Hello all. This is my first post so please be gentle with me!
I have a 4 year old male unneutered bi-color GSD who is a very shy, but well behaved dog. Last week I took him to a dog park near my mothers home. She (my mother)has a 17 month old sable unneutered male GSD that she purchased from a breeder in Florida. We introduced the dogs to each other at the park. There were no other dogs at the park. My mother's dog immediatly assumed a dominant postion by putting his front legs on my dogs shoulders. My dog protested, growled and barred his teeth. Well, a fight ensued, but my dog submitted quickly. He went to the ground and exposed his belly. I thought my mother's dog was going to kill him! He went right for my dogs throat and my dog was simply trying to defend himself. My dog bit his own tongue and was flowing blood, which seemed to make thing worse. I was able to separate the dogs, however as soon as I would let them try to interact again my mothers dog became very aggressive and it seemed my dog would be injured severely. We ended the session abruptly to avoid any further injury.

My question: Should we ever have these dogs together again? My mother is going away on vacation and would like me to pet sit her dog here in my home. It would be difficult for me to keep them apart as my home is small.

Thanks in adavance to all,
Hal Cody <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

If the dogs are together again your Mom has to have laid the groundwork and be present: including separate crates, exercise areas etc. I doubt you have the facility. It will almost certainly be a bad idea.

It is too bad that her dog didn't seem to know that attacking your dog was a sure fire way to get what Ed Frawley calls a "Kill Me" correction before it happened. From the sound of things he could take it and has pronounced dog aggression.

Her dog needs to learn that when it starts a fight that it never, ever wants to experience what happens next.

Reading between the lines: you broke up the fight, right? not your mother?

neutering at 17 months won't help much but is always a good idea.

tell her to send the dog to a boarding kennel when she goes away, and to TRAIN her dog and learn to CONTROL her dog.

she probably needs some one-on-one from a good trainer.

Be firm (with your mother).

best, andrew may

P.S.

I had a dog attacked by an Akita, that was off lead with a 14 year old who was helpless to deal with his family's dangerous dog (what your mother has).

If my dog had been injured (if I hadn't taken his stick and forced him to give it to the Akita who's owner stood passively by), I would have gone to the limit to get compensation and to seek to punish the dog owners for their lack of responsibility. they compromised their dog and their son and the public.

Your mother needs to get her risks under control.

rgds andrew may

Hal,
When you introduced them, were they loose, or were you and your mother holding leashes?
T

When we first arrived at the park both dogs were leashed and well behaved. There was no sign (that I could read) of any aggession from my mothers dog at that point. In fact my mother has had this dog for approximatly 2 months. She has had weekly private training sessions from local trainer. Thus far limited to basic obedience. I've met him and it appears he knows what he is doing. He's a former head of the K9 unit for the Albany, NY PD.

My dog in general is submissive with other dogs. He has never bitten, even when bitten by other dogs. However the ferocity and intensity of the attack from my mothers dog it seemed forced him into a survival mode and he bit back only to defend himself whilst on the ground with his belly exposed.

My mother takes her dog regularly to this park. It is my fear that her dog may injure (or kill) another dog there. I have told her to ensure she discusses the incident with her trainer.

Thanks! And thank you to Andrew as well!

Hal Cody

I'm sure few will agree with this but putting a dog through another situation like that would be idiotic .

I'm not a big fan of "doggy parks" and "leash free" parks. It's puts dogs in situations they don't need to be in.

Socialization should be in a controlled situation not 15,000 mongrels running lose hoping your dog doesn't freak out.

I know I'm exaggerating with my analogy here but you get the point.

I say control the environment your dog goes it. If introduction is necessary (doubt it) do it on a leash from a distance or simply don't do it.

JMO

next time be very careful who you let your dog interact with, i mean your dog might be dog aggressive because of his traumatic experience now. he might see dogs now as a serious threat to him becuase of what happened i dont let my dog interact with strange dogs, why risk him being attacked? dogs are pack animals and they will try to establish whose gonna be the leader and whose going to be subordinate,thats why its not a good idea letting your dog go to dog parks, go to a dog park you will be able to see that dogs dont treat each other equally theres going to be dogs that dont mind being subordinate and dogs that do mind taking on that role.

You need to go to Ed Frawley's Dog Training Articles on this site and read what he says about dog parks, dominant dogs, and dog-aggressive dogs. Print a copy and give it to your Mom. Your dog may never be the same after being attacked by your Mother's dog, as Ed says that dogs that are attacked by other dogs, and not protected by their owner quite often become dog-aggressive themselves. I am very surprised, if both dogs were on leash, that this was allowed to degenerate into an actual fight. If they were not both on leash, I am even more surprised that you allowed them to interact with each other with no controls on either of them.
Anyhow, Ed has wonderful guidelines for just this sort of situation, look in the Dog Training Articles that I mentioned above.
Janice Jarman

 Quote:

My mother is going away on vacation and would like me to pet sit her dog here in my home. It would be difficult for me to keep them apart as my home is small.

I have a feeling that you really know you do NOT want to do this (as I would not) and that you want backup to present to your mother. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Well, you have it. That dog-sitting task, IMHO, would not be something you, as your dog's owner and pack leader, would ever agree to do. Your responsibility is to your dog.

I feel sure that your mother will understand this when you explain it; it may not be your job to convince her to get control of her dog, but it is your job to keep him away from your dog (and certainly your dog's home!).

Good luck.

Lorenzo, why do you think few would agree not to put a dog through that again? I'm sure everyone would agree that it was an out of control situation, that shouldn't be repeated
AL

This is a good place to tell her to kennel her dog.