BEAUCERON AGGRESSION

by Ashleigh
(Southern Cal. )

So if you know anything about beaucerons you will know that they can be EXTREMLY stubborn and can also tend to be arrogant. Now.. don't get me wrong, I ADORE this dog! My ex adopted her and was told that she was a rottweiler ( pure)... As she continued to grow I realized there was no way she was a rottweiler.. So upon research I figured out what she was. And to a T! She is the most loyal dog I've ever had. I've been around dogs my whole life, always rescued big breeds. I am completely familiar with how this all works! I've trained dogs before completly successfully...but this situation is something that I just cant wrap my head around anymore. I am too close to the situation to see the problem.

The relationship I had with my ex was very toxic. When he got this dog as a puppy he refused to train her, socialize her, let her basically get away with everything. I already had two smaller dogs which as she kept growing, I realized could become problematic very quickly if she does not begin to get some boundaries.. Now, my ex ( although not training her himself ) would not allow me to train her either....So up until she was about 8 mo's she had no real training and already becoming very large.. I finally concinved my ex to let me socialize her, train her, for her sake if nothing else!! So I began training her but those lost months I could already tell were going to be detrimental for her.. never the less, slowly i got her socialized and she was able to go to the beach and dog parks and have tons of FUN!! She behaved, listened, responded.. I was so proud of her!!

But, at home she and my other dogs were becoming increasingly protective over me.. My ex would come home completly smashed and had atleast 60 lbs on me. He would scream and fight, things got thrown etc. And this dog (along with the two smaller ones) was always in my corner, standing right beside me! Standing in between us or just close enough so that I could tell I wasn't alone.. I grew to love this dog like nothing else!! One night the cops were called to our house and I left the house and so desperatly wanted to take her with me, but because she wasn't technically my dog i couldn't take her. She wanted to come with me.. i watched her pull down the blinds in the window and try to jump through the window to get to me. She was crying the whole time.. It was the most heart breaking thing.. I hated every second of it..

Anyways, long story short.. The relationship ended. YAY!! And i got the dog!! Double YAY!!!! I am now engaged to the most amazing man! Who loves dogs as much as i do. Because his job may be changing we decided that i would move into the house he was living in for a while with his room mate. My fiance has 2 dogs ( 1 german shep. Female and 1 husky-shep mix. Female) and his room mate has 2 dogs also ( 2 pitt-lab mixes, both male). I left the two smaller dogs with my parents by the way.


Instantly it was very clear, my dog was going to be female alpha. And minus some very typical low grade growling and establishing boundaries amongst themselves it was a very smooth transition. One of the male dogs is Alpha of the whole pack but doesn't show it much and the other one does nothing but chase his own tail and then will turn and start a fight with the other male. The tail chaser has accidentaly grabbed my dog by mistake a couple times and with moving in to a new place, adjusting to roommates I don't know very well, being engaged and planning for a wedding and working full time... I was stressed on my own, and I believe I have let my dog down.

Recently in the last couple weeks, she has started to show more signs of aggression, growling more where she didn't used to, pinning other dogs down, and there have been a couple of minor cuts. Then because of the stresses that im experiencing most of the interaction she is getting with me has become negative. Scolding, punishing.. that sort of thing.. where as before she and I played together, hiked, ran we were together all the time.. now, she is outside all day with the other dogs because thats what THEY are used to.. I fell like I've let her down..Like I didn't give her the tools she needed to joing this bunch of dogs and I havent been spending anywhere near as much time with her as I used to. I want to fix this problem.. but just positive reinforcement isnt going to be enough. I know her too well, and I am too close to the situation to see a clear solution..

She is a 110 dog, incredibly loyal, sweet and wicked smart!! I can't tell you how much I love this dog...But I need to stop this STUBBORN and COCKY behavior.. I need tips, advice, help!!