping the pre-aggression alert is a very good thing & gets her a little treat, not fingers.
Another word about the other dog. Once it learns you have assumed leadership & discipline, it will start to be less nervous(which can invite attack) & begin to relax, thus lessening the fear messages it telegraphs which really can trip the attack lever on the more aggressive dog.
Just as important, during this time, go right into the "Nothing In Life Is Free" training with the aggressive dog. You can Google it & read up on how to easily do it. It will establish you as the leader of your little pack or family with that dog & that tends to gain you a lot of swat-points with your little fighter. She begins to learn you control absolutely everything in life that matters to her. Your words & actions become all important to her & it makes a dog tend to take your gentle, kind but steady discipline straight to heart.
I would try this for a while & see whether you can achieve some peace this way. If not, I also suggest that you get a reputable behavior modification trainer to visit your home for training. I would not suggest trying this method with big, powerful dogs yourself. Hope it helps. Good luck with those babies. |