If I had had a newspaper I would have hit myself for being stupid!
But what I really need now is some advice...
(I have checked other threads on this section but all refer to owners with dog-aggressive dogs, not owners whose dogs are attacked)

Background: I was early for Sunday training and there was only one other handler on the field with his two male dogs: one on a tab, one loose. They were practicing the a-frame and jump, as they have done the last several months; both pieces of equipement are located about 100 feet (!) from the parking area.
Because there had never been any issue before with these dogs, and because they were such a distance away, engaged in an obedience exercise, I took my bitch out of the crate to potty her.

Stupid, stupid, stupid move!

Standing next to the car, I had already put on her the leash, and with her looking up at me, was getting ready to fuss her to the potty area. We took one step and out of the corner of my eye saw a flash of fur as the other handler's loose dog attacked my bitch.
I can't describe much of what happened except that I kicked the attacking dog and kept it far enough away that it could do no more than bite fur. Yeah, yeah...that was stupid move #2; I could have had a chunk taken out of my leg, but the incident put me "in drive" and my goal became to protect my bitch from being seriously bitten!

The handler quickly grabbed the attacking dog by the collar, but his second dog then decided to join in and again I found myself fending off another dog. He is not that dog aggressive as the first and gave up rather easily after a second or two, allowing the handler to grab him as well.

Fortunately no physical was harm done, though not because the first attacker wasn't dead serious about drawing blood! The bitch lost some fur on her thigh and in the aftermath stood on trembling legs for a minute or so. She never made a sound, during the whole event! The trembling stopped fairly quickly but I was not able to get much of her attention for the next hour, and certainly not when the attacker was on the field.

This bitch is not at all dog aggressive; with the exception of the dogs with whom she shares the house, a dominant male gsd with whom she rough-houses, and a 10 yr old female mix, she pretty much just ignores other dogs. This was an unprovoked attack from what the other handler admits is a very dog aggressive dog.

So here are my questions....
#1 I didn't give the bitch a chance to fight back in my attempt of fend off the attacker, as I had her on a tight lead; Should I have let her have a loose lead to bite back? (my instincts tell me that would have made matters worse...)

#2 How come a male would attack a female, especially one that has been spayed and was giving no aggressor signals? (That goes against everything I thought I ever knew about male/female dogs!)

#3 How does one handle the aftermath of a dog fight? Just ignore it? Attempt to engage the dogs again for the opportunity to administer corrections? (That's what the other handler did, and I didn't appreciate his bringing the aggressor over to the bitch again...just so he could teach his dog not to attack. The bitch, still on lead, just watched him, moving as close to me as possible, but this second encounter was obviously stressful for her, even though this time the attacker did not make a move toward her.)

Would appreciate your insights....

Ann said:

So here are my questions....
#1 I didn't give the bitch a chance to fight back in my attempt of fend off the attacker, as I had her on a tight lead; Should I have let her have a loose lead to bite back? (my instincts tell me that would have made matters worse...)

Ann in my opinion you did the "RIGHT" thing by not allowing your dog to enter the fight. Even though you risked personal injury to yourself you probably prevented more injury to your dog and bought enough time to allow the other dogs handler to get him under some type of control. Obviously his dog was has not had enough obedience with distractions and was improperly handled and out of control. I also think the handler should have made an attempt to OUT the dog? Did he try this? He doesn't sound like someone who should be handling this type of dog, and in my opinion this dog might be too much dog for him.

#2 How come a male would attack a female, especially one that has been spayed and was giving no aggressor signals? (That goes against everything I thought I ever knew about male/female dogs!)

I had a male that would attack any dog, male or female. Wihout seeing exactly what happened I doubt seriously if even the experts on this board could give you a definate reason WHY. Some dogs are just plain dog aggressive in my opinion. It would be interesting to hear from others though.

#3 How does one handle the aftermath of a dog fight? Just ignore it? Attempt to engage the dogs again for the opportunity to administer corrections? (That's what the other handler did, and I didn't appreciate his bringing the aggressor over to the bitch again...just so he could teach his dog not to attack. The bitch, still on lead, just watched him, moving as close to me as possible, but this second encounter was obviously stressful for her, even though this time the attacker did not make a move toward her.)

