Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Help - How to Reintroduce Dogs after an Attack
Hi Everyone,
I'm so sad to say that Rouser was attacked by one of our fellow agility dogs at class today. Actually, he was attacked twice. The first time it was a small scuffle that no one saw what started it so we assumed Rouser (the class clown) was just too much energy and maybe tried to take our friend's dog's toy. We went on with class (Rouser just had a little scrape on the nose) and then, after class, we decided to walk our dogs on leash together to reinforce the pack/who's in charge etc. Out of nowhere, our friend's dog just lunged at Rouser, attacked him, grabbed his ear and wouldn't let go.
Rouser is OK (DH has him at the vet to get cleaned up right now). He has a big scrape on his ear and a little puncture on his ear as well. However, he's petrified of our friend's dog.
Rouser is not, in any way, the alpha dog. He's 2 1/2 years old and totally submissive to even the smallest of dogs (he rolls on his back around the littlest dogs you can imagine). He is, however, very large and can get quite excited when we first get to training. We've been going to the same place for about 1 1/2 years - every Saturday. We've been doing agility for about 5 months every week as well. Rouser has trained with our friend's dog at the same facility - almost always twice a week - for the last year.
Our friend's dog is about 14 months and is 40 pounds to Rouser's 90 pounds. He was rescued as a puppy (he was under 8 weeks which can cause some behavior issues) and is some kind of cattle dog mix. He's super intelligent and really good at agility. He's also pretty obedient - HOWEVER - over the last month we've been watching his obedience wane. First it was getting up from long stays. Then it was a little ignoring of his owners from time to time. This past Saturday, he actually started barking at his owner and wouldn't stop as his owner was trying to get him into a down. It was really surprising to see him challenge his owner like that - not the dog we all know.
I think our friend's dog has something going on. They're responsible dog owners so I know they will do everything they can to get to the bottom of it, but, in the meantime, does anyone have any advice about what we should do to ensure that we can train with them again. All of our training, at this point, is off-leash so I need to make sure Rouser won't be in harms way. We will, of course, consult the head trainer at our facility, but I'd really like to know if anyone has successfully addressed this and has some do/don't do tips.
Thanks for your help!
I'm so sad to say that Rouser was attacked by one of our fellow agility dogs at class today. Actually, he was attacked twice. The first time it was a small scuffle that no one saw what started it so we assumed Rouser (the class clown) was just too much energy and maybe tried to take our friend's dog's toy. We went on with class (Rouser just had a little scrape on the nose) and then, after class, we decided to walk our dogs on leash together to reinforce the pack/who's in charge etc. Out of nowhere, our friend's dog just lunged at Rouser, attacked him, grabbed his ear and wouldn't let go.
Rouser is OK (DH has him at the vet to get cleaned up right now). He has a big scrape on his ear and a little puncture on his ear as well. However, he's petrified of our friend's dog.
Rouser is not, in any way, the alpha dog. He's 2 1/2 years old and totally submissive to even the smallest of dogs (he rolls on his back around the littlest dogs you can imagine). He is, however, very large and can get quite excited when we first get to training. We've been going to the same place for about 1 1/2 years - every Saturday. We've been doing agility for about 5 months every week as well. Rouser has trained with our friend's dog at the same facility - almost always twice a week - for the last year.
Our friend's dog is about 14 months and is 40 pounds to Rouser's 90 pounds. He was rescued as a puppy (he was under 8 weeks which can cause some behavior issues) and is some kind of cattle dog mix. He's super intelligent and really good at agility. He's also pretty obedient - HOWEVER - over the last month we've been watching his obedience wane. First it was getting up from long stays. Then it was a little ignoring of his owners from time to time. This past Saturday, he actually started barking at his owner and wouldn't stop as his owner was trying to get him into a down. It was really surprising to see him challenge his owner like that - not the dog we all know.
I think our friend's dog has something going on. They're responsible dog owners so I know they will do everything they can to get to the bottom of it, but, in the meantime, does anyone have any advice about what we should do to ensure that we can train with them again. All of our training, at this point, is off-leash so I need to make sure Rouser won't be in harms way. We will, of course, consult the head trainer at our facility, but I'd really like to know if anyone has successfully addressed this and has some do/don't do tips.
Thanks for your help!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Natasha on
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Yes, I think that our agility trainer (she's great, but young) got a little too informal with our group because it's only 4 of us and we've all done obedience training with each other for so long and the dogs all get along (until today).
We stopped putting the dogs on lead between runs. Given the excitement of all the dogs, that's just not a good idea.
BTW - my husband got our dog a big steak for dinner tonight. He's prepping it as we speak.
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Permalink Reply by Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle on
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Go easy with the feeding tonight. He's had anesthesia and is probably on pain meds, he may vomit. He may not even feel like eating.
Poor Rouser, I hope he feels better soon!
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Permalink Reply by Jenny and Chester on
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I hope Rouser feels better soon. Our agility group has been wound up because of the cooler weather.
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Permalink Reply by Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*() on
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I can just imagine how horrible you feel for Rouser. They seem so sad when they are hurt. Give him lots of hugs and belly rubs tonight.
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Permalink Reply by Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie on
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Natasha the only thing I can add besides, of course my wishes for Rouser's speedy recovery, is that your friend take her dog to the vet for an evaluation. We had some friends who bred and showed Rotties. Suddenly one day their prized stud seriously attacked the wife. It was serious enough that they had him put down and an autopsy done. It turned out that the dog had a brain tumor and when the owners really thought about it, they realized there were some previous signs of aggression they had missed that were probably also attributable to the tumor.
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Permalink Reply by Linda and Murphy on
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Hope Rouser is feeling better.
We had a similar incident at agility. Murphy was about 2 and the class clown (as you describe) totally submissive and giant (95 lbs at the time).
A Portuguese Water Dog (with issues) attacked him. No damage but scary.
We continued to have issues with this dog. I kept wishing huge Murphy would just stand up for himself, but he never did.
The PWD was finally kicked out of class.
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