Sandy Attacked A Lurcher Today

[Guest Sandy]

We have had Sandy for over 2 years and she is extremely dominant; she is very well socialised and I own a pet care company so we have lots of regular dog guests to stay and she comes out walking with all of the dogs we walk every day and she so far has been great with them.

 

Today out walking we saw a lurcher who we see out quite regulary; she is a timid, submissive Saluki cross. My other greyhound boy Fallon loves her and always runs over for a play with her. When Sandy sees this she will run over in order to make it known that he is "her man" so to speak and gives a little bark and then joins in the prancing around.

 

Today the lurcher was playing with Fallon and a ridgeback that we have had to stay before (boy) and Sandy ran straight over to them and floored the lurcher and bit her ear several times; it was totally unproked and the lurcher flew back on the floor screaming and did not fight back at all and then ran off home on her own.

 

She has a few puncure wounds and I cleaned it up having bought her and the owner back to my house; luckily he was great about it. Needless to say Sandy will be muzzled in future as I cannot accept this type of behaviour from her.

 

My take on the situation is that she knows this dog is a girl and Fallon and the ridgeback are boys and she was asserting herself as the dominant one in the pack.

 

It's so upsetting considering how many different breeds of dogs she mixes with on a daily basis that she has bitten a lovely timid little dog.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Sandy

[Guest Greytluv]

My Doni Rae has always not liked certain Greyhounds. She doesn't like any non Greynound. We did have a springer when we first got her and she just told her who was boss and everything was fine. She dosn't like light colored Greyhounds. Some she will go after and some she's fine with. We were walking and I had a hold of her close to her neck and another Grey got up to let us by and Doni Rae took a BIG chunk out of his butt That cost me about $700. Now she is always muzzles if we are around any dogs. She's just fine with my pack, though

 

Here is mah Girl :wub:

 

[greysmom]

I know attitudes are different UK vs US, but I would suggest she not be allowed to be off-leash when other dogs are present, and definitely muzzled when out and about.

[silverfish]

I think you might have assessed the situation correctly. It sounds as if Sandy isn't prey-driven, but just protecting her companion. Renie used to do the same (except she never caused any damage) she'd run over and growl and place herself between the other dog and Jim. At the most, she'd just take a nip at the dog's fur, usually above the tail as they turned and ran, but she only did that a couple of times. When we lost Jim, she became pretty much indifferent to any and all dogs, until we adopted Jack - another old guy. Then she became the Alpha Bitch Defender again.

 

I'm not sure if you can eliminate this behaviour, though you can manage it. I found that if I watched carefully, and told Renie to 'Wait!' before she got it into her head to 'defend' Jack, she was OK, but if she took off before I told her, she was difficult to divert. She didn't hurt anyone, but it was embarrassing to have her chase a perfectly harmless dog into a ditch!

 

Since Sandy has now caused harm, I think I'd do two things. Firstly, yes, muzzle her when she's in company, and secondly, think about a behaviourist. I doubt training classes will be enough - but I didn't go this route because Renie wasn't dangerous, only a bit of a nuisance, and 99% of the time she was fine because I was watchful.

[Guest Sandy]

I think you might have assessed the situation correctly. It sounds as if Sandy isn't prey-driven, but just protecting her companion. Renie used to do the same (except she never caused any damage) she'd run over and growl and place herself between the other dog and Jim. At the most, she'd just take a nip at the dog's fur, usually above the tail as they turned and ran, but she only did that a couple of times. When we lost Jim, she became pretty much indifferent to any and all dogs, until we adopted Jack - another old guy. Then she became the Alpha Bitch Defender again.

 

This sounds exactly like Sandy; the nipping and growling is what I have seen her do before and she has done this before to the lurcher; if I am walking our customers dogs and she is with me and some of them start playing together and she is not involved; she will run over to them put herself in the middle of them all and exhibit dominant posturing, barking etc

[JAJ2010]

Its the shy ones that won't fight back that you really have to watch. They are prime targets for a pack attack since they 'aren't quite right' in their behavior. That's why I'm so paranoid bout Sunshine. Glad both pups are ok and nothing worse is happening.

