Hello, guys
I've posted here before for my dog dangerous eating habits. This problem has solved with your help, but now my dog has started behaving like a bully.
My Ginger is medium size, aprox. 20 kilos, she is mixed breed, as she grew older she turned into a wolf-like dog. She is 11 months old.
When she was a puppy she was afraid of all the bigger dogs and she was always very hesitant until she started gaining weight and getting bigger.
I knew how important her sosializaton was so i kept on taking her to the park and she became friends with some dogs of her age.
She has never being attacked by another dog and when a dog fight occured she was afaid as hell, i mean she started running away like she was on fire, athough she has never being involved into a dog fight.
As she grew older, she became very affectionate with humans, when she sees a human that she knows she starts crying and begging for affection, with strangers, especially men she is very cautious until they start petting her. But with the other dogs is a whole different story. She respects bigger and elder dogs. She just sits alone looking miserable. But with younger dogs she turns crazy. She wants to show who's the boss so either she grabs them from the neck growling or if they are too small, she attacks. No bleedings yet but i'm afraid that this will occur soon if things won't get better. She is terribly jealous! And if I, or my boyfriend, or the people that she thinks as her own people even dare to touch the other dog she starts barking, howling crying all together!!
I tried calming things down by petting her, and the other dog together(when this is possible)and talking to her. She calms down but she keeps crying like we are betraying her or something.
I don't want to isolate her but i'm afraid that i'm loosing control of her behaviour.
Any suggestions?
my dog has turned into a bully!!
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Re: my dog has turned into a bully!!
She sounds similar to Jasper, and you'll be glad to hear that he has improved enormously over the last few months (he's now 20 months) 
He was always submissive to other dogs, and seemed to be the lowest of the low in terms of the hierarchy of the local dogs. Then I think he realised, like your dog, that he could boss around smaller, younger dogs and having been bossed around himself this was an opportunity too good to miss. Sometimes he just decided that they are going to play with him regardless of whether they want to or not, and as he's a big dog this could be upsetting and scary for the other dog, to say nothing of their owner!
I can't say I've really done any training to overcome this so can't give you a lot of guidance, but what I did do was work hard on his recall so now, if he gets too rough with another dog, I can call him away. At first I had to wade in and try to drag him off which wasn't at all easy. Now, most of the time he will say hello to puppies politely and then move on.
I'm sure others will have much more advice for you but I do think this will prove to be a 'stage'.
He was always submissive to other dogs, and seemed to be the lowest of the low in terms of the hierarchy of the local dogs. Then I think he realised, like your dog, that he could boss around smaller, younger dogs and having been bossed around himself this was an opportunity too good to miss. Sometimes he just decided that they are going to play with him regardless of whether they want to or not, and as he's a big dog this could be upsetting and scary for the other dog, to say nothing of their owner!
I can't say I've really done any training to overcome this so can't give you a lot of guidance, but what I did do was work hard on his recall so now, if he gets too rough with another dog, I can call him away. At first I had to wade in and try to drag him off which wasn't at all easy. Now, most of the time he will say hello to puppies politely and then move on.
I'm sure others will have much more advice for you but I do think this will prove to be a 'stage'.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Re: my dog has turned into a bully!!
Well, my little fellow is also a bully... well, not that he wants to, he just can't help it. even today we had an issue with a dog... he even broke the leash end running trhough the dog, and it has been the first time he caused small injury to the other dog. it was my fault for not being more aware of the situation. But, the good part is that he has been able to chill, and be calm after that, what wasn't always the case. (not that he had a lot of fights, but because he gets very reactive to dogs, and kids... and mainly everything that moves fast). i've had help in this forum which has been so great, and also help from an expert, and the case is that he's sooooo stressed that he can't focus in everything else, plus everytime he has been around a dog it has been all energy, rough play, etc...
what you said about going to the neck growling, when mine does is play, but not the right way to play, though it's the only way he learned. For what you say, it's a different case, and it seems that fear and insecurity has a lot to do there. although i've been in an agressivity course (best seminar ever!), and realised, that the 99% of the "agressive" dogs (meanning dogs that show agressive behaviour, not meaning that they're agressive because they choose to), are stressed, and need to low down the stress levels before working out.
