Just keep your dog on leash if he do not listen you

[CampPappy]

The sad part is, the loose dog has undone a lot of the training you've put into Phenix! He's already reactive and now he has a bad experience with another dog. Even tho the other dog only wanted to play, it still created stress for Phenix. That's what makes me so mad. It takes so much time and training and within a few seconds, you have a big set-back.
When our rescue Gretchen was young, she hated men. I would walk her daily in open mall areas and ask men to give her a treat, after explaining her issues. She was making great progress until one day a man says...."Oh I LOVE dogs" and reaches down to hug her! She freaked out, but didn't bite......I could have smacked him! All that training and then that happens.....GEEEEEEEZ!

[trish07]

Originally Posted by CampPappy

The sad part is, the loose dog has undone a lot of the training you've put into Phenix! He's already reactive and now he has a bad experience with another dog. Even tho the other dog only wanted to play, it still created stress for Phenix. That's what makes me so mad. It takes so much time and training and within a few seconds, you have a big set-back.
When our rescue Gretchen was young, she hated men. I would walk her daily in open mall areas and ask men to give her a treat, after explaining her issues. She was making great progress until one day a man says...."Oh I LOVE dogs" and reaches down to hug her! She freaked out, but didn't bite......I could have smacked him! All that training and then that happens.....GEEEEEEEZ!

EXACTLY!

All this work....to start again.

But well, I guess its life and I have to learn to live with that kind of situations. We are not, obviously, in a perfect world lol.

[Melly]

I had that problem with My rottweiler along time ago My rottweiler was on a leash outside of petco trying to go pee lol and some little yorkie no leash came up barking at her and acting like a bully well my rottie snapped at her didnt make contact just snapped and of she had a big bark lol and the yorkie owner was like they should ban those breeds or not let them in public that dog is vicious, I'm like no they should ban stupid owners like you that cant do what they are suppose to and don't train or leash their dogs, if my dog was vicious u would have a few scraps of fur left right now, I said a few other choice words to her that I will be nice enough to not repeat.

[Nikkia]

Ugg I'm having the same problem, Nikkia was attacked by an aggressive poodle about a year and a half ago. We were walking through the park when we saw this huge black poodle chasing a kid, biting it's shirt and, tugging it around the kid was screaming bloody murder. I have a 6 year old sister so Nikkia has always been very protective over little kids. She began barking at the dog and it ran over towards us then bolted off into another direction (I was assuming towards it's owner). This gave the kids dad enough time to go and scoop his kid up, he was furious! While I was watching them the poodle came up behind me and Nikkia bit her on the back of the neck and went to town, Nikkia was of course squealing the whole time. When I finally was able to kick it off of her it's owner, who had been sitting on a park bench a few yards away the entire time then came over and started yelling in my face. Then the kids dad came over with his crying kid and we began yelling at the owner to keep control of his dog. The owner then flipped us off put his dog on a leash and walked away, what a lovely person... This shook me and Nikkia up quite a bit I was only 14 at the time. Never in my life until that day had I been so afraid of loosing Nikkia or getting hurt by an angry adult. That is until that dog attacked Nikkia and I had it's owner screaming in my face. Luckily Nikkia didn't receive any major injuries from the incident just a few small puncture wounds which healed quickly. She has been very insecure around other dogs since though and it seems that every time I've almost got her back to normal. We run into another out of control dog and their stupid owner. The dog tries to pounce on Nikkia to either play or be mean and this freaks her out because she doesn't know if it is going to try to tear her apart like that poodle did. I am sorry you are going through the same thing I really wish people would respect other people and their dogs by keeping their out of control dogs on leash!!!

[trish07]

Originally Posted by Nikkia

Ugg I'm having the same problem, Nikkia was attacked by an aggressive poodle about a year and a half ago. We were walking through the park when we saw this huge black poodle chasing a kid, biting it's shirt and, tugging it around the kid was screaming bloody murder. I have a 6 year old sister so Nikkia has always been very protective over little kids. She began barking at the dog and it ran over towards us then bolted off into another direction (I was assuming towards it's owner). This gave the kids dad enough time to go and scoop his kid up, he was furious! While I was watching them the poodle came up behind me and Nikkia bit her on the back of the neck and went to town, Nikkia was of course squealing the whole time. When I finally was able to kick it off of her it's owner, who had been sitting on a park bench a few yards away the entire time then came over and started yelling in my face. Then the kids dad came over with his crying kid and we began yelling at the owner to keep control of his dog. The owner then flipped us off put his dog on a leash and walked away, what a lovely person... This shook me and Nikkia up quite a bit I was only 14 at the time. Never in my life until that day had I been so afraid of loosing Nikkia or getting hurt by an angry adult. That is until that dog attacked Nikkia and I had it's owner screaming in my face. Luckily Nikkia didn't receive any major injuries from the incident just a few small puncture wounds which healed quickly. She has been very insecure around other dogs since though and it seems that every time I've almost got her back to normal. We run into another out of control dog and their stupid owner. The dog tries to pounce on Nikkia to either play or be mean and this freaks her out because she doesn't know if it is going to try to tear her apart like that poodle did. I am sorry you are going through the same thing I really wish people would respect other people and their dogs by keeping their out of control dogs on leash!!!