[silverfish]

 

This sounds exactly like Sandy; the nipping and growling is what I have seen her do before and she has done this before to the lurcher; if I am walking our customers dogs and she is with me and some of them start playing together and she is not involved; she will run over to them put herself in the middle of them all and exhibit dominant posturing, barking etc

 

The 'Fun Police'. Yeah, some bitches will do that.

 

Maybe she needs a job to do? Renie loooved being a Therapy dog! And it's definitely worth doing some obedience training with her to keep her mind busy and keep her focussed on you.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I would seek out the advice of a good, positive dog trainer. IME, what folks often refer to as a dominant dog is really a dog that is nervous and intimidated and actually quite lacking in confidence. The lack of confidence is what drives the aggressive behavior (almost always unprovoked). They'll tend to do fine with dogs in their own pack, but as soon as the dynamics are changed by the presence of another dog, their "place" in the social senario is in question. They'll almost always seek out the weakest or most timid dog on whom to vent their frustrations, because they can easily tell by the body language of an alpha that they won't gain anything by attempting to assert themself there.

 

Attempting to gain confidence through violence (Aggression toward other dogs) is a losing proposition for the dog, but it does offer temporary relief (in that whatever else happens, their aggressive outburst almost always leads to the other dog or dog no longer being in their presence and triggering those feelings). The dog goes from being in an uncomfortable situation, to "solving" that problem (albeit through inappropriate behavior), so what is traumatic for the attackee and for the humans involved (not to mention the lawsuit here in the U.S.) is actually a relief for the aggressing dog.

 

I've seen a lot of these dog improve dramatically, but where this is what you're dealing with, misinterpreting it as "dominance" and not the lack of confidence fueling the aggression, the dog's insecurities are not addressed and you risk making the dog more, not less, violent.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Nicely put Swift, I would tend to agree with her assessment.

 

Chad.

[Guest Sandy]

Its the shy ones that won't fight back that you really have to watch. They are prime targets for a pack attack since they 'aren't quite right' in their behavior. That's why I'm so paranoid bout Sunshine. Glad both pups are ok and nothing worse is happening.

yes this lurchers mother died shortly after she gave birth and the owners hand reared her and she is extremely timid in her body posturing so sounds right to me..

 

I would seek out the advice of a good, positive dog trainer. IME, what folks often refer to as a dominant dog is really a dog that is nervous and intimidated and actually quite lacking in confidence. The lack of confidence is what drives the aggressive behavior (almost always unprovoked). They'll tend to do fine with dogs in their own pack, but as soon as the dynamics are changed by the presence of another dog, their "place" in the social senario is in question. They'll almost always seek out the weakest or most timid dog on whom to vent their frustrations, because they can easily tell by the body language of an alpha that they won't gain anything by attempting to assert themself there.

 

Attempting to gain confidence through violence (Aggression toward other dogs) is a losing proposition for the dog, but it does offer temporary relief (in that whatever else happens, their aggressive outburst almost always leads to the other dog or dog no longer being in their presence and triggering those feelings). The dog goes from being in an uncomfortable situation, to "solving" that problem (albeit through inappropriate behavior), so what is traumatic for the attackee and for the humans involved (not to mention the lawsuit here in the U.S.) is actually a relief for the aggressing dog.

 

I've seen a lot of these dog improve dramatically, but where this is what you're dealing with, misinterpreting it as "dominance" and not the lack of confidence fueling the aggression, the dog's insecurities are not addressed and you risk making the dog more, not less, violent.

 

yes she is very insecure and what you are saying sounds spot on.

[Guest LindsaySF]

Swifthounds's assessment sounds pretty good to me. I don't know your dog, but this could be the case.

 

I know attitudes are different in the UK, but I wouldn't let Sandy off-leash again, and certainly not with a muzzle on. If she tries to attack another dog while wearing her muzzle and the other dog bites back she won't be able to defend herself at all and could be badly injured. And if her aggression is indeed fear-based or based on a lack of confidence, being muzzled will actually make that worse.