Life with a dog agressive dog...

Molly41

gettingready wrote: »

It is not fair for other owners to allow their out of controll dogs with no recall to run loose and run up to my dog that is on a lead and to traumatise MY dog.

Absolutely I agree. I always keep my dogs on leads too. We have had many run ins with said owners of dogs running loose too. I have terriers who snap first and think later so understand your problem. However the scenario you describe is one where dogs are just saying hello in a friendly manner and you talk about the potential for your dog to savage a smaller dog. The traumatic impact of this upon the receiving dog, the owner and any spectators (including children) is unthinkable and would result in you loosing your dog and possibly facing a criminal conviction because your dog could be classed as dangerous and should always be muzzled in public.

gettingready

Jesussssssssssssssssssss Molly please do read what I wrote for what it is and do not twist what I am saying/typing into what it is not.

It is a 2 way issue - my dog is on a lead so call your off if it is running towards mine. Simple like that.

And there is no "he is only saying hello/he only wants to play" bull.... - my dog is on a lead, keep your away from mine. I am being responsible for my dog - be responsibe for yours. End off.

My dog plays with all neighbours kids in the garden - from babies to teenagers and any kids we ever meet love her. Same with people. She has issues with SOME dogs and I have major isuues with SOME owners - and by what/how you describe above, you could possibly be one of them "friendly hello". Yeah rite - MY dog is on a lead, MY dog does not want "friendly hello". It is THAT simple.

jumpedtheshark

gettingready wrote: »

Jesussssssssssssssssssss Molly please do read what I wrote for what it is and do not twist what I am saying/typing into what it is not.

It is a 2 way issue - my dog is on a lead so call your off if it is running towards mine. Simple like that.

And there is no "he is only saying hello/he only wants to play" bull.... - my dog is on a lead, keep your away from mine. I am being responsible for my dog - be responsibe for yours. End off.

I agree with you completely. This happened to us this morning in the park. A woman was walking her two smaller dogs off leash. One remained near her, the other ran at our two (one of which is dog-aggressive) on-lead dogs barking and hassling them. Ours reacts and people look at us. She called it back, it ignored her, and ran at ours again. I wanted to say something to the owner but OH talked me out of it as it's us that are likely 'known' amongst the locals for having the aggressive dogs. Makes me so angry...

gettingready

Yup, for some reason people think it is "cute" when a little ankle biter bares his/her teeth especially towards a large dog.. "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh he is so brave" bul... I heard more than once.

zaksmum

This is always a problem. Both my dogs are not aggressive but hate it when other dogs come racing over and literally get on their backs in the dominating position.

If mine are on lead, and one or both take exception to being jumped on, there's a snarlfest and I'm nearly dragged over trying to keep control.

Once a staffie charged at my on lead boy dog while the owners screamed at each other to get hold of him, you know what he's like etc! So my dog fought him off and unfortunately bit the staffie.

Should've heard the abuse I got from the owners!

gettingready

Some owners should be muzzled

catkins

gettingready wrote: »

Jesussssssssssssssssssss Molly please do read what I wrote for what it is and do not twist what I am saying/typing into what it is not.

It is a 2 way issue - my dog is on a lead so call your off if it is running towards mine. Simple like that.

And there is no "he is only saying hello/he only wants to play" bull.... - my dog is on a lead, keep your away from mine. I am being responsible for my dog - be responsibe for yours. End off.

My dog plays with all neighbours kids in the garden - from babies to teenagers and any kids we ever meet love her. Same with people. She has issues with SOME dogs and I have major isuues with SOME owners - and by what/how you describe above, you could possibly be one of them "friendly hello". Yeah rite - MY dog is on a lead, MY dog does not want "friendly hello". It is THAT simple.

