Hi David,

I know it's been posted, but I have to agree with Chris here......Why does your dog have to meet new dogs? I would not want to take the chance, and something could still happen with dogs that he has already met in the past that seem to be nice........you never know, and an attack can happen anytime your dog is around another dog off leash......just not worth it in my opinion.

Thanks Lisa and John.

Lisa - some encouragement and kind words of hope were really needed. Thanks. I really hope that he'll just remember that dog. It was black dog. It was stink if he was afraid of all black dogs.

John - I think I answered this. Of course, he doesn't. But we're pretty social people. And we like to take our dogs places. A lot of people have dogs in my area. 2+2=4, if you know what I mean.

Just a question - Do you think that a fixed GSD will develop more inclination to defend himself? One thing I notices was that he was so taken back that he didn't fight back. Made me feel aweful. I want to teach him Karate now.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Still ouching over this.
But thanks to all for the continued support!
David C

David,
A 13 month old gsd is still rather young. He won't be fully grown, physically or mentally until he's about 2 years old and maybe not even then, depending on the bloodlines.
He got traumatized by a bully...but in any case he is what he is, a sweet lovable dog, so why change that?

Also, I have no experience with neutered male dogs, but as I understand it, male hormones do impact the development of aggressive or defensive drives, which can occur later than 9 months. (Perhaps someone else has more info on that....?)

David wrote: "Do you think that a fixed GSD will develop more inclination to defend himself?"


A fixed GSD may develop more inclination to defend himself, but not to the level that he would develop if left intact. (of course it depends on the age that he lost his nutz)

At 13 months personally - i would hope my gs had it in him to defend himself in the case of an attack. Obviously dogs have a survival instinct which depending on the dog can go either way - run or fight. In your case your dog didnt have much choice as he simply got mauled.
You seem intent on making your dog a social butterfly in the dog world "enriching" other dogs that he meets. Now in doing this could it be that you have taken all the dogs natural suspicion of other dogs out of him? Making him believe that all dogs just want to hold his hand and be his best friend, where the grim reality is that more often than not dogs dont like other dogs.
It seems as though you cant wait to have him meet a new dog. Surley you can learn from your mistakes - your dog got attacked in a controlled enviroment with a neihbour who told you his dog was friendly.
In your dogs eyes you failed him as pack leader by letting this attack take place.
Now if it can happen like that with you watching and not doing anything to stop the attack, it can happen anywhere. Maybe you should take the advise of others and have your dog ignore other dogs. If not you only have yourself to blame if this happens again in the future.
Im sorry if this comes across as cruel but you seem to live in a world where you think all dogs love or should love each other and this just isnt the case.

It has been said over and over. I agree that dogs do not need to be freinds with every dog out there. They do need to function appropriatly when around other dogs and that is why I teach mine to IGNORE other dogs, I do not go to dog parks, I do not allow them off leash with strange dogs, and I teach them to let me handle the situation so they do not have to defend themselves. This does not ruin their confidences one bit. It keeps them controlled. My one pup was attacked 3 times before the age of 9 months he is not dog aggresive or afraid of other dogs which is lucky and it is because I did not make a big deal out it we just went right along with the training process and he learned I will handle it. I know you can't always enforce this because where I live there are loose dogs everywhere. I have no doubt that if push came to shove now, he would defend himself even though I try to prevent that as much as I can.

Yes Yes ..

I'm not so pig-headed that I'm going to run out and have him meet more dogs.

I just wanted to know if there was a prescribe time - or a method of approximating the right time.

I didn't have any other "meetings" in mind except for the CGC that we're taking this Saturday.

I just wanted to know if maybe perhaps I should postpone the CGC because of this incident. I didn't want to put too much pressure on my pup if he's not over the incident.

In any case, I'm definitely receptive to that advice. You're all probably right. Besides, he has plenty of dog friends already. More than I have people friend I think. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

PS - he was fixed at 9 months? Any thoughts on the affect of defense drive? His play drive is still at 110% - so is food drive and focus.

Thanks!