Help- My young dog 'attacked' a puppy

Ninasmum

Oh what a horrid night!

I have two lovely dogs. My youngest is 11months old, and is a GSD female (doesn't like that word). She came from a reputable and registered breeder I know very well and where I got my first dog, a total treasure. She and all her litter mates had homes before they were even born.

She has been raised very carefully, I took her out in my arms when she was tiny before she finished her injections so she could see the world. She has been on buses, for car rides, to different houses. She has never had a bad experience and never showed any sign of being upset. She went to puppy class, and then training class with many other dogs, where she has done well. She's intelligent and loving.

She has always had this wariness, just seemed a little uneasy at times- in puppy classes she would happily play with one or two others but when a group came at her she preferred to go hide. Now she is older, sometimes she barks at certain other dogs and it sounds quite aggressive but she always backs away if they approach her and appear to be challenging her.

She actually likes other dogs and always runs off to see them if any come past, to my endless frustration- I have to let the dogs run somewhere as we don't have a garden and try to take them out early morning and late nights when it's quiet, but sometimes a dog walker will sneak up on us before I can grab her. She is usually friendly and wants to play, if the other dog will join her she will do this for ages. If the dog is unfriendly she quickly keeps her distance and comes back. But younger dogs are proving a different story.

She rushes puppies, stops for a sniff then barks at them and pushes them around quite violently. She sounds very aggressive and it's awful. Usually I have intervened very quickly to prevent it getting too bad. Tonight she had gone towards one dog and as I chased her back trying to grab her she spotted another before I did and ran at it. She really pinned this poor young spaniel, barking and growling. I couldn't get a hold of her as she was running circles around it, the puppy was scared and the owner was furious. I was so upset.

I don't know what to do! She has never ever bitten another dog and I wouldn't let her off without a muzzle if she had. She runs at the slightest sign of aggression but appears aggressive herself even though I know it's her nerves. She is now bullying puppies, I think because she is bottom of the pile in our household- other dog is boss behind the humans- and they are the only ones she feels confident picking on. How can I fix this. I feel like crying.

gettingready

I do feel for you as I have similar problem with Zara.

Zara is 4.5 years old now, had her since she was 4 months old, been socialised since then with lots of dogs and around one year of age started similar behaviour.

She has never bitten a dog but will chase them away - especially is she has a ball and "suspects" another dog wants to take it off her. She will chase them off growling/barking/fur up, the full "armour".

Lukily I know most of the people with dogs around where I live and they know Zara so it is not too much of a problem...

Today a strange lab was running towards her, I shouted to the owner (very far away) to call his dog back (Zara was sitting by my side with a ball) and he shouted back "My dog will not come back if I call but he is not agressive".. Felt like hitting the owner over the head with Zara's chain lead for being simply stupid - no recall, no off lead as simple as that.

Nothing happened as Zara seemed to like THAT dog for some reason...

Anyway - I am sorry I do not have any advice for you.. hopefully other people will.

I just know how scare a GS can be to other people....

Any chance for a photo of your girl?

tbourner

I would suggest you speak to a behaviourist before it gets any worse.

Aggression is usually caused by the owner petting, cuddling or attempting to calm the dog down when in this state - so for example if another dog comes past when you have her on lead and she growls, you might stroke her side and say "Calm down he's not gonna hurt you" or something along those lines - you've just praised your dog for protecting you and being aggressive (read as dominant).
You seem to have done everything else right though so maybe this isn't the case, apologies if so, it's good info to know however and understand that dogs don't have sympathy for one another, so it's impossible to reassure a scared dog other than being brave and in control yourself.

sarabe

Ninasmum wrote: »

......
She actually likes other dogs and always runs off to see them if any come past, to my endless frustration- I have to let the dogs run somewhere as we don't have a garden and try to take them out early morning and late nights when it's quiet, but sometimes a dog walker will sneak up on us before I can grab her. .....

This is your problem. You need a reliable recall and a dog that stays with you until you have established if the dogs you come across are suitable to play with or say 'Hi' to.

Most puppies have no manners so whilst what she did may have looked horrible it was probably quite justified in canine terms. It may be that that particular pup did nothing to warrant her reaction but if there is a history of her being uncomfortable around other dogs then it was bound to happen at some point, the straw that broke the camel's back - so to speak.

