5 year old Pomeranian's aggression

[ADAM SEPIDEHDAM]

Hi Adrienne,

Been here a while but never really considered posting to get advice so here I am

My recently 5 year old pom used to be quite friendly to anyone and towards people she is quite excitable, which is a problem in its own right but she's never been allowed to the extent that it's become a serious problem.

Now about 2 years or so ago, she began to become aggressive, as there was a large dog that ran at my mum and bit her while she tried to protect my dog. This is probably one of the reasons I could attribute her behaviour developing towards being reactive towards other dogs, in that she will bark and try to lunge at other dogs, even from a distance once she realises that it's a dog.

Ever since, we've gone through at least two dog behaviourists and while the techniques might have helped a bit, they never managed to offer significant help against her aggression. Both of them did use lead pulling which I'm not sure whether to agree with since I feel its a forceful way of trying to teach a dog not to do something. 

Really, what I'd like to know is A. Even after being the age that she is and the fact that it's gone on for upwards of 2 years, can she unlearn this aggressive behaviour? And B. How can I tell a dog behaviourist has the right idea of things/is using the right methods as yours are the best I've seen and I'd like to learn from them, I just don't know if a behaviourist would agree or use similar techniques.

Thanks

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forums, sorry for the late reply, life got hectic lately!

To address your questions:

 A. Even after being the age that she is and the fact that it's gone on for upwards of 2 years, can she unlearn this aggressive behaviour?

Yes, it is possible to manage and shift the emotional response at this age, although it may require some more time considering how behaviors that have been rehearsed for longer take more effort to manage/change. 

 B. How can I tell a dog behaviourist has the right idea of things/is using the right methods as yours are the best I've seen and I'd like to learn from them, I just don't know if a behaviourist would agree or use similar techniques.

There are many different training philosophies, but research has found that methods that are based on any coercion/aversion have the potential for side effects which can make the problem behavior even worse.

For sake of an example, let's consider the fact that dogs have the uncanny ability to pair one stimulus/event with another. This occurs courtesy of classical conditioning. Would you think that a dog would learn to be calmer around other dogs if she would associate the sight of another dog with a leash correction or a delicious treat? Of course, this is just a simplistic example as there is much more involved in changing a dog's emotional response to triggers that evoke reactive behaviors due to negative emotional responses. 

If you would like to go more in depth on this here are some reads:

https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/How_to_Choose_a_Trainer_AVSAB.pdf

https://www.sfanimalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Why-We-Dont-Punish.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261106650_Dog_training_methods_Their_use_effectiveness_and_interaction_with_behaviour_and_welfare

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-dogs-go-heaven/201712/punishment-based-dog-training-risk-factor-euthanasia?fbclid=IwAR0fZfGQOfVYf9CJLAhUY3jeQA9CngsM2yXa_fxQ1uyZmioaFfXGjeOby9E

This is how I approach reactivity towards other dogs on walks:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/how-to-make-your-dog-less-reactive-on-walks/

Please feel free to ask any further questions,

Happy Training!