Can an older dog learn to like dogs again?

[Heather Ziefel]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here and I am helping someone can help me.

I have an 8 year old male Rott/Doberman mix that I got from the Humane Society around 8 years ago. We got him as a 6 month old puppy when I was 14. When he got him he had been left in a house which is why he was brought to the humane society. When we got him he loved people, children, cats and dogs. He use to go and play with my friends pit mix all the time and we use to take him down to our local dog park to play with all the dogs there. (on a sunny day there could be 30+ dogs at a time there)


One time around two years ago I was walking him on an early Sunday morning and we were attacked by another dog that had gotten loose without the owners knowing it. The dog followed us and bit at both me and my dog Rocky. No one was hurt thankfully.

Since then my dog has not liked other dogs. We use to go on walks daily down to a dog park about .5 miles from my house. A place filled with dogs of all kinds and sizes.

He use to love to play with other dogs. When he sees a dog now he will get all excited and wag his tail and whine and want to go and see the other dog, the dog will come over or he will go see the other dog, the dog will sniff him and then suddenly Rocky will growl and make a lunge for the dog. He has never bitten another dog.

I would love to be able to take him on walks or to the park and not have to avoid other dogs when we walk for fear that he will growl and maybe someday hurt another dog. I know this behavior is out of fear of the dog that attacked us because this was never a problem before that.

Does anyone have any suggestions or will he just never like other dogs again?

[David Crandall]

We rescued Bozie when she was 9 (she's now almost 11). She has a lot of dog disliking issues. She has bitten our other dogs, but has never gotten to any others. That's not for lack of trying. She goes after some dogs pretty hard. Some dogs she does just what your's does. She gets excited, gets close and starts sniffing, then starts growling and lunging.

Try to look for any patterns in which dogs she goes after. We've noticed that she will usually tolerate females, but will go after any males.

One thing we did which has improved this a lot is praise and give her treats any time she sees another dog and doesn't bark; we also give her a treat when she hears another dog bark. If she sniffs another dog for a few seconds and doesn't growl she gets lots of treats and praise. We slowly built up to this. Each time she'd have to be a little closer to the other dog before she would get a treat. This hasn't completely solved things, but it's made it so there are a few dogs in the neighborhood we can be around without being on edge. And she rarely responds to other dogs barking at us now, which is a huge improvement. We're headed in the right direction. The key is to make it a positive experience whenever other dogs are around.

That said, I don't think we'll ever get her to actually play with other dogs.

Dave

[Heather Ziefel]

Thanks for replying! I kind of figured that I will never get him to really like and want to play with other dogs but I fugred it can't hurt to try.


I have been trying the treat and praise thing when he is good. The only problem with that is when we are out for a walk he not intrested in food at all, even his favorite treats, which is odd because he LOVES food and I mean LOVES food. I always praise him when he is good boy and scold him when he is bad. He knows when he has done something bad or good.

Good thing for me is that he never ever barks. I have heard him bark maybe 30 times in 7 years. He will only bark if someone comes onto the porch late at night and it is not me, my parents, my fiance or my brother. He knows when it is us and when it is not.

I don't really think he really likes and gender better. We do know a few dogs he will not growl or lunge for most of the time, but only if they do not sniff his butt lol. If they start to sniff him he gets very nervous.

[babyblue]

Thanks for replying! I kind of figured that I will never get him to really like and want to play with other dogs but I fugred it can't hurt to try.


I have been trying the treat and praise thing when he is good. The only problem with that is when we are out for a walk he not intrested in food at all, even his favorite treats, which is odd because he LOVES food and I mean LOVES food. I always praise him when he is good boy and scold him when he is bad. He knows when he has done something bad or good.

Good thing for me is that he never ever barks. I have heard him bark maybe 30 times in 7 years. He will only bark if someone comes onto the porch late at night and it is not me, my parents, my fiance or my brother. He knows when it is us and when it is not.

I don't really think he really likes and gender better. We do know a few dogs he will not growl or lunge for most of the time, but only if they do not sniff his butt lol. If they start to sniff him he gets very nervous.