Thank you And thank you for sharing your storie

[K9_girl1994]

Me and my sisters were walking our small maltese/bichon frise mix the other day. He does not get along well with other dogs, and we have been working hard to get him to his point now. A brown lab that was sitting off leash in his yard dashed across the road, almost getting hit by a car and came up to us. I am not familiar with this dog and my reaction was to pick up our dog. Our dog had his teeth showing and was trying to bite. Their dog was pratically jumping on me to try to get Goofy. I would turn around everytime so Goofy could not see him or attack. The lady apoligized and got her dog. She had to grab him by the scruff because he had no collar and walk him to her house. And then Goofy started to bark at these dogs that we have walked by plenty of times with no reaction. It is so annoying. That is why we usually walk down a trail that no one is every on.

[Kriller]

Glad to hear that I am not the only one with this problem!! My 20 month old female is a real sweetheart but like Phenix she has some insecurities that we are working on with strange dogs. When a dog gets right in her face or comes running up to her she can't handle it and shows some aggression. It's almost as if she tells them to back off. I can't count how many times I have told other owners how dangerous it is that they can't recall their off leash dogs. And then they have the nerve to look at me like my dog is the one with the problems! Ugh makes me so angry! The off leash, untrained, overly friendly dogs is a real problem where I currently live. Glad I am moving soon to an area where people seem to have control of their dogs.

[Good_Karma]

Same story here with Niko. He had some unpleasant puppy experiences in classes we took, and I did not step in and become his advocate because I was trusting the advice of the trainer to let him work it out. Also, he has been charged by off leash dogs on several occasions, once was bad enough that he slipped his collar and tried to run home in order to avoid the dog that was trying to attack him (this happened when my husband was walking him). Since that time my husband and I always carry pepper spray, and my husband has used it twice so far to ward off attacking dogs (that same one tried it again about a month after the first incident, and then there was another dog that ran up to them growling). The pepper spray worked perfectly, btw.

Now we are working with a private trainer on Niko's issues with reactivity in general and dog reactivity (he is not aggressive but rather fearful). We don't anticipate him ever being friendly with other strange dogs, at best we hope to get him to the point where he will ignore them. But it sure would help us out if people would not let their dogs roam free out here in the country where we live.

[Del]

Dogs are not children, but there are times they both act alike. A lot of the time if you look the people that let their dogs run out of control also have kids that act the same way. These people are blind to what is going on, and in complete denial that there is anything wrong with their kids or dogs. It is always something else that is to blame.

Originally Posted by trish07

I don't know if I made an error by doing this...but a lot of owners do bad too when they are peting their dog while they are insecure or fearfull.

What I was taught a long time ago was to not pet your dog while it is insecure or fearful. The dog relates petting and praise as a reward for doing something good. The dog is confused he was just traumatized and is getting a reward for it. That is the making for a dog with issues.

Instead try to calm him down first, without saying anything reach down while he is sitting and massage the back of his neck below his ears. Works the same for the dog as it does for you, it feels good and quickly relaxes your dog. Not saying anything does not give the dog anything to key in on by the tone or manor of your speech. If he picks up any excitement or stress in your voice he is not going to relax. It for now is just massage to calm him down. Once he is calm then have him do something he was trained to do and loves to do. That is the time to praise and pet.

Not sure what the pro’s will say about it, but I have never had a neurotic dog.

Del

BTW, If the occasion should arise I would choose my grandbaby over my dog. It is guaranteed that I will react equally in the protection of both.

[landspeed]

Originally Posted by HarperGirl

Ugh. I was walking Harper a couple days ago and some nutty small-ish dog came running across the road at her. She remained PERFECTLY at my side, kept going, and was a gem. The owner came running out into the road and picked up her dog saying, "Wow, your dog is so well behaved!" I managed to bite my tongue and only say, "We're really working on it, but she's still pretty young." WANTED to say so much more!

Why would you say anything? She complimented you on your dog and maybe theyre working with theirs? Sometimes, people just try to picka fight.