Grrrr - step backwards...

[bex1984]

After Stan's successful day at his breeder's last week, we had a difficult time this afternoon.

He was tied up on the yard outside my stable when another livery came with her 2 dogs - big bouncy pointer types, he's met them before and was scared of them then (not their fault) - he went a bit nuts, frantic constant barking at them.

I left him where he could see them and went over to stroke them, he did settle briefly then went mental again I have to admit I did really tell him off, he was spooking the horses and causing chaos. I feel really guilty about it now because I do know it's a fear thing

Anyway, long story short, we met them 10 mins later out in the field and went for a walk with them, off lead. He kept them a safe distance away from him by running at them doing the frantic bark if they got too close - it 'feels' aggressive but he's not biting. Other than that, we had a nice walk and towards the end he was chasing them, which seemed to be a bit more like play.

I don't know what we've done for him to have become like this, and I just don't know what the right thing to do is when he 'red zones'. I don't want to keep him away from other dogs but sooner or later he'll meet a dog that doesn't take kindly to his behaviour

I feel like such a failure. I just hope his visits to his breeder help I'd appreciate some thoughts of how to cope in these situations? And anything else we can be doing to help him?

We've thought about getting him a friend but we've obviously done something wrong in training/bringing up Stan and I wouldn't want to risk repeating that with another dog

 

[Dobiegirl]

Dont blame yourself Ive had two Dobes like that. My late lamented Fred would be fine with any dog until it started to bark and then he would go into a rage, my trainer said he was protecting me and the minute i saw a change in this body language I had to pull away and stop him from making eye contact with the other dog.

Darcy is another rescue and is frightened of other dogs unless she knows them. She went into meltdown at dog training the other evening when she saw her first Boxer and started lunging and barkingtowards it. Trainer said she had probabley never seen a squashed face dog before and it was fear driven. I just had to pull her away and work hard at keeping her focused on me and the sausages. She like yours is not an agressive dog and its fear driven but it is still worrying. One thing you must not do is pet them to try and calm them because this only instills the behaviour.

Going to your breeder is an excellent way of trying to overcome this problem and the fact that your dog is young is in his favour.

Horses and dogs is always 1 step forward and two back you just have to be patient and work your way through it, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Foxhunter49]

A dog that is tied or on a lead will feel more vulnerable than a dog that is loose. You did the correct thing in going fora walk and allowing them to just get along with each other.

It sounds as if he has nervous aggression rather than just plain aggressive so, you need to be very firm with him and by issuing commands get him to accept other dogs.

You have to learn the difference in the tones of his bark, there is a change between nervous and meaningful. Either way you must remain unflustered by his reaction but, have to control to call him back if he is behaving in an untoward manner.

Watch out for aggressive signals, not just hackles up but tail raised (even if it is docked!) a stiffer pose, laying his head across another's back/neck or having this done to him. Take control and correct it before it goes further. If you act as a calm confident leader then he will be happier to accept what you tell him.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Agree with the others, while it was a shock for you, it was probably fear, worsened by him being tied up.
As before - if he had meant to cause damage to the dogs, he would have caused it. Just sounds like he was acting like 'big time Charlie' to protect himself, step in **before** he feels the need to protect himself and tell him it's OK.

 

[bex1984]

Thanks folks. I am feeling a bit better about things today - we went for a lovely walk yesterday. We met a few small dogs who he had a lovely play with, a very rude bouncy lab that charged up to Stan and got told off by him (can't honestly blame him for that - lab's owners said it gets told off a lot!!). We encountered a few more big dogs but we had Stan's ball and he stayed totally focused on that (even when they were sniffing him) so I think we've got to make sure we always have a ball with us.

You'e right CC, I should have stepped in much earlier on Saturday. The whole thing took me by surprise and I should have been straight there, quietened him and grabbed a ball to redirect him. Next time I'll know what to do!

He defo isn't trying to hurt other dogs, he just seems scared and wants them out of his personal space, and makes a lot of noise about it.

 

[CAYLA]

It sounds like a confidence issues and the dogs he is encountering seem a little "high energy" or ott, which will indeed heighten his own issues and fear.
At the breeders I would assume she had a more stable pack for him to interact, but as suggested when dogs are tied up and have no means of escape their fear reaction will heighten 10 fold, same as on a lead, as flight has now been taken away do all that is left is fight.
Try where you can (easier said than done) to let him interact in free play with more stable dogs and use the focus of the ball to steer clear of the more bouncy not so structured beasties

 

[bex1984]

Yep his breeder's dogs are a nice stable pack, I think that's why it's so good for him to spend time there. When we got him he had been living as part of that pack for a few weeks and his socialisation was excellent, I sometimes wonder if he is giving off some very subtle 'keep away from me' signals, other dogs aren't recognising these and are approaching anyway so he tells them off? does that make sense?

We take him to our local park every morning and most of the dogs there are very sensible and stable (everything from tiny yorkies to a rottie) and he is always off lead with them all, so I guess that's good? he keeps away from the bigger dogs, but they also don't get into his space.