lefty's random dog thread.

[Louis XIV]

Andy Murrays Border Terriers Maggie May and Rusty present his olympic medals

 

[Bakes11771]

Meet Daisy,

She is a 7yr old Black Lab/German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix. I got her from the Humane Society when I was in college when she was 7 weeks. She was born there. Pick of the litter. I chose her because of her eyebrows. Her siblings only had dots above their eyes (typical of Rottweilers). I liked them enough to overlook the fact that she pooped and then stepped in it. She is very protective of me and growls at the police when they pull me over, and doesn't like when strangers reach out to shake my hand. Her sense of purpose is protecting the home from anything outside of it. She likes to chase the wild turkeys and deer away. She is misunderstood by many in my neighborhood that think you can judge a dog's temperament by its coloring. When a little white dog barks, people say "how cute", but if Daisy behaves the same way they say "what a vicious dog". She is also a great swimmer and incredibly strong for her size. (about 62lbs). She understands a lot of words, and is good at understanding people and their patterns. She tore her ACL last winter, and had surgery to have her knee reconstructed to work without it. She's almost as good as new, but still leans on her good leg when standing. I was told that the procedure is as routine for a board certified surgeon as a spay/neuter is for a regular vet, and that they do the same surgery on police dogs and they are able go back in to service. They told me to expect arthritis in that knee as she gets older. She isn't much concerned about fashion, but I thought I'd introduce her none-the-less.

 

[Bakes11771]

Not sure if this has been posted previously:

Ask the USDA to stop unlicensed puppy mills.

 

[dfagdfsh]

well, we stopped with the chicken and she's been eating some of her kibble, so that's good. i've also found that if i put it out in a plastic bowl and not her dogfood bowl she's far more interested in it. so who's smarted now dog!

 

[lefty]

Let's see how long it takes for your dog to convince you to feed her out of a crystal bowl from Tiffany's.

Bakes, cute dog. You may want to edit a lot of that HSUS post out as it takes up a lot of real estate. Just keep the relevant link. Personally, I'm not a fan of the organization, but other's may be.

lefty

 

[Louis XIV]

Daisy looks lovely, I really like that shape of head one can find mostly in bigger dogs.
Her shiny coat let's me think you take good care of her.

 

[Thor]

Sorry for the spam but I couldn't resist- I finally found the pics I was looking for ...back when she was young and fearless (or dumb) ...my GF's Havanese playing with the big dog.

(No Havanese were harmed in the taking of these photos)

 

[Bakes11771]

Daisy looks lovely, I really like that shape of head one can find mostly in bigger dogs.
Her shiny coat let's me think you take good care of her.

Thanks for the compliment. I attribute it to a good diet. (Wellness mixed with Nutro Lamb and Rice Formula, coated in about a teaspoon of stoneyfield non-fat organic yogurt.)
Quote:

Awesome pics Thor. My GF in college had a shih tzu and they used to play that same way.

 

[nootje]

Got bit today by the Hovawart of my inlaws.

Started a run with him in the fields and came up a labrador, of which another dog owner said hat allthough rowdy it was a good dog.
Apparently it didnt matter, as Luke laid into him within 30 seconds. What set him off I dont know.
Dove between the two dogs, grabbing them both by the collar, and got bitten in the process.
Now, with a bleeding hand holding Luke, and releasing the lab I told the owner to keep his dog away. Instead, the guy just lets him walk around and get into the vincinity of Luke again.
Now I'm pissed off so I give Luke a good poke to quiet him down, and threaten the lab with the same to get him to walk away, which he does.
As a thank you the owner told me that his dog didnt start this, so I shouldnt threaten his dog. Ffin weakling standing by with this sheepish look and letting me do all the work.

Now that I've vented, any thoughts on how to get this dominance behavior toward other dogs to lower a bit?
i've threatened to cut off his balls numerous times today as I tended to the cuts, but short of really castrating him (its not my dog, so not my call, and if it were, he would have had a lot more discipline.) is there anything you can do to make him a bit more accommodating toward other dogs.

Its a barely 1 year old Hovawart of 88 pounds.

