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Anti-social behavior



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 6th 04, 04:02 AM
CardioActive
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Anti-social behavior

Here's a tale for you. I have two dogs I adopted from a rescue agency -
Keena and Stefi. Both are females who were both about 4-5 years old when I
met them. Keena is never a problem. I took her to dog training classes and
applied the same techniques to Stefi when I got her.

Stefi is about 45 pounds and when you look closely at her ears you'll see
lots of scar tissue from old dog fights. After I adopted her, I found out
about her past. She had been kept in a kennel at a no-kill animal shelter
for almost two years because she was "too aggressive". No one would adopt
her. Today, a lot of people who know her laugh because she is so
ridiculously affectionate with strangers (including kids). However other
dogs are another story.

In my town there are a lot of leash free dog parks and my dogs love to
visit. We go almost everyday.

I've been working hard trying to better socialize Stefi and we've made lots
of progress. I've noticed that when Stefi finds herself in a crowd of people
and dogs all bunched together she gets very nervous. Her smiling face will
suddenly disappear, her eyes turn coal black, she snarls and the
aggressively lashes out at a nearby dog (especially smaller ones). If I see
it, I intercept and stop it by shouting "be nice" to her. It seems to work.
But I can't take my eye off of her for even a second. I've also noticed
after she lashes out at a dog, she never does it again to that dog.

Today, after a year and a half of trying to socialize her, she bit another
dog in the face so badly, the owner had to take his dog to an emergency vet
clinic. It was a bloody mess.

Fortunately, the dog wasn't seriously injured but I got to pay a $60 vet
bill for the owner. The victim dog was a small breed (Italian greyhound?)
Stefi has previously caught and killed a rat and baby opossum in my backyard
and some small breeds are not much larger.

I'm now very hesitant about taking her back to the park. And what about my
other dog who was not involved. Do I leave Stefi at home and take Keena? Any
ideas for training regimens? Remember this is a leash free area that's quite
large.

Any help with my problem is greatly appreciated.


  #2  
Old March 6th 04, 04:41 AM
Tee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I can understand & empathize with your problem. Having said that though, I
think taking this dog, who you know to have anxiety issues with other dogs,
to an off-leash dog park is extremely irresponsible. I know you're not
looking for a slap on the hand, and I'm honestly not trying to flame you,
but what you're doing is dangerous and I hope you'll see that. Its
dangerous to all the other dogs who visit there. Its dangerous to Stefi
because she could be labeled "dangerous" and ordered put to sleep. Its
dangerous to the welfare of dog parks in general because alot of them keep
tabs on incidents. Its dangerous to a breed or breeds as a whole if she
belongs to one, particularly if she even remotely resembles a big or "mean"
breed like the Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Doberman, etc. There are so many
ramifications to taking an aggressive dog to a public area and allowing it
to be off-leash. I realize she's not always aggressive but she presents
that front and will lash out. Not all other dogs will turn a blind eye to
that and she'd be the one who instigated it.

As for Stefi, you may never be able to socialize her to the extent that
she's safe around strange dogs off-leash. There are too many factors at
play. Its difficult to overcome fear-based aggression on a large scale but
not impossible. You can work with a behaviorist who can try to help you
further desensitize her but please be prepared for the likelihood that
off-leash dog parks won't be something she'll be able to enjoy again. Maybe
you can have someone come to take Stefi for a walk when you take Keena to
the dog park. Or take Stefi (if she hasn't been banned) but don't take her
off-leash, no matter how calm or happy she acts. I understand your desire
to see her have fun and to keep trying to test the waters but you are taking
entirely too many risks by doing so.

I have a dog who *loves* to play with other dogs but has lousy meeting &
social skills. On-leash she's aggressive towards strange dogs, often
provoking an aggressive response in return. She doesn't get walked as often
as I'd like because there are too many loose dogs in my neighborhood. Most
are friendly, come-to-say-hi, types who pose a problem for me and my dog.
When she's off-leash, she is very physical upon a meeting. She does a great
deal of posturing, growling, sometimes raises her hackles, and just puts on
one hell of an aggressive display. She's testing the waters, seeing if the
other dog is going to attack her, if so then she's ready. If not then after
a few minutes she's ready to play. She was attacked in at least one other
home by a dog much larger than her, repeatedly. She has reason to behave
the way she does but other people won't care about her past & her reasons
when she hurts their pet.