In my opinion you should have called it a day and left with your dog immediately. It sounds like your dog did not need the added stress of being approached again just to teach his dog a lesson.
I would have definately taught the owner of this dog a lesson though. I would think that this is going to have a profound effect of your bitch's training and unwanted and unnecessary attention to any other dog in the future. HArd to say if this will affect her permanetly. Some dogs can shake it off and others cannot. If it were me I would forget the training field for a short period of time and try to reintroduce her to dogs you know for a fact are not dog aggressive to build her confidence back up. Again I'm no expert but I think this experience is definately going to set your bitch back a bit so I would not rush anything.

Good Luck,

Glenn

If another dog attcks my dog, Im going to help my dog kick the crap out of the other dog.Im not going to hinder my dog so it can not protect itself.

#1....yup, you did the right thing by preventing your bitch from fighting back. had you allowed her, most likely she'd have been seriously hurt.
#2....glenn is right again. a truly dog-aggressive dog will attack anything, doesn't matter what sex.
#3....you know your dog better than anyone and should also know if its okay to get on with things. if it were me, i would probably try to resume training as if nothing had happened.(unless ofcourse, she seemed really freaked out) and i would have an intense discussion with the owner of the attackers just to insure that it would not happen again.

Hello Ann,

IMO, I agree with Glenn and Patricia.......on all three accounts. Now just continue working her like nothing happened, and hopefully she will get back to where she was before. I made the same mistake with my dog.......an off leash dog no matter how far away (even with his handler near by) is a warning to be very careful!

I have alot of clients with dog aggressive dogs, and the # one reason these dogs are dog aggressive is from having been attacked. I always refer my clients to the articles ed frawley has written on the subject. I know she wasn't the one doing the attacking, but you prob. should read up on the articles just so you know what to watch for and how to handle it if she starts to show defencive fear reaction towards other dogs. luckly the dammage wasn't too bad and verry importantly she saw her alpha trying to protect her. Ed always recomends carrying pepper spray with you for this verry reason. They are selling it at pet smart now in my area. Get some and tie it to your leash so you never forget it. Also if you have to hose a dog down, be sure to say that YOU were in fear for YOUR safty. That makes it ok legaly from what I understand. One of the most important things you can do for your bitch at this point is make sure she is never attacked again. Ed speaks to this in hhis articles on dog aggressive dogs. Also there is alot in his q and a section from people who have had their dogs attacked.

I have alot of clients with dog aggressive dogs, and the # one reason these dogs are dog aggressive is from having been attacked. I always refer my clients to the articles ed frawley has written on the subject. I know she wasn't the one doing the attacking, but you prob. should read up on the articles just so you know what to watch for and how to handle it if she starts to show defencive fear reaction towards other dogs. luckly the dammage wasn't too bad and verry importantly she saw her alpha trying to protect her. Ed always recomends carrying pepper spray with you for this verry reason. They are selling it at pet smart now in my area. Get some and tie it to your leash so you never forget it. Also if you have to hose a dog down, be sure to say that YOU were in fear for YOUR safty. That makes it ok legaly from what I understand. One of the most important things you can do for your bitch at this point is make sure she is never attacked again. Ed speaks to this in hhis articles on dog aggressive dogs. Also there is alot in his q and a section from people who have had their dogs attacked.

Thanks for your replies!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this bitch, at 3 years old, won't be too much influenced by this first time confrontation.

She's pretty well balanced in drives and if I were to use Pavlov's types to classify her temperament, I would say she's "Phlegmatic"... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> : she has strongly developed arousal (excitement) processes, balanced against strongly developed inhibition (blocking) processes. ie, she's pretty calm in just about any environment and under any condition.
Perhaps she will simply shake this off and we go on going on.

(But I WILL read up on Ed's articles and watch for any changes in defensive behavior.)

Great! don't forget the pepper spray!!!! She sounds like a nice dog. Keep her safe. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I went to training this past week and the same aggressive dog was there. And while I did an ob routine, the other handler had his dog on a long down at the side of the field.

My bitch was OK with it though I could see her taking an occassional glance at her attacker. Of course the other handler kept saying "Don't worry, she's forgotten all about that incident" (...yeah right! And here I had thought he knew more about dogs than I do!)
Though she didn't freak out or try to leave the field, her attention was still not totally on me, especially when we got some 20 ft from the aggressor.

And wouldn't you know it....just about the time I got through with the routine, that handler's dog broke his Down and jumped up! I have no idea if he was starting another attack, because fortunately this time his handler was right there with leash in hand and could do some swift corrections!

This handler is training his dog for Nat'l competition. Well, good luck to him...but I'm glad it's not my dog.