Jelousy doesn't really exist for dogs, and i wouldn't use the submissive word either. I can tell you what we're doing, you could try, it won't hurt the dog, plus you have to realize that she's in her teenage phase, so they also tend to push boundaries to see where they can go. and, if she respect older dogs, and puppies, and goes with younger, at least she's focusing on dogs with similar energy as her.
Well, we're trying to keep all relaxe environment, a lot of nose work (throwing small treats on the ground and letting him focusing on them), plus less attention, coz i've realized i was so on top of him, caring too much, and paying too much attention, maybe not in the best way for him, and avoiding dogs (as much as possible of course). dunno how much time, but know it'll work. if i were you i'll try the relaxing thing, the nose work thing, and controlling wich dogs she plays with, it'll be better to be around calm dogs.
hope it helps, though i know there're people here would give you much better advice.
what you said about going to the neck growling, when mine does is play, but not the right way to play, though it's the only way he learned. For what you say, it's a different case, and it seems that fear and insecurity has a lot to do there. although i've been in an agressivity course (best seminar ever!), and realised, that the 99% of the "agressive" dogs (meanning dogs that show agressive behaviour, not meaning that they're agressive because they choose to), are stressed, and need to low down the stress levels before working out.
Jelousy doesn't really exist for dogs, and i wouldn't use the submissive word either. I can tell you what we're doing, you could try, it won't hurt the dog, plus you have to realize that she's in her teenage phase, so they also tend to push boundaries to see where they can go. and, if she respect older dogs, and puppies, and goes with younger, at least she's focusing on dogs with similar energy as her.
Well, we're trying to keep all relaxe environment, a lot of nose work (throwing small treats on the ground and letting him focusing on them), plus less attention, coz i've realized i was so on top of him, caring too much, and paying too much attention, maybe not in the best way for him, and avoiding dogs (as much as possible of course). dunno how much time, but know it'll work. if i were you i'll try the relaxing thing, the nose work thing, and controlling wich dogs she plays with, it'll be better to be around calm dogs.
hope it helps, though i know there're people here would give you much better advice.
Re: my dog has turned into a bully!!
You need to take charge of this, same way you would if your child was bullying other children.
You are taller and can see further. When another dog appears and you are not CERTAIN that your dog will be polite with it, your dog goes on a lead. If the other owner says it is okay for the dogs to meet and you are in a safe place, both dogs should meet off-lead. If yours starts the routine that leads to bullying, don't wait for bullying to get beyond first base but get hold of your dog, get her back on the lead and take her a few paces away from the other dog (time out) and when she is quiet and looks at you, reward her, but not before. If the dogs can only meet on-lead, make sure they meet side to side not face-on, and get between them and move yours away the instant she gets bossy.
You MUST control meetings between your dog and others until either she learns to be polite from knowing it's time-out if she isn't, or she grows out of her bullying behaviour.
This is an important owner responsibility. If people do not control their dogs when interacting with other dogs, their dog might make another reactive, ruin its training, turn another dog into a fighter, become fear-reactive itself, get bitten, or they could meet an owner who is fed up with rude dogs and gives them some hard words.
You are taller and can see further. When another dog appears and you are not CERTAIN that your dog will be polite with it, your dog goes on a lead. If the other owner says it is okay for the dogs to meet and you are in a safe place, both dogs should meet off-lead. If yours starts the routine that leads to bullying, don't wait for bullying to get beyond first base but get hold of your dog, get her back on the lead and take her a few paces away from the other dog (time out) and when she is quiet and looks at you, reward her, but not before. If the dogs can only meet on-lead, make sure they meet side to side not face-on, and get between them and move yours away the instant she gets bossy.
You MUST control meetings between your dog and others until either she learns to be polite from knowing it's time-out if she isn't, or she grows out of her bullying behaviour.
This is an important owner responsibility. If people do not control their dogs when interacting with other dogs, their dog might make another reactive, ruin its training, turn another dog into a fighter, become fear-reactive itself, get bitten, or they could meet an owner who is fed up with rude dogs and gives them some hard words.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
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