Other dogs are aggressive..

[blond1]

to my puppy Smurf.

The poor boy got attacked again tonight. He's a 7 month old labradorx and has always gone to puppy training classes. There was a new dog there tonight and I was sitting with Smurf in the corner of the room after having just done the exercise and the new dog was off the lead practising recall. Once the trainer let the new dog's collar go instead of running to his owner, new dog made a bee line for Smurf and pinned him to the floor and bit him It wasn't snapping biting but he got a mouthful of Smurf's skin (there's still some of it for him to grow into!) and just held on while snarling. He definitely wasn't playing and sounded very fierce. Smurf was screaming and trying to get away. It didn't take long to separate them and new dog didn't break Smurf's skin as there is no blood or cuts but he did pull out a mouthful of fur. New dog then left and got taken home in disgrace.

However, this is becoming a regular thing as other dogs don't seem to like Smurf He has always had lots of contact with other dogs. He has dog friends at the yard who he sees most days and plays happily with them. He doesn't have a problem there but when he is out at the park (both on and off lead) he seems to be a target for other dogs to turn on him and try to bite him/pin him to the floor with the other dog snarling and growling while Smurf screams and tries to get away. It was only last Saturday that a dog went to attack Smurf in the park. Smurf was playing with another dog and a different dog just ran up and started attacking Smurf. The other owner was able to grab his dog's collar and pull him off. Smurf wasn't injured but the poor boy does seem a bit shaken up.

As he is still young he only gets a short time out every day and I want him to keep enjoying it. I don't want him to develop any issues with other dogs so does any one have an idea of what causing it (bouncy puppy??/horse smell???/just unlucky???) and how to handle these situations.

 

[CAYLA]

I would remove him from the situation where dogs are clearly out of control, stay calm clip his lead on and walk away or call him away.
Be aware when he is playing of other dogs making a bee line for him, I know you should not have to, but some dogs owners are pretty ignorant when it comes to "their" badly behaved dogs. Call him to you if you do see a dog that has him in it's sights and looks menacing or is a large breed that could do a little more damage if it did attack.
It's sounds more like it's the other dogs and not so much Smurf.
I know it's hard but try not to panick and let him socialise just be aware of other dogs approaching.
His screatching is no doubt heightening the situation during the fight (not his fault) he is obviosuly a timid/non conflict boy.
Keep trying to find him friendly friends, he may well get a little more confident with age.
The new dog maybe just got him first in his sights and he was unlucky, are the other dogs in the class ok with him, do they have free play after taining.
When playing does he tend to squirm and show his stomach?

 

[CAYLA]

Ps to add some believe it can be down to body language, weathe the dog entire/not entire, submissive/dominant behaviours displayed.
I think maybe you have just been unlucky and bumped into some badly behaved dogs, esp if they have ran to him to attack and not broke out into a fight in play or upon close meet, they where out of control from the get go.
Stay calm and recall him and be ready to walk away if you get the feeling an owner has little control over their dog and you are not familair with them or have spoken to the owner to ask "how their dog is with other dogs".

 

[blond1]

Hi Cayla. Thanks for your reply. To answer, yes the dogs get free play at the start of the training session but the new dog didn't join in and the other dogs have all known each other for about 4 months now and there wasn't a problem. When meeting new dogs Smurf will often lie on his back or if he's upright his tail + whole body will be wagging madly and his head will be low to the ground. He will bounce about but only around the other dog and not on top of it.

Smurf is still entire and planning on him having the op when he's around a year. He was very timid as a puppy and his confidence has grown lots since he joined our family. He only needs an 'Oh Smurf' in a disappointed way to know that he is being corrected.

The other dog at dog training was male but very hairy so not sure if still had all his bits. He was a young dog - about a year - and a rescue as well.

Will keep an eye out for other dogs behaviour when we are out and I just hope we don't meet to many of the badly behaved ones.

 

[gunnergundog]

blond1....you say:
To answer, yes the dogs get free play at the start of the training session

TBH this is a pet hate of mine and would make me find a new trainer. Think about it.....you have a group of young pups/dogs who haven't seen each other for a week, contained in a room and allowed to rampage around! The adrenaline inevitably goes up and IMO you will get bad behaviour/undesirable situations arising as the dogs will behave as an out of control pack with no mature dogs to regulate the situation. The dogs are then nicely hyped up and then you want to start training, doing control work with them, teaching them sit/stays etc!!!! Why make life so difficult??

IMO you are better off doing the training first, teaching the dog self-control and THEN allowing two at a time to have a romp around as a reward for good behaviour at the end. This also enables the trainer to select the pairs so that they are well-matched and thereby avoid any bullying/aggression.

Sorry, rant over.....just one of my hobby horses.

 

[CAYLA]

I agree, at my mams training class it was always play at the end of the training sessions and we would place dogs specifically with certain dogs, i.e bolchy OTT pups with the older calmer dogs to pevent puppies like you becoming the victim of another dog socialisation, esp if it has aggressive Ott tendancies as intun this will taumatise and effect your pups socialisation and positive/enjoyable play sessions with similar puppies to himself until he is olde and moe confident to deal with such situations.
The new dog was probably still in "whey hey" Im off to play again mode.

If he is submissive with humans and dogs and does the whole crawling low, tummy on show, wiggling and writhing around maybe try a positive distraction to get up up off his back without making a big deal. A clicker would maybe be a good training aid to use. Use it at home to click and treat, in turn use it to click him up of the floor and come to you for a treat (he hears the click which he associated with a treat and he knows the treat comes to you) you then have his focus and you can simply walk off from what maybe a stuation with an uncontralable dog/owne situation, it's quick and it's a positive and could get him out of some tricky situations without you having to bound on over to him, esp when in the park or people approach you.
Bending down the him to touch him would just heighten the submissive behaviour and he would writhe around more