Dog aggression advice

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abb123

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My friend has had an ~ one year old rescue dog for a month or so. We think it is a Patterdale x Bedlington. It is a gorgeous little dog with people. Very friendly, loving and not a sign of any aggression.

He hasn't had his bits off yet as he was a bit underweight and the vet wanted him to put a little bit more weight on and settle in properly.

She has been building up a bond with him, lots of walks on his lead and making sure he is settled with her. She has been working on his recall and taking him out to very quiet places.

We thought he was ready to try him out with another dog. The rescue said he was fine with other dogs. He hasn't shown any aggression so far, so we thought it wouldn't be a problem.

We introduced him to my super friendly golden retriever. She is very sensible, quiet and very submissive. We were about 20 foot away with my dog focussing on me and my friend let her dog off his lead. Until this point everything was calm. No sign of aggression at all.

The moment he was let off his lead he ran straight over and attacked my dog. I don't say that lightly, he meant to attack her and hurt her. He went for her throat and eventually got hold of her bum. I had to pull his teeth apart and pull him off her.

She is fine. Luckily she has a thick coat on her bum so no skin punctures. She's had a good play with some of her best mate dogs at the yard so doesn't seem to have been affected by it.

So what can we do to help her rescue dog?

I've said she should muzzle it when out. I've never seen a dog attack in that way before and don't want to see it again! She has got the number of an animal behaviourist. Anything else??
 
She let him off his lead because he was showing no signs of any aggression at all. He seemed to be fine with it all.

Lots of dogs are more nervous when on their lead. In the past when I have had dogs meeting for the first time, as long as they are showing no signs of any problems on their lead, they have always been better when off a lead - as long as the other dog will leave them alone, which my dog does.

No, it wasn't ok when it was back on its lead. It still wanted to attack my dog :(

I'm guessing that this was why it was a stray!
 
Not the way I would have introduced them personally - I would have let them get closer together in a controlled way on the lead before trying them loose together, the rescue dog is an unknown quantity and I wouldn't have trusted him with any of my dogs straight away like that. Not sure if it is the way you have worded your original post, but it sounds like he has been pretty cushioned from life since he was re-homed which makes getting back out into the outside world a bit of a shock.
 
Yes, she has cushioned him from real life while she was letting him settle.

Although, he has met other dogs while on his lead - and has been fine.

He did get to say hello while he was on his lead, and was fine. He just seemed excited and happy! He gave no indication that he wanted to attack her at all. There was no growling, no sign of nervousness or aggression. He barked a bit, but he does that anyway.

With hindsight, I probably wouldn't have done it in that way. But then with hindsight I would never have let them met! He gave no indication what so ever up to that point that he would react in that way :(

Anyway, the question was is there anything else we can do for him?
 
patterdales are not known for being the most dog friendly dogs, I would go for a good trainer rather than behaviourist, how much exercise is the dog getting? how much time alone each day?
 
One on one training and he may have to avoid situations as I do. Mine is focused on retrieval and will now ignore other dogs in favour of the dummy, but for years, we basically had to walk him away and there were awful incidents where loose dogs came up to him and jumped at him, he went mental and attacked them and boy, does he mean it!

See if you can find a terrier specialist who can tell you how to direct it, maybe see if you get him working on retrieval or something to keep him occupied and focused on a job.
 
twiggy2 said:
patterdales are not known for being the most dog friendly dogs, I would go for a good trainer rather than behaviourist, how much exercise is the dog getting? how much time alone each day?
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Thanks, I have heard that patterdales are not so dog friendly. He is just so friendly with people that it came as a complete surprise!

My friend is retired so he is not left alone. He is getting a good few hours out each day at the yard and going for walks. I would say that he is doing too much rather than too little!
 
cinnamontoast said:
One on one training and he may have to avoid situations as I do. Mine is focused on retrieval and will now ignore other dogs in favour of the dummy, but for years, we basically had to walk him away and there were awful incidents where loose dogs came up to him and jumped at him, he went mental and attacked them and boy, does he mean it!

See if you can find a terrier specialist who can tell you how to direct it, maybe see if you get him working on retrieval or something to keep him occupied and focused on a job.
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Thanks.

I thought one on one would be better. Would he be able to go to training classes?? She really wanted to do agility with him but I can't see how she can?

He does love retrieval and his ball so maybe using that as a distraction would help? He seems very bright and trainable. I'll see if there is a terrier specialist trainer in the area.
 
abb123 said:
Thanks, I have heard that patterdales are not so dog friendly. He is just so friendly with people that it came as a complete surprise!

My friend is retired so he is not left alone. He is getting a good few hours out each day at the yard and going for walks. I would say that he is doing too much rather than too little!
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No such thing as too much excersise for a patterdale but they do need a great long stomping walk at least once a day.
Personally I would not do the walking the dogs together till the patterdale gets bored, they can go for ever they are breed to be tenatious and have amazing stamina, it also will not be a great experience for your dog in fact may be a very negative one and result in your dog becoming wary of others.
One to one training sounds like the best idea.
 
I'll leave this one for the Patterdale experts - your friend needs to learn to 'manage' the dog, in the same way that I manage my greyhounds, to account for the breed quirks. There is nothing wrong with the rescue dog, it just needs to be treated in an appropriate way.
 
I would get him a basket muzzle (not the fabric ones) and make sure he wears that when he is out and about. If he can't attack (and chances are it's fear aggression but without seeing him it isn't possible to say) he may learn to cope with the proximity of other dogs. That said, most behaviourists won't advise on aggression without seeing the dog or having had him thoroughly vet checked. It is too easy to make it worse and you need to rule out any pain or discomfort which would make him ensure no other dog gets close.
 
Your friend can still do agility with him. There are plenty of DA dogs on the circuit. Their owners know it though so are responsible and there are hardly any issues. Once trained and ready to compete the dog will chose to do the course rather than go for another dog. She just needs to find the right trainer and be 100% honest at all times to his temperament.
 
The trouble with muzzling is that you can't stick a ball in his gob or ask him to retrieve, which has been my saving. My walks with Zak are training, find the ball, fetch the ball. He's on box rest this weekend so I had 'proper' walks in the woods with the others.
 
galaxy said:
Your friend can still do agility with him. There are plenty of DA dogs on the circuit. Their owners know it though so are responsible and there are hardly any issues. Once trained and ready to compete the dog will chose to do the course rather than go for another dog. She just needs to find the right trainer and be 100% honest at all times to his temperament.
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Thanks. That is really good to know. She really wanted to do agility so it is good to know that it is still possible.
 
cinnamontoast said:
The trouble with muzzling is that you can't stick a ball in his gob or ask him to retrieve, which has been my saving. My walks with Zak are training, find the ball, fetch the ball. He's on box rest this weekend so I had 'proper' walks in the woods with the others.
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I had thought that it would be hard to do any distraction training if he had a muzzle on!
 
Thanks all. I think the first thing to do is have his bits off asap.

Some really good suggestions. She is going to find a trainer to work with.

My dog is fine and doesn't seem to have been bothered by it. She has been playing with other dogs today at her training classes without a problem.
 
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