today was a sad day

Hi everyone,

I know i havnt postered on this in a while but i need advice please.

Today i was out with marley i havnt been out in ages with him due to personal matters but i went out today with him and my boyfriend normaly takes him out (he came aswell) but today we had two bad things happen

1. We was walking up the round and before i knew it marleys head was on another dogs shoulders and this dog had his head in the same place and the owner asked if marley was friendly because his is too and i said yes well it was silent for a minute because his dogs tail was in the air and neather of us wanted to pull our dogs away because we knew what was going to happen.. Luckly enough i said in the end " you pull yours and ill pull mine " so we both pulled them back at the same time and all they did was glow and bear there teeth at eachother because they couldnt get to eachother so we walked in different directions

I kept tellig my boyfriend that theres something wrong with marley hes got his tail up constantly and i dont want to walk him no more because when i say his name his tail always wags but he just wouldnt no more... My boyfriend thought i was just being paranoide because i hadnt been out with him in a while so he told me to calm down we will just go and let him run in the park.

The second we let marley off his lead he fluw over to different staff in the park and he attacked him (this was a different staff and different color) and i ran over and as i did the dog limped over to me and sat behind me marley still went for this dog who was now sat behind me so i grabbed marley by his harness and wouldnt let go yet he still tryed his hardist to get over to the dog. The owner made a excuse for marley saying he tryed to get his dogs ball and thats when his dog turned on marly when i know it was marley who attacked that dog first because i seen it he checked his dog and he asked if my dog was kk (lovely owner) and i said just aslong as yours is ok thats all that matters and i walked off (marley was bk on his lead) but you could tell the woman he was with was really really angry (i really dont blame her because i was that way myself)

I took marley straighy home but he had his tail up trying to get to another dog again

He has never ever ever!! Attacked another dog an i have not! Brought him up that way i really really do not understand what i did wrong at all with him. I do think he done some damage to that dog but the owner said his dog was fine but i heard a loud cry and i dont think it was marley because he only has a scratch on his chin. I really dont know what to do with him.

Advice would be great.

Thank you xx

Some dogs can become dog aggressive, is he well socialized? It's not a problem I've had so others will be able to advise better but I do know it can be managed x

Yeah, hes always really friendly,
My boyfriend said the other day when he took him out there was a dpg barkin at him and he didnt do nothing just sat there..
And when we went the shop last week a dog started barking at him and he just looks at me and walks off.. Hes never normally like that so it was a massive suprise today to see what he had done. It terrified me x

Is there anything that's happened recently that could have had an effect on him? Something that upset him or another dog going for him? Anything that's changed at all?

Well yeah jusy before he went to the park and attacked the stafft, a different staffy tryed to go for him. I keep thinking its my falte tho and its because i left him for two months x

I'm sure it's not your fault.
It could possibly have been because of the other dog going for him, unfortunately I'm no expert in dog behaviour!
Do you have any friends/family with dogs (that are laid back) that you can take Marley out with? It may help him to spend some time with other dogs. For the time being you definitely need to keep him on lead, maybe think about getting a long training line so he can still have a run about x

I wouldn't say it's your fault. But if you haven't walked him for a couple of months then today was completely new to him. If you were a little nervous, he would have picked up on that & reacted accordingly.

I would also look at getting him a long training lead (30' or 50' long - you can get them cheaply from ebay). Let the lead trail, but make sure that the end is always within reach of your hand or foot!

Work on any insecurities you have (deep breaths etc), and do some recall & "leave" training with him to get back to the way things were.

I will do, thanks guys for the advice.

I was worried about today. Wish i coulda stayed with him for them two months :-( then this wouldnt have happened :-( x

Try not to beat yourself up about it, like Caryll says he will sense your anxiety x

Caryll wrote:I wouldn't say it's your fault. But if you haven't walked him for a couple of months then today was completely new to him. If you were a little nervous, he would have picked up on that & reacted accordingly.

I would also look at getting him a long training lead (30' or 50' long - you can get them cheaply from ebay). Let the lead trail, but make sure that the end is always within reach of your hand or foot!

Work on any insecurities you have (deep breaths etc), and do some recall & "leave" training with him to get back to the way things were.

Took the words right out of my mouth!

Echo all the above  x

I can't walk Kuchar either at the moment so my son is doing it, but I do understand that you might feel a bit guilty about it, even if it wasn't your fault - so don't beat yourself up about that.

I would guess that the "trouble" with today probably started with Marley rounding a corner and meeting a dog who tried to establish his authority (by putting his head over Marley's shoulder) and Marley did the same, and it was a stand-off - which both you and the other dog's owner handled very well. Then Marley was probably feeling a bit unsettled and maybe picked up on your anxiety, so when he was let off the lead and saw another dog he wanted to relieve his pent-up feelings.

The advice you have been already given above is great and I can't add to it, except to say that I too would try to let him settle down, walk with a calm dog if possible, and not let him off a long lead for a bit until things get back to normal - which they will!

Don't let it rattle you  

Right, Marley is getting older now and is full of testosterone. Other dogs are barking at him and this is making him a bit nervous, when the other dog is the aggressor he won't stand up to it cus he feels a bit scared. Then he feels the need to reassert himself with other, more submissive dogs, RE: he needs to feel like he's not bottom of the hierarchy, hes basically being a bully.

Its difficult particularly with staffords as they are prone to being dominant and dog aggressive. You need to take him back to basics, don't let him off the lead, do some controlled greetings preferably with bitch's as the 'head on the other dogs shoulders' is a typical dominant stance. He should be less confrontational with girl dogs. Also smaller dogs he might find less scary.

Don't let them meet, just walk beside one another for a while then keep them on short leads and eventually let them sniff each other for a second then move on. This behaviour is coming from him not having confidence and you just need to break through this barrier hes put up. Do you have a local dog class where you can pay per go? One or two sessions will probably help millions. And don't panic, he might be feeling protective of you too and as hes used to your boyfriend walking him (someone with more physical strength) he might be feeling less confident and so hes lashing out. He will be fine xxx

All the above advice is excellent so nothing much to add apart from try not to humanise Marley's feelings. I know its hard and I admit i've been guilty of this as well at times but remember that dogs don't feel emotions the same way we do, so if we are not in their lives for a few weeks, months they won't dwell on it.

They will miss you for a few days, maybe even a week but they adapt. Hard to think about it this way as we all love to think our dog is waiting for us or missing us but I think the truth is they just don't. They don't feel loss the same way as us. They deal with the here and now So you have nothing to feel gulity for as I doubt very much you leaving for a few months has caused this behaviour in Marley I agree with the above and would put it down to hormones.

Hey Kirsty, how have your walks been so far this week?

Hiya, they have been ok. Marleys back to his happy playful self :-D witch am chuffed with!! Thank you all xxx

Ah great, glad things have improved  

Good to hear it! Hope you both continue to do well!