Went hiking with friends yesterday. My 1 year old GSD was hiking off leash with two other dogs. One of the dogs was a Golden Retriever 3 year old. My GSD was running with a big stick and was taking out our legs so I had him sit and drop the stick. I reached down to take the stick and the Golden ran up towards us and growled. Now My dog and the Golden were busy playing throughout the hike and have played really well since my GSD was 5 months old. In any event the golden approached us and growled when I was picking up the stick when Zach instantly attacked the golden and clamped down on the entire side of his head and realy bit down and shook his head about three times. The other dog really cried out and Zach finally let go. However I need to know was this just a case of my dog protecting me and what kind of correction should I have given. I had instantly put my dog on the leash and tried to introduce the two dogs together however my dog was not having any of it. Comments please.

I am not at all sure your dog was protecting you, but may have been protecting his stick. My dog gets very possessive of balls, sticks, anywhere near other dogs, so we do not play fetch close to other dogs.

I agree with Polly. Your dog is at an age where he is starting to really feel his "oats" & is testing the waters to see where he fits on the totem pole. If I were you, I wouldn't play games with sticks, balls, etc. around other dogs. It's kind of like asking who pees higher on the pole!

Not sure what kind of 'leader' you have been leading your dog to believe YOU are, that a simple growl from an otherwise completely friendly Golden deserves such a massive OVER reaction. I also tend to believe it was precidented more by the toy guarding than the 'your life was in danger' thing.

I also have dogs that may get guardy over sticks on walks, so it's a NO stick rule when I see that starting up. MY RULES are 'if you can't play nice, you will not play at all'.

Since the 2 dogs have played together well for the last 7 months, I'm assuming at some point in time there may have been toys involved. I didn't get the impression that the owner gave the GSD the stick, but it was a stick picked up by the dog along the walk. If there were toys involved in the last 7 months and no possessiveness occurred, then it very well may be that the Golden's growling at the moment the GSD's owner was taking the stick may have been interpreted by the GSD as an agressive act toward his owner. I use the word interpreted loosely since to us we are the ones to interpret the growl, whereas the dogs know exactly what the growl means. That being said, it could have been that the GSD was possessive of the stick since HE found it, it maybe was special to him because of that and he thought his owner was going to throw it for him. But the growl from the Golden seemed unwarranted based on the fact that they've played together for 7 months, so who knows exactly what that growl meant, except the two dogs themselves.

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the Golden's growling at the moment the GSD's owner was taking the stick may have been interpreted by the GSD as an agressive act toward his owner. I use the word interpreted loosely since to us we are the ones to interpret the growl, whereas the dogs know exactly what the growl means. That being said, it could have been that the GSD was possessive of the stick since HE found it, it maybe was special to him because of that and he thought his owner was going to throw it for him. But the growl from the Golden seemed unwarranted based on the fact that they've played together for 7 months, so who knows exactly what that growl meant, except the two dogs themselves.

Blah blah blah blah blah

Dogs growl all the time at each other and do NOT end up pinning each other in a violent display. PARTICULARLY dogs that know each other and do not have a violent past. Be different if the dogs have had ISSUES and fights in the past, there would be a history to explain this.

And I wouldn't care who's stick it was or where it came from. I bet is WAS just picked up on the walk. ALL TOYS are mine if my girls don't play nice. And all sticks go back in the woods if they growl when another dog comes too close. I hike all the time with different dogs. So this is a situation I am well familiar with.

In my world, I do not MAKE EXCUSES for inappropriate behaviors and over reacting from my dogs, particularly if they are aggressive in nature. It's not up to them to 'decide' someone was too close to a stick. And if another dog growls at me (not attacks mind you, just growls) I CAN DEAL WITH IT, that is not my dog's job and they know it.

My dogs, no excuses. I just control the situation so it doesn't happen again.

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.........So, rather than trying to figure out if the altercation was based on toy ownership or protection or a full moon, it is time to figure out what to do to train the dog to avoid such confrontations.......Comments: forget the trying to figure out what motivated the dog, and focus on training the dog to not behave in that manner. Forget about trying to figure out if the dog was trying to protect you and train the dog to respond immediately to your voice command(s).......Correction: hard to do off leash. And in the incident described, by the time you got to the dogs... The time for correction was just before it happened.......

Amen.

You've been put on notice by your GSD that he's in charge -- not you. Now you know you have to change that immediately. You are fortunate: you were put on notice before something irreversible happened (although chances are this did the Golden no good). Good work that you are asking how to handle it, and good answers.

QUOTE: My dogs, no excuses. I just control the situation so it doesn't happen again. END

the golden issued a challenge, and your dog answered it.

your dog needs to understand that YOU will be the one who answers all challenges, NOT him.

he has to be on a leash, but in the situation you describe, i would have stepped in between the dogs and forcefully told the golden to back off. you didn't take the initiative to make the golden back off, so your dog took on that responsibility for himself.

it should NEVER be his responsibility. it is yours. and when he sees that you are doing your job, he'll be less inclined to try to do it for you. that is *part* of how you teach him to ignore challenges from other dogs.

My dog becomes very aggressive if my daughter{age 9}or I are jumped on by another dog, whether she's familiar with the dog or not. By jumped on I mean ,in a playful or a greeting way, she will allow no rough play with my daughter. She responds by driving the other dog away, or by placing herself, between the dog and Logan. Nor will she allow a stranger to approach the kid unless I'm present and consent. She uses just enough aggression to control what she sees as a threat. I handle the situation by controlling who or what comes in the fense. I really discourage any unsupervised contact with other dogs, especially when the situation cannot be controlled. I have a GSD from the leerburg line and she loves kids and small animals but any thing she considers a threat will be met with aggression, so I limit those occurances. She is always on lead when other people or dogs that I don't know are in the area. I don't want my dog hurt and I don't want anyone else's dog hurt. I just don't take the chance.