MANAGING MUMUS' AGGRESSION & FIGHTS
** DO NOT pick up any of the dogs. Generally, leave it only to KB or Rajendra to carry the dogs as they will know how to handle them individually and as a group.
** NEVER pick them up and put them on your lap if you're sitting on a chair or sofa (or anything elevated).
If playing with the dogs, we must sit on the ground and play with them on ground level.
At the first sign of aggression (e.g. growling), must stop it. Do this by:
- slam newspaper on the ground and shout very firmly, "NO".
- separating the dogs
Don't mix signals towards the dogs e.g. don't keep saying "No, No" but also stroke and pet them at the same time.
In the morning, when the dogs come down, KB will take them down slowly to the landing area. Then KB will come down and look to see if anyone is downstairs. He will then ask them to come down to the Mumu garden. if all go out except 1, let the 3 go out first and leave the 1 inside. then when all 3 dogs are far away from the door, let the 1 inside out to the garden.
Places to put the rolled up newspaper:
Behind the tv
Front door incense cupboard
PO area
window ledge at the washing machine area
KB's room
TR room
Never play with the dogs with the newspaper. Take out the newspaper only during very bad moments when they are badly misbehaving.
If you absolutely have to pick up the dogs, bring Mumu first to the room and put him in the toilet.
If there is a cut, do NOT put anything. Take to the vet. however if it is very small you can use the antibiotics which are kept in the Mumu drawer.
Below are some additional info which are helpful.
WHEN DOES DOMINANCE START?
It is an extremely rare situation for a dog younger than 8 months of age to show signs of aggression related to dominance. In fact most serious dominance problems do not appear until a dog enters maturity. This takes place between 15 and 36 months of age. The most common age is around 18 months.
As a dog matures, its instincts tell it to assume a rank within the pack. As a youngster it was willing to be a follower, but if it grows up and does not receive the proper training or if that training was lacking (which it often is) or if it is allowed to display rank behavior, the drive to become higher pack member will take over. The behavior related to that drive is often to threaten other pack members with aggression. Dogs get themselves in trouble by growling, showing teeth, nipping or even biting anyone it sees as a lower rank.
SIGNS OF DOMINANT BEHAVIOUR
Here are just a few behaviors many dogs will display that represent a dominant behaviour:
• Sleeping in bed with the owner
• Pushing you to pet him
• Growling near food or toys
• Not allowing you to take toys away by showing aggression
• Always going through doors first
• Always going down stairs first
• Being extremely aggressive
• Resisting laying down when told to stay down
• Showing aggression to certain family friends and not others
WORKING WITH THE DOMINANT DOG
Having a good bond with a dominant dog is critical. These dogs live and die by pack order. The only way to maintain control is to maintain a good relationship. But this must be done on your terms.
A dog that comes to
you and tries to force you into petting him when you are reading the paper or
working on the computer is displaying a form of a dominant behaviour.
Almost all dogs want to be petted. But there is a difference between a happy,
friendly dog that just wants a pet and a dominant dog that wants to force his
attention on you when you are busy doing something else. Understanding the
difference between these situations may come down to experience. If your dog
doesn’t display any other symptoms of dominance except wanting to be petted,
you don't have much of a problem. The solution is to always make a dog do
something before you pet him. Give him a SIT command, or give him a DOWN
command then pet him.
WHAT DO YOU DO AT DOORS AND STAIRS
Never allow your dog to go into a room or through a door or down a stairs before you. This means very little to humans and a lot to a dog with tendencies for dominance. Make the dog sit at the door every time you take it outside. Just like you make it sit every time you put the food bowl down to feed it.
WHEN DOGS SHOW AGGRESSION TOWARDS FAMILY FRIENDS
When a dog shows aggression to certain visitors to the house this is a form of dominance. People with small dogs think this may be cute, while others are pleased that their dog is acting protective. Both are wrong. This behavior needs to be controlled. The dog needs to be taught that this behavior is unacceptable.
