Extreme dog aggression

by Stephanie
(Arizona)

My 8 yr old guy is the sweetest little thing. Very good with us, our cat, the grandchildren, company. Take him on a walk and its a nightmare. When he sees another dog he goes balistic. It is embarrassing. He barks, holds his body in an aggressive manner - tail up, ears up, eye contact to the other dog, lunging at the other dog...I've tried different collars, turning around and walking the other way, yelling, scolding. Nothing is working. I hate taking him out on walks anymore. Maybe I should hire a dog trainer.


Also, when we leave for work he is peeing in the house. And this is after we walk him to eliminate. We bought a crate for him, and have staggered our work schedules so he isn't home alone too long, but sometimes he pees in his crate. Any suggestions for this?

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Jun 22, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Jack Russell aggression and peeing
by: Jamie

In terms of the aggression. It sounds like your Jack may not have been properly socialized with other dogs, so he is aggressive out of fear. I would work with him at home on some basic obedience training to boost his confidence and then if you have a friend who has a dog you can work on meeting up on neutral territory (sidewalk) for just a few seconds a few times a week - just enough for the dogs to sniff and then walk away. Or, obedience classes at a center might be good as well because the trainers can help you. Make sure you are practicing the obedience moves everyday at home.

In terms of the peeing in the crate. You may want to double check with your vet first to make sure there are no underlying health issues. Make sure that the crate is comfortable and the right size. Buy a good enzyme based cleaner to get out the smell. Consider giving him his food in his crate because that would give him an incentive not to pee there. Also think about completely re potty training him by going back to puppy potty training basics and be strict about it.

Hope this helps!

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