Breed specific aggression

[ton70out]

Hi,

My dog is super-friendly with almost every dog he encounters, but completely looses his mind when he sees an Airdale Terrior. He growls, snarls, and seems like he really wants to hurt the other dog.

Has anyone experienced similar behavior, and does anyone have any suggested solutions?

Thanks...

[Taz_Zoee]

Welcome to PT. :)
Can you give us some more background on your dog? How old is he? How long have you had him? What breed is he?

[GreyhoundGirl]

Welcome to PT. :)
Can you give us some more background on your dog? How old is he? How long have you had him? What breed is he?

I agree, that would be helpful.

Jenny doesn't like shih tzus. *shrugs* I just avoid them. shame. :(

[cali]

yup its actually pretty common. Happy hates Schnauzers, Pionters, and Shiba Inu's. she is fear aggressive of starnge dogs in genral but with those 3 breeds she show real dominance type aggression. similarly she is no problem at all with Goldens or Labs, not even fear agression with them lol

Misty does not have a breed aggression so much a a colour one. she is aggressive towards large red dogs. for example a black and tan Dobie she has no problem with but a red Dobie will set her off. same with Pitties she has met, she is fine with any colour but red. for her is is only rich dark red, NOT orange like a golden or Toller or "fox red" lab.

[ton70out]

I adopted him a year ago.
He's a rescue, so no papers, but he's about 2.5 - 3 best guess.
He wasn't neutered until about a month before I got him.
I first encountered the behavior when someone with two Airdales (1 adult & 1 juvenile) brought his to the field where we were. His younger dog stood still and stared at my dog. He stared back for a minute, and then went nuts. Fortunately, there was a fence between them.
He saw that same dog a couple more times, and immediately got aggressive, and now any Airdale he sees causes a reaction.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

He may just associate all Airedales as being just like the dog he had a problem with. That's what I'd guess anyway, since he did have a not-so-good encounter with the breed. I'm not sure what you can do about it though, sorry.

Breed specific aggression seems to be pretty common. Tango hates all brindle coloured dogs, Boxers, Schnauzers, Pointers. I don't know why, as she's never had a bad experience with any of these breeds. She tends only to get along very well with sporting breeds (except pointers) and herding breeds. She likes other breeds too (except for the few mentioned above), but prefers the sporting and herding.

[ton70out]

Hmmm. I walk him a few blocks to a large (15 acre) dog park, with usually no less than 25 dogs running around off leash. He absolutely LOVES the place, since he can run and wrestle with abandon. I love it because he gets himself good and tired, and I can leave him home for the day with good conscious. I'd hate to give the place up for the POSSIBILITY that an Airdale MIGHT show up, but it would be much worse for him to maul someone's dog.

He's very responsive to commands usually, but not when an Airdale shows up...

Any other thoughts?

[k9friend]

Luckily, Airdales aren't all that common, so your chances of coming across one while with your dog are slim.

[Taz_Zoee]

This is what I am trying with Zoee at the park...she goes crazy when she see's any dog (although, not aggressively)...I ask the owner if their dog is okay with other dogs and ask if they can meet. Once Zoee meets them she is fine and happy.
I'm not sure if you'd be able to do this with your dog, if he is showing aggressiveness toward them. Sorry, that's all I could think of.

[Giselle]

Desensitization is usually the way to go with these types of fear aggression. Find a friendly Airedale and a cooperative owner and gradually desensitize your dog. I highly recommend The Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell because it gives you clear step-by-step instructions with full detail and explanations. It also gives you some troubleshooting tips, but I'll try to sum it up. Basically, the whole jist of it is that you want your dog to associate Airedales with positive things, a.k.a. positive reinforcement.

Stand about 15 feet away or as close as you can be without getting a reaction from your dog. Then give her a command like "Sit" and treat her, praise her, etc. If she's responding well, walk closer to the Airedale moving at about 1-2 ft increments. Always check out her comfort level. If she starts to show the least bit of aggression or anxiety (quick panting, drooling, hair raising, anxious jerks on the lead, not responding, etc.), move back. The worst thing you can do now is to rush her. You may never get to a 5 ft distance from the Airedale until weeks from now, but that's okay. Then, again, you might make it in one session. Move at her pace. I know this sounds incredibly time consuming, but it's completely worth it. In aggression cases, it's *always* better to be safe than sorry. Good luck :)

[borzoimom]

I agree with several points made already especially about decentralization. None of my 4 care for Boxers- no clue why, but it was suggested at one incident at the vets office with sweet Galina barking at one, that it could just be the change in the muzzle in what my dogs are use to seeing most of the time. ( long muzzle verses short). I also saw a show about a racing greyhound that was worried about all over dogs, but obviously fine- even more outgoing when returned to the track for a visit with her new owner. It was obvious the dog only recognized another dog if the one looked similar to themselves. The racing greyhound had an excuse- it had lived its whole life with only greyhounds and people. With other dogs, this can be socialization issues.
Due to the fact two of mine are show dogs, I didnt want any problems. The vet talked to a few boxer owners, and we set times to meet "casually " at the vets office. At first we sat on opposite sides of this huge office, correcting growls, calm praise at total ignorance- looking away and laying down. Session two- 30 minutes again we were closer- one correction but good because different dogs. Last visit not one growl. ...

[ton70out]

Thanks for the input. I will keep my eyes out for a cooperative Airdale owner, and get him to sit in their presence for a while before I try to get him any closer...

Andy.

[borzoimom]

Thanks for the input. I will keep my eyes out for a cooperative Airdale owner, and get him to sit in their presence for a while before I try to get him any closer...

Andy.
Call your vet- mine was willing to help us out. ..

[Nobas Mom]

On this same topic, quick question. My basset hound has recently (okay, about 7 months now) began to get more aggressive with other dogs. It seems to have started when he was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and his 4x a week trips to the dog park were forced to turn into 2x a month. He goes absolutely crazy when he encounters another male dog. He recently tried to "eat" and 8 week old boxer puppy. He's getting fixed next month, do you think that will help? He was never like this and now when he goes tot he park, we have to leave almost immediately cause he will find the one dog that urkes him and try to kill it...

[borzoimom]

It might work, but you might need a private trainer or behaviorist. No harm in trying, just maintain control.
Remember if your dog doesnt feel well most of the time- he is really trying to keep other dogs away as he knows he is jeopardized in his hips.. hmm..
As far as his hips- he is at a good age to heal well from the hip surgery. Young dogs heal quicker than older dogs. It does take serious daily watchfullness in the healing time after the surgerey- but you want to discuss that with your vet..

[dab_20]

I agree with Giselle and others. Hope everything works out for you!

One of my dogs, Molli, is very fearful of large breed dogs. They probably seems threatning because she's so small.