new aggressive behaviour

I adopted Suzy, a five year old staffie, in January and have found the forum to be an invaluable source of advice and tips. I now have a “situation” and I wonder if anyone could advise me on some new behaviour that Suzy has displayed over the last couple of days. She is overall a submissive, well behaved and fairly obedient dog. I kept her on the lead for the first couple of months, partly so we could get used to each other and then because she came into season which finished about four weeks ago. Since then, I have let her off the lead in our local dog-friendly area where there is a stream, lots of open fields and a small wood. I have gradually built up from a few minutes off lead, to almost the entire walk. She comes back to me when I call her and is obsessed by her ball which I throw for her, so we walk around with me throwing the ball, and her running to fetch it and bring it back. If another dog approaches her, she sniffs and comes straight back when I call her. If she sees a dog in the distance she ignores it if I tell her to. If a dog is nearby and I don’t want her to run over to it, and if I have the ball in my hand, she hardly glances at the other dog, and I can throw the ball for her while the dog passes without incident.

Two days ago I took Suzy for a walk by the stream, there were lots of families and dogs enjoying the afternoon sunshine. Suzy was off lead and behaving very nicely, running and sniffing but I didn’t have her ball as we had lost it in the stream the day before. There was a GSD in the stream, playing with a ball. I was unconcerned about the dog which was playing nicely with its owner. Suddenly, Suzy rushed into the stream and lunged at the dog, snarling and snapping, and trying to attack its face. The GSD blocked her with its body and growled/barked but didn’t touch her, so she ran round its other side, snarling and biting at its face. The GSD pinned her down in the water. This continued, as she kept wriggling free and continuing to lunge at the dogs face, while it in turn kept pinning her. The owner and I were calling our dogs from the bank of the stream, and after a minute or two they both came out. I told Suzy to sit which she did and the other dog went away with its owner, with me apologising profusely (and very puzzled). I could only think that she had seen the ball and was trying to get hold of it? But it was really scary.

Yesterday I took her for a walk and this time had a ball with me. We were doing our usual thing, me throwing, her fetching. A lady came towards me with two small dogs (highland terriers I think) off lead, they both ran up to Suzy and one of them was barking frantically at her. She turned around so they could sniff her rear end, and then came to me as I was holding the ball. The lady apologised for the barking dog, she said it always barks at other dogs, I said it was fine, and off we all went in opposite directions. Later on, I saw her walking towards me again with the same dogs, so I wasn’t worried. The dogs both rushed up to Suzy, one of them barking at her, as before. This time though, Suzy had her ball in her mouth as she had just retrieved it. When the barking dog got to Suzy, she dropped the ball and attacked the barking dog, she seemed to have it by the throat and was shaking it, snarling and growling ferociously, she was on top of the dog and it was laid on its back wriggling. She had got her jaws clamped around its dogs mouth and lower jaw and had a really tight grip. The little dog was yelping and screaming, the lady was screaming “Get it off my dog”. I managed to pull Suzy away and then get her to let go of the dogs mouth. It was such a terrifying episode it seemed to last for ages but must have been less than a minute. We checked the dogs, they seemed OK, the little one had a bit of blood on her mouth but not much. I was apologising, in shock, and the lady was also apologising and saying her dog shouldn’t have run up barking in the first place.

This has really shaken me up and knocked my confidence. I had thought that Suzy didn’t have this in her. Both situations seem to have been “ball related” and of course I don’t know anything about Suzy’s history as she was a stray who had been taken to a pound and rescued by a dog charity, so I don’t know if something like this has happened before, but it’s certainly the first time I have seen any aggression in her at all.

Can anyone advise me?

I personally have no experience in this, but it does sound like she's reacted because of the Ball, I can imagine it was very distressing for all involved, the key is to try not to be apprehensive now when walking her and watch her body language. The link should help with it.
http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/dog_body_language
I'm sure someone with experience in this will pop along shortly with some advice

Wow, that must be such horrible experiences for you to see . They do seem related to the ball, it's possible that she values the ball as such a valuable possession that she feels threatened when another dog might take it from her? A lot of dogs are fine giving up possessions to humans, but have issues with dogs taking things from them. The only thing I can really think of is that if she has a ball (or she sees a dog with a ball near her), then to put her on the lead just until the risk has passed?

Wow, that must have really taken you by surprise!

I'd put it down to the ball - she's obviously quite fixated with it & doesn't want any other dog to have it. She was ok with the two terriers while you had the ball, but didn't like them near her when she had it!

I can understand you being worried, but as long as you're careful I doubt it'll happen again. If she'd really wanted to hurt the other dog there would have been more than a little blood on it! The blood might even have been from it biting its tongue - your dog may not have drawn any blood herself.

I think you need to watch her when there are other dogs near, and make sure that you have her ball & can distract her with it if you need to.

It may also be an idea to carry a spare ball or another toy with you on walks in case the ball goes missing or you need to use it as a distraction for her.

I would be tempted to keep her on a long training line for a while to see how she is now when other dogs approach her. I'm sure she will put it behind her though and carry on as before.

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated.

I would also say it will have been down to the ball, Daisy spends a lot of time with my families dogs and the only time fighting occurs it's because of ball/toys! Carrying a spare is an excellent idea and also using the training line for a while until you get your confidence back

I agree with the above posts, most likely the ball. Just an idea, but maybe the 1st incident with the ball/dog got her thinking that this 2nd dog was going to steal her ball. Their funny little things, quite intelligent too. And they never forget.She appears to love her ball and the fact she lost it the 1st time, then she spotted the ball with the gsd. She proberly remembers being pinned down and still not getting it back. Then the terrier comes running over, and she aint giving it up. Sounds off the wall, but you never know.

Maybe go back a few steps with training. Perhaps ask your local rescue centre for advice? I am sure they have lots of experience with this kind of thing. I can really understand how shaken you must be.

Hi, what awful experiences for you, its very scary for us when our dogs react out of character. My dog whom I had from a puppy is very ball possessive. She lets dogs come up to her but if they go for her ball she gives them that lovely staffy growl noise and when a particularly persistent dog whom tash normally plays lovely with wont leave her alone, she kept going for her and I thought she was gonna bite him but luckily she didn't.

After this incident I tend to only let her have her ball in set places when dogs aren't around and take it off her when walking around. I also have 3-4 balls (1 that definitely squeaks) in my pocket to distract her if needs be.

I hope you get this sorted, keep us updated

Jules