One off or something else?

Hi all,

Firstly, Troy usually gets on with all dogs unless they start on him. He does try to hump and be dominant but never aggressive.

However, yesterday we came across a couple walking an American Bulldog bitch. It seemed friendly but very excited, pulling on it's lead towards Troy, chest up etc but only because it was on a lead. Out of nowhere I hear the dog crying and Troy has grabbed on to its snout. I easily got him off by lifting his mouth open so it wasn't a full on attack with shaking etc but obviously not very nice and I felt very bad indeed.

The dog was OK, no blood etc from what I could see.

It was very strange because Troy has NEVER done anything like this before. He didn't growl or anything, just CHOMP out of nowhere.

Now I don't know where this has come from, but in the past few weeks he has had to defend himself from aggressive dogs. Once jumped a fence and attacked his buddy Bison a black Lab, so he went in and defended him and had a scrap. And secondly, my brother walked Troy for me while I was at work and a so called 'friendly' Staff Mix type dog attacked him and bit above his eye and lip.

Could this spate of unfortunate events have triggered some sort of reaction in Troy?
Does it mean anything that it was actually a bitch he attacked? He usually tries the obvious with them!
How do I go about dog meetings in the future? I don't want him to grab hold of a smaller dog and really hurt it.

Yes I get paranoid. With all the bad press they get, it gets me down when things happen like this.

Thanks for reading.

I reckon he has been upset because of the attacks and its fear that made him bite. Lola had a similar experience and she can be aggressive with other dogs. It is scary when you see your beloved pooch attack for the first time as you don't expect it from them. You could try giving him a treat when he has behaved with another dog so he associates other dogs with nice things. Another thing is to try and not be nervous when you see another dog as this transmits to your dog

Hi,

Yeah, I'll have to remember to carry treats with me and reward him. I always ensure I am not nervous etc and never have been because he has always been fine.

It's a bit of a shock when they do that. You just don't know when its going to happen again. Like already mentioned give a treat when he is well behaved when meeting other dogs

Yeah, that's what I worry about the most. Don't want him grabbing hold of a small dog or puppy.

This dog was pulling and was pretty hyper and their owner was nervous etc. Maybe these all contributed but I don't really want to look for excuses because he has met loads of crazy, hyper dogs like that and never attacked.

He's probably just a bit extra-defensive because of the recent events. It's like if someone tries to mug you a couple of times, you'll be a bit wary of people for at least a little while. I think just keep calm on your walks so he doesn't pick up on any response from you, and eventually he might calm down on his own once the initial response has worn off.

I hope so, lets see! Fingers crossed.

The other dogs body language probably was off. It was straining to get to troy and this obviously made him uncomfortable. I think it is a one off but just keep his attention next time a dog is straining to get to him. Also, NEVER put your hand near a dogs mouth if it is biting something, you are very lucky not to have got caught in the crossfire. Seriously.

Thanks for the reply.

Well, he had a grip over the dogs snout and I just lifted his jaw off pretty easily, as pulling wouldn't get him off.

I had gloves on too, but it's one of those things you don't think of at the time. Felt sorry for the poor dog whimpering.

to be honest mate you said he has had a couple of bad episodes so it could be that he thought he needed to have a go. However, even calm well behaved dogs sometimes feel the need to correct hyper ones and that's what I think happened there.

my girl would have a go at a jumpy dog then walk right past another seemingly aggressive one without showing any interest in a fight so I don't put it down to DA at all.

Don't blame Troy much, if he really was keen to cause harm you wouldn't have been able to get him off like you did.

Thanks for the reply.

Never thought of that, you have a point. No way I would of been able to get him off that easily if he really wanted to not let go.

Unfortunately he got into a scrap with next doors dog again! They need planning permission to build a 6ft fence so will just have to be more careful in future.

I just don't think these confrontations with this Alsation are very good, as he may feel he needs to protect himself from big dogs unless these two just don't get on!

Does anyone have any tips on testing the theory of if it was a one off or if he has become dog aggressive?

I went to meet my Mom and my brothers dog Bison and as we saw them in the distance, Troy starting to do those slow, stalking movements towards Bison (he never knew it was Bison at this point). Isn't this something they do towards prey in the wild?

He growls when he see's big dogs now too.

I'd say try and meet a calm dog that you can get close to if you know the owner? Bailey can be a bit iffy with other dogs when he's on the lead, but off lead he's brilliant! Like yesterday, he was pulling like a train n standing up straight with his tail up, because there was a dog walker with 8 dogs. She told me to let him off which I did and he was brilliant, no aggression or squabbles apart from one dog who tried to hump him, but a wee growl and back to playing again!

Bailey and Sierra do the whole stalking thing aswell, I don't think it's anything to worry about. They do it to each other, other dogs, they even do it to me sometimes