Gobby terrierist - can anything be done?!

[bex1984]

Or is it just a terrier/small dog thing?

Stan (JRT x border terrier) is now 2 yrs old, and since about 9 months old, has been 'difficult' around other dogs. He has never attacked/bitten/hurt another dog, but has a tendency to want to play, get up close, get scared and bark like a gobby little yob right in the other dog's face.

We did recently have 3 weeks of excellent behaviour with other dogs (off lead - on lead is just a complete no-go!!) and then he abused a puppy - my fault, I really thought he'd be OK, so we're being more cautious with him again.

The 3 weeks of good-dog followed a week spent with his breeder and her pack of 25 dogs, but also coincided with us moving house and him exploring a new park for walkies so i don't know which made a difference.

He was attacked by a big dog at 6 months old and I always put it down to this because he seems to tense up and get scared. However, if left to his own devices, following the barking, he will generally then play happily with the other dog.

Do you think there's anything more we can do to help with this? Might he grow out if (fingers crossed)? Is it just a bit of small-dog-syndrome?

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

Tbh, the yelling in other dogs faces could be a "just thought I'd let you know I'm a tuff nut, before you think of starting something" or a "come on, you boring lot, lets play". As long as he plays nicely and doesn't get bolshy I wouldn't worry too much. Distraction techniques and a finely tuned recall will prevent him racing off to shout in another dogs face though.

 

[Kitty B]

I have wondered if it is a small dog thing, too. My mom has a JRT, and I have a Patterdale who is the first terrier I've ever owned. Both of them do the same things, like barking at other dogs, getting in their faces and things like that. Mine has never attacked, he just seems to like to make his presence known. I know with my Cid, I just tend to distract him as best I can and praise a whole lot when he lets other dogs be and passes them by without the theatrics. It tends to be mainly bigger dogs that he barks at, though he is fine walking with our other dog which is much bigger than him.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Little dog syndrome is often more spoilt brat syndrome! Seriously little dogs are allowed to get away with far more that would be accepted for a big dog and TBH it does then no favors.

Have you tried taking him to dog training? I have a JRT myself, a nice quiet/obedient/well socialized one. Yeah he can push the boundaries (he's a dog!). There is probably a good reason he came back from his breeders pack behaving and that was there were clear defined boundaries on what was/wasn't acceptable behavior. Is the breeder local? Could you pack walk when them sometimes?

 

[bex1984]

Luckily his recall is pretty good!

He went to classes as a pup but tbh we didn't get much from them. He was perfect with all other dogs until he was attacked : (
Breeder is local so we can take him fairly often, he gets on perfectly with all her dogs. Hopefully he can go for a few days again soon.

We found that reacting to his behaviour by telling him off etc just makes the situation worse! It just seems to validate his idea that other dogs are not always a good thing. He is 95% of the time fine with another terrier, bigger dogs are the problem. And puppies apparently...!