The easiest way is to verbally scold the dog and put him in his crate or put him in a different room. When you show him that you control his environment all the time you are establishing yourself as the leader. In a pack, the pack leader is the one that determines who fights and when. If we allow our dogs to determine who to attack on their own, we are allowing his dominance to take hold.
From: http://leerburg.com/dominac2.htm
AGGRESSION BETWEEN DOGS IN THE SAME HOUSEHOLD
The following article contains notes from Larry Lachman's book, Dogs on the Couch:
When it comes to fighting between dogs in the same household, there are four common characteristics:
* Dogs are of the same sex.
* Dogs fight only in the owner's presence.
* Dogs are adult dogs, four years or older.
* Fights involve a
struggle for which one will be the dominant dog in the family pack. And in
these cases, the owners frequently choose to wrong dog as the dominant dog and
begin treating him as such. Or the owners attempt to treat the dogs equally and
democratically.
Lachman's advice for reducing aggression between dogs in the same household:
* Grant privileges to the dominant dog. Greet, feed, pet, walk outside with dominant dog first.
* Be consistent in all roles. Maintain a clear-cut hierarchy and help the dogs feel secure in their position in the family pack.
* Discipline the less-dominant dog for horning in on the dominant dog using *SSR method, Lachman's approach to changing a dog's behavior. SSR stands for Startle (wait 5 minutes), Redirect and then Reward. Lachman recommends using a relatively quiet method of startling the dog, such as firmly stating "OFF!", which you can combine with a loud clap or another unpleasant, interruptive noise.
* Only give dogs attention when they are together. Give attention to dominant dog first.
* When you can't give both dogs attention, neither gets any.
* In the morning, lead the dominant dog out first.
* Separate eating areas.
* Avoid greeting, playing or petting the dogs for any length of time in tight spaces such as hallways, car entrances. These are likely hot spots where dogs begin fighting.
* If any fights break out, yell "OFF!" and blast with water or airhorn or ultrasonic device. If the dogs fail to respond, grab the more aggressive dog’s rear legs or tail and lift up, suspending the dog and removing his center of gravity while rapidly moving back. Do not reach for the head area or grab collars: you’ll more than likely get bitten.
* Never have either dog on the same physical plane or level as you. That will reduce your dominant position in the pack. The dogs will respect you less and will ignore you if you command them to stop provoking each other or to stop fighting.
* Never respond to
either dog's demand for attention. This is also a subtle way to reduce your
authority position, thereby dangerously raising the dog's perception that his
position is one of greater authority.
From: http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_AggressionDogsInSameHouse.php
DOG AGGRESSION
“Any breed can cause trouble. The difference between an aggressive Chihuahua and an aggressive pit bull is that the bigger breeds can cause proportionately bigger damage.
With dog on dog aggression, your dogs are asking you to step up as the pack leader. Animals select pack leaders because they instinctually know who is strong and who can best lead them. An animal pack leader is concerned for the pack, not for himself. His natural instincts are protection and direction for the entire pack. It’s an unselfish role and an instinctual role. And in return, the pack completely trusts the pack leader. You need to earn your dogs’ trust, loyalty, and respect before the dogs will look to you as their leader and you do this by giving them rules, boundaries, and limitations.
Once your dogs see you as their pack leader, the dog on dog aggression will stop as they stop fighting for dominance because you will be their calm-assertive pack leader".
From: http://www.cesarsway.com/tips/problembehaviors/understanding-aggression
HOW TO BREAK UP A DOG FIGHT WITHOUT GETTING HURT
Never step in the middle of two loving pets and try and grab them by the collar to stop a dog fight. If you try this, the chances of you being badly bitten are extremely high. People don't understand that 2 animals in the middle of a fight are in survival drive. If they see you at all, they don't look at you as their loving owner. When you charge in and grab them they either react out of a fight reflex and bite, or they see you as another aggressor. When they are in fight or flight mode they will bite you.
