My husband and I have two dogs: a 1.5 yr pold Pit Bull mix and an 8 month old Great Pyrenese mix.

Our pit mix is wonderfully behaved. However, we're experiencing some increasingly unnerving issues with our Pyrenese (her name is Polly).

In the past month or so, she is showing intense signs of aggression. She is NEVER aggressive towards strangers; her aggression does not seem to be linked at all to being territorial or protective. She LOVES other dogs, and prefers to be dominated rather than be the one dominating. She loves interacting with people - she absolutely loves visiting my parents and greeting them with dramatic tail wags, kisses, and excitement.

However, she shows aggression towards my husband and I. It's clear that she respects my husband less than she respects me.

The only times she acts aggressive is when I am asking her to do something (go outside, sit down, lie down, etc). And it's not every single time I ask her to do something; it's about 80% of the time (the percentage keeps going up, however, which is why we are alarmed).

Her aggression takes the following form (and in the order listed): sitting down, nose points upward, whites of eyes show, vocalizing unhappiness, growling, barking, bearing teeth/snarling, biting, lunging.

She has bit my husband and drawn blood (nothing major, but still VERY alarming).

I'm not sure why she is acting this way. She doesn't seem to be afraid, and she is definately not acting on the need to protect.

I truely beleive that she thinks she is dominate in our household.

Due to her size (she is 65 pounds and gaining rapidly), it's hard to control her. And since the problems really just started about a month ago, we started out in a bad place as far as being able to control her physically.

I hear negative things about the Alpha Roll; however, I'm not sure how I can assert dominance with her without doing something physical. She does not respond to "No!" at all. I implement the "big" countenance: confident, calm, assertive, etc. This does not seem to be making any difference to her. I have started putting her on her side and using one hand to steady her head (and keep it on the floor) and the other to gentley lay on her rib cage. This produces A LOT of aggression. After a while, she will stop trying to bite and give up. I do not see an attitude change in her, just her getting bored with the process and wanting to do anything just to be able to get up and do her own thing.

We can' afford expensive training, and since I work full time and my husband is finishing up his art degree, we don't have an endless amount of time to work with her and exercise her.

Any suggestions?

We're rapidly losing hope and stamina....

Hello

I'm sorry you're experiencing this What sort of things is she refusing to do?

Please stop with the alpha rolls, they're a nonsense and will do more harm than good. She's also not being dominant, she's just working out what works and what doesn't.

I would encourage you to do more obedience type training to start with, but this training MUST be rewarding for your dog. She's entering adolescence (big dogs take longer to mature than smaller ones and the transition to adulthood can take up to two years) and needs some guidance and some ground rules (think teenager!!). First of all you need to teach her that following instructions is a good thing to do and that she will be rewarded for it.

To increase the bond between you and her I'd also try to hand feed a large proportion of her meals (ask her for sits, downs, tricks etc If she doesn't know stuff then TEACH HER with high value food rewards like sausage, cheese, chicken and other human meaty food), and do lots of play/games.

She NEEDS mental stimulation (bored dogs often 'act up' because they're frustrated), she needs a good amount of exercise, she needs love and understanding. These things do take time, but put the groundwork in with a puppy and you'll have a great dog for years to come

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Where did you get her from? As she is a mix is she from a shelter? What age was she when you had her? What made you get her? What is she mixed with?

Has the vet seen her to rule out any underlying medical conditions?

If she is from a shelter have you contacted them for advice?

Confrontation rarely works, especially with a dog of this size who is armed with 42 lethal weapons.

You need some professional advice in order to determine the cause of this behaviour.

I would also say, if you do not have the time to train and exercise your dog(s) then the dog would be better placed elsewhere.

You dont need an endless amount of time to work with her. I work full time and manage to spend some training time with my dog, nothing major might I add, just little things that we can work on for some stimulation. I have just learnt Chio to go round my legs, gets a treat when he does it. Bit of fun and may come in handy at some point.

Bit worried that you say you dont have time to exercise her though, unless I have read that in the wrong context. It honestly believe it will make all the difference if you spend more time with her out and about. I am far from an expert but a well exercised dog does make all the difference.

