My aggresive Weimaraner! :(

[RichardD]

Hi,

I have a 2 1/2 year old Weimaraner called Oscar. He really is a truely lovely dog except he can be dominant and aggressive. About 6 months ago he was doing something he shouldn’t of been and i tapped his bottom and he turned around and bit me. I went to see a weimeraner specialist and they said it was a dominance thing and i should never show any sort of aggression toward him. Now still to this day, if he doesn’t want to do something he won’t and i almost feel like if i was to drag him away from say something he shouldn’t be eating he might bite me. 🙁

Secondly walking him is a nightmare, if you are on your own with him he’ll come back and he’s lovely. But as soon as another dog appears i have to put him on his lead because he would bite them. He doesn’t do anything, then all of a sudden bites. There’s no warning signs. But he does seem to love girl dogs but they have to be of a large breed, as he hates small dogs. So socialising is a problem.

Also he really barks at any small children, which makes him look like a horrible dog but he really isn’t.

Any help would be so appreciated. It sounds like he’s horrible but he really isn’t, he’s lovely but i just want to able to trust him properly and walk him like i should be able to.

Oh yeah, i walk him in the morning, at dinner and at night so he has plenty of exercise as i heard lack of excersise can cause aggresion.

Thanks

Richard & Oscar (the big cute Weimaraner)

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[Mudgie]

Hi Oscar’s Dad – I have a 3 year old weimaraner who can be a tad stubborn at times but very rarely aggessive in fact I have heard him do the odd growl but never more than that  :-\  However I would say that he is picking up on your lack of confidence with him and manipulating the situation.  You need to get respect back from him and have YOU as his focus.  I dont think for one moment he is horrible.  I do however think that you are unknowingly reinforcing his bad behaviour eg. if you are out and you see another dog you put him on the lead because he would bite.  What you are saying to your dog is – come here, on lead, danger – he will sense the tension in your stance and more than likely pick up on your body language and the smell of adrenaline from you.  You need to get back to basics. 
and to be honest this isnt about exercise – walking a weim is not enough – he is a working dog – you need to stimulate his brain
You shouldnt need to trust him – he should be looking to you as the pack leader he should be trusting you not to take him into any danger – he is in control at the moment and you need to shift the balance. 

[Mudgie]

We have a fantastic behaviourist/training on the board who unfortunately is on holiday at the moment.  Where are you based Richard  ???  I take it you dont have children in the household and Oscar hasnt been socialised very much

[Mudgie]

and he is a damn handsome dog  ;D

[RichardD]

Hi,

Yeah im based in stoke-on-trent, in staffordshire.

No i haven’t any children in the house, just a big clumsy weimy.
I appreciate you replying to my message and yeah i agree about me being nervous relaying to him. I just don’t know what im supposed to do if say a dog comes up to him when we’re out, do i tell him he’s good or do i just try to walk off with him, i just don’t know.

oh and thanks, yeah he’s really handsome, the little bugger. 🙂

[Mudgie]

okay what happened the first time – in the house when you tapped him – how did you react?

what do you feed him on that can make a big difference also. 

I think the biggest problem here is that you are not seen as the pack leader and you need to get the status back so he follows your lead.  He is trying to protect you because he thinks that is his job.  You are reinforcing this by being nervous. 

do you have any friends with dogs that he feels good around that could build your confidence initially

[Sweetypye]

Entire Male Weimaraners can be very arrogant.  You have to earn their respect and confrontational methods do not work; for the less assertive dog gets crushed and the very assertive dog will come back at you (a fact that many male dog weimaraner handlers/competitors have discovered).  

A Weimaraner matures at around 3 and if he is still entire may have learned behaviours that need remodelling so that the strategies that have worked up till now become unsuccessful and he thus behaves more appropriately.

You may find that a behaviourist/trainer may be able to help you put into place methods which can modify his behaviour and enable you to actually enjoy your dog and vice versa.

His current behaviour is obviously unacceptable and could lead both of you into serious trouble and put others at risk.  Not to mention undermining the reputation of this breed.

Most of the problems with Weimaraners occur because they are very intelligent and require mental exercise.

Have you considered taking up obedience, agility, working trials or fieldwork?

I can probably put you in touch with behaviourists/trainers and weimaraner owners in your area having owned 4 of my own.

HTH

[Sweetypye]

http://www.sheilaharper.co.uk/courses_classes.aspx

I can recommend Sheila Harper in your area.

[RichardD]

He was eating a flyer that had come through the door and i told him no etc. And he became defensive over it. So when i went over he was trying to eat it quicker so as i tapped (not hit) his bum he turned around and bit me. I was so shocked and told him to go to his bed (which he usually does) but he almost squared up to me and looked very aggressive so i tried to go upstairs and he ran past me and stood at the top of the stairs, growling. So i came back down opened the door to the graden and he ran outside. 2 Minutes later he was wagging his tail and wanting to play like nothing had happened.

I feed him on Wainwrights Hypo Alegenic for large breeds, because he has really sensitive skin.

Yeah i have a friend who’s got a bitch which is quite small and is a cross between a whippet and a jack russell. I introduced him to her wearing a mickey muzzle until he got use to her, then i took it off and they play really lovely together. Strange because he really doesn’t like small dogs.

[Sweetypye]

So basically your dog was resource guarding, on your approach he was frightened of losing it so sped up his consumption and then objected to what appeared to him to be competition for this flyer from yourself.

His behaviour outside also sounds like resource guarding (you), again this is common in Weims; they are not guard dogs for property but they can become over possessive over owners and locations, food etc.

I think you need some help by an experienced, effective trainer to show you techniques to use with this dog that are not based on rank reduction etc.

Sheila Harper is the only person I can recommend in the Staffs area off the top of my head.

[RichardD]

Yeah i really want to do agility with him. whats the best mental exercise i can give him at home or when he’s out for a walk??

[RichardD]

Ok, i’ll get in touch with her. It annoys me because its really my fault and not his.

Also on a side note, i contemplated getting another weimy as company for him, do you think this is a bad idea?

[Sweetypye]

Weimaraners are tracking dogs, and in fact Sheila is having Anne Lilli Kvam over in August for a nosework course.

So you can lay tracks for him to follow, by placing little bits of food in yoru footsteps which lead either to his food or a toy if he likes balls etc.

You can play hide and seek by placing toys in the house and then transferring to outside.

You do not have to give his food twice a day in a bowl you can scatter it in the grass, put in a buster cube or in a kong. etc

You should get in touch with Janet Hudson a committee member on the Weimaraner Association.  

[GSPmad]

speaking from personal experience, i wouldn’t recommend getting another dog until you have got the dog you already have at the stage you want, ie responsive to you etc.

and he is gorgeous.  :-*

[Mudgie]

absolutely terrible idea – sort out this one or he will just teach the next his bad habits or confrontation will his answer.

Get yourself and Oscar sorted then you can think about introducing another.  Only my opinion though  😉  but I reckon you would be in for double trouble  >:D

No point in getting annoyed contact Sheila and start to put things right – at least you are accepting the responsibility and doing something about it.  Good luck – let us know how you get on.  

Mine loves agility and clicker training but in the house and garden hide and seek the treats are his favourite  ;D

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