NEED ADVICE, PLEASE HELP!

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NEED ADVICE, PLEASE HELP!

Posted : 7/18/2006 12:32:50 PM

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and need some advice. okay, first of all I ,would like to say thank you for everyone who has posted threads about dog agression. Your threads have helped me somewhat about what I should do about my own dog's problem. So here's the story... My sister brought her dog over to my house so that we could watch him while she was out of town. The day she brought him over we attempted to introduce him to my dog. My dog is an Australian Shepard male. Well, things didn't go well when we introduced them to each other. As soon as we brought her dog into our backyard to introduce him to my dog, my dog sniffed him then attacked him. It was very scary. Up until that time my dog had not shown any signs of agression. The attack on my sister's dog was really weird.Prior to that incident I would take my dog kylo for walks and when he saw other dogs regardless of the other dog's gender, he would be fine with them. When he would see them he would sit down right beside me and quietly observe them from a distance. No growling, barking or anything, he just sat there quietly. Now, do you think we might have made the mistake of introducing them in my backyard instead of on neutral territory? I mean because my dog as well as other dogs i'm sure, think of the backyard as their territory. Here is the weird part, along with having kylo, we also have three other dogs. Two small chihuahuas and a pit bull. After this incident with my sister's dog I thought for sure kylo would want to attack my other three dogs. Nope, that wasn't the case at all. After the attack, kylo was still perfectly fine with my other three dogs, as usual. He played with them, ran around them, like nothing had even happened. Now I have to say that one of my chihuahuas is as small as a rat. She is so tiny. The next day after the incident, I took her in my back yard and guess what? My dog kylo sniffed her and then walked away to go play with my other dogs. As if he was saying, "Okay she's fine, I can go now." Is that wierd or what? That same morning I took my sister's other dog zoey out in my backyard as well, and to my suprise, he was just as okay with her as my female chihuahua. Now I'm just wondering, when kylo attacked my sister's dog, was it because he was protecting his territory? And also, could it be that he doesn't like other male dogs beside my own in his territory. I don't know, but I think that he was just protecting his territory and felt threatened by another male dog. Like I said before, after this happened he has been fine with my family and I and our other dogs, and hasn't shown any signs of agression since then. What do you think? Do you think I should be worried about what happened? Did my family and I make the mistake of improperly introducing them the way we did? I honestly believe that if we had introduced them on neutral territory , everything would have been fine. PLEASE GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK AND OPINIONS, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATED THEM!

mrv

Posted : 7/18/2006 12:52:40 PM

water under the bridge. Dogs do best when introduced on neutral territory.

The problem now is how to recover from a shakey start. Do not allow the dogs together off lead. Allow them seperate time in the yard. Dont try for one big happy family sharing the same vacation home. Feed the dogs seperately and make sure they can not get close to each other while eating. Stop any free feeding currently going on. Monitor use and access to toys carefully. Monitor the time you spend petting and playing with your sister's dog. All of those behaviors/activities can trigger other events if not carefully managed.

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Posted : 7/18/2006 1:47:16 PM

ORIGINAL: mrv

water under the bridge. Dogs do best when introduced on neutral territory.

The problem now is how to recover from a shakey start. Do not allow the dogs together off lead. Allow them seperate time in the yard. Dont try for one big happy family sharing the same vacation home. Feed the dogs seperately and make sure they can not get close to each other while eating. Stop any free feeding currently going on. Monitor use and access to toys carefully. Monitor the time you spend petting and playing with your sister's dog. All of those behaviors/activities can trigger other events if not carefully managed.

Ditto. Keep a eye on them and dont leave them alone, feed them together,and keep toys or treats seperate. Next time you introduce a strange dog to yours do it on neutral territory versus your backyard, that makes a world of difference!