Your dog is attempting to defuse the situation by offering appeasement behaviors. Sort of like "hey I didn't want any trouble".

 

Okay but I am wondering why he only does this with smaller dogs? If this was a large dog his size he wouldnt of done that he would of told the other dog off. A smaller dog can charge at him on the street and he does this same thing, larger dogs....he doesnt tolerate it. Weird

 

Probably because he's not as afraid of small dogs as he is of larger dogs. Risa is less reactive to small dogs that bark/growl/lunge at her than if a medium or large dog does the same.

The small dog makes him upset too, which is why he is diffusing the situation. But it's not upsetting him so much that he's having a reactive meltdown about it.

 

Probably because he's not as afraid of small dogs as he is of larger dogs.

Exactly. He doesn't see small dogs as a threat...just an annoyance.

 

Okay that makes sense now. The owner of the shih tzu that keeps attacking him tells everyone my dog is terrified of hers when hers goes to attack Lincoln and I told her that no he doesnt really think yours is a threat which is why hes not reacting by grabbing her which she should be thankful for.

Then I thought about it and for some reason it made no sense, but now it does.

 

SO is is a Shih tzo or Cockapoo?

 

Both actually. This behavois first started with my friends cockapoo and then carried onto that shih tzu that my neighbour owns that keeps charging after him. The owner of the shih tzu thinks my dog is afraid of hers because he does this behavoir when she charges him.

 

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Lincoln IS still afraid of those small dogs. He is just LESS concerned about them because they are smaller. Those diffusing behaviors are proof of that. If he weren't concerned at all, he'd just walk away. Look aways, lip licks, whale eyes, pulling his ears back, removing himself from the situation, pulling the corners of his mouth back, slinking off, etc. All of those show he is not comfortable with what's going on.

Just because he doesn't show an aggressive display doesn't mean he's okay with what is happening.

 

Okay so this clip shows the lip licking and thats stress? So when something like this happens how do I make him more comfortable?

 

**********notify moderators if having issue with member, BE PATIENT to allow us time to respond..**********

 

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And before I end this, how do you have time to maintain a dog and a life with the hundreds of posts across many internet forums in just a couple months?

Actually, Malinois16 just started posting actively on this board July 7-2011, so she is pretty new too.

 

How do the members here have the time for their dogs and lives and maintain the thousands of posts they have here? I can name a few people who chastised me for my difference in opinion.

 

Okay so how do I fix this? When the other dogs starts to do it should I put Link in his crate? The owner of this dog and eye view training differently. When this dog doesnt get his own way he barks. When Link grabs a toy this cockapoo MUST have that toy. No matter what he gets, this dog must have. So next time how do I deal with it? Put mine in his crate with his toys?

 

I would ask my friend not to bring her/his dog. Your house is also Lincoln's house. If this dog can't behave and respect Lincoln's home, then perhaps he needs to stay out of it. It is his owner's responsibility to train his/her dog to behave. Lincoln puts trust in you that you will do whatever you can to keep him safe, especially in his house. I am actually quite impressed that he does not lash out at this dog. He relies on you to ensure this situation is taken care of.

 

This video was from a while ago. The dog has improved since. Hes not as barky.

Lincoln is fine with small dogs. He loves the neighbours chi, lives with my small dog and plays with a couple other small dogs. He ONLY acts like this when they show him aggression and bark in his face. This dog was barking like that because Lincoln had a toy he wanted.

So maybe what I will do since he is improving with his attitude as they did do some training classes is allow him down again and go from there. He was down last week and it was fine. The only episode was when Lincoln went near his owner who had food and he nipped at him. But then again, I guess thats still pretty bad.

I did tell my friend tho, one day he will do this to another dog who will NOT tolerate it and will bite back.

He does have some dog reactiveness to all dogs (the ones who show him aggression) I have been working on that for a while now thats improving. I have him now where he is able to walk by the dog and not look at it. This all start when he was mauled by a Dalmatian. Thats when he started to get like this around other dogs.

I know I have failed my dog, I am trying to work with that and makes things better

 

I don't understand. First you said there was a problem with the way Lincoln responded toward your friend's unruly dog. Then you submitted a video to show what you were talking about. Then you say, this is an old movie it really is not as bad anymore. I am seriously confused now.

The bottom line I think is that you should not bring a dog into your house Lincoln has a problem with. It's simply not fair to Lincoln to put him in a crate while the unruly one can stay out at Lincoln's house...To him that may seem like he is being punished. You said that Lincoln does no longer have dog aggression toward other smaller dogs...just that particular one, so keep them apart but not at Lincoln's expense.

 

Stop allowing a situation where another dog is running at yours and biting at his mouth aggressively.

 

I can stop a situation if its in my house by not allowing the dog in. But theres another dog in the area I was having issues with (havent since I called the SPCA) where the dog would charge off the property and try to attack mine. How do I not allow that to happen if its not my dog attacking? I can use my body and foot to block the attacking dog but thats about it.

No situation is preventable. You could be walking your dogs tomorrow down your street, and some off leash dog could come running up to yours and try to attack him. Is it fair to say you shouldnt walk your dog to prevent the situation?

I can tell my friend to not bring her dog over sure. That solves that issue. But when I am out walking and some off leash dogs charges him and attacks him should I just not bother to walk him? Or am I understanding you wrong?