She is still quite young so it should be easy to teach her to not go until you say she can without having to grab her or do anything to exacerbate how she feels about other dogs.

You need to consider what she gets for free like food and toys and access to other dogs and then make these things only available as rewards whilst teaching her to check in with you and not rush other dogs. Happy to expand on that if you want me to.

I think because she is bottom of the pile in our household- other dog is boss behind the humans- and they are the only ones she feels confident picking on.

Is she bullied by your other dog? Why is she bottom of the pile?

gettingready

Good to see you here Sarabe - I will be reading this topic too.....

I have heard so many times that a "normal" adult dog will never hurt a puppy - OP's dog did not really hurt this pup, it was probably normal adult dog/pup kind of "let me show you little one" thing that happened to Zara when she was small too.... But I can see how owners of smaller dogs can see it - with a big GS "tormenting" their little dog as it can look scary.

OP - hope you get to the bottom of this...

Zara does not run to other dogs, she stays with me. But does not like other dogs running towards her, especially when she has a ball. And owners who can not recall their dogs but shout from a distance "he/she is friendly" drive me up the wall....

tbourner

gettingready wrote: »

And owners who can not recall their dogs but shout from a distance "he/she is friendly" drive me up the wall....

Me too, we now just shout back "Mine isn't!". The look on their faces!

Beckyy

You cant trust her off the lead for now. You need to really, really hammer her recall practise. Try using a long line so that you can practise at a safe distance while still attached to her. When she's fine with that you need to practise with other dogs at a distance, then closer, then closer. You need to be able to ensure that you can call her back to you successfully at all times, especially when other dogs are around.

It may be worth looking into local training classes again to do some ongoing socialistion too.

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

I've started to get this problem with our GSD female too...

She is now 14 months old and is fine with dogs that she knows, but any dog that is a stranger to her she will bark constantly and try to get at them...walking down the street she will growl/bark/fur up - although this is mostly when it's dark as she isn't as bad during the day when it's light.

We take her to dog classes every Thursday and even while we are there she will bark at other dogs, but this time with tail wagging non stop and I've been told this is a playful attitude.

She usally settles down when she has had a chance to sniff other dogs but there have been a couple of times that she's got close (on the lead) and seemed aggressive so I've pulled her away.

When she gets near others (that she is friendly with), especially other GSDs in the classes she likes to play rough. And anyone with a GSD will know that them playing can look like a full on dog fight...

gettingready

I have just taken Zara to meet a dog she never seen before, on an open space - friend of mine got a 6 month old Shar Pei girl so we arranged to meet.

When I saw them from a distance, I sms him to let his dog off the lead, Zara was off the lead and I started shouting "Kia....." to call the other dog in a way that my own girl looked at me as if asking "Do we know THIS one"? and promptly trotted over, stopping half way in the paws down/butt up/play with me position towards the other dog.

They were just fine....

Dogs need to have manners too - Zara does NOT like dogs running towarsd her at full speed and I absolutely hate their stupid owners calling from a distance "It is ok, he/she just wants to play" while having no control over their own dogs whatsoever.

Later on today we met a woman with about 6 months old lurcher/greyhound/something that exactly run towards Zara and Kia who by then were "mates" and were chasing the new dog away together... the dog would NOT go away, owner was looking completely silly running circles around her own dog and not being able to catch him/her and constantly yapping (owner not the fog) about how her dog "just wants to play"....


Grrrr

And anyone with a GSD will know that them playing can look like a full on dog fight...

O yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss when we meet other GS and they start playing - everyone else must be thinking we are having a dog fight in the open... Hair up, teeth out, tumbling, growling - the works, That is how GS play. Every breed has a different way to play... GS lok rough but they do not hurt one another... they are lovely dogs but I can fully understand how people who never had contact with one can feel scared...

gettingready

tbourner wrote: »

Me too, we now just shout back "Mine isn't!". The look on their faces!

Yeah and then - "So your dog should be on the lead", from them towards me.

All this while MY dog is sitting nicely next to my leg and THEIR dog is running towards us ignoring them calling him/her, not the other way round.. really gets me going....:mad:

tbourner

gettingready wrote: »

Yeah and then - "So your dog should be on the lead", from them towards me.

Both ours are always on lead anyway cos we know we can't trust them.