When my dog was 17-months-old she was attacked by another dog. Any dog that approaches her too quickly she growls and barks.Can you offer any insight?

Question

Hi,

    I have a 3 year old labradoodle. I only got her at 4 months and I know she wasn't socialized to people or other animals before then. I immediately got her into training and we were working on becoming a therapy dog team. When she was 17 months old she was attacked by a 3 year old Great Dane. It ran up from behind us sunk its teeth into her hind quarter. When I freed her, the dog then grabbed onto her tail and began to pull her away from me. I did get her free but she was bitten very severely to her hind quarter, since then she growls and barks at about 80% of the dogs that come within 6-8 inches of her. The only dogs she seems to do well with is dogs that aren't interested in dogs.

    You know they give the cursory sniff and go about their business. Any dog that approaches her too quickly or wants to get too private too fast she growls and barks. She has no tolerance for Great Danes, if she sees one she begins to growl. I have tried desensitizing her but since there are no sacrificial puppies it's not like I can set up situations in which she responds positively to pups and gets rewarded.

    What if she lunges and actually bites. I am concerned. Furthermore, I want her to still become a therapy dog but she would need to successfully do a meet and greet with other therapy dogs and at this point she couldn't handle it. Can you offer any insight?

    Thanks
 DC in Baltimore

Accepted Answer

This is an unfortunate side affect of being attacked by another dog. Many dogs are dog aggressive for life after being attacked. Some dogs are more severely traumatized than others, and never seem to get over it. I own a 10 year old Corgi who was attacked as a pup and she is the only dog we own that really dislikes being in close proximity to any other dog. This is not a dog that would do well playing with a group of dogs or even being sniffed by other dogs. She's afraid and all we can do is protect her and let her know that this will not happen again.

The most important thing you can do is be a good leader and let your dog know that you won't let other dogs get in her space and make her feel worried. She needs to feel protected.

I suppose it's possible that a dog like this can become a therapy dog but I would not be focused on that goal with a dog that behaves like this. It's not really fair to her. I would focus on working with your dog in a way that makes her feel safe and if she then makes progress you can go forward with other goals. When I work with my animals I try to remember this saying "don't put your goals in front of your principles" My principles are to be fair to my dogs & horses and to listen to what they are telling me with their behavior. If at any time I lose sight of that and start to put them out of their comfort zone because of my own goals I give myself a reality check and re-evaluate. Your dog probably has no desire to be a therapy dog, I would imagine that this is your goal, not hers.

If this was my dog I would totally start over with her. I’d start with our Groundwork program and the video that picks up where the article leaves off - Pack Structure for the Family Pet.

Dogs that have had fearful experiences love to have very predictable structure & routine and this is a way to show her that you are in charge of her and the space around her.

You may also want to spend some time searching the website; there is a lot of information about dog aggression after being attacked. Ed compares it to a woman who has been raped, who is then nervous and fearful of being around strangers. It's a completely normal and understandable way to behave when the world as you know if changes so dramatically without reason.

I would direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website for any additional questions you may have. If you type in your key words it will guide you to articles, Q & A’s and posts on our forum.

I hope this helps you see things from her point of view.

Cindy