[Aurora_Bell]

I posted earlier about older dog socialization, but still haven't been able to fix my issue. So I will give an update as to what's happening and hopefully find some insight! :)

My parents have a 10 year old Am Staff who is neutered, my family and I are very close and Max is as much my dog as theirs, except he lives with them. I recently adopted a 5 year old Boxer Am staff mix, who was supposedly temperament tested with all types of different dogs from altered and un altered females and males, large and small breeds and apparently mixed wonderfully with these dogs. Lady was unfortuanatly kept preganat for her 5 years of life and before being surendered had a litter of pups and then she was spayed, spent a few weeks in the pound and a rescue group in Ontario and is now in my home. The first meeting between Lady and Max was aweful. They were in a fenced in area (first they met through the fence and tails were wagging) so they were introduced in the fence where Lady mostly ignored Max, they played for a few short secconds and then Lady turned and viciously attaked Max totally un provoked. Max has never had issues with other dogs and seems to get along well with any dog he incounters. The seccond time they met Lady again lunged at Max in fight mode. We recently went to our camp where we had to keep the dogs separated, Max was in one room sleeping and Lady pushed the door open and attaked Max, he had no chance to defend himself, and she even drew blood.
When Lady is at home or anywhere else really, she is SO docile, she is friendly, she has an increadable temperament with kids and adores my 2 year old daughter. Of course I would never leave them alone un supervised etc etc... She listens well and is very respectful of my house and rules. We are currently in obeidience classes, but my trainer is more focused on parlour tricks and doesn't seem to want to focus on her dog aggression. I already paid fr the classes and there is absolutely no refunds... Do you guys think there is any hope for my Lady?

[tany072075]

Unfortunately, the only solution I can see is that she just can't be around other dogs. I can see it as sort of a jelousy thing. I have a friend who brought a boxer into their home where they already had a chocolate lab. At first, the boxer was very aggressive, but once they got to know each other, they got along great. I was always very close to the lab. He was the sweetest dog. Would never get aggressive to anything. After a few months of the boxer being there, he would attack the lab when I would come to the house and pet the lab. Soon after, he would attack the lab before I even touched him. He even once mildly attacked one of their daughters when I was playing with her. Eventually he was doing it any time someone came to the house. It got so bad one day that they could not get him off the lab at all. They had to open up their back yard gate so the lab could run far enough away from him to get away. That boxer is now living with a couple with no other dogs or kids and is doing just fine.

[Luv_a_bull098]

Meeting new dogs and living with another dog is completely different. Bullies are a completely different type of dog. Having them greet each other through a fence just doesn't cut it for them. They need to interact with each other. Am Staffs are the "AKC" version of a pit bull. Their temperaments are almost the same. Am Staffs are a bit more relaxed, but they still have a big personal bubble. These breeds will always and forever be dog aggressive. It was bred into them, but you can train them to behave around other dogs. It could take several months before your dogs can tolerate each other. There isn't much that anyone can say that will be a quick fix. It really comes down to you. Are you in charge? Or is the dog?

I had an incident with my two pitties not to long ago. I just recently adopted a blue pittie. She's 11 months old now, 9 when I got her. I also have a white/brindle female that I bought from a breeder. She took down the blue just because the blue was in her space. I had to intervene and put my foot down. I am pack leader and I set the rules. I dictate who stays and who leaves, not her. I haven't had a problem since. My little white pittie is pure pit in every way possible. I have a feeling her parents are fighters. However; she is not dog aggressive. She will not lunge at another dog nor will she seek a dog out just to pick on. She is aggressive towards other dogs if they approach her wrong.

You need to set the rules and you need to be firm and consistent. Letting certain behaviors slide because they're just not bad enough isn't a solution and it will only get worse.

If I were you, I'd take the loss on that dog class and ditch it. If the trainer isn't concerned with actual problems, then you have no business being there and are wasting your time and the dogs. Bark Busters is actually a pretty good training group. They will come to your home and help you out with some behavior problems and could probably give you some hands on solutions to what's going on with your dogs. All trainers that are apart of bark busters have to reach certain qualifications and are nation wide. Dog Training: Bark Busters Home Dog Training I'm not sure what their prices are, but I have heard a lot of good things about them.

[Aurora_Bell]

Thanks for the reply's.
I really didn't think it was a jelously issue, as Lady will sneak into attack Max when no one is paying attention to them. Example we were all in the kitchen Lady was laying on the mat, and Max was in the next bedroom sleeping on his bed, when Lady snuk into the room and attaked him. I had some issues with Bark Busters, and honestly it is pretty expensive, I think I will use them as a last resort. I haven't been able to line up any other trainers who are willing to work specifically with her dog aggression I live in a pretty small town. So I may end up having to use them. I just REALLY hope there is hope for her being segregated like we were on the week end was extremely hard and not much fun for me or either dog.

[JudyKayTee]

I think with ANY trainer you have to check background, education, experience - I could basically call myself a dog trainer tomorrow and begin to solicit business.

I've posted before that I had a TERRIBLE experience with a dog trainer - and I did my homework, checked references first. Then I found out that she had no education or training and simply had "experience."

[Luv_a_bull098]

Not every dog trainer needs to have the alphabet behind their name to make them good trainers. I have had plenty of educated dog trainers say the wrong things to people and no results were made. I think maybe sometimes people try to analyze things too much and micromanage the situation. Dogs are dogs. They're going to disagree with situations and they're going to voice their opinions and say "no" when they don't like something. And a lot of the time, someone's OPINION isn't the correct one. Every dog is different. And every person is different. A good trainer will recognize this and try and find a different solution to make it work. A good dog trainer trouble shoots and sticks it out with the owner even if things seem to not get better. Sometimes it is just a matter of starting over. I could be a dog trainer right now as well. But I do want the credentials to be a serious dog trainer. But experience does mean every thing. No one will hire someone out of college who hasn't worked in that field for at least a little bit. But that's just my opinion :) And Ive never worked with bark busters. Ijust heard really good things about them around here.