Her behavior freaks out other dogs' owners, rightly so, and some don't trust
that she's really not wanting to fight (off-leash). So due to her social
limitations, she gets very few play dates with friends' dogs, gets walked
less than she should, never goes to off-leash areas with strange dogs
(because she's provoking), and can't go to public places with other dogs
when she's on-leash unless I can be relatively certain we'll have plenty of
breathing-room. Its not ideal, I feel sorry for her much of the time,
exasperated with her some of the time, but this is just how life has been,
and will continue to be, for this particular dog. She gets plenty of love &
outdoor time at home, takes many car rides, gets to interact with other
people often, she just doesn't get to be around other dogs as much as she'd
like.

--
Tara


  #3  
Old March 6th 04, 04:41 AM
Tee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I can understand & empathize with your problem. Having said that though, I
think taking this dog, who you know to have anxiety issues with other dogs,
to an off-leash dog park is extremely irresponsible. I know you're not
looking for a slap on the hand, and I'm honestly not trying to flame you,
but what you're doing is dangerous and I hope you'll see that. Its
dangerous to all the other dogs who visit there. Its dangerous to Stefi
because she could be labeled "dangerous" and ordered put to sleep. Its
dangerous to the welfare of dog parks in general because alot of them keep
tabs on incidents. Its dangerous to a breed or breeds as a whole if she
belongs to one, particularly if she even remotely resembles a big or "mean"
breed like the Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Doberman, etc. There are so many
ramifications to taking an aggressive dog to a public area and allowing it
to be off-leash. I realize she's not always aggressive but she presents
that front and will lash out. Not all other dogs will turn a blind eye to
that and she'd be the one who instigated it.

As for Stefi, you may never be able to socialize her to the extent that
she's safe around strange dogs off-leash. There are too many factors at
play. Its difficult to overcome fear-based aggression on a large scale but
not impossible. You can work with a behaviorist who can try to help you
further desensitize her but please be prepared for the likelihood that
off-leash dog parks won't be something she'll be able to enjoy again. Maybe
you can have someone come to take Stefi for a walk when you take Keena to
the dog park. Or take Stefi (if she hasn't been banned) but don't take her
off-leash, no matter how calm or happy she acts. I understand your desire
to see her have fun and to keep trying to test the waters but you are taking
entirely too many risks by doing so.

I have a dog who *loves* to play with other dogs but has lousy meeting &
social skills. On-leash she's aggressive towards strange dogs, often
provoking an aggressive response in return. She doesn't get walked as often
as I'd like because there are too many loose dogs in my neighborhood. Most
are friendly, come-to-say-hi, types who pose a problem for me and my dog.
When she's off-leash, she is very physical upon a meeting. She does a great
deal of posturing, growling, sometimes raises her hackles, and just puts on
one hell of an aggressive display. She's testing the waters, seeing if the
other dog is going to attack her, if so then she's ready. If not then after
a few minutes she's ready to play. She was attacked in at least one other
home by a dog much larger than her, repeatedly. She has reason to behave
the way she does but other people won't care about her past & her reasons
when she hurts their pet.

Her behavior freaks out other dogs' owners, rightly so, and some don't trust
that she's really not wanting to fight (off-leash). So due to her social
limitations, she gets very few play dates with friends' dogs, gets walked
less than she should, never goes to off-leash areas with strange dogs
(because she's provoking), and can't go to public places with other dogs
when she's on-leash unless I can be relatively certain we'll have plenty of
breathing-room. Its not ideal, I feel sorry for her much of the time,
exasperated with her some of the time, but this is just how life has been,
and will continue to be, for this particular dog. She gets plenty of love &
outdoor time at home, takes many car rides, gets to interact with other
people often, she just doesn't get to be around other dogs as much as she'd
like.

--
Tara


  #4  
Old March 6th 04, 04:41 AM
Tee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I can understand & empathize with your problem. Having said that though, I
think taking this dog, who you know to have anxiety issues with other dogs,
to an off-leash dog park is extremely irresponsible. I know you're not
looking for a slap on the hand, and I'm honestly not trying to flame you,
but what you're doing is dangerous and I hope you'll see that. Its
dangerous to all the other dogs who visit there. Its dangerous to Stefi
because she could be labeled "dangerous" and ordered put to sleep. Its
dangerous to the welfare of dog parks in general because alot of them keep
tabs on incidents. Its dangerous to a breed or breeds as a whole if she
belongs to one, particularly if she even remotely resembles a big or "mean"
breed like the Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Doberman, etc. There are so many
ramifications to taking an aggressive dog to a public area and allowing it
to be off-leash. I realize she's not always aggressive but she presents
that front and will lash out. Not all other dogs will turn a blind eye to
that and she'd be the one who instigated it.

