Help

[slleipnir]

Can anyone help me to understand dog aggression? DO you know of any books or websites I can read about it? Why do they need to attack other dogs? What makes them do it???

I took Josie to my cottage and I had her tied up cause there are people and dogs. She managed to break her tie out and run directly to a big german shepard and have a huge scrap with it. Now, I hear 2 females will fight to the death...and seeing the gsd was huge I'd say she would have won.....(this is Nikki for anyone who saw the pics of her and Zeke playing) anyway, Josie would lose I'm sure. She's an 8 yr old and Nikki is almost 2. I went in and grabbed Josie and pulled her off. I know they can turn on you but I'd rather have a bite then no dog.

Jo was limping a little but she seems fine now. Nikki is fine too. I'm just afraid either a) bigger dogs will kick her ass no problem and b) someone will tell me to put her to sleep. I cannot live without Josie. She is my life and it breaks my heart to see that I obviosuly can not train her. I know it's my fault she's like this...and I don't work with her enough or something I don;t know.

I spend $400 on training to help her. She was doing so well too...

After it happened I went inside and cried for a while. It's so scary and I need it to stop. I don't care if she never likes dogs...I JUST want her to listen when I say "no" or "come"

I don't think I'm fit to own dogs. I just ruin them. -sigh-

[finn's mom]

Well, if you've exhausted the training option, maybe you should just make sure to never let her off leash. Get her a stronger tie out, for when you have to tie her somewhere. I don't know, that's a crappy situation to be in.

[sammy101]

im sorry:( My Rb Dalmatian ws very aggressive around other dogs,and she was NEVER aloud off leash.When she was tied in the front yard,we made sure she had a good collar on where she couldnt slip out of. Mabye get Josie a no-slip collar for when she's tied out?,and get her a stronger line to tie her with.We just have a 20ft nylon leash,it works good,especially since Kodie is strong.
I dont know why they attack other dogs.I dont know of any good books or anything.

[Glacier]

Check out Jean Donaldson's "Fight". You can find it on dogwise.com. It's an easy read guide to dealing with dog on dog aggression.

I own an extremely dog aggressive dog, Kayleigh. Kayleigh has made great progress on her many other issues, but her dog aggression is not getting any better. I've found all I can do with it is manage it. The behavior itself is not going to change so I have to prevent Kayleigh from getting into situations where she has a chance to fight. Dog aggression is often a temperment trait--in Kayleigh's case it's genetic. She comes from a long line of dog aggressive dogs! (Her idiot breeder is for another post! ) It's not a matter of you not training Josie properly. Kayleigh has great recall and is extremely obedient, until she has a chance to fight. At that point, nothing I do or say matters to her at all!

Get whatever kind of tie-out you can that Josie can't break. For Kayleigh, those cable things never worked. She needs a real good quality chain--not the ones they sell in pet stores!! The ones they sell at the hardware store and add your own clips. Kayleigh has her own pen with a reinforced fence--buried underground with a layer of wire on the ground to prevent digging. Her gate has a heavy duty latch that has another lock through it so she can't pop it open. She is never allowed off-leash unless we are way back in the boonies where I've never seen another dog. If we are in a busier area, I walk her with two leashes--she's been known to pull leashes apart trying to get to another dog. If she needs to really run, I take her on the Springer on my bike. I bypassed the safety release on the Springer attachment so she can't get loose. That thing ROCKS!

If you don't already know, you should learn how to break up a fight quickly and safely.

My concern for Kayleigh is keeping her safe and other dogs safe from her. Where I live, if she injures another dog while off my property, she's considered dangerous and will be killed. That's not happening! Owning a dog aggressive dog is an extra responsiblity, but Kayleigh is worth effort--so is Josie.

[finn's mom]

I was hoping you'd post, Glacier. :) Great advice, as always.

[RobiLee]

How can you even say you are not fit to have dogs and that you ruin them! Shame on you, Audrey for even making such a statement. I read your threads and posts and you seem like a very caring and loving dog owner and someone who works with their pups to make sure all is well. I don't have any advice for you and I would follow Glacier's advice. I also have a dog aggessive dog and I don't know what to do about that either. It has finally sunk into my thick head that it isn't my fault that Katie is that way. It is in her genes. She is a very loving dog with people but she just doesn't get along with other dogs. It took me awhile to get over this, but I finally did. Good luck with Josie. I know you will deal with this and handle it the best way possible.

[wolfie]

First, I want to say it is definitely not your fault. It has nothing to do with training. It'd be like saying a kid with ADHD is because of a poor education. Some dogs are just like that.

Daphne can be dog agressive sometimes. The best thing to do is not put her in a situation to be dog agressive. Try to take her for a run where there aren't other dogs... things like that.

I know you love Josie very much and she is a wonderful dog! Give her a big hug for me. :)

[slleipnir]

Thanks for the info.

I do keep Josie out of the situation. I decided since she has been so good lately that I would take her out for 1 night seeing she never gets to go anywhere. I took her to the beach for a swim, and even ignored the dogs there. I got home and I normally put her pinch on when there is a dog so closebut I had it off when we went to the beach and seeing she was still wet I didn't put it back on. She had a thick rope which i thought was fine and her collar is fine too. I don't even know how she got off it, but the rope came undone or brokeor something.

And I'm sorry to be so negative, but I was so upset about it, and I'm really sick today so I just don't have the effort right now

[slleipnir]

Oh I emailed my trainer and he suggested an e collar. Does anyone know if these are safe/ok?? He said you can set it to how "high" or "low" it goes...he showed me the lowest setting on my arm and it didn't hurt at all...I gues they're really expensive, but I was thinking if it owuld work I may buy one..

[wolfie]

I'm glad you and Josie had a good day!

I don't know much about e collars, but I heard that they can make aggression worse. It's like, if the dog is being aggressive and they get this uncomfortable feeling, they will get even more upset. But I've never used one myself so I don't really know.

[jesse_3]

I would agree, an e collar would make it worse I would think..I agree with Glacier though. She has, what, 21, maybe 22 dogs! I would guess that she knows what she is talking about....

You do NOT ruin dogs! There is no possible way you could have really prevented this..It is in her genes. I know what it feels like to think that it is your fault though, trust me, it is hard to get over!-You can do it though. I had to do that WITHOUT Pet Talk!-I hadn't joined this big family yet.

If you ever need to talk, just pm me:)
Steph and Jes

[anna_66]

DO NOT say you ruin your dogs...that's just not true!
But I can say I know the feeling you have.

I've done everything from day one to socialize Bon but still he has a problem with other dogs. He'll strike with no warning and it just drives me crazy. So I've learned I just can't have him around other dogs where there is even a remote chance he could get to them. He outweighs me and I'm not sure if he ever got into a fight with another dog that I would even be able to break them up.

Don't beat yourself up, I do that too and it's just not your fault.