My dog went after another dog.

[old goat]

It is just as much of an obligation of the little yapper's owner to keep it away from big dogs as vice versa.

[BCMtnHound]

It is just as much of an obligation of the little yapper's owner to keep it away from big dogs as vice versa.

Yep. My old departed friend (avatar) was great with almost all hounds including the little yappers, until he got older. He would just put a paw on them and look at me as to what to do next. Then he became a senior and lost his patience - one such encounter had him take the little offender by the scruff, give a good shake and then toss it. Almost thought he had killed it. This at a campground; he was restrained while we set up camp and established our territory, with a young family with kids on one side, and the offending cur's middle-aged yuppie couple on the other side. Fun times. Starke and I enjoyed the young family company next door very much over that evening and next morning, the others not so much <shrug>

[billyk]

It is just as much of an obligation of the little yapper's owner to keep it away from big dogs as vice versa.

Yes, but it gets a little old when I have my dog on leash and walking in a park or trail where there are signs clearly stating dogs must be on leash and some unleashed big dog comes in for the kill. It has happened far too often.

I admit it is probably on me to start carrying a stick or pepper spray, but sometimes it happens so quick that you don't have time to react.

And I do encounter some big dog owners that don't give a shit, or think it is cute when their dog does that. A small minority, but some. Most are surprised and apologetic, but there do seem to be a lot of a-holes.

And there a many large dogs off-leash we encounter that are clearly trained, and leave us alone. I don't have a problem with that, either.

Anyway, rant over for me. To be fair, my dogs love to kill snakes and frogs and squirrels when they can get to them, so I can see how picking on smaller animals is in their nature. They are, after all, essentially wolves.

[muted]

Just blame the other dog if they complain. They're just dogs.

My dog is never on a leash, never. I've had some joggers/walkers jump out of their shoes lately when they see him and start complaining.

I don't give a fuck.

Why would you even admit this? Everyone now knows you are an asshole. What's the point of the post, telling people you are an asshole? Weird.

[old goat]

Why would you even admit this? Everyone now knows you are an asshole. What's the point of the post, telling people you are an asshole? Weird.

A lot of weak, powerless, beaten down people try to make up for it by having big aggressive dogs. Piece of advice to cono este--it doesn't work.

[XXX-er]

I've only been to mexico once and that was Sayulita where 40% or the dogs were pit bulls and the rest were Chihuahua's, none of them were leashed and they all got along

[old goat]

Took our dogs out for a walk this morning and an unleased German shepherd came running out onto the road from behind its house-unfenced-and grabbed my Cocker by the neck and threw her down. The owner came out in time and called the dog off. Then my little cockapoo got in the face of the shepherd and backed him off. Say what you will about yappers but she was protecting our cocker and pretty brave. I imagine the shepherd wasn't trying to kill my dog because the skin wasn't broken. The owner was apologetic, said the dog was a rescue. I've seen her with the dog on a leash and she can barely hold it. I'd say she needs to have it professionally trained or it's going to wind up getting put down.

Anyone understand this behavior? Poorly socialized dog that doesn't know how to play properly or get to know another dog before trying to play, rather than a truly aggressive dog? Doesn't matter what the dog's intent was, of course, since a dog that powerful can kill whether it means to or not. It would matter in how one trained it I suppose.

Today a neighbor's cat was stalking my cocker spaniel and made a fake charge. The cat lives with a husky so I guess it doesn't fear dogs much. My dog just ignored it.

[billyk]

Oh, yeah, I've seen that behavior several times with my small dogs as the victims. Had an unleashed pit bull come out of nowhere in a park and throw my dog down by the neck, but didn't actually break the skin. Lucky for me because this was an AKC champion who technically we don't own, we are just taking care of it.

I've started bringing a rod along on our walks. Had to use it 3 times last weekend to dissuade other loose dogs. They were all friendly, but you never know. All it takes is one bite from a big dog to do serious permanent damage.

[John_B]

Had a doozie of a dog fight today. Our mutt has been kind of gimpy off and on the last 6 months. After a bad leg tweak I finally scheduled a vet appt to figure it out. 30 minutes prior to the trip to the vet we went over to our neighbors to borrow their dog for a bit of exercise while they were at work and to make our dog a bit more gimpy to assist in injury diagnosis. Our dog is an 80lb rott/lab and the neighbors is a 70 lb rescue foster pitt mix who has been aggressive with small dogs before.

They've probably played together 20 times in our yard. After about 20 minutes of happy playing today I went inside to grab a leash to take our dog to the vet and came outside to World War 3. After trying to kick the neighbors dog off of mine I ended up having to grab a 5' 2x4 to knock it off of our pinned dog. I wouldn't be shocked if ours instigated a bit over possession of a stick but I'm kind of curious what the collective says. Was neighbor dog edgy because it's owners weren't around or wtf happened?