I totally agree with this. My dog hated other dogs running up to him when he was on the lead. He didn't always snarl etc at them but he would start jumping around and being a big dog it was a battle for me to try and keep him still. Some owners would say things like "oh he/she only want to say hello" or "she/he is friendly" which would really annoy me. One guy that I seemed to bump into regularly no matter what time I walked my boy let his labrador run along the pavement off lead. He had no control over it at all and bearing in mind my dog had been attacked by a labrador, he hated this dog running up to him at full pelt and then trying to jump on him, sniff his bum etc. I kept telling the guy my dog did not like it and asking him not to let his dog do it but it had no effect. He would just lamely say "Alfie leave the dog alone" and Alfie would ignore him. On day I saw him in the distance on my road and crossed over. When Alfie saw us he dashed across the road narrowly being missed by a car. It made me feel guilty for crossing the road. The owner said "on I didn't think he would do that" so I asked why he never had the lead on the dog when walking on the street - he said the dog didn't like the lead!!!

One of the behaviourists that I took my dog to compared a dog running up to another dog on a lead to if I were sitting on a bench in the park minding my own business and someone came up and set as close as they could and put their face in mine. He asked if I would feel threatened. I said yes of course and he said "well so does your dog"

toby_puppy

Hello

Been reading this thread with interest as it struck a chord with me. I rescued my dog, a gsd crossbreed six years ago when he was two years old.

He doesn't go off lead mainly due to him having hip dysplasia.

I spent the first two years after I got him socialising him with other dogs, as he was (and still can be dog reactive). The first year was horrendous, he would react to EVERY single dog we saw, no matter if it was a big, small, quiet, barking, dominant, or submissive dog! My dog would lunge, bark and spin and nearly drag me into the road.

It took one to one training sessions for me to gain confidence and he improved massively, to the point where we could go to group dog walks, meet new dogs in the park etc.

Today he is fine with puppies who are off lead and run up to him ( I think he senses they are pups) and he is also OK with submissive dogs who come over, but he will still lunge and bark if he is pestered by a dominant male.

I have had the following comments directed at me "my dog is schizophrenic" "my dog should be on a ball and chain" and worst of all "my dog should have been beaten over the head with a big stick when he was a puppy". All comments were made when he reacted to off lead dogs approaching him.

The worst ones are the ones who talk to their dog as they walk past us, ie their dog will run over and put their chin on my dogs back (dominance) which triggers my dog to lunge and then they will say to their dog (in a baby talk voice) "come on rover, the nasty dog doesn't want to say hello"...

I really think there should be more education in schools about dogs - ie. responsible dog ownership, respecting other dog owners and understanding why some dogs are reactive and sometimes not reliable with other dogs. Also, if children were educated at a younger age, it may reduce the number of dogs who end up in rescue. The very dogs who are often the most reactive ones.

So if you should ever make a comment directed towards a dog reactive dog, please think about the words you choose and also how your words can cause hurt and upset to an owner who may be trying their damned hardest to socialise their dog and often may be picking up the pieces from the dog's bad start in life.

elliesmemory1

I do agree with you about other dogs running up to say hello is very annoying, however, the fact is that if your dog bites another dog on lead or off you will be held responsible.

I am a gsd owner and my last girl always wore a muzzle when off lead because she was quite capable of having a go at another dog if it ran up to her. I always found it to be a good safety measure as I could relax more and not worry when walking her off lead. It also made pepole think twice about keeping their dogs under contol.
Gsds are very sensitive dogs and pick up on the owners stress, this could be a factor.
I hope her tests etc at vets give you a answer

krlyr

jostenning wrote: »

The worst ones are the ones who talk to their dog as they walk past us, ie their dog will run over and put their chin on my dogs back (dominance)

Not necessarily, actually. This can often just be the behaviour of a dog with poor social manners! It can be a play-related behaviour but obviously could be quite inappropriate and unwanted from a strange dog.
Casper doesn't quite do this but barrels over and tries to scruff the dog in an awkward attempt to play - obviously I don't allow him to but it's behaviour witnessed with willing volunteers helping me socialise him. He is certainly not what you would call a dominant dog (and I don't think dominance in dogs is half as bad as some trainers would have you believe - I believe they have some kind of heirachy, but a more complex, more fluid structure within their household and to 'friends' and strange dogs) but he severely lacks in manners and self-control and I've had to teach him these things.