Dog people... HELP! Aggression towards one certain (smaller) dog

[Janie Grace]

Our dog is 9 months old and he weighs 60 lbs. He is fine with most of the dogs he knows, including a Husky mix, GSD and lab mix. They play the way dogs usually do -- tussling, running around, etc. But there is one dog he has never liked. It's a cockapoo or something like that -- much smaller and very submissive (it pees when you greet/pet it). Our dog plays too rough with this dog, nipping the back of his neck and that kind of thing. We try to keep him away from him.

 

Today, there was a very bad incident. My dh and I were not present. Owner of smaller dog came to where my kids were playing on the swingset with the dog on a leash. My dd13 petted the other dog and our dog began to growl/nip at him. The kids told him "no" and dd chatted with the other dog owner for a minute. Suddenly our dog was on the other dog, barking, biting, growling. Everyone was screaming and trying to push him off but he was relentless. Finally my ds11 dove on top of him and pinned him to the ground with his forearm across his mouth (yes, I realize this was probably not the best move). Our dog had blood on his tongue because he bit his tongue when that happened. The kids didn't see any blood on the other dog but that doesn't mean there wasn't any. :(

 

Other owner left, crying. Don't know the dog's injuries yet. I am distraught; we all are. Dh is over there now talking to them.

 

Why would our dog do this??? What should we do? It's like he just HATES this smaller, submissive dog. :confused:

[Impish]

He may well simply hate the other dog. Keep them apart.

 

I don't understand, honestly, what the other owner was thinking. Bringing a dog around another that has had issues before? When it's there w/kids, no adults?

 

Many dogs w/a protective streak would react in that situation, protecting 'their' kids.

[Impish]

did the owner and dog come onto your property? Or were they at a public park?

[Janie Grace]

did the owner and dog come onto your property? Or were they at a public park?

 

It is a house that we will soon be moving into (we live a few houses away right now). It's unoccupied but our kids play there often (w/ owner's permission) and we're there a lot, moving stuff into the garage, etc. I guess our dog might already feel that it's "ours."

 

This neighbor lives on the other side. She was coming over to tell her kids to come home. I don't know why she brought her dog.

 

So it doesn't mean that our dog has an aggressive streak if he just randomly hates/attacks another dog? I'm really worried about what might have happened if my ds hadn't been able to subdue him. And soon we'll be living even closer to these neighbors.

[Impish]

I figure dogs can dislike other animals for no good reason, same as ppl take an instant dislike to someone.

 

I don't know your dog, so no clue if it's aggressive or not. That it gets along fine w/other dogs makes me think there's something about *this* particular dog.

 

Maybe your dog is so much bigger that the other dog behaves like prey?

 

I think the best solution is to keep the 2 dogs apart, honestly.

[Live2Ride]

Dogs have personalities just like humans and like us, they don't always like every dog. The neighbor already knew it was an issue and yet brought her dog over anyways. When your dog growled, the neighbor should have taken her dog away from your dogs reach or went home. It was simply her fault for not being a contientous owner and for not reading dog speak...

 

:grouphug: No one wants their dogs to fight, but I am always careful when my dogs meet others. If they show any issues with a dog, then we just stay away. I never like to see a dog get hurt by another, but it does happen.