60 bucks of vet bills associated with a couple of puncture wounds and a diagnosis of a likely torn CCL was a pretty solid downer for the evening. I don't give a shit about the neighbors owing money and it really sucks that the dog is going to have a hard time being adopted but I'm kind of left wondering WTF went wrong?

Plus any insight on torn CCLs and more specifically TPLO surgery to fix it?

[Mustonen]

I kind of think it might have been a bad call to have a play date when your dog is gimpy, a worse call to have that play date with a dog who has been aggressive with other dogs, and a really bad call to leave them unsupervised. Easy to say from here and hindsight is 20/20 and I don’t mean that too critically. An injury or one dog even just feeling off changes the dynamic for both dogs, with your dog inevitably feeling more insecure and the other dog sensing weakness. I’m pretty careful when my dogs are feeling less than 100%, including making sure my kids are aware and don’t do anything that might make the dog feel cornered or threatened.

IMO, the neighbors don’t owe any money and it sucks for both dogs. Hope your pup pulls through ok.

ETA: after re-reading your post, not so sure about any bad calls, though I think the point remains that an injury to either animal adds an X factor that can be really hard to account for.

[SHarmon]

I felt sorry for your dog, I hope he recovers soon.

[Mustonen]

By way of update to the OP. This was all a long time ago. I’m sorry to say my dog never has really come to terms with being a “good dog” around other dogs. There is a significant chance he will bite or otherwise go after another dog that isn’t in his pack.

The frustrating thing is that he does so without warning. None of this “ears laid back” or growling or any of that. One minute normal, interested or disinterested, tail wagging or no tail wagging, and the next he’s trying to eat the other dog’s face. It’s a relief when he (rarely) growls at another dog, actually, because that helps us know that he’s not feeling super friendly and generally means he’d rather be left alone than get into it.

It took a long time and a lot of patience and some hurt feelings to get him to accept my girlfriend’s dog into the pack. That’s been pretty rewarding, though, and maybe there’s a light there when it comes to other dogs. It’s a journey and we keep working with him. He’s suchagoodboy otherwise...

[riser4]

Where does one find a 2x4 just lying around?

[bagtagley]

I think TPLO has been discussed quite a bit on here over the years. It’s expensive but effective. Recovery is a bitch, and proper recovery and PT are key to success.

[Mustonen]

I’m envisioning a yard that looks like this ^^^

[californiagrown]

I have a 4 yr old, 45lb mutt. He gets along great with other dogs when out on a walk, or offleash at a dog park, trails, etc. He is a little nuerotic and can get annoying to some dogs but understands immediately when the other dog tells him to Fuck-off... and he is also very hesitant and careful around leashed dogs when he is offleash- like he understands that leashed dogs are likely to be aggressive towards him being offleash so he treads lightly. He gets punked and is submissive when over at my SIL house with their 60lb mutt, and is typically submissive. He doesnt recongnize little dogs as being dogs and completely ignores them... same with horses (probably thinks they are cars).

HOWEVER, he somehow developed territorial aggression in my condo complex. Its the only place he is aggressive. His hackles go full-erect and he will bluff charge and snap at ANY dog in the vicinity... and then get along fine with that same dog at the park later in the day. No idea why or how this behavior came to be. I have him offleash to go out to pee in the morning in the greenbelt behind the complex and he will listen to me, but doesnt give two fucks about my wifes commands so she has had a couple incidents where he has charged other dogs, but nothing has happened because he is just bluffing. So she always has him on a leash now.

My concern is that we just bought a house and are moving in this week. The nextdoor neighbor has an aussie shepherd mutt that is a crusty old bugger. It growled at us a little, and was standoffish when we met it (while offleash) and barks and growls at the fence between our two properties when i have been in the backyard working. Im gonna take My dog on lots of walks to get him familiarized with the neighborhood, but id really like for him to get along with, or pay no mind to the neighbors dog. Last thing i want is for them to be obsessed with each other and constantly be growling/barking nose-nose running up and down that fenceline. At the very least i NEED my dog to not develop any territorial aggression in the new neighborhood, so im gonna have to really start looking into methods to make sure that doesnt happen. We move in tomorrow (wednesday) and will be taking care of my SIL's dog all weekend, so maybe sharing the house this weekend with a familiar more dominant dog will start him out on the right foot. Otherwise, im gonna really focus on him meeting lots of dogs, and rewarding with treats after each butt sniff.

