Need Advice with Prince - Page 7

I hesitate to respond since I'm not an aggressive dog training expert like some folks on this board but here is our experience with Bosco.

If Prince is uncertain (or anxious) about a situation then he should immediately look to you for direction, not respond to his feelings of uncertainty by exploding into aggression. This is what Bosco is trained to do- I'm not very good at explaining how we did this but others here could explain it. In terms of correcting for aggression - it was much more involved than just yanking the leash and using a prong collar. Bosco was corrected for choosing to disobey the "leave it" command. There are many debates about using "leave it" for aggression but it was appropriate for Bosco. "Leave it" is a command that Bosco must immediately comply with, no matter what. I know Jim has a wonderful explanation about correcting for aggression in an older Prince thread but it's more than just giving a physical correction- it's bringing the dog back up after the correction and showing him what he should be doing- it's also rewarding equally for making appropriate choices. Timing is critical. We still reward Bosco for choosing to have self-control in a stressful situation. This is anthropomorphizing a bit but Bosco appears to be a much happier and relaxed dog since his life is structured with very clear rules for his behavior.

[I want to make it clear that we didn't train Bosco on our own - Bosco's breeder is very experienced at working with aggressive dogs and designed a training program for Bosco.]

Probably nothing I wrote was particularly helpful. :)

I think I would start by doing what you're already planning...return to controlling his environment and interactions, go back and spend some time with Kelly, etc.  If you still have issues after that, in your situation where he's your house dog and you aren't trying to title him, I would consider trying the SRI route.

Actually, Laura, what you are describing is very close to what I've read from behaviorists about approaching this type of behavior.  Very helpful!

"Actually, Laura, what you are describing is very close to what I've read from behaviorists about approaching this type of behavior.  Very helpful!"
Bosco's breeder is a skilled trainer - I encourage anyone who lives in SW Ontario who is struggling with an aggressive dog to consider sending me a PM for his contact information. We never could have kept Bosco without his support and guidance.

I always make it clear that I don't know a lot about dog training but I try to contribute our experience with Bosco when I can. When we were struggling last year with Bosco and wondering if we had to have him PTS- it seemed like everyone other than Deanna had GSDs that were super social therapy dogs.  The few posts that I found on another forum about aggressive GSDs made it seem like no one had success training these dogs (or at least they never wrote about it). I really appreciated people like Slamdunc and Brynjulf who shared stories and encouraged me to hang in there with Bosco (and listened to me whine about hard it was). There also seems to be a stigma associated with correcting your dog for aggression (I stress when appropriate - Bosco is not fear aggressive). That you will irrevocably destroy your relationship with the dog or that you are just suppressing the aggression and one day it will explode out of the dog. In our limited experience, we haven't found this to be true but as I explained in my earlier post, the process is much more complicated than just yanking on a leash. Martin & Bosco's relationship is clearly displayed on my YouTube channel.for everyone to judge. :)

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Best of luck to anyone out there who is struggling with an aggressive dog.

Laura

Bosco looks like a nice young dog to me in the videos, maybe just more dog than you were prepared for?  

Keith - I sent you a PM since I don't want to derail Deanna's thread.

Let's keep the focus on Deanna's issues! LOL.