More tips to help our foster Lab w/ fear aggression?

Are you doing "look at me" or "look at what's disteacting you?"

Many people are finding that the latter works better. Leslie McDevitt has a "look at that" game in her book, Control Unleashed.

It gets the dog in the habit of glancing at whatever distracts or upsets him, then automatically looking back at the handler. It works better than “watch me” or “leave it” for a lot of dogs, since it allows looking at the distraction, and includes an automatic, trained habit of looking right back at the handler after doing that.

The first step, before even playing the LAT game, is to get the dog in the habit of re-orienting to the human often. So standing beside a crate (rather than in front of it) when opening it, stopping after going through a door together, stopping while your dog is walking with you in the house or yard, and rewarding with lots of attention (and perhaps a treat) if and when the dog turns toward you, comes first.

Once that is habit, LAT works better. I usually teach the game starting with a neutral stimulus, like a boring object held in my hand, but waved in the dog's peripheral vision (works well with two people, one to be the distraction, the other to be the person to whom the dog refocuses).

You can then escalate to other movements, objects, noises, etc. Temptations, rather than mere distractions, can be part of it.

A description of the exercise can be found here, and a video of a dog being trained with it is below that:

http://www.akinfdt.net/look_at_that.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuV3MOvvyr4

Learn to be observant. On walks, you should be noticing other dogs before she does. Keep your eyes and ears open so that as soon as you notice the other dog, you can begin feeding her a steady, constant stream of chicken. Remain relaxed and calm while doing so. The chicken should distract her from the other dog, preventing her from escalating to an aggressive state while forming a positive association ("other dogs = chicken!"). If you lose her focus, don't try to get it back right now.. When she has "look" fully mastered in a neutral environment, you can begin upping the ante and using it in slightly more stressful situations, but until then, you won't be successful in getting her attention if a wad of chicken under her nose won't even do the trick. So, just silently, firmly turn around. Walk away with her. Don't give her the option to get more worked up than she is when she's just fixating on the other dog.

The more positive associations she has with other dogs, the more comfortable she will be around them. Find as many stable, friendly dogs as possible. Contact people you know. Contact an experienced trainer who uses positive methods who might be able to hook you up with some dogs. Introduce them (one at a time!) using the method you used to introduce her to your dogs. Was it this?:

http://www.mastiffonlinecommunity.net/viewtopic.ph...

Do not, of course, rush her! Don't flood her with new experiences. Take baby steps. If she's still reacting, then take smaller steps! Work at her pace.

Try throwing in calming signals:

http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/calmingsignals.ht...

Try reading this:

http://www.positivedogs.com/articles/over_zealous_...

Just pay attention to how she rewards what she wants. Any time your Lab does something good -- even if it's just having her tail in a normal position in a stressful environment -- reward her!

I have a bordercollie mutt, and what i know is that they can get very scared. My girl is very protective of me and even of my other pets. Seems like a very smart dog if it knows when the postman arrives. Mabey its bored, and needs something to do.. its a working dog mix. Start with doing something inside the house, so there are no distractions, and do some obedience or jump over a stick. That way your not putting yourself in danger when you walk him, but he gets some exersize. If putting him to work in the house.. like mabey have him find a treat play some ball (don't play tug a war! its just going to get him more aggresive!!) or if you need to take him on a walk, make him do some mental exersizes.. make him sit before putting on a leash.. he seems to want to protect you so make him know your incharge. If that does not work you might want to try some training classes.. Petsmarts are around my area had have about 2 month classes for $100. it is a good investment for they are classes with other dogs, and the trainer can personally help your dog not start snapping at the other dog, or at least let you know how you can keep control of your dog. Good luck. He seems to be protective of you, and only you. Keep him away from other dogs till you can keep control of him.

youre doing everything right it will take time, longer than it does on like training shows or somthing. but your on your way