Dog Community

Advice needed

Posted : 6/15/2006 9:19:08 AM

I need a bit of advice. I have a 14 month old intact male Pharaoh hound. He's great with all other dogs except two specific ones. He, in fact, wants to kill these dogs. He's gone to great lengths to coordinate attacks on one of them, involving several of his extended pack dogs in the process.

Xerxes is a dog park dog and the history that he has with these two dogs are that they attacked him several times unprovoked. Once was at the water spigot and he was waiting for a drink and dog #1 attacked him from behind. (apparently this is dog #1's modus operandi as he's been kicked out of the park for doing this to several dogs.) This dog is a once a month or less often dog so I'm not too worried about him.

Dog #2 likes to interrupt X while he's wrestling or playing with friends. This interruption usually starts out with nipping and then goes on to a biting and pinning while growling and baring teeth. It has escalated once to the "on hind legs, chest bumping, vicious growling and snapping" state. And X coordinated an attack with one of his "packmates" on this dog, effectively blindsiding him from two directions. They had about 3 seconds of fight time before it was broken up. There were no injuries. About 2 weeks after that incident X saw Dog #2 enter the park, and walked up to him, circled and postured, saying in dog speak "now's not the time, but I remember you, I know who you are." Needless to say I took X out of the park.

Neutering is not an option as X is a showdog. Any suggestions other than just leaving X on lead or leaving the park when these dogs are around? Everyone I've talked to about this problem has said that

Hs never forget and he will always want this dog dead...even if we don't see him for a few years.

The reason I ask is that we saw the dog#2 last night and all X did was stare at the dog the whole time. I personally don't think he can be trusted around either of these dogs.

(The names have been changed to protect the identities of the dogs in question. [

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])

ewin0210

Posted : 6/15/2006 3:19:21 PM

I'm not sure how your park is situated, but the one I go to has trails and woods. If I ever have issues with any dog that comes to the park, I take my dog for a walk instead. Though my dog is generally passive(likes to hide between momma's legs if someone's being mean) I always say that a good recall is priceless. I would work on his recall and if you see that dog(#1 or #2) at the park keep calling him to you and rewarding him for paying attention to you instead. And if your park is big enough perhaps going to a secluded part and playing frisbee or fetch. How did the owners respond to these occurences?

Xerxes

Posted : 6/15/2006 3:36:19 PM

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately our park is small...about one acre fenced. Recall with a sighthound is never 100%. Xerxes recall is about 60-90% depending on many circumstances. If he's "on a mission" his recall is 0%. That is typical with sighthounds. His focus when he's hunting squirrels is 100%, another dog can come right up on him, sniff him and almost anything else and he'll not even acknowledge the dog.

As for the other owners, dog #1's owner was nonchalant about it, even combative with me when I told him that he needed to control his dog. (AFTER his dog attacked mine.)

Owner #2 knows that his dog has problems and he's trying to control his dog's behavior. (Whoever adopted this dog to this guy made a huge mistake...strong willed, strong bodied dog [read alpha male] weaker, gentle, uneducated older man; not exactly the match of a lifetime.) He's taking suggestions at behavior modification but he really has no idea.

I have resigned myself to leashing him every time that dog comes around, or just vacating the park. I guess two out of over 100 dogs is somewhat acceptable.

schleide

Posted : 6/15/2006 4:39:21 PM

We have a similar situation in our park with Wesley - there are 2 dogs he doesn't get along with. Dog #1 had a fight with Wesley over a toy about 6 months ago and cannot be around Wesley since (goes into attack mode each time) - so, his owners do not bring that dog int he park if Wesley is there. Dog #2 is a smaller male, not neutered, and Wesley has something against him. They have had 2 spats (the first not too bad, the second would have escalated if I hadn't been right there watching and knew how to read Wes) - since the second incident, we leave the park or leash Wesely if they are coming in. The unwritten rule around here is that the person with the dog with the

roblem is responsilbe for trying to make sure nothing happens - so where the other dog has an issue with Wes - his owner has to keep him out while we are there, where it is Wes with the problem, we are responsible to leave if they want to play in th park... I think that is the fairest way...

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Posted : 6/15/2006 4:39:43 PM

Well if you are absoltly positive that its just these two dogs I'd say your dog has a darn good right to feel the way he does.....those big ole meanies! Ok I know this may sound goofy but have you ever just not liked a person....well just because? I know, I know, not very mature of me but hey it happens. I say no matter what, keep them away from your baby, who know if they could gang up on him. I wouldnt try to push them into getting along, I'd just keep on walking! Keep us posted

Xerxes

Posted : 6/15/2006 8:51:08 PM

thanks schleide, that makes a lot of sense and it seems fair. I think that's probably best for all involved if we keep our dogs seperated but still allowed full access to the park. So if I see the guy coming in, I'll just leash my monster and take a walk. And I've got a great group of friends that tell me if they see dog #2 walk in and I'm sunaware.

sheprano: so far it's just those two dogs. He does have a little problem with most boxers though, as he was bounced on by one when he was little. But with them it's a quick chase and a nip on the rump to say "don't bounce on me and everything's fine." I keep a pretty close eye on X when we're at the park. He plays well and socializes with lots of others. He's got greeting behaviors down for even the most anti-social dogs. I'll keep an eye out for any other behaviors...

ewin0210

Posted : 6/16/2006 8:22:19 AM

Xerxes, sighthound, I understand now about the recall thing. Its a much different story with my weim. If I so much as turn my back on him he's charging across the park making sure I'm not going anywhere without him. Maybe you could have him drag a long lead(50 feet) when those dogs are around. That way if he doesn't listen you can grab hold and make him listen. You might also find that it slows him down enough to not want to pursue the dog because he'd be at a disadvantage.

glenmar

Posted : 6/16/2006 10:09:52 AM

Beware those drag lines tho...they are wonderful, but be sure you're legs and ankles are WELL protected. It will take weeks for my ankle to heal and I'll ALWAYS have a quarter inch scar running fully half way around my leg!

ewin0210

Posted : 6/16/2006 11:02:13 AM

Ouch Glenda! I'm always on my toes at the dogpark. People have gotten seriously injured by zooming dogs(ie: broken bones from dogs crashing into them).

glenmar

Posted : 6/16/2006 11:24:06 AM

I promise you that I said something MUCH stronger than OUCH! LOL!! Blasphemy comes to mind regarding what can spewing out of MY mouth!

My biggest concern right now is being able to actually do the MS Walk next week on my FEET and not in a rented wheelchair! I always thought that raising the money was the most important part of the whole thing, but actually, from the reaction of my Sis who I was able to walk WITH last year and other MS sufferers, the actual walking means the world to them......so by golly, I'll BE there!

Xerxes

Posted : 6/17/2006 8:37:06 AM

Thanks for all the replies. The most practical solution is going to be avoidance. I don't think it's fair to the other dogs and owners to have to watch out for my guy. He also has a high pack status within the park and can (and has) bent other dogs to do his bidding. (Dogs will present him with balls or toys, several females run over to him and roll themselves onto their backs...it's funny but reinforces his status in his mind.) So to keep order we'll just pick up and leave if those dogs show up, or not go in at all if they're there.

Again thanks everyone, I'll keep you posted.