# Fear Aggression



## Bryn's Dad (8 mo ago)

Apologise for the long post in advance! We have a Viz that is coming up to 2 and are having some problems with aggression towards other dogs. As im sure you all do, we love him to bits which makes this devastating to see. The aggression results in him pinning down other dogs and can include biting them. He has been well socialised and been to going to daycare since a young age. At about 1 we saw some a few occasions of him pinning down dogs but not often. More recently we moved to another daycare (as we moved house) that had less dogs and a lot of viz's. Was going great for 6 months but eventually got asked to wear a muzzle and then we had to leave as he would often pin down dogs and on one occasion drawn blood from another dog which obviously the daycare owner couldnt have. We have worked with a couple of different trainers as we obviously want to get this sorted asap. I have got to the stage now where i know when he isnt comfortable (ears droop and tail isnt wagging) with a dog that approaches and i get him to move on and try and distract him. As a result he doesnt tend to it with me. I fear im not really addressing it just aware when he isnt comfortable. The main issue is his behaviour when being walked by other people and most importantly my partner. She doesnt tend to walk him alone and the when she does he has pinned down a dog. All confidence in his behaviour is gone and there have been discussions about rehoming to dog as she doesnt want to walk him. This is our first dog together and the last thing we wanted is an aggressive dog. Im not sure what is driving this behaviour and what im doing that stops it. she is observant like i am about when he isnt comfortable. 

Our current trainer thinks it fear aggression. She is all about obedience and his recall is usually really good and got him really keen on ring that we use along with treats to increase our control. I think the tell tail signs before anything happens has increase which is good so we have time to do something about it. She also said that we should stop daycare as it isnt working for him. He now goes to 1:1 walks when we have to both go to work.

I guess im keen to get any advice on the aggression as i dont think we have addressed it as we just get him out of the situation not addressing why he behaves that way

Also any ideas on how to rebuilding partners trust in the dog.

We both love him and the last thing we want to do is rehome him. Totally aware that its likely something that we have done that has developed this and will do what it takes to correct. 

We got him castrated at about 11months old and he has never been aggressive to people.

Thanks,

Rich


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Byrn's Dad (Rich)

I know that everyone wants the "get along buddy dog", but all dogs are just not wired that way. Some dogs do not get along with other dogs their entire lives and some grow out of it in time.
Many people that hunt Vizlsas, myself included, want a dog that does not go out of it's way to fight with other dogs, or go "visiting". It's really bad form in the field. However, I don't need my dog to be friendly with other dogs, or even interact with other dogs, It's not his job. I do not force my dog, Finn, to get along with other dogs. It's his choice, I just do not allow him to fight with other dogs. I move him out of the picture.
Finn is a very "bold, forward, assertive", dog. Translated, Finn can be a real jackass with other dogs and animals. I understand where you're coming from, but as long as Byrn is good with people, and small children, you still have a winner in my book.
Don't make him do something he's not ready to do, or maybe not capable of doing, just because folks believe that he should..

My advice for getting your partner to trust him, is to just go back to the point in time when they were comfortable with each other and start again. A big open field to yourselves, his favorite toys, and I think things will work out. Let the two of them work it out in a nice safe, non threatening environment.


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## rchik43 (Apr 12, 2020)

Bryn's Dad said:


> Apologise for the long post in advance! We have a Viz that is coming up to 2 and are having some problems with aggression towards other dogs. As im sure you all do, we love him to bits which makes this devastating to see. The aggression results in him pinning down other dogs and can include biting them. He has been well socialised and been to going to daycare since a young age. At about 1 we saw some a few occasions of him pinning down dogs but not often. More recently we moved to another daycare (as we moved house) that had less dogs and a lot of viz's. Was going great for 6 months but eventually got asked to wear a muzzle and then we had to leave as he would often pin down dogs and on one occasion drawn blood from another dog which obviously the daycare owner couldnt have. We have worked with a couple of different trainers as we obviously want to get this sorted asap. I have got to the stage now where i know when he isnt comfortable (ears droop and tail isnt wagging) with a dog that approaches and i get him to move on and try and distract him. As a result he doesnt tend to it with me. I fear im not really addressing it just aware when he isnt comfortable. The main issue is his behaviour when being walked by other people and most importantly my partner. She doesnt tend to walk him alone and the when she does he has pinned down a dog. All confidence in his behaviour is gone and there have been discussions about rehoming to dog as she doesnt want to walk him. This is our first dog together and the last thing we wanted is an aggressive dog. Im not sure what is driving this behaviour and what im doing that stops it. she is observant like i am about when he isnt comfortable.
> 
> Our current trainer thinks it fear aggression. She is all about obedience and his recall is usually really good and got him really keen on ring that we use along with treats to increase our control. I think the tell tail signs before anything happens has increase which is good so we have time to do something about it. She also said that we should stop daycare as it isnt working for him. He now goes to 1:1 walks when we have to both go to work.
> 
> ...


By any chance did you or any trainer do any e-collar work with him. Sometimes , if done incorrectly it can cause aggression with other dogs .


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

In some dogs neutering can bring out more fear tendencies. It’s the flip side of the coin, that the pro neuter/spay people don’t really talk about. There is no way to know if his fear aggression would have been this bad, had he stayed intact.
You just work with the dog you have.
I agree with Gunnr.
While other dogs may be in the area. They really don’t need to interact with them. We had 4 dogs in the field at different times yesterday. The only dog Shine slightly interact with, was a younger dog. They were only ran together, because the young dog needs to lean to leave other dogs alone in the field. Knowing that Shine is good natured, and would only give a lighter correction if the dog tagged her one to many times, is why we used her. The owner worked their dog on handling to a different direction, if it started following Shine.
I know a lot of non hunters want to see their dog run up, and play with other dogs. Where we hunters want to see dogs around each other, but not necessarily interacting with each other. Ive owned a dog in the past, that was only good with dogs, if they got run together without interacting first. After that her was fine with them coming right up to him.
Back to You have the dog you have.
You just need to figure out what works for them. Some dogs are just happy being a only dog. They love their people, and don’t want to interact with dogs. For those type of dogs, we work on them paying attention to us, and not barking/growling at dogs from a distance.


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