I take my bindi, as you all probably know, to dog training. In that class is a dog that hates bindi and as soon as she comes into class stares bindi down. Bindi ignores her.
Today the dog lunged and snapped, growled and almost got bindi. Bindi was probably about 2-3 feet from this dog. The dog is very friendly with people and large dogs but has this fixation with smaller dogs. (Bindi is 20 lbs) The agressive dog is a pit mix and weights about 60 or more lbs. Anyway, after this happened, Bindi she was very nervous and didn't work well. She had a hard time concentrating.
I know in life and in competition Bindi may encounter dogs like this. How can I help bindi not be so upset by this type of encounter or help her to recover more quickly and continue on. Bindi did her best but she was nervous.. but didn't work with the zeal and joy she usually does. I didn't want to baby bindi and make the situation bigger in her dog mind. But I wanted to reassure her. I did try and reassure her, and also I tried to get her attention-which she did give me, and keep her distracted from the other dog. Bindi is about 5 years old, a soft dog, who usually gets along with other dogs well. Bindi was not staring at this dog or giving off any bad signals, in fact she was just coming off some jumps and was walking past this other dog. So, how can I help Bindi?
Thanks sharon

I would never let my dogs get within 2 to 3 feet of a dog that was staring at them. They won't need to do that in competition unless it's in the group sits and downs, and IF we were next to a dog that was staring at them in the long sits and downs, I would pull my dog rather than leave them there.

The best way to teach a dog not to worry is to never put them in a dangerous spot. Reward focus and energy and discourage any disconnecting. It will just take a little time for this experience to fade, but it will. These things happen.

Did the instructor do anything to remedy the situation? As you describe it, it sounds fairly dangerous. If you are doing off-leash recalls or other exercises where that dog will have choices, I would be very wary.

One other thought: is there any chance that Bindi is also engaging in the staring behavior? Sometimes owners of targetted dogs don't notice that they ALSO have a dog that is eye-targetting. Often times, stare-fests are two-way affairs. IF this is the case, keep your dog from staring and that will help a lot. If your dog really isn't staring and engaging, then I would make doubly sure that you avoid the lunging dog. In that case, the dog sounds like it is acting predatory and its behavior is very likely to be dangerous if its owner isn't plugged in to the problem. Go to class early next time and talk to the instructor privately so that steps can be taken to keep your dog safe.

If this is happening in a class, I would put this in the lap of the instructor as soon as possible. We had a similar situation where our Mal, Bailey, was attacked by a GSD in our class. Once we got the situation under control, our instructor, to his credit, immediately got everyone together and gave everyone in the class a lecture about dominance and staring and how to address it. He then pointed directly at the GSD and its owner, who was again staring down our dog and used that dog as the example of the type of behavior one should not tolerate. Being singled out was sufficient to motivate the owner to pay more attention to her dog's behavior. We then made sure the two dogs stayed far enough away from each other to lessen the tension. Y

If my dog is staring, she gets a firm "leave it" command and a strong correction with the leash if she doesn't obey it immediately. You need to do anything to get your dog's focus back on you. If another dog is staring down my dog, I put myself between the two to break it's line of sight and make sure my dog is focused on me and not the other dog trying to stare it down. I also move her away.

I agree 100% about talking to the instructor.

believe me I am very aware of the danger to my girl. The only reason we were even that close was we came off jumps and had to pass by. I had bindi close to me and the owner of the other dog I thought was aware. She had just mentioned how her dog was doing better. As we passed by, then it happened. The owner corrected her dog and after class I saw her talking with the instructor. She was very discouraged.
The instructor usually points out any staring, the aggressive dog does it to other small dogs, and tries to keep this dog away from others.
I have the same concern about off leash recalls. The instructor usually has this dog go last and a far distance from us. She is a good dog and usually obedient, but man, she just has a thing for small dogs.
I have watched bindi, and she does not stare at her. She avoids eye contact with her and stays close to me.
I do plan on talking with the instructor. I may change days I take Bindi. I want to find out what those dogs are like.
Thanks for the input. Like you I want my girl safe. She loves to work and I do not want her fun taken from her. Bindi was in a foster home for a long time and they said about her she has never met a dog she didn't like. That is changing now. She is wary of bigger dogs now.
Thanks so much sharon

That is what I do, I stand between them and break the line of sight and in case the dog would get free, the line of attack. Then I try and get Bindi's attention.
One day at the vet my other dog Cody was almost attacked by this huge dog who was being taken to a room. It jumped up on the couch where cody and I were and was snarling and snapping. Immediately I got between them and kicked the dog away with one leg. The dog was so big I couldn't stand up so it was a weird kinda kick but it worked and the attendant got the dog past us. The owner said she was sorry. Cody sat right next to me and didn't move or make any reaction to the other dog. I don't know how long that would have lasted if I couldn't have gotten between them. My cody would have been a milk dud if that dog got to him. The owner is totally clueless in regards to training her dog, she couldn't control it.

I just do not know what people are thinking!

I agree with all of you and will contact the instructor. We now have a new dog and handler who has joined us. It is a huge dog, but it was well behaved and spent it's attention on it's master.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't forgetting something. Bindi is a very sweet dog and that whole thing really got to her. But I didn't want to overreact and cause bindi to be even more upset. I think she did pretty well considering.
Thanks again. sharon

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