Aggression Toward Males

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SassyKat
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:22 am

Aggression Toward Males

Post by SassyKat »

Hi, I have a mix breed 6 month old female puppy who has aggression toward men. I got her when she was 8 weeks old and had noticed she was a little skittish when it came to new people but was the most skittish around men. At first it was only skittishness but that has turned into aggression that has slowly been getting worse. The only men she will go near is my brother and dad. She has showed the most aggression toward men wearing hats, masks, or anything that covers any portion of their face. When I first got her if a man walked into our house she would jump in my lap and bark or hide behind me and growl but lately I have started to notice a change and now instead of hiding she resorts to trying to bite any man that comes near her. The first time she tried to bite was when I had taken her to the local vet clinic and she had tried to bite a male vet tech and the female veterinarian had to put a muzzle on her for fear she may bite. She is such a sweet heart so I don't understand why she has become this way but I don't want her to be afraid anymore.

Does anyone please have any tips or advice on how to help with her aggression because it has become so bad I can't trust her when people come to my house for fear she may bite someone and hurt them or hurt herself. Thank you.
CarolineLovesDogs

Re: Aggression Toward Males

Post by CarolineLovesDogs »

It sounds like she wasn't given a sufficiant amount of positive exposure to men and the clothing articles you mentioned. If dogs aren't given enough positive interactions when they are younger, then it is pretty common that later on they exhibit the kind of behavior you are describing towards those objects they weren't socialized with. In the case you are describing I think it would make sense to use systematic desentization and counterconditioning to change the dog's perception of men (and anything else the dog is fearful of).

Systematic desensitization (also known as simply "desensitization") is the process of exposing a dog to gradually increasing amounts of the thing they are scared of. You start off a good distance away from a mild version of the thing that scares them, and end the training session before the dog is too stressed out. Over time, you get closer and closer to the object and the dog is able to tolerate more and more of it.

Counterconditioning is basically changing the dog's feeling towards the scary object, or changing the dog's perception of it. She should be learning that the men with scary hats on (or masks, or whatever) equals fun games, delicious treats, or another really motivating activity for your dog.

So the tips I would give would be to go at your dog's pace, and don't rush the process- start well away from the man who should not be doing anything particularly frightening (just standing there, facing the side and relaxed body posture, not looking at the dog, I would say) and "open the bar" when the man is there- start treating the dog rapidly and happily or playing a fun game, or whatever it is you decide to do. Gradually you can move closer, but don't go too fast- it is usually better to go a little too slow than too fast. Really make the process enjoyable for the dog. Also, start out with a non threatening man and only have one person be there, but as you progress, you can add one more man at a time. If your dog is also scared of hats and masks, I would reccomend training for a better response to those seperately at first.

In addition to this, I reccomend teaching your dog some foundation behaviors and self control exercises to help her learn to focus on you and calm down. So this might mean you would teach your dog to offer you eye contact, to sit automatically to get what she wants (go out a door, eat her bowl of food, play with you), and maybe some basic cues such as sit, down, leave it, et cetera. Remember to teach these with positive reinforcement- you certainly don't want to scare your dog by physically correcting her.

Another thing that works for some people is teaching their dog to target someone's hand (in order to recieve yummy treats). It teaches them that touching strange people's hand can be very rewarding and fun. However, DON'T do this until your dog is comfortable right up close to the person she is scared of, and DON'T PUSH HER TOO FAR. If she is sending off lots of calming signals (such lip licking, ears back, lots of white showing in her eyes) or anything obviously like getting tense or trying to back away, you've gone too fast. But once your dog is ready, teaching him to touch the hand of a man (who is standing in a non threatening manner, preferably sideways, relaxed posture, not using jerky movements or sticking the hand in the dog's face) is usually a really good idea. First you would have to teach the dog to target your own hand, and then other people's hands that she trusts, so that she clearly knows what you expect.

Now, regarding the experience at the vet's office: A vet care visit is often scary even for very people social dogs because of the new smells, handling procedures, et cetera, presented at the vet. So I would reccomend thoroughly desensitizing your dog to human touch, starting with yourself, then moving on to other people she trusts, and gradually on to strangers (once the dog has learned to relax around strangers). Pair with treats touching your dog- teach him to love having his mouth touch, limbs gently manipulated, face gently touched, back, stomach, paws, private part, et cetera. Start with a quick touch to be sure the dog won't feel uncomfortable but progress to longer, more realistic touches- meaning don't immediately grab the dog's mouth and open it. Start with a quick brush with your hand and gradually progress to the ways your veteranarian might handle the dog.

The vet's office is one place where well taught foundation behaviors (such as stand still, sit, lie on your side) come in extremely handy. So taking the time to teach these behaviors well in a variety of places (starting in your home, and progressing to more distracting environments) would be a great idea.

Aside from handling exercises, teach your dog that things like stethoscopes (can be a toy one) and long coats aren't scary at all. I would reccomend visiting the vet's office on a day when you don't have an appointment (you could call ahead and ask them if there is a time they are less busy). You might even agree on a price to get some time in an examination room and have a vet tech come in and give the dog treats. The whole time at the office should be fun for the dog.

Oh, and one last thing I have to add- before you are confident that your dog is confident with men (and clothes, and every person, animal and situation she will come into contact with) please use management. Do NOT allow people to approach her on walks and scare her, you don't want to create negative exeperiences for her. Of course, this is a good tip for ALL dogs, even the best- if you have any doubt about how your dog will behave around a person or other dog on a walk, do not let that person or dog go up to your dog (use your body to block them if you have to). And when you are at the vet in the mean time (if your dog is not yet comfortable around males) it might be a good idea to make sure you can get a female vet tech to examine the dog.

I know this is a lot to take in, and I hope it makes sense and helps you! I am sure other members also have advice for you. I'll be sure to check back and see if you have any updates on training progress!;):)
Last edited by CarolineLovesDogs on Thu Mar 06, 2014 7:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SassyKat
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:22 am

Re: Aggression Toward Males

Post by SassyKat »

Thank you I will definitely take your advice and work with her slowly at her own pace.
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