Behaviour Change?

Hi All   

I have had Boss since he was 7 weeks old and up until he was 3 he loved playing and socialising with any dog whether they were male or female, puppies or seniors until recently his behaviour completely changed!

We were on our way to a group dog walk where I live and we were having fun playing ball, we walked past a couple with a husky pup and an old grump terrier. The pup kept coming up to Boss wanting to play with him and his ball but he kept trying to avoid the situation by walking off (he did walk up to the grumpy terrier in which it growled at him and he walked off) he then walked over to the husky pup and pinned her down, not baring teeth or wounding but he was growling. Neither of them were harmed although the pup was a little shaken.

We then continued to head in the direction of the group walk which he then done exactly the same thing to a basset hound while they were playing ball, again neither were hurt but it wasn't a nice experience.

We put it down to the fact he was being possessive over his ball but decided not to join the dog walk and to let him cool down on his own.

Baring in mind he had met the old terrier and husky pup a few weeks before and had a play with them and he was fine. We also met Jasper the Bassett a few weeks after the incident and they both wanted to play with tails wagging etc but I was scared to let him off in case the same thing happened again.

He is fine of the lead and has a great recall but I do fret that it may happen again if another dog comes up to him. I always keep him on a lead when there are other dogs about but it worries me when they come up to him and stalk him.

Since the incident his behaviour had completely changed and it is now becoming embarrassing to walk him in a public area as he has now started to growl and bark at dogs passing us, he won't do this to all dogs, some he will want to play with and he wags his tail but others he gets quite uptight.

What I don't understand is that he is absolutely in love with a 1 year old staffie female who he will run about with and play all day everyday and when they are out walking together he is very possessive of her and does protect her by barking and growling if any other dogs pass us on the walk.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Boss and Lola his <3


Boss and Bella


Boss and Wilsee

No experience here sorry what about a long training lead when out so he can have a run around but you can soon retain control if need be. Great pics he is gorgeous and loving the EBT too   

As a rule I generally wouldn't allow an unknown dog to approach a dog playing with their toy, that's bound to cause some kind of aversive behaviour. I think the pinning behaviour was quite normal, he was clearly unhappy with the situation of the pup harassing him when he was playing with his toy, owner intervention should have occurred before he had to deal with the problem himself.

I think you need to read him a little more, dogs, like people, don't like interacting with every other dog that crosses their path. This is quite common in "dog park dogs" or dogs that often walk in big groups of unknown dogs and are overwhelmed by it. Many dogs put into this situation at a young age will become fearful or reactive with other dogs. Your fear and embarrassment will pass onto him as tension and worry which will make him more concerned.

I would build up his interactions with calm, friendly dogs that won't bother him. Just allow him to walk with them on a one-to-one basis, on lead and show him that not all dogs are going to harass him/jump all over him and read a little about body language/calming signals so that you know when he's feeling uncomfortable.

The ladder of aggression reads as - Yawning/blinking/nose licking - turning head away - turning body away/sitting/lifing a paw - walking away - creeping/holding ears back - standing crouched with tail tucked under - lying down with leg up - stiffening up/staring - growling - snapping - biting. Have you noticed any one of these behaviours when he's interacting with other dogs before he pins them? He only needs to carry out one or two of them to show that he's uncomfortable before going in to stop the interaction himself, e.g pinning. The husky more than likely wasn't taught boundaries by owner or other dogs in socialising, therefore missed these signals too or just didn't care (some dogs are just pushy!)

Inez's suggestion of a long line would be useful too, for the time being at least while you're building up his relationship with dogs again, and be firm with other dogs owners that your dog is being rehabilitated and you don't want your dogs jumping all over him. I carry a spare lead with me now and if a dog is harassing me and Biscuit I will put them on a lead and hand them back to the owner!! Perhaps look up yellow dog UK, you can get coats/bandana's that state that your dog needs space.