His first time biting, so scary

[alenz21]

So I bring Liam (10 months) all the time to the dog runs, and he's been really good. He's definitely alfa male, but he loves to play with the smallest dogs he can find and he's allways so gentle with them. Of course he uses his paws, but he never completely over powers the other dogs, even though he probably could.

So yesterday one particular dog, about his same size, kept getting aggressive with him each time they tried to play. His owner came by twice to appologize, saying he doesn't know why, but his pup (also 10 mos. old) keeps getting a bit too serious with other dogs. So Liam shugs it off the first two times, but before I knew anything was happening, Liam and the other dog were really fighting, and Liam had him stongly by the neck. The other dog owner was yelling, and I ran over to try to pry Liam's jaw's off his dog's neck. I pulled as hard as I could, and I literally couln't budge them. I was really scared. After Probably 5-7 seconds, Liam let go on his own, my bloody fingers did nothing to help.

Obviosuly I will watch Liam more closely when a dog "plays" roughly with him, but I wanted to know if others have gone through a similar incident, particularly at this age. I'm most conecerned that he'll do this again, especially when it's "less appropriate" to do so. He's been so good with other dogs, particularly the little ones, and I would hate to have to avoid the dog runs for the rest of his life.

On a related note, is there anything to do when he has such a tight grip on another dog?! I pulled and pulled as hard as I could, but I don't think I could do anything until he let up on his own. All joking aside, the only thing I've heard is to put you finger up his butt. I'm looking for an alternative, especially since I didn't try this and I'm not sure it works

Thanks so mucn in advance!

 

[courtney323]

Hi Alenz,

My first thought is, is Liam neutered (and was the other pup neutered)? This is right around the age when males begin to grow out of their 'puppy' stage and straight into adolescence, and thus sexual maturity.

Often times when a dog is intact it causes lots of problems, and they are often either the source of aggression (or the victim of aggression by neutered males).

Outside of this issue, skirmishes happen sometimes at the dog park. You need to make sure that Liam is good with the recall command. You need to be able to capture his attention, seperate him from the other dog and put him in 'time out' for a short period of time afterwards. I would not worry too much about one isolated issue

Good luck

 

[sflowers3217]

Good topic! I have just recently got my first boy. I have always owned female dogs. I am sure that just like us they get sick of someone or something being in their face. Maybe he had enough. Thanx for the heads up I will have to keep an eye on my boy when he gets that age.

mom of
Emma--2yr old female, flashy, brindle
Jazper--10 k old, male, fawn

 

[alenz21]

good as usual

Yep, he's nuetered, not sure about the other dog. I brought him back to the run again this morning, and he was fine w/ the other dogs, as usual.

The one thing I'm glad about is it took 3 times of the other dog being agressive with him before he did anything about it. If he's able to do that, I'm pretty sure this won't happen again because I'll be more careful to watch how other dogs are acting towards him.

I hope that other pooch is ok...

 

[Checkers]

Dont you just hate it when one incident gets you worried about going again :o

Its been said heaps here, that to break up a fight NEVER put your hands in a dogs mouth that is fighting, or grab their collars for that matter. Instead grab your dogs back legs and swing them around away from the other dog. They will let the other dog go to figure out why the hell someone has their legs. They also cant bite you in that position if you are still swinging and holding on. Dont let go until they have calmed down enough to grab the collar safely. Also always try and grab the dominant dog in the fight. If you grab the lesser of the two then the dominant will still try to attack the other one.

Hope this helps if it ever happens again Although i hope it never does!

 

[BentleysMama]

Bentley is 4 months old and hates nippy dogs. Once they start grabbing his skin he starts growling and getting more aggressive. I break it up and try to avoid those dogs but i'm not sure what else to do. He doesn't seem to tolerate it at all but i can't really tell how far he's going to go at this point. He's now got teeth to bite back. It seems to be mainly collie/lab type dogs that do this to him. We had to leave the park yesterday because the only other dog in there wanted to nip at him and he kept going back for more.

 

[SpartanBoxer]

checkers is right about breaking up the fight - grab their back legs and pull them away from the other dog. You can pull pretty hard and you don't have to worry about injuring them. they will let go and you don't have to put your hands in the way of getting bitten.

 

[deesboxers]

Bread for a purpose

The boxer was bread to hold prey, not kill it. They can kill but usually don't, and are slow to anger, but will not be ignored. It is natural for any animal to defend itself, if it can't run away. Yes you need to keep an eye out for agressive dogs that will not back down, because boxers can overpower most any other breed around. Boxers can be intimidated by larger breeds and feel need to show force. Remember boxers can bring down cattle and bear, so even alot of large dogs are no match to the speed and strength the boxer posesses. Try keeping him with the smaller dogs and if an aggressive or larger dog comes around seperate them before anything can happen. Or even alert the other dogs owner to move or hold thier dog for a minute while you gather your dog. There is enough room for everyone, sometimes we need to be nice first for the other guys sake. I'm sure the other dog didn't like being used as a chew toy, even though it was his own fault.

 

[natesmom]

distraction

I take my Nate to an off leash park, normally there are no incidents. I am a small person and have a disability in my hand so I needed a way to break up chaos without harming myself. I take a squirt gun aka "super soaker" and fill it with water and a teaspoon of lemon juice. I have only had to use it once, but it WORKS the fight stopped and they tried to find the source of the sour water Keep it away from the dogs eyes it will irritate them.