We looked after a neighbours dog for a month in Oct, when she is at home she constantly barks and chews and does a runner as soon as she gets the chance. She normally gets one 20 minute walk a day, same place, same route. We had her, 2 walks a day of at least an hour in different places, no chewing no barking and no running off.

Im sure you will find some answers on here from all the helpful people to overcome your problems, but be prepared as it wont get better overnight.

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Since I have had you I have forgotten what a 'lie in' is, but if you needed me even more, I wouldnt even sleep.

Im guessing you are in the states from reference to a Pit Bull and a Great pyreneese, dont know what the mix is but the Pyrenean mountain dog as its known here, is a very independant minded breed. They dont like being left alone for long periods. They need early socialisation and training from puppy hood. They do best with firm but fair handling and thrieve on routines and consistency, they are also not known for instant obdience.

At 8mths now, she will becoming adolescent no longer a dependant eager to please pup. They can also have fear periods where they will react again to sights sounds and situation again with fear. I notice that you say, you cant afford a trainer and havent got the time to work with her and exercise her?
If this has been the situation all along or for most of the time and the early training and work wasnt put in thats likely why its all come to ahead now too.

You have already said that pinning her on her side has "produces a lot of agression" so therefore its obvious that these methods you are trying to use instead of helping the situation are exacerbating it further. Instead of her showing you the respect that you think you will achieve you are doing the opposite making her even more defensive and aggressive against you. If she hasn got a routine, is under exercised and hasnt had any formal and continued training she is likely going to be stressed. If a dogs stressed and bored, plus handled badly all that has to go somewhere and surface in someway.

The only way I can see is to make time and rebuild a proper structure and routine. I would start regular walks. Give her wind down activities inbetween.
Like Stuffed Kongs see link and section How to Kong for fillings Dog & Cat Toys & Dog Treats - Pet Toys, Dog Chew Toys | KONG Company. Have a good supply of safe chews (chewing is a destresser for dogs). Also make time to do even 2 or 3 training sessions with her a day, even if its 15 minutes. Mix it with some interactive structured play with you. When you feed her get her to sit for her dinner, she sits before she receives anything. The training will help with this. Pyreneans as said are an independant minded breed. They probably wont do long repetitive boring training sessions. Use treats and praise as rewards, but she works for them with her training. She should reaise that she responds to what you ask her she gets rewarded. Behaviour you dont want turn your back and walk away and ignore her, she doesnt get anything. The only time she gets treats and attention is for doing as you ask, and she works for things she wants.
If you put in the work and establish a routine and do the exercise and training and stop all the pinning down etc, thats obviously winding her up and making her aggress to you more. Then you should see an improvement.

If you dont know how to train then a trainers going to be your only way.
If you cant afford one 2 one, then speak to one about classes. Obviously if after stopping what you are doing now and starting a proper routine after a week or two doesnt make a difference then you are deffinately going to need professional help.

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How do you react to the 'aggressive' response:

• how does your reaction manifest itself?
• are you scared, wary, perplexed or angry?
• do you freeze, walk away or confront the problem?
• how does the other dog behave during this exchange?

My younger used to display 'aggressive' guarding of his food - problem solved by handfeeding, dropping food into his bowl, getting him to sit and add more food to his bowl, but biggest of all was not to 'freeze' unconsciously when he growled but quickly assess what has triggered the growl and work round it there and then and later come up with a plan to change that approach. No problems now, can even get a sit whilst eating his meal and take his bowl away, but I always allow him to continue eating or return his food. Wanted to show growling had no impact so it was pointless to continue.

Assessing why yours is doing this requires some professional assessment so until then think a little more on the circumstances around the growling, what is a potential trigger and what also is maintaining the aggressive response. Whatever it is will take time and loads of patience to work through.

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Bugger the lot of them

Thanks for all the input. I will try to respond to some of the questions I read in the replies.

Polly (the dog I'm asking about) is 1/2 Meremma Sheepdog, 1/4 Pyrenese, and 1/4 Anatolian Shepherd. We got her from a goat farm not far from our house. She was in a litter of 10+ puppies. We got her when she was supposedly 12 weeks old (we took her to the vet the following day and he confirmed that this was an accurate age estimate). She was the smallest and shyest of the litter, and weighed only 9 pounds. The vet said she needed to weigh AT LEAST 16 pounds at her age. Basically, she was starving to death because the bigger puppies wouldn't let her eat. Her parents were used as herding and guarding dogs for the goats. They were all in a huge pasture together, and seemed to have limited people interaction.