 

[HansderHund]



Got bit today by the Hovawart of my inlaws.
Started a run with him in the fields and came up a labrador, of which another dog owner said hat allthough rowdy it was a good dog.
Apparently it didnt matter, as Luke laid into him within 30 seconds. What set him off I dont know.
Dove between the two dogs, grabbing them both by the collar, and got bitten in the process.
Now, with a bleeding hand holding Luke, and releasing the lab I told the owner to keep his dog away. Instead, the guy just lets him walk around and get into the vincinity of Luke again.
Now I'm pissed off so I give Luke a good poke to quiet him down, and threaten the lab with the same to get him to walk away, which he does.
As a thank you the owner told me that his dog didnt start this, so I shouldnt threaten his dog. Ffin weakling standing by with this sheepish look and letting me do all the work.
Now that I've vented, any thoughts on how to get this dominance behavior toward other dogs to lower a bit?
i've threatened to cut off his balls numerous times today as I tended to the cuts, but short of really castrating him (its not my dog, so not my call, and if it were, he would have had a lot more discipline.) is there anything you can do to make him a bit more accommodating toward other dogs.
Its a barely 1 year old Hovawart of 88 pounds.

It's a common problem that i face as well. My first tip is ridiculous but sometimes works...carry an umbrella. If you see an off-leash dog coming up to you, opening an umbrella often scares them away. We have street punks that always own dogs and they're always off leash, this works well.

Our dog, I think I've determined, is set off by other uncastrated males. I couldn't figure it out for the longest time and after the past two weeks of really paying attention, it became fairly clear. Ours goes into a trance...low to the ground, frozen and staring at the other dog and then BOOM, he goes off barking and pulling. I've been able to side-step this by distracting him. I keep him out of his trance with sausage and remind him how good he's being when he's not barking at the other dog. I will keep giving him commands...sit, lay, heel. It keeps him focused on me, which is important. As soon as I lose his attention for a split second, he's gone until we pass. However, I've learned that if I can keep him focused on myself by saying "good, good" as we're approaching, he does well and has learned that no bark = piece of sausage.

 

[Cold Iron]

Got bit today by the Hovawart of my inlaws.
Started a run with him in the fields and came up a labrador, of which another dog owner said hat allthough rowdy it was a good dog.
Apparently it didnt matter, as Luke laid into him within 30 seconds. What set him off I dont know.
Dove between the two dogs, grabbing them both by the collar, and got bitten in the process.
Now, with a bleeding hand holding Luke, and releasing the lab I told the owner to keep his dog away. Instead, the guy just lets him walk around and get into the vincinity of Luke again.
Now I'm pissed off so I give Luke a good poke to quiet him down, and threaten the lab with the same to get him to walk away, which he does.
As a thank you the owner told me that his dog didnt start this, so I shouldnt threaten his dog. Ffin weakling standing by with this sheepish look and letting me do all the work.
Now that I've vented, any thoughts on how to get this dominance behavior toward other dogs to lower a bit?
i've threatened to cut off his balls numerous times today as I tended to the cuts, but short of really castrating him (its not my dog, so not my call, and if it were, he would have had a lot more discipline.) is there anything you can do to make him a bit more accommodating toward other dogs.
Its a barely 1 year old Hovawart of 88 pounds.

There is a difference between dominance and aggression although many times the aggression is partly caused by dominance. When I got my Toller the breeder made me read "Leader of the Pack" by Nancy Baer which I thought was crazy as I had owned quite a few dogs of other breeds before without any issue. Turned out that it was worth every minute of reading and I highly recommend it for anyone having to deal with a dominant breed. Having an intact male that is by nature dominant can be a handful and a lot of work. First you have to make sure that the dog knows it is not dominant over you and the family. And obedience training is extremely important, HH gave a perfect example of that and how to use it. Socialization with other dogs should only come once the dog is under full control. Mine did not start off by attacking but mounting other dogs which is the normal dominance trait. And I mean mounting every dog, didn't matter how big or small the other dogs were. I ended up using the e-collar in addition to a long check cord but you have to be very careful because the dog can feel it is the other dog attacking him instead of the collar and cause him to fight. It took lots and lots of time and work to get where we are today. Which is much better but still isn't perfect every time, so I try to avoid the situation from happening if possible.

 

[lefty]

First off, take care of your hand. Lot's of cleaning and keep airing it out. Don't get in the middle of a fight unless you have two handlers and leads.

M to M dominance is tough to curtail, The best you can do is manage it. We would deal with this often and put male dogs into close proximity but that was an obedience exercise more than a way to curb dominance. And the dogs were always on lead. No matter what you do, male dogs will fight and the Hovawart is a tough dog. He is still a puppy so this may get worse.

I know this isn't your dog but as the others have said: more OB training and working through distraction. Always on lead. No off-lead runs unless you are in a secure area. If you have to walk with other dogs, do so for a long time while on lead before you even consider letting them off.

