HELP!! Rusty VS Electra

[cali]

this is what Rusty is doing, he just randomly launches himself at Electra and starts attacking her..exept that he is NOT in fight mode, in fact he is having a blast when he does this. now it would not be a huge deal if Electra was ok with it, but she is now TERRIFIED of Rusty, last night I had to remove him from my room because Electra froze at the enterence of my room and then went into the crate where she just stood inside, eyes wide, ears back and tail tucked.

ok now, I know my dogs body language and I know the difference between a play fight and a fight fight, I have dealt with plenty of real fights, and I know the behviour of the dogs after the fight. this is not the same, Rusty launches himself at Electra and actually starts attacking her, when you pry Rusty away though his body language is going "WOOO that fun!", meanwhile Electra is shaking like a leaf.

so..how do you stop a dog from attacking for FUN?

[cali]

he did it again! as soon as he see's her he flys at her and starts attacking!, Electra wont fight back, she just gets frightend(I have a 35lbs retreiver hunkering on my lap as I type).This is a big problem, Rusty does evrything with me and my girls and when I remove him he gets terrably confused and has no idea what to do, but i cant have him with me and my girls if he is goning to keep attacking Electra.

[luvofallhorses]

Do you do NILIF with your dogs? that is what Rusty may need.

[jewelz2390]

You could try teaching him to leave things, but it takes time. Once you've got the basics of it, you can apply it to situations like making him leave his toys alone on your command and then advance to making him leave electra alone.

To do this you can start by placing a treat on the floor with your hand right next to it (so you can quickly cover it up if he goes for it) and say "leave it" only once for every treat because overuse will make the word meaningless. After saying it, wait for his reaction. Everytime he goes for it, just cover it. He will scratch at it and it may take awhile, but when he leaves it, and doesnt try to go after it uncovered for about 3 seconds immediately give him the treat and praise him. Repeat this quite a few times. Once he has gotten this down, he should be able to go for a while with the treat sitting right in front of him. Be patient and always praise a lot.

After Rusty has mastered this, try making him leave his toys and eventually situations with other dogs, like Electra.

My dogs are really good with this and it definately comes in handy because they don't get along with other dogs outside of their own "pack". Hope this helps!

[cali]

I already teach leave it for outside dogs, but I dont think it would work with dogs in the same pack, I mean I would be contantly saying "leave it" while following hime around, and that would be a little akward lol.

his attacking her is no longer playful, he now has to be kept on a leash for Lecks safety as he is now seeking her out to attack. we cannot wait for him to go after her and correct him because everytime he even starts Electra gets scared, the the more in happens the longer her fear lasts, in the beging it was fine, she was only scared for like 2 minutes before she was over it, but the last time she was to frightend to move for nearly 24 hours, since then it ahasent happend only because Rusty has been on a leash, and at night Electra is in her crate, and in the mroning I have to take rustys outside, then while he is outsude go back to my room let leck our of her crate, try to neutrally convince her that all is safe and to get her butt upstairs, then catch Rusty as he comes in the house leash him, take him to another room, tie him up and convince Electra she safe to go outside.

[HAPPY]

Keep Rusty on a Short Lead with you at all times and when he launches... pull him back and firmly say NO NOT NICE!! and maybe say here's your toy ...get your toy...good boy! always replace a corrective action with a positive alternitive ... they learn quick :) It will also show Electra at the same time that you are looking out for her, and that can only add to her trust in you as the pack lead ...Good Luck