Question on behaviors...does Enzo bring out the worst in dogs?

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Really curious!  Do dogs emit any kind of a scent/fermone? ( She is spayed)

  We attended the So. Ca Group Romp yesterday.  Yesterday, and everytime we have been, we have at least one dog, who targets Enzo out.  Yesterday, it was Bob, a HUGE, Great Dane/Mastiff mix who decided he would aggressively down Enzo and lie on her.  This was one big fella and he would not leave Enz alone.  Owner would take him across the park, and in minutes he was back.  He got progressively more aggressive.   This was making us all very nervous!    Enzo is the most submissive dog I have ever seen/owned and she just rolls over.  Also, numerous male dogs trying to "have their way" with her.  Ok....hump her!  Again....she just either lies down or tries to run away....never snaps or growls, which she probably really needs to do!  But I just wondered, why HER?  They seem to target her out each and every time.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

I also find that Quincy gravitates to the other doodles at day camp and they always seem to get along just fine.  He loves being with other dogs, so this is our solution.  That being said, we also take him to our quiet beach on off hours in the nicer weather so he had get his salt air intake!  I would love to go to a beach Doodle Romp-but the ones I have seen are too far away.  

[Debbie & Gibbs]

I cracked up when my sweet little Gibbs growled at another dog the second day we had him, he was only 8 weeks old. A 12 week old Whoodle (Soft Coated Wheaten and poodle) tried to be bossy with him.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

We walk one of the dog beaches in Cardiff here, but it is "on leash".  Call me controlling, but an wide open beach with no boundries, scares me.  Since all of the dogs are leashed, we have had no problems.  Other than that, we only go to dogparks for the Romps.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

We didn't stop visits to the dog park during the time Lucy was going through that phase. I think being around other dogs is the only way they can learn to outgrow it. BTW, Lucy has never growled at another dog to leave her alone (she 'play growls' ALL the time with Oscar, though!). Its like she just walks with a certain air about her, a confidence she didn't possess as a puppy.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Glad to hear Lucy walks/struts with such confidence!  I hope we are as lucky!

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

My last dog was dog aggressive in the extreme. She was a rescue dog and they didn't tell me about her issue when I got her but it was immediately obvious when we encountered our first dog.

I knew if I returned her she would be put to sleep. People told me at first I could train her and she was a good dog. But after a lot of work I was told I would never be able to take the instinct out of her. She lived almost 17 years, 15.5 with me. She could pick out a submissive dog from a far distance and would target it to attack. She could also be friendly to a dog she got used to but if she sensed any jealousy at all it was like a chemical went off in her brain and she would attack to do damage.

In the 15 years I had her she was never injured by another dog and she wasn't a big dog.

She was a bully. She would never challenge a secure dominant dog.

Dogs know a lot more than we give them credit for. 

 

I also need to add that she was very smart and easily trained and loved people so much, even kids could pull on her ear and grab her tail and she would happily wag her tail off to the next adventure. This was part of the problem in a few instances because no one would believe this very cute friendly dog could do this. They thought I was neurotic.

Until it was too late.

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Can you blame them? Enzo is such a cutie pie!! :P 

J/k but I agree, I would imagine its b/c they pick up that she is super submissive.