 

No, I asked what the behavoir meant when this little dog bites his mouth when he goes near his owners food. Lincoln will put his hair up and turn his head away then walk away. I wasnt sure what that meant as I had a couple people tell me different things. This dog still acts like this, but its not nearly as bad as it used to be as the owners took the dog to training since this video.

Lincoln will not bite a small dog. He never has. He would rather walk away from a small dog trying to attack him then bite back. A large dog however, he will bite back if it was doing this to him.

I was trying to figure out if the behvoir was Lincoln stressed out or Lincoln ignoring it and telling the dog "Hey thats rude" Thats why I asked about it

 

I was trying to figure out if the behvoir was Lincoln stressed out or Lincoln ignoring it and telling the dog "Hey thats rude" Thats why I asked about it

I admit, I may be way off but this is how I would interpret Lincoln's behavior.

"Mom, I don't like this dog. Look what he is doing. I want to be a good boy and not react to him but this is seriously stressing me out. Can you please help me mom? "

It honestly breaks my heart for Lincoln to see him endure this with you and your friend watching as if it is not worthy of your intervention. It is to him though.

 

Holy Crap I get the point why do you have to continue to shove it in my face? Actually, growing up my parents allowed people to bully me every day in fact they participated in it.

I asked what it meant, I am not going to put a stop to it. I could just continue to let it go on but I am not.

 

Malinois, I was just trying to help. Sometimes we (myself included) don't see things until the scenario is applied to us specifically. At least that is how I have learned a few things about my dog's behaviors in the past. If this approach offended you, I am sorry. I am also very sorry about your having been bullied. I couldn't possibly have known that this topic would trigger a bad and real experience you had.

So, no worries, since my attempt to help isn't really helping here, I won't bother you anymore. I wish you the best of success with your doggies and in life.

 

********Stop already, post on topic, or to help, or don't post at all************

 

I'm not going to outline how to desensitize Lincoln to other dogs for you again. I posted several lengthy posts to you on another board outlining how I would approach it.

If you're not going to take the time to work with Lincoln and stop putting him in situations he isn't ready to handle, he's not going to get any better. If you want his behavior to improve, you have to work on it. Since you're home all the time, there's really no excuse for you not working on it. You have all day to take him out and work on changing how he feels about other dogs. If I can rehabilitate my reactive dog while working a full time job, then there's no reason why you couldn't.

 

Hi Malinois,

sometimes it takes a while to understand dogs behavior, especially if you are new to seeing it, I'm glad you posted, sounds like you weren't sure what was going on until now. Sometimes people who have been through a lot when young have an extremely high tolerance to stress, even don't see or feel it, because they had to get used to it, they didn't have any other choice.

Perhaps you can think of the situation with your dog as a way for you to change the dynamic of something being allowed to pester another without consequences. I understand you didn't really see it that way until now. If the situation happens again in the future, if another dog is repeatedly barking, growling or even jumping on your dog, find a way either to have the owner leash and remove their dog, or otherwise leash and remove your dog so you change the situation yourself. I think your dog would thank you for it. I'm sure if it got bad enough your dog would eventually bite, we all have our breaking point at some point in time, but it's best for you not to let it get to that state. You're in a situation where you have a lot of power to help your dog out before that ever happens.

Hope this helps,

RH

 

It seems that the smaller dogs NORMALLY think they are big and bad, it is quite funny. But I agree with the others, your dog most likely doesn't find this small dog as a threat.

 

I agree with not allowing the rude dog over anymore. Also, I'd be concerned that with Lincoln's hip issue and eye problem he may become less tolerable of that dog fast.

 

How am I blaming an awful lot on his hips? I think I mentioned his hips once in this thread.

I have mentioned already what supplements he is on in this forum somewhere. Lisa, please decide if you chose to hate me or help me. One second you hate me the next you wish to help me.

He is on 2 1300mg joint pills daily and a probiotic. Hes been on these for about a year.

I recently added some crystal form Glucosamine/MSM in the evening as well as Feedsentials, Sh-Emp oil as well as Sunday Sundae (which is a combo of probiotics etc)

As for working with him I have started to get him to sit when we come to another dog and he gets told "Ignore" and gets a treat. When the dog is past I praise him. If the other dog is reacting to him aggressively, I will do the same. When an off leash dog approaches, I ask the owner to collect their dog and make sure Lincoln is sitting beside me (or standing) and I get in between him and the off leash dog.

 

The cat - either Link's hips are progressing and you need to alter something in his supplements, or it's not about his hips and you have to figure out what is going on. If the new additions don't help, then, it's either not the hips, or those aren't the right products, or you have to alter some other type of behaviour.

As for working with him I have started to get him to sit when we come to another dog and he gets told "Ignore" and gets a treat. When the dog is past I praise him. If the other dog is reacting to him aggressively, I will do the same. When an off leash dog approaches, I ask the owner to collect their dog and make sure Lincoln is sitting beside me (or standing) and I get in between him and the off leash dog.

So, what are you going to do, exactly, if you have that dog over, and the dog starts in at Lincoln?

Having Link sit there, in front of an aggressive dog, and learn to "take it", I suspect is not going to work.

 

Why is it that small dogs feel the need to take on our GSDs? I see it everywhere we go. Its as if they are picking on them.