How the Dog Attack Affected Ellie (long post, lol)

[seashel]

I'm glad it went well at the park. Sometimes it is best to "get straight back on the horse after a fall."

I think the thing with pugs is they have little distance between nose and eyes, so when dogs sniff noses, they are being eyeballed. Pugs also have those big prominent eyes which must look very challenging as they are also forward facing. I don't know if there's any science to back it up but my theory is that dogs are hard wired to interprete certain looks as friendly/unfriendly and a direct stare falls into the latter catagory. A lot of puggy things which appeal to humans probably appears very antagonistic to dogs- big starey eyes, raised tail, stiff coat and unusual facial appearence. We have a pug at club, who is a 'handful', very boisterous and literally 'in your face' with dogs and people. Its amazing how many of the normally docile dogs become reactive around him, when he's quite harmless!

I'm glad it sounds like you've found some walking buddies too. It makes the walks much nicer if you've got friends to chat to, the dogs enjoy it and as a bonus, groups of dogs together are less likely to attract dogs looking for trouble.

 

[Raya]

Good to hear Ellie is recovering from it. Emotionally, it sucks for a owner to see things like that happen.

I was at the dog park a few weeks ago and I've witness a dog fight, a bulldog versus a dominant mutt. It wasn't nice at all, but it was begging to happens. What sucks is that you had no warning prior to the attack and you didn't see it come.

Last weekend I brought Zoey to the park to spend a little extra energy. Our dog park floods with huskies - as a matter of fact, about 50% of the dogs at the park are typically huskies. Also, husky owners like to meet up on saturday, so there were about 6 or more there that day. Zoey's training classes always had huskies (and a malamute), so she's quite accustomed to them.

Anyway, one of the husky was very dominant - tail high, ears up, head over the other dogs. The owner was chatting on her cellphone and visibly not caring too much about the dog - typical irresponsible owner behavior. A little bit later, her dog and a mutt got into a quick brawl. She screamed like a psycho and was all apologetic, saying that her dog was being playful. I shrugged at it, because she obviously wasn't even paying attention to her dog prior to the event.

On to her dog and Zoey. My pup is very submissive towards other dog. She will immediately roll on her back if a dog is dominant towards her, and the dominant dogs will usually back away when Zoey shows how submissive she was. Well, when Zoey did that, her husky start tackling and pinning Zoey down even more, so I interjected and moved in, forcing the husky away from my dog.

The owner got ticked off at what I did, telling me her dog was being playful when it was blatantly dominant. The dog, that is actually a bitch, proceeded to start humping other dogs after the incident, to the owner's misunderstanding.

I dislike that people can't recognize the behavior of their dog and try to excuse it as playfulness. I think that people that go to the dog park to chat with other people on their cellphones should be banned from parks

As far as smashed faces go, Zoey loves them ... she likes pugs a lot, and will go her way around to meet them. She hasn't met many bulldogs/boxers before, but so far has shown a neutral reaction to them.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

Good to hear Ellie is recovering from it. Emotionally, it sucks for a owner to see things like that happen.

I was at the dog park a few weeks ago and I've witness a dog fight, a bulldog versus a dominant mutt. It wasn't nice at all, but it was begging to happens. What sucks is that you had no warning prior to the attack and you didn't see it come.

Last weekend I brought Zoey to the park to spend a little extra energy. Our dog park floods with huskies - as a matter of fact, about 50% of the dogs at the park are typically huskies. Also, husky owners like to meet up on saturday, so there were about 6 or more there that day. Zoey's training classes always had huskies (and a malamute), so she's quite accustomed to them.

Anyway, one of the husky was very dominant - tail high, ears up, head over the other dogs. The owner was chatting on her cellphone and visibly not caring too much about the dog - typical irresponsible owner behavior. A little bit later, her dog and a mutt got into a quick brawl. She screamed like a psycho and was all apologetic, saying that her dog was being playful. I shrugged at it, because she obviously wasn't even paying attention to her dog prior to the event.

On to her dog and Zoey. My pup is very submissive towards other dog. She will immediately roll on her back if a dog is dominant towards her, and the dominant dogs will usually back away when Zoey shows how submissive she was. Well, when Zoey did that, her husky start tackling and pinning Zoey down even more, so I interjected and moved in, forcing the husky away from my dog.

