Category: Common Problems ¤
  Author: Shirley Chong ¤
   Title: Defusing Aggression with the Clicker ¤

> That having been said, as this dog's steward in society, if he lunges at
> another dog, I believe it is my moral obligation to express very clearly
> that I disapprove.  I believe a stern "no" and some eye contact
> immediately after the incident (I ease him into a sit and hold his head so
> he must look at me) are necessary to fulfill this obligation, because my
> dog needs to know that instigating fights is not allowed... yes, I do
> wonder about how this fits with his instincts. I no longer leash correct,
> but I am aware that the leash generates its own form of aggression ("leash
> agression" -- ask if you need a definition).

   Welcome to the list, Barb! I try to avoid extensive quoting but I
wanted to make sure it was absolutely clear what I was responding to.
   Oddly enough, in the last week I've had two students with dogs that
have serious aggression problems. One dog (Katy Rottweiler) is
aggressive towards other dogs but is fine with humans. The other dog
(Mariah GSD) is aggressive towards human beings but fine with other
dogs. They are both aggressive out of fear.
   Both owners handled it the same way--by expressing their disapproval,
by using leash "corrections," by verbal and body language disapproval.
And both owners got the same results--an intensification of the
aggression.
   In Katy Rottweiler's case, her owner attempted to punish aggression
for eighteen months. Last spring, she started coming to me for private
lessons. We've been using the clicker to de-fuse Katy and she's been
doing pretty well. She still has the occasional outburst but they are
becoming rare, the intensity is greatly lessening and it's easier and
easier to get her out of it. But the instant her owner tenses up and
reverts to getting flustered, tense and verbally disapproving to Katy,
Katy immediately goes bonkers again (there's a lot of history there for
her to overcome).
   In Mariah GSD's case, her owner only "corrected" for aggression for a
month or so. Which intensified the aggression to the point where Mariah
looked pretty ferocious on leash--very untrustworthy. Again, I've got
her using the clicker to de-fuse the dog.
   Believe me, if "corrections" worked on fear-based aggression, Katy
would not be aggressive today nor would Mariah. Katy's owner had taken
her through at least four classes before she came to me and she'd
learned how to pound on Katy pretty hard.
   Katy knew damn well that her owner reacted badly to aggression--Katy
is TEN times worse with her owner in sight. Mariah knows her owner
doesn't approve--Mariah is okay when she's not on lead but goes berserk
on lead. Their owners are caring, loving, very concerned owners who have
gone way out of their way to deal with their dogs with the best advice
they could find. But what they managed to teach their dogs was that
"when I see something I'm scared of, I'd better warn it off fast because
my Mom is going to beat me up, too." I find it extremely sad that Mariah
does not see a leash as a symbol of opportunity--she sees a leash and
her fear/tension level immediately ratchets waaaay up. What does that
say about how Mariah views her owner?
   When you speak of moral obligation, who is that obligation towards?
Your dog? That's wasted effort (and against the Recliner Trainer's Credo
<G>); dogs don't recognize moral duty. If your dog is aggressive out of
fear, he's not fighting for the fun of it, he's fighting for his life.
Is the obligation towards society? Wouldn't it be much better to teach
your dog to behave appropriately? Once you have put your dog into a
situation where he has been pushed over the line into feeling fearful,
that situation is a write-off as far as training is concerned. The best
you can hope for is a draw (no progress but no regression either). Do
whatever you have to do to get your dog OUT of that situation without
harming the other dog and without harming your training relationship
with your dog.

M. Shirley Chong
The Well Mannered Dog