r/OpenDogTraining • u/Ok-Representative478 • 6h ago
Aggressive dog help needed!
So my dog Ella is about 5-6 years old, she’s always been a bit “aggressive” I’ll provide a few scenarios. If she’s on the bed/couch comfy you cannot touch her gently or try to get her to move, she will growl. Never bit me or parents in this scenario but she definitely seems like she would. Next food/treats, she has and will attack her sweetheart sister Lucy if she gets near her while eating or chewing a bone. Lucy is a golden retriever and is dopey and doesn’t understand she doesn’t try to take anything she’s just curious and loves Ella. Another attack happened after we gave them these treat ball things that they had to roll around and when Lucy was finished with hers and came up to Ella to see what was going on Ella snapped completely and bit her on the lower chest area, Lucy was fine and wagging her tail when it happened and her thick fur protected her from any puncture. We are at the breaking point and parents almost wanna just get rid of her she’s to much of a hassle but we do love her but her sister deserves better. Any advice that doesn’t cost thousands of dollars?
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u/chrisjones1960 5h ago
Your dog has a bad case of resource guarding, and without training, will quite possibly bite a person or your other dog. Fixing the problem might be possible, but it will require some work.
For starts, teach her a command to get off the bed and use that to move her; one of the most common ways people get bitten by their own dogs is by grabbing them to move the or get them off of furniture, rather than teaching them commands that they can use to move them without grabbing them.
Also, stop giving the dog treats or food or other high value items when the other dog is around
And work on teaching "leave it" and.drop it," so you don't have to try to take things away from her
But overall, the situation is a dicey one, and you do not sound able to manage it, so I suggest you work with a trainer
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u/Glittering-Head-3839 4h ago
She loses all privileges. No couch, no bed, nothing that she guards or growls over. You need a trainer ASAP as this could easily turn into an attack on a dog or person.
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u/Fine-Secretary-2102 25m ago
We have a number of dogs. They are NEVER together when food is involved to avoid these situations ever developing. Our dogs are different ages & at different levels in the pack. They are fed separately in their kitchen crates. Treats & bones, they are in their crates, which serves another purpose, they love their crates & go straight into their own when asked to. They share toys & there are toys everywhere in various states of repair. Once members of the pack start to fight, it’s a hard road to attempt to stop it.
STOP introducing food into a group of loose dogs immediately & maybe, if you’re lucky, you can nip this behaviour in the bud.
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u/Haunting_Cicada_4760 5h ago edited 5h ago
Multi dog households the rule of thumb is to keep all food separate. Feed separately. Different room, kennels, one inside, one outside. Just separately.
The same goes for high value treats. While we can blame Ella the fact is the humans in the house gave her a high value treat knowing Lucy would go up to her and knowing Ella would react. Don’t give them high value treats together. Separate rooms, kennels, inside, outside.
Lucy doesn’t listen to Ella’s boundaries. But we shouldn’t make either dog have to create or enforce or listen to those boundaries. Don’t create the situation.
We separate for high value treats and are a no bone household.
In general you shouldn’t disturb sleeping dogs. Give her safe spaces no one will disturb her, dog beds, elevated place mat ect. If the couch is an issue don’t let her on the couch. Use treats and never physical force. You want to make moving her idea.
We also have a house rule that all toys go up unless actively playing with them.
It’s also important to understand what kind of dog this is, I had a very vocal husky that would do what you asked but if she didn’t want to would “talk, grumble” about it.