The owner got ticked off at what I did, telling me her dog was being playful when it was blatantly dominant. The dog, that is actually a bitch, proceeded to start humping other dogs after the incident, to the owner's misunderstanding.

I dislike that people can't recognize the behavior of their dog and try to excuse it as playfulness. I think that people that go to the dog park to chat with other people on their cellphones should be banned from parks

As far as smashed faces go, Zoey loves them ... she likes pugs a lot, and will go her way around to meet them. She hasn't met many bulldogs/boxers before, but so far has shown a neutral reaction to them.

A great example of you have to do what you have to do to keep your dog safe, regardless of what some other people may think.

A dog did something similar to Sadie once and the guy did not say a word or even acknowledge that it happened (The dog was trying to take Sadie's ball from her). I told him that I was going to kick his dog if he went near my dog again. He ignored me and days later, Sadie suddenly became paralyzed. We'll never know if it was a coincidence or not.

 

[HopeShelties]

I second what Justicemom said. I would also let my dog know if it were behaving that way that it was unacceptable behavior. By letting the dog who has been attacked now act out in an aggressive manner, they are being just as bad as the dog who originally attacked. By allowing it, it is also setting her up for a potential future encounter, as there are many dogs who aren't going to handle that behavior well

 

[Hurtseverywhere]

Glad to here that everyone is doing so well after the incedent,and that it all seems to be working out Ok.

 

[Lahree]

I second what Justicemom said. I would also let my dog know if it were behaving that way that it was unacceptable behavior. By letting the dog who has been attacked now act out in an aggressive manner, they are being just as bad as the dog who originally attacked. By allowing it, it is also setting her up for a potential future encounter, as there are many dogs who aren't going to handle that behavior well

So, how should I correct it? Ellie doesn't care if I take away affection or turn my back on her or ignore her.

It seems to be such a fine line to know what to correct and what the dog's natural body language or in the doggie world is an insult. I wouldn't like a pushy person running up on me and getting in my face and I hate to correct her if she is defending herself or she sees something as a threat. I have no idea what is going on in her little doggie brain.

I didn't know if I should correct her when she was growling at the big dog. I assume that she was warning the dog not to make any sudden moves and I am sure she was genuinely afraid.

I am just so easily confused by it all.

 

[Justicemom]

So, how should I correct it? Ellie doesn't care if I take away affection or turn my back on her or ignore her.

It seems to be such a fine line to know what to correct and what the dog's natural body language or in the doggie world is an insult. I wouldn't like a pushy person running up on me and getting in my face and I hate to correct her if she is defending herself or she sees something as a threat. I have no idea what is going on in her little doggie brain.

I didn't know if I should correct her when she was growling at the big dog. I assume that she was warning the dog not to make any sudden moves and I am sure she was genuinely afraid.

I am just so easily confused by it all.

With what happened with the pug, give her a no reward marker such as uh uh , wrong or No what ever you use. Neutral tone. Then have her sit or down. Put her on a stay for about 15 seconds don't look at her or talk to her. Then release, praise and forget about the whole thing happening.

If she is growling at a dog that is not even looking at her or do anything to her that is not a threat and she needs direction as to what to do other then growl. I would redirect her ask for a sit or down and then reward that behavior. Keep rewarding calm behavior. If she can not relax around the other dog increase the distance from the dog so she can relax and reward her then bring her back to the dog slow rewarding relaxed behavior. Only go as close as she can handle. Don't allow her to stay in a situation where she is in the mind set that she will need to defend herself in the next few seconds.

 

[Lahree]

With what happened with the pug, give her a no reward marker such as uh uh , wrong or No what ever you use. Neutral tone. Then have her sit or down. Put her on a stay for about 15 seconds don't look at her or talk to her. Then release, praise and forget about the whole thing happening.

If she is growling at a dog that is not even looking at her or do anything to her that is not a threat and she needs direction as to what to do other then growl. I would redirect her ask for a sit or down and then reward that behavior. Keep rewarding calm behavior. If she can not relax around the other dog increase the distance from the dog so she can relax and reward her then bring her back to the dog slow rewarding relaxed behavior. Only go as close as she can handle. Don't allow her to stay in a situation where she is in the mind set that she will need to defend herself in the next few seconds.

That makes total and perfect sense. Once again, I am indebted to this forum and the wonderful people in it. Thank you SO MUCH!