Bad day in secure field

Well I say bad day - but not all of it. I took Milo to a Secure Canine field with a lady who I see off and on who had two older dogs, one a spaniel type and one a mix. Both larger dogs than Milo. He's never met them before but at her suggestion it'd be nice for them to all have a run and play together & it sounded great as Milo plays ok with other dogs on the park.

Well we got the dogs out of car on leads and let them sniff each other, but not as much as I would've liked. When we got to the field she let her two off and told me to let Milo off...I wasn't too sure about this & told her so but she insisted and I thought okay why not.

Straight away he ran at the spaniel, in it's face and jumping all over the place. Of course the spaniel snapped at him and Milo left him alone but then charged after the other dog which did the same thing. At this point I wanted to put him back on his lead for a while to calm down but again the lady said - No its okay I don't mind. They'll be fine together in a bit. They're just putting him in his place, as a young dog he'll learn that way.

Milo left them alone for a bit and I thought great - now we can relax and walk around the field. But - when the lady threw a ball for her dogs Milo chased as well, being quicker of course he got in front of the dogs blocking them and hence it went for him again. Milo then retaliates and starts snarling and rearing up at it, next thing the second dog runs over to rescue his buddy and joined in the fight. It was a real humdinger & sounded horrible. I felt so sick & couldn't move. Luckily the field owner came between them and luckily nobody was hurt, just my nerves .

I spent the rest of the hour with Milo on our own with my friend right over on the other side of the field getting Milo to concentrate on me and to follow wherever I went, giving treats when he did praising him to stay with me . The field owner said because of his breed he will always go in for a fight and one day either he'll get ripped to bits or it'll be the other dog gets hurt and Milo will be put down.

I know what you'll all say - that I shouldn't have listened to the dog owner and kept him on his lead til they were accustomed to each other - but on the park he's met other dogs and although he plays rough he's never gone in like that before.

Advice please (please be gentle - I know I've been a twit)

Trust your instinct - it's funny how we pick things up without knowing what. I was just reading a Patricia McConnell book and she says words to the effect of 'when you find yourself saying I think it'll be ok, what you mean is in fact I don't think it will but want to hope so'. There might have been something in a dog's body language that you were picking up or something.

To be honest, adding a toy and excitment into the mix wasn't a wise idea and I hope the lady's learned that lesson now. When dogs know each other and are happy to share, then sharing's great. When they don't it's best to leave them as you had, just bumbling round near each other.

It amazes me how many people you meet in popular places hurling balls left right and centre with a heap of unknown dogs nearby. In their view, other dogs need to know how to exercise restraint when they themselves, a supposedly rational human being, can't.

Live and learn, Jenny. And know that your instinct is better than hers!

The amount of times I was told that their dog will tell mine off if he gets too rough because he was a puppy! It doesn't ever seem to really work like that. It's terrifying though.

I'm slowly getting to the stage where I'm scared to let him play with other dogs because Ive had so many bad experiences with owners.

Experience is the key especially with a staffy we all make mistakes and learning from them is key dnt beat yourself up about it you will know for next time

Interesting post. I think you knew that it was all moving too quickly for Milo and as Liz has said, trust your instinct. I do all the time when out walking Flo.

The Ball was the biggest error though. I'm not at all surprised that it kicked off over that and it was a bit of a daft thing to do with hindsight. I wonder how well they would have got along had that ball not been thrown. When dogs are familiar with each other then it's fine to introduce toys but always wise to have spares so that each dog can have fun.

The field owner was talking rubbish, they based this on one instance and can't possibly know what Milo is like, once again, breed prejudice

Now moving on to putting pups/dogs in their place, I have seen this in action on more than one occasion. My Flo has done it and the owners of the other dogs have been fine but obviously only if there is reason to tell off. You need to be careful before doing this and read body language very carefully. I know that my Flo is vocal and will show teeth but has never bitten but this can be terrifying if you had a dog on the receiving end of a telling off like this when not realising that that is what it is.

Also, my Flo has been on the receiving end of this behaviour. My Brother in-law has two ruddy great Bloodhounds, Flo will tell the younger one off as described above but she will also get told off by the older female hound. We tend to ignore tellings off unless we can see a cause that might make it escalate, in which case we remove the cause.

Don't feel bad or let down, these things happen and it's always a learning experience.

It's true, it's breed prejudice, too many Staffies and Staffy x dogs are fine with others to believe such rubbish. You need to be a fair bit more assertive though and take the attitude of my dog, my consequences, my decision. It's not being anti social it's being in control. In time they'd probably be fine but unfortunately so many humans have little if any patience and want everything in their lives here and now. Until you gain control and leadership you'll continue to feel like crap about it. If you want the future to be different you must also be different. If you let others bully you into what they want your dog will tend to ignore you more than you may want, they sense weakness, all dogs not just yours. Typically , they wanted you to do things against your better judgement but when it went wrong walked off as though it was 100% your fault. In the future go by your own gut feeling, not theirs, you know your dog better than they do, try not to feel that "I've been here before" feeling if possible and just see it as a new experience. All the best.

Agreee with Liz and Ian. Here is a link on body language

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/dog_body_language

A can of pet corrector is great for stopping potential fights. Try not to get discouraged and keep up the socialization. If you have any doubts seperate the dogs and let them calm down before reintroducing them.

Oh thank you all sooooo much - you're wonderful. You've said all the right things and given me back confidence that I'd lost that day.

I've had a quick read but will come back and digest all your comments and advice properly when I get home.....thanks again xxxx

+1 on the posts regarding dogs sharing / or not sharing toys ..
adding a thrown toy to the mix can easily spark off a fight

People can mean well sometimes without always thinking through the possible outcomes. Once they become used to their dog/s or a situation that works for them, they assume it fits all dogs. I too have been in a similar situation where I gave in to someone else's judgement and just regretted the whole thing and wondered why I didn't trust my instinct in the first place.

Just as above, learn from it and move on You will get to know him better!

You will never know unless you try... next time it could be a very different story and no you wasnt be a twit. sometime you have to have faith and sometimes it pays off. dont take negative things away from this experiance as if your guy wanted to do damage he would have done. the fact that he didnt and just wanted to play. had you put him in a field with my two who understand that hanging off each other is fun you would be posting about what a great time you just had. at the end of the day we own boisterous dogs who love a bit of rough and tumble

If its any comfort to you I can honestly say that Harry would have
reacted exactly the same where ball playing is concerned.

You have learned from the experience, draw a line under it and
carry on.  These sort of things have happened to all of us and
hindsight is a wonderful thing