As for Stefi, you may never be able to socialize her to the extent that
she's safe around strange dogs off-leash. There are too many factors at
play. Its difficult to overcome fear-based aggression on a large scale but
not impossible. You can work with a behaviorist who can try to help you
further desensitize her but please be prepared for the likelihood that
off-leash dog parks won't be something she'll be able to enjoy again. Maybe
you can have someone come to take Stefi for a walk when you take Keena to
the dog park. Or take Stefi (if she hasn't been banned) but don't take her
off-leash, no matter how calm or happy she acts. I understand your desire
to see her have fun and to keep trying to test the waters but you are taking
entirely too many risks by doing so.

I have a dog who *loves* to play with other dogs but has lousy meeting &
social skills. On-leash she's aggressive towards strange dogs, often
provoking an aggressive response in return. She doesn't get walked as often
as I'd like because there are too many loose dogs in my neighborhood. Most
are friendly, come-to-say-hi, types who pose a problem for me and my dog.
When she's off-leash, she is very physical upon a meeting. She does a great
deal of posturing, growling, sometimes raises her hackles, and just puts on
one hell of an aggressive display. She's testing the waters, seeing if the
other dog is going to attack her, if so then she's ready. If not then after
a few minutes she's ready to play. She was attacked in at least one other
home by a dog much larger than her, repeatedly. She has reason to behave
the way she does but other people won't care about her past & her reasons
when she hurts their pet.

Her behavior freaks out other dogs' owners, rightly so, and some don't trust
that she's really not wanting to fight (off-leash). So due to her social
limitations, she gets very few play dates with friends' dogs, gets walked
less than she should, never goes to off-leash areas with strange dogs
(because she's provoking), and can't go to public places with other dogs
when she's on-leash unless I can be relatively certain we'll have plenty of
breathing-room. Its not ideal, I feel sorry for her much of the time,
exasperated with her some of the time, but this is just how life has been,
and will continue to be, for this particular dog. She gets plenty of love &
outdoor time at home, takes many car rides, gets to interact with other
people often, she just doesn't get to be around other dogs as much as she'd
like.

--
Tara


  #5  
Old March 6th 04, 04:41 AM
Tee
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I can understand & empathize with your problem. Having said that though, I
think taking this dog, who you know to have anxiety issues with other dogs,
to an off-leash dog park is extremely irresponsible. I know you're not
looking for a slap on the hand, and I'm honestly not trying to flame you,
but what you're doing is dangerous and I hope you'll see that. Its
dangerous to all the other dogs who visit there. Its dangerous to Stefi
because she could be labeled "dangerous" and ordered put to sleep. Its
dangerous to the welfare of dog parks in general because alot of them keep
tabs on incidents. Its dangerous to a breed or breeds as a whole if she
belongs to one, particularly if she even remotely resembles a big or "mean"
breed like the Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Doberman, etc. There are so many
ramifications to taking an aggressive dog to a public area and allowing it
to be off-leash. I realize she's not always aggressive but she presents
that front and will lash out. Not all other dogs will turn a blind eye to
that and she'd be the one who instigated it.

As for Stefi, you may never be able to socialize her to the extent that
she's safe around strange dogs off-leash. There are too many factors at
play. Its difficult to overcome fear-based aggression on a large scale but
not impossible. You can work with a behaviorist who can try to help you
further desensitize her but please be prepared for the likelihood that
off-leash dog parks won't be something she'll be able to enjoy again. Maybe
you can have someone come to take Stefi for a walk when you take Keena to
the dog park. Or take Stefi (if she hasn't been banned) but don't take her
off-leash, no matter how calm or happy she acts. I understand your desire
to see her have fun and to keep trying to test the waters but you are taking
entirely too many risks by doing so.

I have a dog who *loves* to play with other dogs but has lousy meeting &
social skills. On-leash she's aggressive towards strange dogs, often
provoking an aggressive response in return. She doesn't get walked as often
as I'd like because there are too many loose dogs in my neighborhood. Most
are friendly, come-to-say-hi, types who pose a problem for me and my dog.
When she's off-leash, she is very physical upon a meeting. She does a great
deal of posturing, growling, sometimes raises her hackles, and just puts on
one hell of an aggressive display. She's testing the waters, seeing if the
other dog is going to attack her, if so then she's ready. If not then after
a few minutes she's ready to play. She was attacked in at least one other
home by a dog much larger than her, repeatedly. She has reason to behave
the way she does but other people won't care about her past & her reasons
when she hurts their pet.

