Dog Training Community

My ex-boyfriend and I rescued Ni-Night about 3 yrs ago now, he's a black lab/American Pit Bull mix. The vet mentioned he was around 2 yrs of age at the time of his rescue. Prior to rescuing him we had Jewel, a female Pit Bull/Rottweiler mix around the same age. She was the definate Alpha of them, and he followed her around and mimicked her every move, they got along great and we could even walk them without leashes and they would listen completely to my ex's commands, or so we thought.

One day in our daily walk through the park after Jewel had puppies, A large handsome White Pit Bull on a leash came over the hill with his owner and NI-Night went after him, my boyfriend gave the command for Ni-Night to stop but NI-night disobeyed and did not listen to his command, the two male dogs got into a fight, with Ni-Night getting the brunt of it. We deeply apologized to the owner, who let everything go. But from then on, it was leashes on all the time for both of them.

We foolishly blammed his bad behavior on protection of Jewel, possibly jealous of another handsome dog that Jewel was interested in and then finally the notion that Ni-Night thought the park was his, becoming territorial as the Pit Bull in him is Known for and he saw a sitting duck on a leash. We asked the vet and her explination is he's coming into "his personality, which happens around his age" ??? What??? However, I felt it was our neglegent behavior to not have him on a leash, although he had never shown ANY sign of aggression. Since that point, Jewel & Ni-Night became a pack - barking and threatening any other species that would walk past our fenced in yard, challenging others out and about on walks and even at trips to the local pet store. Ni-Night assumed the dominant role. I couldn't even walk him, without him walking me! 90 lbs of muscle pulling my 120 lb frame... the entire walking experience became exhausting, so outings became very limited.  

 Since then my ex and i had split fairly amicably, he took Jewel (since he had her first) and I kept Ni-Night. I started dating again and brought a new man over. Ni-Night had never had problems with people, but automatically he did not like my new boyfriend Josh. After a few months of dating, he stayed the night and awoke early to get ready for work, he came back in the bedroom to say good bye and in the meantime Ni-Night had jumped into Josh's sleeping place. 

Reading Ni-night's body language i could tell he was in discomfort when Josh leaned over for a kiss, and before i could do anything Ni-night lunged & snipped at Josh. A few other times like when Ni-Night's on the couch, the bed, or when he's laying with a bone and Josh tries to play with him i've taken note on the way Ni-Night's eyes follow Josh, and he doesn't wag his tail when he's in those places and positions. After the initial incident, i talked to trainers and other experts and didn't like their response and feel their theories don't apply.

One trainer said that Ni-Night thinks i'm his possession and that i have no control over my dog, saying NI-Night doesn't respect me. Another trainer said that since Ni-night was on the bed at my level he thought he was trying to protect me, and Josh's sudden movement caused the dog to get startled and react in a "warning" manner. Although, I felt neither was the case, Josh came in greeted Ni-night then  gently leaned over for a smooch. NI-night wasn't startled and he doesn't own me, he listens to my commands, he gets punished and rewarded properly. His punishment that time, was for Josh to tell him to get off the bed and lay down on his bed and we discipline together as a team and make sure punishments are short lived.

A close friend that introduced Josh and I is a Police k-9 trainer, who helped me with my walking problem. He advised that all police dogs get trained with the pinch collar. I thought they were awful devices and cruel, however once i felt the prongs were dull and Ni-Night was okay with putting one on, i didn't feel so guilty. It works perfectly! We go on daily walks and stays by my side, although, when another dog comes into the picture he takes note and stands firm, eyes fixed on the species and veers off my directed course. I can grab his attention again, and tug and block his view and he then regains focus, but how do i get to that point where dogs and Ni-Night can play friendly? How do i bring him in a social environment and feel comfortable when other pets are around? Any advise on how I can get Ni-Night completely comfortable with Josh being in the home?

With aggression is it important that dogs do not rehearse the behavior. If Ni-Night ends up getting aggressive around dogs or Josh time after time, then the behavior will definitely continue and probably get worse.

What you need to do is desensitize him to the situations that currently cause him stress. I never recommend choke chains, prong collars or shock collars because they can increase anxiety. If he lunges at something while wearing a prong collar, he might stop lunging due to the pain in his neck. But, do you think he will be more calm the next time a dog comes into view after repeated bouts of pain? You need to make the final decision, but I would recommend switching to the Sense-ible Harness.

As far as the strategies for aggression, I recommend that you work with a skilled positive reinforcement trainer. Take the time to interview them, check references and find one that you like. I can give you some tips to practice, but you have a big dog and have both dog-to-people and dog-to-dog aggression issues. You really should work with someone to show you how to proceed.

Based on your description, he is definitely exhibiting resource guarding with bones and possibly locations (couch or bed) and possibly you as well. Resource guarding can show up over bones, objects, toys, and people. Dogs with resource guarding often have body sensitivity as well. So, you should work on resource guarding and body handling exercises. There is a book called MINE! by Jean Donaldson that you can read to find a trainer that knows how to address this issue. Here is a post about resource guarding.

With the dog aggression issue, you want to go slowly and work within his comfort zone. AS SOON as he sees another dog, you should say, “Yes” or ‘click’ if you are using a clicker and give him an outstanding treat. I highly recommend that you use a clicker for these exercises. You can listen to my dog aggression radio show to get some ideas and then ask if you have more questions.

Keep in mind that you want to go slowly and turn his emotional reaction from “I see dog and I bark” to “I see dog and I don’t bark.” The key is to go really slowly. If he barks, don’t ask him to sit or talk to him. Simply move him away to a location where he is quiet and continue the exercise. If he turns around quickly when hearing the ‘click’ then you are at the correct distance. If he doesn’t turn around, if he takes the treat roughly, or if he doesn’t take the treat, move him away and continue the exercises.