We immediately started socializing her: with our other dog, with my in-laws dogs (black labs), and with other people. She does REALLY well with other dogs and with meeting strangers.

When I say that I don't have time to exercise her, what I mean is that, when I get home from work at 5:15, it's difficult to fit a long walk in with the other things I need to do in the evening. I work 8-5, 5 days a week.

I do live in the US, and it's averaging about 40 degrees where I live. We had inches of snow earlier this week. The weather will continue to get colder, and thus make it difficult for me to take her on long walks. It also gets dark at 6pm, so daylight is also a factor.

She gets a lot of human interaction. I try to come home on my lunch breaks, which gives me roughly 40 minutes at home. My husband also is able to spend time at home with them during the day, depending on his daily schedules.

When she acts aggressively towards me, I don't hesitate longer than a second or two before taking action. usually I just pause long enough to think of the safest way to try to handle her. My husband is less interested in this and tends to just back off when she growls and bites. I understand his fear.. she's large and can produce a lot of pain.

The only trainers in our area are from PetsMart, a national pet supply store. The training is VERY basic: sit, stay, walk on a leash, etc. We are hesitant to invest in this very basic form of training.

She knows how to sit and lie down. However, she will only sit if she knows food or praise is in order, and I have to try REALLY hard to convince her to lie down (usually takes a few treats, a few minutes, and a few gestures). She knows the word "no" and knows when she's doing something bad, like jumping on the counter to try to eat butter.

At this point, she knows the basics, just refuses to do them consistently for us. She responds much better to me than my husband, which i find very interesting.

I want her to be happy and healthy, and I'm willing to explore different means to this end. However, I do understand that, no matter what i try, she might just really need to be on a farm and herd animals. And as much as I would hate to give her up and how much it would break my heart, I'm do understand the reality of our situation.

She needs a job, and I'm not sure what that is since we clearly don't own sheep or goats.

Thanks for your help!

Can I ask HOW you have trained her and HOW you ask her to do the commands? Have you trained her using positive reinforcement?

What I do want to say, and I cannot stress enough, is that all thoughts of 'dominance' should be eradicated fropm your mind. You do not need to exert dominance over your dog, in the same way as your dog is not trying to exert dominance over you. You really need to stop the alpha rolls right away....honestly they will be making matters worse. IMagine it from humans point of view.....imagine if someone asked you to do something in a foreign language you didnt understand. You obviously didnt do it because you had no understanding of what you were being asked......so then instead of the other person trying to explain it in a language you will understand, they force you onto the ground and hold you there. Would you like it? I know I wouldnt! The alpha roll is outdated.....it was something used by 'certain' people way back when dominance theories were seen as correct, whereas now they are very outdated and proven to be incorrect.

As your dog only shows aggression to you and your husband, this is something directed at the 2 of you due to the way you treat your dog or what you do/dont do....the alpha roll will only serve to worses your relatonship, which it is doing.

I am also very concerned you dont exercise her much.......how much walking a day does she get?

Hi, sorry to hear that you're having problems with your girl. You need to get her checked by a vet to make sure it's nothing medical (although it sounds behavioural to me TBH) and then get a behaviourist in to observe both her and you and your husband pronto. None of us can see what's happening so it makes it hard to give advice across a forum but there are some non confrontational things that could help whilst you are looking for a reputable behaviourist. Your vet may be able to recommend someone and it should be covered by your insurance.

Your girl is young, still a pup and very probably a brat. She doesn't sound dominant to me, she sounds confused and like she's trying to establish what she is and isn't allowed to do. From your post I would guess that she maybe has not had basic training or that you and your husband have not been consistent in your commands and/or enforcement of them. It would also seem that she doesn't get enough physical mental exercise and you will have to up the anti on this if you want to solve this problem.

That fact that she is aggressive only towards you and your hubby and no-one or nothing else would say to me that it's you two who need the training as opposed to the dog and as a Great Pyreeneen you have a strong breed there so need to get a handle on this now.

