Min Pin charges males judges in agility shows

Question
QUESTION: Nemo is a rescue; he was in 3 homes before he came to me at 9.5 months.  He just turned 3 yrs old. He is very energetic and mischevious. The woman who turned him into rescue told them to get him X-Rayed as he son kicked him very badly.  Initially he hated men in hats and men in general but we worked it out with kindness and friends. His energy is channelled into agility which we both found we love BUT he likes to do extremely well (Type A dog)and he stresses in the show ring and decides to charge the judge barking. We need to resolve it before we are barred from competing. Can you help?  He has never bitten but he does "air bite" near the person. There are no males in our household as it is only me and another sweet submissive male dog.  Nemo is highly Alpha but does accept my leadership in most things.

ANSWER: This dog needs to be removed from agility competition right now.  His rehabilitation in terms of his fear of men wasn't complete and his emotional state during competition is evoking a pattern of fear aggression that will only worsen and most likely will begin to generalize once more to men everywhere.  Your dog requires further work and some of it has to be in a clinical setting.  Meanwhile, you need to promote yourself over this dog so that he accepts your "leadership" in ALL things, all the time.

The Min Pin is a courageous, tenacious very large dog in a very small body.  The higher the intelligence in a dog, the more "trouble" they can get into (as you no doubt already know.)  At 3, he's obtained the first real threshold of adulthood (emotionally and psychologically) and any residual fear aggression that hasn't been extinguished may increase.  At home, you need to institute a short term NILIF program for both your dogs (in order to not promote the softer dog over the Min Pin).  This program will promote you psychologically and your Min Pin will be visibly calmer, far more relaxed and bidable. You also need to reassess how you conducted the rehabilitation of his fear toward men.  If it involved your hands on the dog, this is a problem; if it involved flooding the dog, ditto; if you allowed the dog to make the choice of behavior (rather than make the choice for him with positive reinforcement controls), that is a problem.  I can't see any of that from here.  But the way in which to rehabilitate fear aggression is to help the dog to change his thought process right at the onset of the behavior and continuously encourage another behavior in tandem until the dog's fight/flight mechanism is reduced and he is able to choose (from his perspective) the behavior YOU prefer.  It's not complicated but it is time consuming.  If you've already done this, do more of it; if not and you need suggestions, I'll be happy to help but you need to give me the entire picture of how you addressed this problem to begin with, as well as tell me how often the dog has to meet/greet, or even see, men on a daily basis, other than in the agility ring.

Regarding the agility problem, before you can address it you have to complete, or augment, the rehabilitation process.  Meanwhile, you need to look around for an agility instructor with a training facility who is an experienced positive reinforcement trainer with knowledge of how to interact with fear aggression.  You may be contributing to his competition based aggression toward the judges, even by feeling anxious about its possible occurrence, and this is going right to the dog's perception at a time when he is overstimulated.  This is not uncommon.  Setting the dog up in a situation that approximates competition and observing his reaction to a "judge" (also a setup) is imperative.  My best guess would be that removing YOU from the "picture" at a time when the dog is most emotionally charged (the end point) will greatly reduce his increasingly problematic response, but I can't see that from here.  An experienced trainer will be able to, and at that point you can totally change what occurs (beginning at the end and working backward) during the agility course in terms of the dog's mind set by STOPPING the process.  This will affect his performance at FIRST but it will ultimately make it possible for him to continue in competition.  If you're unable to find a facility you can set one up on your own property but you will definitely need a professional to observe what's really happening to the dog (and to his thought process) during the agility run: at what point does it begin (by chaining backward), does your backing away from the dog change his reaction (does he show displacement suddenly or stop altogether), etc.  Having someone videotape your performance (or rather, his performance) might help you to see more clearly what's going on.

1.  Promote yourself, the dog must respect your authority (BY CHOICE)
2.  Continue rehabilitation of his obviously still present fear of men
3.  Address the escalating problem in the agility ring by putting it to the test and clinically addressing it

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I noticed that I did not tell you that he is highly successful with female judges.  He ignores them completely.  The issue is alwayas a male judge.  Also I do not know what is meant by "a  short term NILIF program for both your dogs".  I am very interest in all steps I can take for both my boys. What steps can I take to ensure Nemo always chooses to respect my authority?

Answer
Yes I understand the judges are always male, that's why I suggested the dog's rehabilitation wasn't complete.  I think this dog has residual fear aggression and in situations where he is on "automatic pilot" and his drive is high, he is persisting in this fear aggression.  If you continue to expose him to situations where he is experiencing this, his behavior will worsen and he won't be a candidate for any sort of competition (and may begin to generalize toward men in general.)

"NILIF" means Nothing In Life Is Free.  This means the dog has to work for everything: being fed, being petted, played with, being allowed in/out of the house (or taken in/out), being allowed in bedrooms (which should be kept short); all toys must be removed except one (at a time) which you remove and put away in sight of the dog each day.  Unfortunately, your other dog has to experience the NILIF also; not to do so might precipitate a rank problem between them, especially with a Min Pin.  Be careful not to allow him to initiate any interaction with you (a very important step and one very difficult to put into place, especially when an owner really cares for the dog.)  Living with the Min Pin in this manner elevates your psychological status; he will naturally fall into place "behind" you, he will demonstrate subdominance (without fear, he will choose it) and "listen" (observe you to determine what you want).  Although it can feel uncomfortable for a loving owner to put this plan into place, it actually creates a more secure dog, a very close bond of trust between you, and a dog that is far more bidable and anxious to please you.  NO free attention at all for at least one month while you are working to continue his rehabilitation toward men ("strange" men, not people he already knows.)  While this is ongoing, you can look for an agility trainer (interview and observe), explain the problem, and plan to bring the dog into the clinical setting where his behavior can be closely observed and your contribution to it (if any) can be determined.