DO I HAVE A DANGEROUS DOG??

My staffy has grown up with children,been around horses and livs with 4 other working dogs. she can sometimes get too excited and nip while playing with humans but straight away backs off as if guilty. when ever around strange dogs and my other dogs arnt there she iis fab plays with them etc but as soon as the other dogs are with her and they bark she attacks,we had a rather serious incident the other dayafter walking all my dogs we walked past our neighbours gate there dog was barking and lilly grabbed the terriers foot and in the end the terrier has now had to have an operation as its toe was hanging off and now has 3 toes!! what can i do apart from muzzle her?99percent of the time shes fab now all the neighbours friends on facebook are telling him to 'shoot the owner,then the dog'

thanks

You don't have a dangerous dog, but you do need to keep her under control. Can you explain what happened with the neighbours dog a little more fully please?

we live on a farm and we were walking back from a long walk. the neighbours dog was at her gate barking and lilly ran over they clashed teeth and she must have grabbed the neighbours dogs foot and has almost pulled of its toe to the point its been taken to the vets and has had to get it removed.

What happened on your walk? Did Lilly meet any other dogs, get excited or overplayful with your other dogs? Did you see Lilly's body language before she grabbed the terrier? Was there any growling, hackeles raise etc? Do you think she went to the gate with the intention of getting at the dog or just to see what it was barking at? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to figure out exactly what happened.

I have had a similar experience with my boy who is amazing with all people and usually every dog he meets. He has recently developed a real problem with little dogs so I now keep him on a lead around them. It doesn't mean that he is dangerous, he just doesn't like little dogs and they certainly don't like him. It's osmething you can live with if necessary.

You don't have a dangerous dog, but you do need to keep her under control.

I would sugest that, unless she is running free, you keep her on a lead, especially when you're going out for a walk (excitement of the outing) and coming home (tired & maybe a bit crotchety).

P.S. Welcome to the forum!

agreed , you have to keep her under control. Have you offered to pay the vets bill for the other dog, it does seem like the correct thing to do

Yes, it would be the right thing to do, although it'll be expensive!

If it's just when she's with the other dogs, maybe it's an issue with the other dogs? Are the other ones fine with dogs? If it's when they bark, maybe she gets protective of them or something like that. I'm not sure, but it sounds like it's something to do with them if she's fine on her own. I wouldn't say she's dangerous, just has some issues that need working on.

Hi and welcome from us and Suki. You can use a long one as well.

Mines the same with dogs behind gates and all the dogs on the street behind the gates are the same with any other dog that passes.it's like walking the gauntlet.I know what dogs he's ok with when he's out but if any other dogs are about he's straight on his leader

No you not got a dangerous dog, but as all have said, you need to keep her under control around dogs that she dosent like. Mine does not like any little dogs, like wise they dont like her, so she is kept on a lead under control around those kind of dogs.

hi thankyou for all the welcomes lilly went out on the walk as normal not excited but not wanting to go its part of her usual routine their all walked at 7am,5pm and then 11pm. she lives with 4 working dogs who are all trained to be fine with other dogs (which they are) normally after her 5pm walk she is eager to get home as its DINNER TIME! so she would normally of ran straight past that dog behind the gate and get home to get her food (she hasnt yet cracked that she wont get it unless where there lol) on this ocassion she went to the dog and it all started. before and during her walk she was in a happy mood not hyped up.she met no other dog on the walk and we had a nice long relaxing walk,she wouldnt have been too tired as we do the same length walk per day they get about 6miles per day all in all. she isnt one to protect her food etc. as all the dogs including her live in a big kennell with a run and all get fed together none try to snatch eachother or anything like that. lately she seems to have got it in for small dogs (even though she is a tiny staffy-the size of a jack russell) but seems to love all labs i dont know if this is because the dogs she lives with are labs too. she is now being walked on a lead i have told the neighbours she will be muzzled when walked but really dont want to do this as she loves mutching about and would scratch herself to death to get it off and would end up hating walks.

If you keep her under control, theres no need to muzz her. I would only use that as a last restore. Pixee gets on well with big dogs, just not little dogs. Its like us humans, we like some and dont like others. Its a dog thing, but down to you to keep it under control.

You don't need to muzzle you just need to keep her on a lead until you get this sorted. If you're like me and stick to the ole country lanes then you need to get her out to a dog park and get her socialized. That was my mistake and i now have a dog aggressive dog, who only tolerated the dogs she gre up with. Just put it down to one bad experience, and who knows, the terrier might have called her a bad name

Little dogs dont seem to like my Staffie whereas the bigger dogs dont have a problem, it could be due to her strength and excitability, but, due to the negative attitude of other dog walkers towards staffies, I keep her on a lead whenever other dogs are around which is a heck of a shame as she loves playing with other dogs. Incidents like yours libbyb happen all the time with all sorts of breeds but when it comes to staffies we get calls of put them down. Offering to pay for the vet bill seems a good idea and keep your lovely staffie on a lead when walking by other dogs. What a lovely life lily has, on a farm with other doggies:)

I don't think a muzzle is necessary as long as she's on a lead & under control.

Did the little dog start yapping first?

im not sure who started to yap first to be honest it all happened very fast.i have noticed scratches around her eyes and im sure my other dogs wouldnt have done it while play fighting so i think it was next door terrier maybe it scratched her eye so she went for it?i dont know. yes lilly has always had a very lovely life on a farm. we never normally have to use leads or anything my dad has pheasents and she goes out on the quad alot with him and doesnt go for the rabbits or pheseants even when there right infront and cant fly yet.so this attack has come as a suprise to be completely honest but lately ive notice her getting quite fiesty if smaller dogs are around,it seems aweful having to restrict her to a lead now but it has to be done now .

lilly also has a skin condition to which she takes tablets for everyday and its basically when some thing has changed in her routine or something bad has happened she goes very red from her chest to her back legs and starts loosing hair on top any little thing can trigger it like not being walked till later, if all the dogs were to go out working for the day it would happen.i have noticed this has started again since the incodent and have had to upped her dose xx

How old is she? It sounds as though the skin condition is stress related, which is really fairly common. You could try a Thunder Shirt for stressful times which could help.

A lot of staffs (even really friendly ones!) will not take kindly to another dog snapping at them, and what the other dog starts, the staffy will finish.....

little dogs don't like anything.

welcome, i agree with everyone else you must keep your dog on a lead, unless you are in the middle of nowhere.

Welcome! Nothing new to add other than I feel for you and the pain of social pressure. However, it wasn't your dog being dangerous, just a bad incident that you need to make sure doesn't happen again (doubtful the other dog will get close to the fence anymore). The lead is really to accomplish just that. My guess is that is won't happen again and the people are the ones needing the reassuring.

dave g- i live on a farm no roads in site none of my 6 dogs have any of there daily walks on leads as we have so much open land for them to play on first thing shes done wrong in 6 years she will be kept on lead from now on though.

We have had two run in's with other dogs now since having enzo. We just keep him on the lead now. He was attacked off a springer spaniel and every time another dog sniffs him he must think they are going to attack him because he try's to bite. Well i wouldn't call it a bite he goes for the neck but doesn't clamp down. We get the usual 'your dog should be banned'. Now we cross the road when we see another dog or just go to a place with less dog's about. x