Her behavior freaks out other dogs' owners, rightly so, and some don't trust
that she's really not wanting to fight (off-leash). So due to her social
limitations, she gets very few play dates with friends' dogs, gets walked
less than she should, never goes to off-leash areas with strange dogs
(because she's provoking), and can't go to public places with other dogs
when she's on-leash unless I can be relatively certain we'll have plenty of
breathing-room. Its not ideal, I feel sorry for her much of the time,
exasperated with her some of the time, but this is just how life has been,
and will continue to be, for this particular dog. She gets plenty of love &
outdoor time at home, takes many car rides, gets to interact with other
people often, she just doesn't get to be around other dogs as much as she'd
like.

--
Tara


  #6  
Old March 6th 04, 04:44 AM
Rosa Palmén
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"CardioActive" wrote in message
ink.net...
Here's a tale for you. I have two dogs I adopted from a rescue agency -
Keena and Stefi. Both are females who were both about 4-5 years old when I
met them. Keena is never a problem. I took her to dog training classes and
applied the same techniques to Stefi when I got her.

Stefi is about 45 pounds and when you look closely at her ears you'll see
lots of scar tissue from old dog fights. After I adopted her, I found out
about her past. She had been kept in a kennel at a no-kill animal shelter
for almost two years because she was "too aggressive". No one would adopt
her. Today, a lot of people who know her laugh because she is so
ridiculously affectionate with strangers (including kids). However other
dogs are another story.

In my town there are a lot of leash free dog parks and my dogs love to
visit. We go almost everyday.

I've been working hard trying to better socialize Stefi and we've made

lots
of progress. I've noticed that when Stefi finds herself in a crowd of

people
and dogs all bunched together she gets very nervous. Her smiling face will
suddenly disappear, her eyes turn coal black, she snarls and the
aggressively lashes out at a nearby dog (especially smaller ones). If I

see
it, I intercept and stop it by shouting "be nice" to her. It seems to

work.
But I can't take my eye off of her for even a second. I've also noticed
after she lashes out at a dog, she never does it again to that dog.

Today, after a year and a half of trying to socialize her, she bit another
dog in the face so badly, the owner had to take his dog to an emergency

vet
clinic. It was a bloody mess.

Fortunately, the dog wasn't seriously injured but I got to pay a $60 vet
bill for the owner. The victim dog was a small breed (Italian greyhound?)
Stefi has previously caught and killed a rat and baby opossum in my

backyard
and some small breeds are not much larger.

I'm now very hesitant about taking her back to the park. And what about my
other dog who was not involved. Do I leave Stefi at home and take Keena?

Any
ideas for training regimens? Remember this is a leash free area that's

quite
large.

Any help with my problem is greatly appreciated.


My bitch used to tell young dogs and most males to back off, but as she got
older she started doing this more and more fiercly. Then she scratched a dog
in the park (fenced in dogpark), the owner didn't notice until she got home.
I might never have known if I hadn't seen the scratch a few days later and
asked how he got it. After this I avoided taking here to the park if there
were any young males there. We then had an accident with a friends puppy -
puppy licking her face and she snapping, piece of the tongue had to be
removed. Then again in the park she growled at a middleaged bitch who
attacked her, so now she only gets to go to the park when I know the dogs
that are there, and I know they get along.
If a new dog arrives at the park, I ask the owner to wait, I put my old girl
on a leash and put her outside the park.

This has worked for us, my younger dog gets to play - my older dog sometimes
gets to interact with her "old friends" and no one gets hurt.
So even if you feel sorry for your dog because you can't let her play - put
her on a leash or leave her at home. If she snaps at other dogs it is also a
sign that she isn't very happy about the situation. Don't wait for something
worse to happen.

Rosa


  #7  
Old March 6th 04, 04:44 AM
Rosa Palmén
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"CardioActive" wrote in message
ink.net...
Here's a tale for you. I have two dogs I adopted from a rescue agency -
Keena and Stefi. Both are females who were both about 4-5 years old when I
met them. Keena is never a problem. I took her to dog training classes and
applied the same techniques to Stefi when I got her.

Stefi is about 45 pounds and when you look closely at her ears you'll see
lots of scar tissue from old dog fights. After I adopted her, I found out
about her past. She had been kept in a kennel at a no-kill animal shelter
for almost two years because she was "too aggressive". No one would adopt
her. Today, a lot of people who know her laugh because she is so
ridiculously affectionate with strangers (including kids). However other
dogs are another story.