The safest way to break up a dogfight requires 2 people. Each person grabs the back feet of one of the dogs. The dog back feet are then picked up like a wheelbarrow. With the legs up, both dogs are then pulled apart.
Once the dog fight is broken up and the dogs pulled apart it is critical that the people do not release the dogs or the dog fight will begin again. The two people need to start turning in a circle, or slowly swinging the dogs in a circle while they back away from the other dog. This stops the dog from curling and coming back and biting the person holding their legs.
By circling the dog has to sidestep with its front feet or it will fall on its chin. As long as you slowly continue to back and circle, the dog cannot do any damage to you. To insure that the fight will not begin all over again when you release the dogs, one of the dogs needs to be dragged into an enclosure (i.e. a kennel, the garage, another room) before the dog is released. If you do not do this, the dogs will often charge back and start fighting again or if you release the dog to quickly the dog will turn and attack the person who had his feet.
Dog fights are a very dangerous thing to try and break up alone. You should never rush in and try and grab the dogs to pull them apart. They are in high "fight drive" and are not thinking clearly when fighting. If someone grabs them they will bite without even thinking about who or what they are biting. This is how your loving pet can dog bite the living crap out of you in about a second and a half.
In reality it probably doesn't even know it's biting you. I compare it to a bar fight. If a person comes up behind 2 guys fighting and just reaches out and grabs the shoulder of one of the combatants most of the time the fighter is going to turn and throw a punch without even looking at who or what he is hitting. This is because his adrenaline in pumping and he is in "fight drive".
The worst case scenario is that you are alone when a serious fight breaks out. There are a couple things that you must keep in mind:
• Keep your cool you have a job to do.
• Do not waste time screaming at the dogs. It hardly ever works.
• Your goal is still the same; you must break up the fight without getting hurt.
• Go get a leash (allow the fight to continue while you do this).
• Dogs are almost always locked onto one another. Walk up and loop the leash around the back loin of the dog by either threading the leash through the handle or use the clip. I prefer the thread method.
• Now slowly back away and drag the dog to a fence or to an object that you can tie the leash to. By doing this, you effectively create an anchor for one of the dogs.
• Then walk around and grab the back legs of the second dog and drag it away from the dog that is tied up. Remember to turn and circle as they release.
• Drag the dog into a dog pen or another room before you release the back legs.
• Go back and take the dog off the fence and put him or her into a dog kennel.
If you see two dogs out there squaring off through body posturing (i.e. one dog with stiff legs and tail straight up in the air putting his head over the shoulders of the other to show dominance) do not run out there screaming "NO NO NO!!!!" Most of the time this is going to trigger the fight. A lot of times dogs will posture and one will give in and back away. They settle their dominance issue without a battle.
Remember that females usually fight with females and males usually fight with males. It's seldom that a male and female will fight. When a male fights with a female it usually a very dominant male who is displaying his dominance over the female and she wants nothing to do with it.
From:
http://leerburg.com/dogfight.htm
BREAKING UP A DOG FIGHT
You can use a loud, strong voice or grunt directly at him and pull back from the back of his neck and collar – not from the top, but from the back and pull up, otherwise he can interpret this as you getting into the fight as well, and this is when the dog can turn on the human and bite him because his level of intensity is so high, he doesn’t think “oh, that’s the human.” You’re just another dog in the fight and before you know it, the dog you’re trying to defend is coming after you.
Whether it’s a big dog or little dog, the technique and method is the same. Do not scream repeatedly unless you are calling for help. Sometimes people are not going to help, so don’t expect that everyone will have your ability or good will. Most importantly, be quick, stay mindfully aware, emotionally in tune, and remain calm and assertive".
From: http://www.cesarsway.com/askcesar/anxiety/Breaking-up-Dog-Fights
