Kobe will always be aggressive

[Kobe]

Our sheltie Kobe is almost 5 years old now.
We got him since he was 8 months old from a breeder.
We walk our dogs on regular basis and Kobe has always been aggressive toward other dogs.
I think we've accepted that Kobe will always be aggressive.

Kobe however is always very good to our Norwich terrier from the first day.
They never fight, not even once. Kobe actually never growl at her.
They are like best friends. Bailey is very friendly towards other dogs too.

Walking Kobe is never 100% relaxing.

Are some shelties always going to be aggressive?

[take4roll10]

I prefer to use the term reactive, but yes my dog is almost 4 and is reactive inside and outside the home. I've tried everything including medication (natural and prescription), hired a trainer, bought every shirt/device possible and nothing made a significant difference.

I feel your frustration. I just want to take a nice calm walk with my dog, but that will never happen. I always have to be on alert for something that will set her off.

I will just continue to take treats on every walk with me. Hopefully, one day she will learn to just relax.

[bi-blacks]

Originally Posted by take4roll10

I prefer to use the term reactive, but yes my dog is almost 4 and is reactive inside and outside the home. I've tried everything including medication (natural and prescription), hired a trainer, bought every shirt/device possible and nothing made a significant difference.

I feel your frustration. I just want to take a nice calm walk with my dog, but that will never happen. I always have to be on alert for something that will set her off.

I will just continue to take treats on every walk with me. Hopefully, one day she will learn to just relax.

This sounds like our Meadow. She is 5 and like you we have tried all the same things to help her. We don't go on a lot of walks as she redirects her aggression onto our other sheltie. We are about to begin prescription medication. Some days it is a real challenge living with my poor anxious girl.

[lovemyshelties]

We have four Shelties and only one, Murphy (whom we adopted at 5 yrs old from a rescue) is reactive to other dogs outside the house. He is a completely different dog around our three. Plays and romps with them and is a happy guy. We can trim his nails, brush knots out of his fur, and he gives us kisses like crazy. He came from a back yard Sheltie breeder. A trainer we hired early on said Murphy probably NEVER got out, was never walked, and so is quite anxious around other dogs and strange places. When we do walk him, I have to take plenty of low-cal treats along and play the 'watch me' game when we come across other dogs. Very taxing, indeed, but we love him to bits and always will.

[corbinam]

To chime in with everyone--our 5 year old Bentley is the same. Not as extreme as some cases, but he reacts to dogs barking (outside or on TV), as well as when we're on walks.

We just manage it as best we can. We take treats with us on every walk. We walk him separate from other dog (it causes her to be anxious as well). And we keep our house as noisy as possible so he feels more comfortable at home (not always in a high state of anxiety).

[roxyllsk]

My 13 year old sheltie has always been reactive. He has mellowed somewhat with age, but he still goes nuts when he sees another dog.

I've learned that the best thing to do is turn around and walk the other way. It 'deflates' the response pretty quickly. And his eyesight is not as good as it once was, so I typically see the other dogs before he does.

He was reactive when I got him, then he was attacked by a loose dog when I lived in my condo. Both my dogs were leashed and this dog came out of nowhere. It happened 2x before I was able to identify where the dog came from (and the owner), and notify the police and the association. That same dog put another dog in the hospital, so I notified the owners of the injured dog so they could go after the loose dog owner for the vet bills. Owner was just opening the door and turning the dog loose :-(

That made the reactiveness worse - I really think it's a case of 'if I intimidate the other dog first, they won't get me!'.

[seashel]

My Yogi is 9 and dog reactive - BUT only when we're out or at home. He was a show dog and now competes in obedience and never reacts to dogs at shows or training. Literally he can meet the same dog on a walk and in the training hall and behave in two entirely different ways. I've owned Yogi since he was 8 weeks and known him since (and before!) he was born and there is no apparent reason for his reactivity. He was heavily socialised with other dogs as a puppy, far more so than the majority of dogs. He was attacked for the first time last year and has become worse when out. I often wish I could have just half an hour of conversation with him to find out why he behaves the way he does. His reactivity is in the form of warning barking but not agression.

Epic has always lacked confidence around bouncy/unpredictable dogs - although he was well socialised by me from 8 weeks. He's not generally nervous in other ways and fine round children etc. He was attacked badly last year and understandably this has resulted in considerably increased fear of other dogs. Off lead he would probably run away but on lead he will lunge and bark if he feels threatened and might potentially snap although I've never allowed a situation to develop to this stage. However, through mild exposure to other dogs in a controlled environment (training hall etc) and ongoing counter-conditioning to build a positive association with other dogs he is showing a marked improvement to the extent he will play with my friend's young, bouncy Border Collie. I do not expect he will ever be fully relaxed in the company of strange dogs but barring further incidents I'm hopeful he will get to the point of being comfortable in situations surrounded by unknown dogs - e.g.agility trials. A significant positive is that when he is occupied with training he will ignore other dogs unless they get very close.


I have found the dog who had problems to begin with and who has a genuine reason to be reactive is easier to work with to overcome this behaviour than the one who has no obvious reason to be reactive. I know exactly how you feel about walks, I walk my three together and they have free running time off lead but I have to go to places that are not often visited by other people to avoid situations that will trigger the dogs. Unfortunatly they set each other off so evasive action is my preferred option.

I think it depends on the dog and the circumstances as to whether an improvement is possible as well as how established the behaviour is.