In my town there are a lot of leash free dog parks and my dogs love to
visit. We go almost everyday.

I've been working hard trying to better socialize Stefi and we've made

lots
of progress. I've noticed that when Stefi finds herself in a crowd of

people
and dogs all bunched together she gets very nervous. Her smiling face will
suddenly disappear, her eyes turn coal black, she snarls and the
aggressively lashes out at a nearby dog (especially smaller ones). If I

see
it, I intercept and stop it by shouting "be nice" to her. It seems to

work.
But I can't take my eye off of her for even a second. I've also noticed
after she lashes out at a dog, she never does it again to that dog.

Today, after a year and a half of trying to socialize her, she bit another
dog in the face so badly, the owner had to take his dog to an emergency

vet
clinic. It was a bloody mess.

Fortunately, the dog wasn't seriously injured but I got to pay a $60 vet
bill for the owner. The victim dog was a small breed (Italian greyhound?)
Stefi has previously caught and killed a rat and baby opossum in my

backyard
and some small breeds are not much larger.

I'm now very hesitant about taking her back to the park. And what about my
other dog who was not involved. Do I leave Stefi at home and take Keena?

Any
ideas for training regimens? Remember this is a leash free area that's

quite
large.

Any help with my problem is greatly appreciated.


My bitch used to tell young dogs and most males to back off, but as she got
older she started doing this more and more fiercly. Then she scratched a dog
in the park (fenced in dogpark), the owner didn't notice until she got home.
I might never have known if I hadn't seen the scratch a few days later and
asked how he got it. After this I avoided taking here to the park if there
were any young males there. We then had an accident with a friends puppy -
puppy licking her face and she snapping, piece of the tongue had to be
removed. Then again in the park she growled at a middleaged bitch who
attacked her, so now she only gets to go to the park when I know the dogs
that are there, and I know they get along.
If a new dog arrives at the park, I ask the owner to wait, I put my old girl
on a leash and put her outside the park.

This has worked for us, my younger dog gets to play - my older dog sometimes
gets to interact with her "old friends" and no one gets hurt.
So even if you feel sorry for your dog because you can't let her play - put
her on a leash or leave her at home. If she snaps at other dogs it is also a
sign that she isn't very happy about the situation. Don't wait for something
worse to happen.

Rosa


  #8  
Old March 6th 04, 04:44 AM
Rosa Palmén
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"CardioActive" wrote in message
ink.net...
Here's a tale for you. I have two dogs I adopted from a rescue agency -
Keena and Stefi. Both are females who were both about 4-5 years old when I
met them. Keena is never a problem. I took her to dog training classes and
applied the same techniques to Stefi when I got her.

Stefi is about 45 pounds and when you look closely at her ears you'll see
lots of scar tissue from old dog fights. After I adopted her, I found out
about her past. She had been kept in a kennel at a no-kill animal shelter
for almost two years because she was "too aggressive". No one would adopt
her. Today, a lot of people who know her laugh because she is so
ridiculously affectionate with strangers (including kids). However other
dogs are another story.

In my town there are a lot of leash free dog parks and my dogs love to
visit. We go almost everyday.

I've been working hard trying to better socialize Stefi and we've made

lots
of progress. I've noticed that when Stefi finds herself in a crowd of

people
and dogs all bunched together she gets very nervous. Her smiling face will
suddenly disappear, her eyes turn coal black, she snarls and the
aggressively lashes out at a nearby dog (especially smaller ones). If I

see
it, I intercept and stop it by shouting "be nice" to her. It seems to

work.
But I can't take my eye off of her for even a second. I've also noticed
after she lashes out at a dog, she never does it again to that dog.

Today, after a year and a half of trying to socialize her, she bit another
dog in the face so badly, the owner had to take his dog to an emergency

vet
clinic. It was a bloody mess.

Fortunately, the dog wasn't seriously injured but I got to pay a $60 vet
bill for the owner. The victim dog was a small breed (Italian greyhound?)
Stefi has previously caught and killed a rat and baby opossum in my

backyard
and some small breeds are not much larger.

I'm now very hesitant about taking her back to the park. And what about my
other dog who was not involved. Do I leave Stefi at home and take Keena?

Any
ideas for training regimens? Remember this is a leash free area that's

quite
large.

Any help with my problem is greatly appreciated.