1. STOP THE ALPHA ROLLING NOW! It doesn't work, it will damage the trust that she has in you both (if she has any left) and it's the quickest way to get your face ripped off. Remember, aggression begets aggression and from your post it sounds to me like she's retaliating as opposed to initiating.

2. Click on or copy and paste this link Nothing in Life is Free. Read, learn, implement and stick to. The NILIF programme is nothing to do with rank reduction (although it's often quoted as such) and everything to do with giving the dog rules and boundaries and instilling a few manners in a non aggressive, non confrontational way. It's not difficult to do once you get the hang of it.

3. Go back to basics with the commands and start from scratch using positive re-inforcement. Get her to work for her treats. It will stimulate her mentally and strengthen the bond between you both. Don't yell at her and try to coerce her doing things. Remember if she's not getting it it's because you haven't either haven't taught it right or your moving too fast.

4. Excercise her more. The fact that you work and hubby is at college is no excuse to not walk your dogs. Both me and my OH work full time but the dogs are walked 2-3 times daily. If you have to get up an hour earlier then so be it. I was out at 5.30 am with mine this morning. It's a pain but it's a necessity if you have dogs i'm afraid. If you can't make the commitment to her, then TBH you should think about re-homing her to someone who can. Try to aim for 20 mins lead walk and 30 mins free play (off lead) twice a day.

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Picking up buzz points from your above posts, to me the following stood out
as possible causes.

Age you got her was 12 weeks - quite late and given the fact she was from what I can make of your post left to their own devices in a pasture mostly without a lot of one to one human interaction, possibly I would say that could be a factor. You said she was the smallest shyest and skinniest of the bunch, so sounds like she could be the runt and was bullied to a degree.

The good thing is that if she is as good as you say with people, other dogs and in general, then it doesnt sound that she is uncomfortable or unsure particularly, however, this is assumed from what you say as of course thats all we have to go on. A professional assessing her may pick up more from watching her body language, just how comfortable and sure she is. If she is good in these situations though, then the problem must deffinately be something to do with your and her relationship and how you interact.

You said that when she growls and pushes her luck (Which an adolescent dog usually does anyway they go through a phase of asserting their independance or trying too. Ones that recalled now wont, they will be slow to
respond to commands etc and go deaf) Your husband backs off, you also say that she will only sit for food and praise, she will refuse sometimes but is better with you in general then your husband. This all figures and makes sense. You do actually try to train her, and obviously to a degree it is working because she will do a certain amount. (made worse likely at the moment by her age/developement stage) it sounds also she has a degree of respect for you. Your husband on the other hand backs off when she growls or lunges, so she has learned if she doesnt want to do something, she can manipulate the situation. It works he backs off, next time she doesnt want to do it she does it to him again.If he has never put any time in or nowhere near as you with the training, then thats likely a factor too.

To help you understand what you have as well as regards to the actual dog and her mix. Ive already given a sketch of the Pyrenean Mountain dog that she is a quarter of. The other two in the mix are stronger willed.

The Maremma Sheepdog of which she is a half. Has above average intelligence. Early Social and Obdience training is crucial, its suggested from the minute you get them. They are strong willed, a natural guard, can be aloof and need a knowledgeable handler. They will not do blind obdience and will make their own decisions or try too.

Also the Anatolian shepherd. Again is also strong willed, also a natural guard,
again needs early strong obdience training. They also need a postive trainer and a lot of exercise. Interestingly added to the Anatolians sketch which is very similar to the Maremma. They are not reccomended for Schutzhund training, doesnt say why but my suspicion would be sometimes you can have trouble finding an off switch either that or that side of their training is the last thing you should encourage and develope.

Given what you have said, I still maintain that given the right exercise, Her training is made paramount importance, with reward based positive training
(you have already established aversives and alpha rolling makes her agress and exacerbates the problem) If you become a stronger leader and I mean in the respect of improving the relationship and providing, exercise training and a routine and structure, you could likely turn it around. My concern is that you may not have the experience and knowledge and I think you now even if not before lack confidence with this dog, particularly more so your husband.
The best way to go if this is the case is to get a behaviourist, get a proper assessment of her (dont forget everything on here can ony be assumed from your posts and descriptions) then get the behaviourist to give you a proper tailor made, behaviour modification programme. Base line though is have you got the funds, the time and are you willing or will you be able to put the work in.

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