Not sure how your inlaws will handle this dog when he gets mature.

lefty

 

[Thor]

I have a similar issue with my intact Terv. As Cold Iron mentioned, it really is a dominance thing as opposed to aggression. He is for the most part “well socialized”- grew up in a city, spent his formative years at a dog park daily. Has had male (neutered and not) “friends” with whom he played and was even submissive too. Its just certain male dogs…typically his age or younger and his size or larger.. They meet, they do not really do the butt sniffing thing much- just a quick sniff and then its should-to-shoulder, seeing who can hold their head higher and staring at each other out of the corner of their eyes- When I see that happening, I hold my breath and try to intervene/distract ASAP. It can go either way at that point. It happened yesterday with a Siberian Husky that came quickly out of nowhere from behind us and it was ball dropped, tail up and time to meet the intruder and posture…they were eye to eye for a second when I quickly whistled loudly and grabbed the ball and he turned from the other dog and was ready to go…I praised him vigorously and was quite proud of him as I was sure it was going to get ugly…I quickly put him on leash and moved away from the Husky who continued to hang around and completely ignore their owner who was on a bike far away and calling to no avail.

Sometimes **** just happens- at a trail head in Montana on a winters day we were getting ready to go for a hike when a Spaniel leapt from their car and they immediately went at it…trying to break up a dog fight on an icy parking lot is not fun…I got a nice deep bruise on my forearm from someone’s bite- luckily winter clothes offered some protection.

…another time, after meeting a Doberman- sniffing and actually moving on…they both decided the heck with that and from 30yrds away both ran full steam at each other and met in mid air like some sort of video game…the Doberman landed with a thud on its back and it was over as quickly as it started…

I find the best defense to this stuff is really a good offense. I assume the worst and go from there. I try to avoid him meeting new dogs whilst he is off leash. If I see another dog coming I will put him on leash. I really try to size up the other dog before interaction- if its female, or really goofy and submissive, or small then its probably ok. (He does discipline puppies and small males sometimes when they get in his face- he sits on them with his chest and yells- its quite fascinating actually as he really isn’t doing anything more than yelling…hard for the other owner to see that though ) (He also does try to mount the ladies on occasion but when they tell him off he listens and backs off)

If we are on leash and something does start- I drop the leash and let him defend himself…I try to break up fights by grabbing to the haunches and pulling back- hard to find his collar in all that fur…sometimes just a handful of scruff will work with a foot in the other dog’s face. I will ask owners if their dog is male or female. I will often put him in a down stay until the other male passes. When other owners ask if he is “friendly”, I say “it depends” . He really is not that interested in other dogs so, it really helps to keep him busy with a ball- when focused on his ball he will run right by other dogs, ignoring them completely (usually).


Sorry this is so long- but I have been dealing with this daily for years now- so, it is on my mind…I have been told that castration may not really change his dominant behavior….but it may change the way other males dogs react to him which is part of the problem.

 

[nootje]

Thanks for the responses guys, its appreciated.

As for the dominance/aggression, its mostly dominance. As lefty put so rightly, the breed is a lot of dog and should be handled with care. Sadly, I too have my doubts about the inlaws handling him long term, but we'll see. I believe I've posted something about that here in the past as well. They have him under control for now, and it looks like that this incident did made them realize that he does need that extra training. I dont like to mess around with someone else's dogs, but I guess i'll have no choice if I still want to be able to run with him. Strict obedience it is, and at least i'll have him under control.

As for the hand, i'm lucky that i'm still inoculated for tetanus from a journey to Jordan a few years back. Let it soak in biotex for an hour to clean everything out and just let it dry without bandages. Doesn't look like there will be complications. I don't mind getting into fights, i'm a rather large guy and strong enough to keep two dogs apart but there will always be some dogs I wont mess with. This situation just was my responsibility to act upon, although it was annoying that the other didn't help..

 

[IronRock]



Dove between the two dogs, grabbing them both by the collar, and got bitten in the process.

I think it's actually easier to separate big breeds than it is the small ones. When our old terrier ***** got latched on to something it was a nightmare trying to get a release... Anyway, to avoid getting bitten again keep your hands AWAY from the collar/head area. It's a natural instinct to want to get the danger end of the dog away from what ever its got hold of but by grabbing the collar you are inviting a bite as the dog tries to protect its vulnerable neck area.

Instead target the dog who is biting and holding, get behind it quickly but quietly, grab it with both hands under its hips, just in front of the back legs and lift up nice and high. Whilst you are lifting walk backwards and firmly swinging the dog away from the other animal so that it has to hop away on its front paws. The dog, when confronted with this unusual sensation, will release from the bite. Hopefully at this point the other owner will come and leash up the other dog. Also stay quiet, seems obvious that shouting will make stress levels higher and heighten aggression but it is damn hard not to shout at fighting dogs.

Seems like the Hovawart is a young guy, concentrate on obedience and distraction training around other animals, as Left says, WITH LEASH ON.