Perry is too aggressive with other Dogs and People

I'm a little concerned with Perry. He is a very serious dog, he likes to play with Daisy, sometimes plays a little rough, but he has never hurt her actually he loves her very much. She licks his ears and eyes and he shares his food with her etc. He is very laid back and good with us, wants love and attention all the time. However it is another story with other dogs. Anytime he sees another dog he tries to attack. If we ride in the Explorer and he sees a dog on the street he goes crazy. When we took him to the Army Vet he tried to attack a Rottweiler. We were going to adopt another little Schnauzer from a lady who was going to have a baby and was afraid to keep the dog. They came down from Los Angeles to bring her down and we tried to bring them together and he attacked the dog three times. Of course we all decided this would not work and we were very disappointed, but would not put the little Schnauzer in jeopardy. We have come to the conclusion that we could not have another dog because of this problem, but it is hard to take him out to the park or anywhere we think there might be dogs or children. I'm not quite sure what to do to break him of this. He is very good with our immediate family, but not good with anyone he doesn't see very often.
Daisy does a lot of barking, but not aggresive like Perry is. We got him when he was 7 months old, he was being trained to show in the ring and didn't even know how to go up steps or jump. They decided on their other dog for the ring and we got to have him. With us he is just a good ole dog having fun. I wonder if his previous life had anything to do with this problem, although we have had him for two years, he seems to have gotten more aggressive in the last year. Too Protective? Perry is our sweetheart, we love him so much, we just wish he would get along with other people and dogs.

My question would be, when Perry acts in this manner, what is your response?

I should probably let one of the experts chime in first, but I have seen some dogs act aggressively and their people just stand there dumbfounded. When Hannah goes "too far" trying to intimidate Tucker, I am all over her like a wet blanket. Voices are raised and I do carry on about the matter so there is no doubt in her mind who is in charge and that type of behavior is not to be tolerated. I do not hit my dog but the "Fear of Mom" is definately communicated.

Now the experts can chime in.

Sorry Rachel - only me...but in a way I think you are right - there is no way you can pussyfoot around this.

The main thing to establish is the reason for the aggression - is it a fear based response or is the dog truly hating other dogs for a dominance or territory point of view.
This can be a hard thing to work out on your own, especially if behaviours have only surfaced after the dog has been with you for a liitle while. I seriously suggest a couple of sessions with a behaviourist. If you get the cause wrong then the treatment is going to be wrong and may aggrevate the situation to the point where a cure is out of the question. If you choose to seek professional help make it clear that the question you want answered is what the root cause is - not twenty sessions to cure it! If you are hapy with that person and they make sense to you then go with it.

I really hope it all works out for you as you have tried so hard with this dog. Let us know how he is doing, please.

I think both of you make sense. In Perry's eyes his Dad is the Alpha, he always looks to him for guidence. We talked it over and my husband has agreed to correct him during these episodes. I did work on Perry, but as I said, to him Dad is alpha, he used to jump around when I put my shoes on, he would grab the shoe laces or the shoes so I couldn't put them on, I have taught him to sit while I put my shoes on and then I give him a treat. I have taught him to sit up, shake hands and lay down. Now my husband has agreed to work with him making him sit to put the leash on, ( he hates the leash, but loves to go out) and on his aggressiveness
so we will see what happens. If that don't work he and Dad will go to doggie behavior
classes. Thanks for your input!
Jackie

Good news, my husband has agreed to take a one on one class with Perry so we signed him up today, Monday. They will call tomorrow and set up a time. Can't wait to see how he does.

[This message has been edited by jackiesdaisy1935 (edited March 26, 2001).]

That's great!!! Well done Dad!! (And you for talking to him about it!)

Please let us all know how things go - it's so interesting to hear the follow ups and please remember he is likely to get worse for a while until he improves so be prepared for that - that's the dog, not Dad!!

Hi Carrie:
Well Dad went for his class today and I got to go and watch as the trainer thought we should work together on Perry. I thought she had some pretty good ideas. She said to carry treats with us and when we saw a dog, stop and distract him with a treat and say nice puppy., the same with people. She felt his problem was being over protective of us.
She said to go to the park and sit on a bench with him while other dogs go by to get him used to them.
She felt the problem with him hating the leash stemmed from being trained to go in the ring and because he was being trained with a choke collor and leash. He goes crazy when the leash comes out.
He is a wonderful loving dog and we love him so much, I think a little training and consistency will do wonders.
Carrie if you have any suggestions, all are welcome!
Jackie