Dog Training & Behavior

Hi Everybody,

DH and I have two dogs - a 105 lbs Great Dane/Bull mix (Mojo) and a 40 lb Shepherd mix (Pepper). The big one is sort of aggressive with other dogs. The little one is not, but she is very, very, very vocal when she sees other animals.

When she vocalizes it is ear piercing and very loud. I cannot stand it and am to the point where I am just annoyed with her. But the worst part is that when she vocalizes, the big one gets REALLY aggressive. We can take him for a walk and he does ok. If we take both for a walk and she vocalizes, he tries to attack the other dog and if he can't attack the other dog he will attack her.

I am beyond frustrated and I don't even enjoy walking them anymore. We now walk them separately but even then I have to deal with her literally screaming every time she sees another dog.

I want to work on socializing the big one, but in the meantime, is there ANYTHING at all I can do to keep her from vocalizing? I can't even leave them in the backyard unattended anymore because we just moved to a new neighborhood and one of our neighbors has 3 little dogs that bark non-stop when my dogs are in the yard. Mojo ignores them until Pepper starts vocalizing at which point he starts charging the fence trying to get to the little dogs. We have a 6' privacy fence AND invisible fence (he used to chew through the privacy fence) but I am concerned he will turn on her in anger and kill her one of these days.

Before I got married I had a lab who was the smartest, best, and most well behaved dog. I trained him myself and he was a joy to have. These dogs are out of control and I am at the point where I don't even enjoy them anymore which makes me sad. I need help!

Thanks,
~K

Hi K and Welcome to the Board.  I'm Laura and I'm the furmom to a 14YO dalmatian, Samantha and 3YO lab/mix, Cleo.

I know that this is frustrating for you and I can only imagine the chaos that ensues when you walk both of your dogs.  It's great that you are working on socializing Mojo....a big dog like that needs socialization and obedience training.

Have you tried using a "don't bark" command?  Even though what she is doing isn't actually "barking" she is making noise.  Take her out on her own and when she starts vocalizing tell her "don't bark" and try to get her attention....like tug lightly on her leash.  The moment the noise stops then praise her or give her a treat.  This way she will know that the correct behavior is to be quiet.

You may even want to speak to an obedience trainer about this problem.

Good luck and please don't give up.  I know that you had a wonderful, well-behaved dog before...but all dogs are different.  I've certainly learned that, and I've loved all my furkids just as much when they were "bad" as when they were good.

Please let us help in any way that we can.

 

Hi Laura,

thank you for the reply. We use the command "quiet" which she ignores much like anything else. She still thinks she is the alpha dog although we work hard on establishing that she is not - we make them walk with us not ahead of us, they have to sit and wait for our command before coming in or going out, they have to sit and wait for us to tell them they can eat, etc.

Pepper was a shelter dog and nobody wanted her for that reason. My husband only took her because she would have been killed otherwise. She was about 2 years old then and the only command she responded to was "sit". When we met I had my black lab. I thought his dog was annoying from the start. She also does not really play like other dogs. She growls the entire time while she is "playing" and just bites Mojo in the back of the leg. If we play with a ball, he tries to retrieve the ball while she attacks him barking, growling, and biting his back legs. VERY annoying. I cannot stand it anymore.

Anyway, we took both dogs to pet training when we first got Mojo in 2002. He was about 5 months old then. Even the trainer, who had a very well trained Rotti, had trouble teaching her simple things like down.

She does not respond to come unless she wants to. In an open field, she comes when she wants to. Mojo listens well, until she acts up. For example, we let them out in our backyard the other day. They saw a rabbit and started chasing it. My husband called them, they completely ignored him, and proceeded to kill the rabbit. It was so sad.

So simply giving a command does not work. She just keeps whining and screaming.

Kristina

If she does not listen to the command, then you have to "make" her listen.  That will take a lot of patience and consistency. 

Does she vocalize at anything in your home, like if the doorbell rings?  You can practice with that if she does.  Any time she makes noise or acts is a chance to practice commands.

If she plays too roughly with Mojo find a "command" to make her stop...but is has to be a specific command....not just Stop! 

It's great that you are using "Nothing In Life Is Free" to keep her focused on some behaviors but it does seem that some of those commands are not working with the vocalizing or "attacking" of Mojo.

You also have to remember that your own feelings transmit to Pepper...if you are impatient or annoyed she can sense that.

I'm sure that this will work itself out in time...I do know that it is frustrating but we are here to help in any way that we can.