Hello from Wales

jennyw

Well-Known Member
Hello, my dog Jessie and I are on the lookout for new tricks to learn together. We adopted her from a rescue centre in March, she was a stray. She is some sort of collie/terrier mix, I'd love to know what exactly! She is roughly 2 and a half and very intelligent, the tricks we have learnt so far have taken her no time at all to learn. We go to obedience training where she does extremely well, her only problem is she can display dog aggression which the trainers think stems from fear. I hope we can sort this out so I can let her run freely on the beach near other dogs, she is perfect in every other way, so loving and affectionate and very funny!
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Welcome to the Academy!

There are many, many helpful, knowledgable members here that would be happy to help you find an answer to any questions you might have. I know of at least three members here who have experience working with fear aggressive dogs, including myself, so you're not alone! I would recommend finding a behaviorist and/or positive trainer to help you with Jessie's aggression. Depending on the extent of Jessie's aggression, this could be a process that takes years. Don't be discouraged--my boy's fear aggression was moderate-severe, and he hasn't had any fear-aggressive outbursts about 2 years now. His fear aggression started when he was about 8-12 months old or so, and I worked with him consistently from that point on. His fear aggression really more or less dissipated after about a year of working with him. But, if varies with every dog.

Here's some great books to check out:
The Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell
On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas

There are MANY other books that would be of great help to you, these are just two that I have read so far. Patricia McConnell, Turid Rugaas, Emma Parsons, and Jean Donaldson are just a few great authors to look for.



But still, it would definitely help you tremendously to get the help of a behaviorist or a positive trainer with experience working with fear aggressive dogs.

Welcome to the Academy, good luck, and enjoy the site!
 
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