No blood, but he pins his sister down and growls and puts his teeth down on her neck...she submits, but the minute she gets up, he will chase her around the whole yard snarling at her and snapping while she cries. It's so random too, not a daily thing...so I have no idea what is setting him off! He seems fine on walks, mostly just curious of other dogs...and anytime a bigger dog growls at him he lays down. At the vet office he's totally fine too, just wants to check everybody out! The aggressive domination of his sister is what scares me. My husband has had to pry him off of her a few times now.
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Yeah you have a top tier situation! He is after a pack member. Read the Leerburgh essay again to get a better understanding of what your dealing with you.
I dealt with this same situation in my household when I brought in our GSD. I never got the opportunity to correct the situation, Gunther passed away of issues unrelated to the fighting.
It's not hopeless but it is going to be hard, you might need a pro skilled in the use of an E collar but there are still things you can try!
First hopefully you won't need to do this:
Leerburg Dog Training | How to Break Up a Dog Fight Without Getting Hurt
And the reality is that some dogs will never get along! Not the way I roll but..that can sometimes be the case!
The first thing you have to do is keep the attacks from happening! Yeah I know thank you Captain Obvious!
But to that end, you can crate and rotate (if you use crates?) I never had myself...it would have made a difference in my case.
Keep a Drag leash on the offender at all times ( A short leash with no handle to get caught up on furniture). Gives you something to grab to stop an attack!
Use a muzzle if the dogs are together, I used one like this for Rocky,they do show one for a Boxer. Note the cautions, not used for walking/exercising the dog in hot weather!:
Best Fit Mesh Muzzles
Muzzle or distance from each other is the beat approach while you work on this. He can move much faster than you can react, as I'm sure you know! It takes years of experience to be able to see the signs of a fight! I had a decade of experience with dogs and was still caught flat footed! Pretty much know what to look for now!
You have to manage them to keep attacks from happening, while you work on this, if the girl keeps getting attacked you can have two dogs with problems!
You have a high level problem, here and there is no shame in calling in a pro. If he is the right one and knows what he or she is doing, they maybe able to fix this.
E collar is an option but it takes skill to use! Best source of information can be found here:
Game Chasing (Crittering)
If nothing else you can understand there use and if a trainer recommends it, you will understand how it should be done!
But it's not time to throw in the towel! Following are things I would have done when I was having this same problem, seven years ago.
First you need to reset the dog, forget how long you have had him start over! That would look like this:
I just got a rescued dog – what do I do? | stickydogblog
It will help reestablish who is in charge, a dog that understands his place in the pack, is more willing to listen to it's guardian and easier to train!
And the place command, it's concealable that this alone "might" solve the problem "if" you can get it done now??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIGq_5r0DeE
And this:
http://www.boxerforums.com/training/123089-sit-dog.html
It's stunningly simple! Don't underestimate it's usefulness! Some of the pros have all there clients do it with ever dog they train!
It's especially useful for dogs that have issues! I have done it myself with a rescue and I was amazed at the difference it made!
He also needs to be excellent on leash, no pulling and forging ahead. You need to control the pace. No tight leash on walks.
So no guarantees but if "I" had this problem with a dog today, what I recommended is the course of action I would pursue!
Good luck and..keep everyone safe!