[m2711c]

Remember dogs are pack animals and they follow the leader of the pack. While you are around, you are the leader of the pack. When you went to get the stuff for the vet visit, that left the two of them to figure out who the fuck was the leader then. You leaving the area changes the group dynamics.





At least that’s one theory anyways.

[Marshall Tucker]

IMO you've made a horrible first impression and you know/acknowledge that. IMO that' take s long time to overcome, and your neighbor will ALWAYS be scared of your dog. Regardless of who came into whos yard. Personally I fucking hate invisible fences for the front yard. I run by a rottweiler's yard every few days. Even if i'm in the street it lunges at me and scares the fuck outta me. Won't take but once for it to get through. which "it won't" until it does.

I've owned dogs for 30 years, and I've run 20+ miles/wk for 30 years. Cannot fucking believe how privileged dog owners are getting. You are fucking responsible. period. If you're gonna walk it on a leash on a sidewalk you don't own the fucking sidewalk. Step off and hold the leash tight if anyone is even REMOTELY close by. Etc.

[John_B]

I kind of think it might have been a bad call to have a play date when your dog is gimpy, a worse call to have that play date with a dog who has been aggressive with other dogs, and a really bad call to leave them unsupervised. Easy to say from here and hindsight is 20/20 and I don’t mean that too critically. An injury or one dog even just feeling off changes the dynamic for both dogs, with your dog inevitably feeling more insecure and the other dog sensing weakness. I’m pretty careful when my dogs are feeling less than 100%, including making sure my kids are aware and don’t do anything that might make the dog feel cornered or threatened.

IMO, the neighbors don’t owe any money and it sucks for both dogs. Hope your pup pulls through ok.

ETA: after re-reading your post, not so sure about any bad calls, though I think the point remains that an injury to either animal adds an X factor that can be really hard to account for.

I did a poor job of describing it but my wife was still outside. I didn't think of the idea of my dog not being 100% contributing maybe that was it. Both us and our neighbor let our guard down because they'd played together so well, including prior to the other aggressive incident. Pup is pulling through fine, I just had to vent about the afternoon and the potential TPLO.

And it was a stick that my dog plays with that is the size of a 2x4. I cut corners in my description but that is an accurate idea of what my yard looks like. Only it has a bit more snow still.

Thanks for the ideas and the update on your dog.

[ill-advised strategy]

It is just as much of an obligation of the little yapper's owner to keep it away from big dogs as vice versa.

My lil guy got beat up by a big goon of a dog yesterday. Big heartbreaking yelp, the whole thing.
Even with a cut and slobber on his head, 30 seconds later he was up and smiling and wagging and chasing that other dog around the beach, having a great time.

Reason everything was ok? Cool owners of the other dogs there and me taking a “dogs gonna dog” view of doglife.

I love this little animal...enough to let him have some adventures.

I got home and immediately cut the shit out of my finger working in the garage. My wife got home from work to both of us wounded and bleeding...lol, facepalm.

[XXX-er]

I know a ceasar milan type dog trainer and she sez with dogs on leash let them meet, count to 3 then pull away

you won't get any unwanted vet bills

[Angle Parking]

...... An injury or one dog even just feeling off changes the dynamic for both dogs, with your dog inevitably feeling more insecure and the other dog sensing weakness.
..... an injury to either animal adds an X factor that can be really hard to account for.

This x 1000. I've noticed this with all my dogs over the years. And along the same lines.......my current dog does not have a particularly thick coat. Come -15 or colder, he gets super cranky. He is usually super playful and chill with other dogs but when he gets cold, look the f*ck out, he is cranky and he will let any dog around him playtime is over. No fights or anything but very, very cranky.

[riser4]

My numbnuts dog and the neighbor's numbnuts dog like to bark at each other from their respective decks. It would be comical if I didn't have to listen to it.

[old goat]

I assume we've all seen videos of dogs barking at each other through a fence, ignoring the open gate a few feet away.

5 years ago I posted about the rescue Malinois that attacked our cocker, and our little cockapoo backed off the Malinois. Since then the cocker has died--old age--and the Malinois came after the cockapoo and got on top of her. Fortunately it was muzzled, so obviously there had been other problems. The second time I asked animal control to cite the owner. I felt bad for her; she was trying to do the right thing and help a problem dog that otherwise would have been put down, but she wasn't up to the task and wasn't getting the message. She was very nice and apologetic about it. Haven't seen the dog since. I hope it wound up with someone who could handle it and who could figure out it didn't belong loose in an unfenced yard.

[altacoup]

She put a muzzle on the dog. I’d say that’s doing something. Should the dog have been in a fenced yard? Yes. But I guarantee that because you called animal control that dog is dead.