Older dog developing aggressive behaviour

Hi,
There is so much information on aggression (dog-dog) out there I don't know where to begin. Our dog is a 9 yr old Akita cross, he's been with us for a year now. He's always been very good on the leash and off with other dogs, but over the past couple of months he's becoming increasingly aggressive, lunging at dogs passing by and almost pulling me off my feet a couple of times. He's also been attacked a few times recently and I wonder if this is affecting his behaviour? We have him on a choke collar (so that I have some hope of stopping him) and when he tries to attack we yank him back and look him in the eye and tell him no strongly. But we've been doing this the whole time and his behaviour is getting worse. He's appears quite violent with other dogs when he does get to them although I don't think he's drawn blood...yet!

The difficult thing is the behaviour seems very random. For example at an off-leash area he met three other dogs and was fine. Sometimes he's fine with dogs he meets on the leash. I guess we should pay closer attention to what we're doing with the leash... any thoughts?

 

luvmydog, this same exact thing came up a few weeks ago here. they
are regular posters and gosh now I cant think of her name.

if you go back a few weeks and look you will find it because I also think it was title dudden dog aggression or something like that and there was lots of good advice.

Also she is 9 now, dogs can become aggressive if they are feeling well.

honeybear

 

you could have his thyroid tested. One of the symptons is aggression.

if the thyroid is fine I'd seek the advice of a behaviorist

 

Did this behavior begin after he'd been attacked? If so, I'd guess it could definately be part of the reason he's started acting this way.
As Honeybears stated, not feeling well can cause aggressive behavior as well. I would have medical problems ruled out as a cause just to be safe.

This makes alot of sense to me. You may actually be making his behavior worse by yanking him with the choke chain when he goes towards another dog. He could or has maybe already started to associate approaching dogs or even the sight of another dog with pain and/or discomfort (from being yanked) causing him to become even more reactive every time he sees another dog. I highly recommend that you no longer jerk him but instead turn in the other direction and start walking away from other dogs when you see them. Try to redirect his attention to you before he becomes reactive. Have special treats on hand to reward him each time he directs his attention to you when you change direction. Any time he sees another dog and does not become reactive he should be rewarded....these times maybe few but make sure he is heavily rewarded when they do occur even if the other dog is quite a distance away.

I also highly recommend getting the book "Aggression in Dogs" by Brenda Aloff which discusses in detail how to prevent and modify aggression in dogs.

 

Also take a look at these books:

Feisty Fido and Cautious Canine, both by Patricia McConnell and
Dogs are from Neptune, by Jean Donaldson


I'd also have him checked out to make sure he doesn't have any health problems or is in pain for some reason.

 

Lovemydog,
There is a situation called Leash Aggression that occurs when a dog on a leash is near other dogs. Since you said he was fine with other dogs in the off leash area this may be the problem. I don't know what to do about it but consult a trainer.
As for the choke chain I would give the Gentle Leader a try for better control. You can get one at most any pet store. It is a device that fits over the muzzle then around the neck. You attach the leash to the muzzle part.
It may take a few times for your dog to get use to this leader as he will try to rub it off at first but if you can get him use to it you will have far better control over that tendency to lunge or pull on the leash.

 

Thanks everyone. After reading your posts I've been generally trying not to act panicked myself when we see another dog and keep from pulling him with the leash. On the weekend we had a great off-leash day with a rottweiler & german shepherd in close proximity and he was so good! In fact he only growled when the rottweiler pawed me to get me to throw their stick. We're also trying to teach him that 'say hello' command so he knows how we want him to behave.... But it's good to know it's something we can control...I was becoming afraid that the next thing would be aggression against people.