need advice for friends aggressive dog

[honeybears]

my husbands co-worker is looking for help, please read the info below , any suggestions?? My husband said oh my wife can help. she gets lots of good advice from this site. So what do you think??



We have a Jack Russel – Rat Terrier cross. Andy is 4 ˝ years old and weighs about 10 lbs. Andy has become the “Bad Ass” of the neighbor hood and goes after pets that Andy can see. Andy losses every fight but keeps going back. He will mix it up with any breed of any size at any time. He is not real smart apparently. We have taken him in twice to get repaired. His eye was torn once and a lung punctured the other time. Andy is the fastest dog in that zip code and is gone before we know it. His eye sight is far superior to ours and will see a dog several 100 yrds away and he is off. He comes back the loser minutes later. He is not neutered. We have a group mail box in our front yard and Andy is challenged every time someone walks down with their dog to get the mail. He charges out because he knows that person has a dog and then he stands looking in all directions for a dog even if the dog isn’t there. He walks back triumphantly. Andy would like your help. As it stands now he is heading for the nut cutter soon. Is that the answer? He runs thru screen doors, jumps over barricades and will tear apart a leash.

[Jamiya]

Get him neutered and get a professional trainer!!

[charmedagain]

I totally agree with Jamiya, Get him neutered is a good place to start and then some serious training, This is one serious behavioural problem he has and if left he could become a menace not just to other animals but people aswell.

Sorry i could not give advice

Mike

[honeybears]

what kind of training should they look for? Sounds like they should be looking for some specific type

[Dukesdad]

Look in the phone book under dog trainers then look for a specialist in behavior problems and/or aggression. That dog will get killed by a larger dog soon if it's not brought under control.
Neutering will also make the dogs life longer and healthier.

[DMikeM]

Might try starting with a chain leash and collar. Then training and neutering.

[DeLaUK]

Yep, I agree with everyone. Definately start by getting him neutered but with him being the age he is and the fact that hes been doing this for so long its probably going to take some extra work. Even once hes been neutered, by now its also going to be because its a 'learned behaviour', not so much the actual act but more that hes got away with it for so long (hope that made sense).

Occasionally (and I havent seen it that often with adult dogs) it can work in stopping the dog to dog aggression but as a rule it wont, it should calm it down though to some degree.

As far as what kind of trainer, they really need to do their homework on this, I personally would go with basic obedience with the emphasis on gradual controlled desensitization....where the trainer (or trainer with the owner) works with him in a confined area with no distractions, that will give him a chance to learn the basics of whats expected of him, it gets them more focused on paying attention to the owner, and then work him out on the street or an area where theyre not likley to meet any dogs and then gradually they would intoduce a dog...at a distance, not a nose to nose introduction.... either already trained or a dog that they know is not going to react to Andy....so he is being ignored....it kind of plays the situation down as opposed to both dogs getting more and more riled up.

And then just go from there.

With him chewing through his leashes, I would go with a thick, well made leather leash or even a chain leash (not too heavy...I dont like chain leashes though), the collar should also be a strong leather one although if it was me he would get a choke chain and I wouldnt rule out using either a Halti or Gentle Leader. I recently worked with a very high strung, agressive JRT mix, dog aggressive and wasnt too friendly with peole either, his personality was typical JRT, very hard headed and they can be one of the tougher breeds to work with.

The other thing the owners might want to check into with a trainer is ask them about aversion training. I had to do some of that with my Rott due to her 'love of cats' !!! I used DogStopper on her for it although people have different methods they use. Its nothing amazing its just an addtion to the basics....with most dogs the basic training is enough.

The best way to find a good trainer is ask friends, relatives, the vet.....and then phone around, ask the trainer if they could come and watch him/her train or if any of the previous clients would allow them to watch their dog. We used to do that occasionally, we always had a handful of clients that we could call to bring their dog to the kennels and just have the owner do a short demonstration...they were always happy to do that time allowing....or at least get some phone nbumbers and talk to people that have been through that particular trainer....the reason is if clients are happy with the training then they are usually more than happy to recommend that trainer.

Very often when a dog has been behaving a certain way for so long the owners are not the best people to start with the training, reason being that the owner has usually already got into a routine of anticipation, reacts to that and it can almost be like a trigger for the dog to go off.

Hope that helped a bit, good luck to your friends.

[Samsintentions]

definatly need to get the basic obediance training down. Start with that. You can always try a behaviorist, or keep the front door shut...

[Mary_NH]

and tell them to not wait.....we had a rather aggressive PITA JRT in our neighborhood years ago. She would do stuff very similar to what you friend's dog is doing. The dog I had at the time killed her.
Jack Russell (now Parson Terriers aka terrors) tend to think they are bigger than they are cause of the job they were bred to do and they'll take on just about anything. But there's always a bigger tougher dog.
The one in our neighborhood was a spayed female and her attitude was about the same as what you are describing. But her owners, rather than work with her, simply let her run around loose. Then whined like babies when my dog broke her.
And no I'm not proud of what my dog did...I just want to show they need to do something quickly.
This dog's behavior should have been stopped a long time ago.

[MyPetTherapyDog]

Little Andy Boy needs a qualified behaviorist.

Sounds like this is a learned behavior. Due to his breed background and his past history, his owners need to be commited and dedicated before its too late. The little dude has an extremily high prey drive.
Typical of his breeds.
How is it that Andy is allowed to run free time and time again?
All dog owners NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE and TAKE ACTION FOR THEIR DOGS BEHAVIORS!
Andy's behavior should have been stopped a long time ago.

Andy should immediately begin NILIF (Nothing in life is Free).

http://www.sspca.org/Dogs_TANSTAAFL.html


He needs to look up to his owner as the leader of the pack. By reading this e-mail, doesn't sound to me like this is being done.

The neutered will help (Somewhat) in time but honestly, this behavior really does sound like a learned one combined with his breed history and neutering is only a small piece of the puzzle.

Andy also needs to SLOWLY be desensitized to being around other dogs.

Operant conditioning works well.
http://www.dogscouts.com/leadership/23HowDogsLearn.pdf

In the mean time, tell Andy's owners to begin NILIF and do not let him loose PERIOD.

Utilizing NILIF, operant conditioning and basic obedience, I think if the owners were truely commited, Andy could come out a winner. But its going to be a ton of work. Andy can't be let to roam free and become a nuience to society. Its just not fair to anyone including other dogs.

I have other suggestions but they are too long to type. If you like, you
can e-mail me directly at Dynamic_dog_Training@myway.com

Honestly, these people need a qualified person to DIRECTLY work with them and Andy before something bad happens to him or another dog.

Sue

[honeybears]

Thanks for all of your replies, Mary, I forgot about the prey drive JRTs have, and people used to think they were so docile and seeing Eddie on Frasier

I will pass all of this along and hope they do something about it soon before an animal or person get hurt