something to be worried about

Hi all just after abit of advice my little boy it 6 months on saturday we have socialized him every day at a dog park and has been great. But about a month again a chow attacked him (owner did nour just slowly draged the hair ball away) after my dog only had a few scratchs and was very excited after !!! good knows why Well it happened again sunday with a yorlie at a very busy market. Yorkie hanging of his face my dog in shock but owner doing nout so i lost the plot and shouted at the owner... that there dog needs a muzzle when in a busy area like this and if my dog snaped back would of been a diff story and people wouldnt turn a blind eye then grrr rant over W`ill now when my dog meets a new dog he gos all stiff (not good body language i know )he waits till he works out the other dog and once he feels safe round them he gos in with the big paw slap round the face and starts whating to play ....So how can i stop him being scared when he 1st meets a new dog hes fine after a min or so when he knows there not going to hurt him but u dont know in the future if it will afect him i need him to be socialized as we spend alot of time camping ?

Please have a read of the link below, it explains about body language and what to watch out for :

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dogbodylanguage.html

The link Kathry supplied will be of great help. Having a dog that is proplerly socialized does not neccessarily mean that they will interact positively will all animals. Before we let Suki interact with a new dog we will ask they handler if their dog is socialized and also observe their body language. If they seem unsure or unconfident we stay away.

Avoiding negative interactions and having positive ones is paramount to raising a well socialized dog. If he has numerous negative interactions he will associate new dogs as a threat and potentially act accordingly.

We are espically cautious of smaller breeds as they tend to be more aggresive and the handlers don't bother to train them thinking that they can't do any real harm but are quick to overreact if their dog bites a larger breed and the dog responds in kind which further contributes to to the negative sterotype surrounding the Staffy.

..another thing, if you see another dog, don't tense up yourself ( though I know that is easier said than done! ) as Troy will be able to pick up on your body language.

Thanks kathy ive already read that he go's really still like freezes all stiff tail under but then after a min hes back to his silly self slapping ect. Its as if he's waiting to see if they will bit him just want to know if i can snap him out of it as it looks agressive from other people looking at him i know its cuz he's scared from his body language J i always approach the new dogs owners with my dog on a short leash and ask if there dog is ok ect. Then keep him close to me till i am 100% sure there ok with each other ect then it's full on play time 90% of the time he do's some time's try and puch his look and get's told off which he take very well It just since this yorkie think it's knocked his confidence Might just let him interact with the dog only at the park as he has loads of friends and meets a few new ones but where he feel's comfortable just want him back to norm not like him at all .

thanks vanessa im hoping im not doing this if we are at the park and see a friendly dog i will approach the owner and see if we can make another dog friend ( even have all the regular dog come for there daily treats )

We have a group of about 20 dogs or so we know Suki is okay with and try to limit any lengthy interaction, espically of leash to just those dogs. With everyone else a quick sniff on a short leash just to err on the side of caution.

At 6 months they are still very much pups and some older dogs are not very tolerant to high energy or rough play that a pup desires to engage in, espically an older dog. We had the same issues with Suki but after some time she tailored her play levels to the individual dog after being told off a few times by her elders.

good luck !!

( the poor boy though, already having some nasty dogs go for him! No wonder he doesn't know how to react )