Please Help Unusual Sudden Dog Fixation Dominance

[Sebas1029]

Hey guys,

Don’t usually find my self in difficult situations since my Jackson has been easy to train but really asking and needing some guidance Jackson is almost 14 months. I got him when he was 9 weeks super social until he was 10 months going to private community parks every single day. We had to stay away from the parks for about 2 months as there was a virus going around at the parks. Then the COVID-19 hit and that added an additional 2 more months away from the park. We also go into Home Depot, Lowe’s, michaels, and hobby lobby, even walk around down town and have gone plenty of times to social dog events with no problems. He lays down to wait for me on command, heels, sits, and knows many other commands. He is also not food, location, or toy possessive..

He has been to our neighborhood park a couple times a month ago before his surgery and didn’t show any signs of agression but I did notice it became more frequent with new dogs and dogs he hadn’t seen in a very long time.

He got neutered and pexied about a month ago and about a week before his neuter and Pexy he started getting super dog alert. He is a super big goof ball and never has shown signs of aggression aside from maybe 1 or 2 dogs until he was 13 months. He also has never retaliated on a dog. He has been tried to be pushed over the edge by several dogs during his life and never chooses to fight back. Has never shown aggression towards his little 5 month old Mini Dachshund brother, parents or my other human.

What’s weird is he gets this extreme tunnel vision now when seeing another dog regardless of size or age of the other dog. He often tries to mount some of them and some dogs don’t like it and get angry. He has even gotten way more alert when hanging out by the window. When he sees a dog in any situation he gets super stiff and heckles go up and is on alert and will want to run to them and will sometime bark crazy at them. Btw other then that he walks perfectly on a leash. At my pace when I stop he stops and isn’t fazed by anything else (people, bikes, kids). He gets extreme tunnel vision and is extremely difficult to redirect. I try using high reward positive redirection with turkey and have him look at me in the eyes and walk when I see a dog walking in our direction. He is always on a gentle leader. Walks well with it besides this sudden dog fixation that does take a lot for him to not focus on and sometimes doesn’t even care about the cheese or deli meat when I’m putting it near his nose to have him focus on my treat or turning around, bcause he wants to turn around toward the dog.

Has anyone experienced anything like this. Some people have mention these weird occurrences of their pups going through something like this right around month 13-16 but idk how believable this could be as I know many Danes have been perfectly fine during this time period. Any tips?

you can see pics of him on his indtagram: @jacksonandollie_

thank you for reading this and any help or guidance in advance

[NMDane]

Hello Sebas1029 - I agree with kahluadanes! Now's the time to up your training! You are exactly right in trying to have him maintain eye contact with you so he can get past the distraction. If you haven't done so already, I would put a cue (command) to that behavior....I use the cue "Watch Me." When you practice this at home, it is likely that he will maintain good eye contact because there isn't much of a distraction. Gradually increase the level of distraction...eventually you will be able to pass a dog with ease as you will be able to give him your Watch cue and he will maintain eye contact with you! Until you have a strong Watch command, I would really try to keep your distance and not allow him get to the point of not being able to take food from you... Again, like kahluadanes recommended, I would start training everything! "Watch" goes hand in hand with heeling...I would be practicing all of that!! Good Luck!

[kahluadanes]

It is not unusual for a dog to get in this type of "mode" at the time sexual maturity is reached no matter if neutered or not.. It is a time that training needs to be stepped up, you need to be firm, consistent and persistent. It really isn't advisable to go ot dog parks since dogs can pick up some very bad habits (to say nothing of diseases & parasites)..Once you are able I recommend that you get into a good obedience class with a good trainer (obedience class isn't just about doing obedience ).