Maybe when you are out on walks you get too close to the other dogs for his comfort. If he is reacting to the other dog and not taking any treats or listening to you then you are probably to close. You need to start desensitizing at a distance he is comfortable with. This is gonna be a very slow process and like David said you probably won't get your dog to "like" other dogs, but you might be able to get him to a point where he can "tolerate" dogs.

[Heather Ziefel]

Rocky is the one that goes up to the dogs. I try and stay away from them as much as I can but he whines and wants to go over and see them. Even if we are not near another dog he will not eat a treat. He just get so excited to be out and walking I guess he forgets all about food!

You are both right though, I dont think at this point he will ever like other dogs, which is fine. He loves ours cats and other animals and will even play with my Nanday conure without even thinking of hurting him. The bird will climb all over and chew on him and he just lays there as happy as can be. He is also great with people and children, so overall he is a great dog ;)


Thank you both for the advice!

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Heather!

>>He use to love to play with other dogs. When he sees a dog now he will get all excited and wag his tail and whine and want to go and see the other dog, the dog will come over or he will go see the other dog, the dog will sniff him and then suddenly Rocky will growl and make a lunge for the dog. He has never bitten another dog.<<

If you want to re-socialize Rocky, I would suggest that you consider getting professional help from someone who is experienced in dog/dog issues. It's not easy for the average dog owner to recognize subtle signs and signals that dogs give when encountering an iffy situation. Just because Rocky wags his tail when he sees another dog doesn't necessarily mean that he's happy. Other factors come into play here too. More often than not, a dog like Rocky could decide to growl and lunge at another dog because YOU might be nervous about this meeting. You may not realize that you could be tightening up on his leash or pulling him in closer to you during the meeting between the two dogs. If that's happening, your tension and apprehension will be felt by your dog and he will respond in kind.

This may be a situation that could be resolved, but I don't think you should test the waters by yourself. You certainly don't ever want Rocky to be in a situation that could make him want to bite another dog. Ask for help from someone who knows what to watch out for and how to instruct you in person on handling your own dog during a meet and greet.

Here are some links to find positive trainers:

http://www.iadbc.net
http://www.acabn.com/caninedirectory.html
http://animalbehaviorcounse lors.org/index.shtml
http://www.apdt.com

Hope this helps. Good luck and update us on how things are going.


Hi everyone,

This is my first post here and I am helping someone can help me.

I have an 8 year old male Rott/Doberman mix that I got from the Humane Society around 8 years ago. We got him as a 6 month old puppy when I was 14. When he got him he had been left in a house which is why he was brought to the humane society. When we got him he loved people, children, cats and dogs. He use to go and play with my friends pit mix all the time and we use to take him down to our local dog park to play with all the dogs there. (on a sunny day there could be 30+ dogs at a time there)


One time around two years ago I was walking him on an early Sunday morning and we were attacked by another dog that had gotten loose without the owners knowing it. The dog followed us and bit at both me and my dog Rocky. No one was hurt thankfully.

Since then my dog has not liked other dogs. We use to go on walks daily down to a dog park about .5 miles from my house. A place filled with dogs of all kinds and sizes.

He use to love to play with other dogs. When he sees a dog now he will get all excited and wag his tail and whine and want to go and see the other dog, the dog will come over or he will go see the other dog, the dog will sniff him and then suddenly Rocky will growl and make a lunge for the dog. He has never bitten another dog.

I would love to be able to take him on walks or to the park and not have to avoid other dogs when we walk for fear that he will growl and maybe someday hurt another dog. I know this behavior is out of fear of the dog that attacked us because this was never a problem before that.

Does anyone have any suggestions or will he just never like other dogs again?

[Frances Grady]

hello, heather looks like you got good advise a few things i would like to add i think at this piont your dog may not ever like most dogs maybe he could learn to tolerate the presence of other dogs for your dogs saftey keep him on leash at all times as your dog is older and you would not want him to be counter attacked by a dog he was growling at dogs become defensive when growled at