My bitch used to tell young dogs and most males to back off, but as she got
older she started doing this more and more fiercly. Then she scratched a dog
in the park (fenced in dogpark), the owner didn't notice until she got home.
I might never have known if I hadn't seen the scratch a few days later and
asked how he got it. After this I avoided taking here to the park if there
were any young males there. We then had an accident with a friends puppy -
puppy licking her face and she snapping, piece of the tongue had to be
removed. Then again in the park she growled at a middleaged bitch who
attacked her, so now she only gets to go to the park when I know the dogs
that are there, and I know they get along.
If a new dog arrives at the park, I ask the owner to wait, I put my old girl
on a leash and put her outside the park.

This has worked for us, my younger dog gets to play - my older dog sometimes
gets to interact with her "old friends" and no one gets hurt.
So even if you feel sorry for your dog because you can't let her play - put
her on a leash or leave her at home. If she snaps at other dogs it is also a
sign that she isn't very happy about the situation. Don't wait for something
worse to happen.

Rosa


  #9  
Old March 6th 04, 04:44 AM
Rosa Palmén
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"CardioActive" wrote in message
ink.net...
Here's a tale for you. I have two dogs I adopted from a rescue agency -
Keena and Stefi. Both are females who were both about 4-5 years old when I
met them. Keena is never a problem. I took her to dog training classes and
applied the same techniques to Stefi when I got her.

Stefi is about 45 pounds and when you look closely at her ears you'll see
lots of scar tissue from old dog fights. After I adopted her, I found out
about her past. She had been kept in a kennel at a no-kill animal shelter
for almost two years because she was "too aggressive". No one would adopt
her. Today, a lot of people who know her laugh because she is so
ridiculously affectionate with strangers (including kids). However other
dogs are another story.

In my town there are a lot of leash free dog parks and my dogs love to
visit. We go almost everyday.

I've been working hard trying to better socialize Stefi and we've made

lots
of progress. I've noticed that when Stefi finds herself in a crowd of

people
and dogs all bunched together she gets very nervous. Her smiling face will
suddenly disappear, her eyes turn coal black, she snarls and the
aggressively lashes out at a nearby dog (especially smaller ones). If I

see
it, I intercept and stop it by shouting "be nice" to her. It seems to

work.
But I can't take my eye off of her for even a second. I've also noticed
after she lashes out at a dog, she never does it again to that dog.

Today, after a year and a half of trying to socialize her, she bit another
dog in the face so badly, the owner had to take his dog to an emergency

vet
clinic. It was a bloody mess.

Fortunately, the dog wasn't seriously injured but I got to pay a $60 vet
bill for the owner. The victim dog was a small breed (Italian greyhound?)
Stefi has previously caught and killed a rat and baby opossum in my

backyard
and some small breeds are not much larger.

I'm now very hesitant about taking her back to the park. And what about my
other dog who was not involved. Do I leave Stefi at home and take Keena?

Any
ideas for training regimens? Remember this is a leash free area that's

quite
large.

Any help with my problem is greatly appreciated.


My bitch used to tell young dogs and most males to back off, but as she got
older she started doing this more and more fiercly. Then she scratched a dog
in the park (fenced in dogpark), the owner didn't notice until she got home.
I might never have known if I hadn't seen the scratch a few days later and
asked how he got it. After this I avoided taking here to the park if there
were any young males there. We then had an accident with a friends puppy -
puppy licking her face and she snapping, piece of the tongue had to be
removed. Then again in the park she growled at a middleaged bitch who
attacked her, so now she only gets to go to the park when I know the dogs
that are there, and I know they get along.
If a new dog arrives at the park, I ask the owner to wait, I put my old girl
on a leash and put her outside the park.

This has worked for us, my younger dog gets to play - my older dog sometimes
gets to interact with her "old friends" and no one gets hurt.
So even if you feel sorry for your dog because you can't let her play - put
her on a leash or leave her at home. If she snaps at other dogs it is also a
sign that she isn't very happy about the situation. Don't wait for something
worse to happen.

Rosa


  #10  
Old March 6th 04, 08:41 AM
Stan Barthfarkle
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Sounds like she has been in a lot of physical confrontrations with other
animals that didn't end well for her, and subsequently has found that she
need to defend herself by showing who is boss first. She doesn't know any
better, in other words, because in her mind ALL dogs are a threat, and need
to be shown that she is not to be toyed with. She is afraid.

At this age, a professional one-on-one trainer may be beneficial, but it
might also be a good bet that she will never be like "other dogs"- the ones
who have been properly socialized from a young age, and who accept other
dogs and people on more acceptable terms. She may always be untrustworthy
around other dogs.


 




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