Dog attack question

Discodog

westies4ever wrote: »

my last post on this as i appreciate we're drifting off thread - but totally agreed! i hear it so often when people meet me 'ooh a westie - they're very crabby wee dogs arent they - but yours seem nice'. my vet also says that mine are the only friendly westies he has on his client list - mine are teddy bears and if met with a aggression from a person or other dog they run a mile!

as for OP - if i'd had a hurley the day mine was attacked - i'd have used it in a heartbeat.

My three meet two Westies quite often. If their owner is walking them they get defensive - if their neighbour is walking them they get on fine with my three

DBB

FOr me, this article by David Ryan, Chairman of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) sums up the dominance misapprehensions quite nicely. It's too long to post here, but well worth a careful and considered read:
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die

Here's another nice article from the Dog Welfare Campaign:
http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/why-not-dominance.php

Having read the latter one, you might want to go on to read this:
http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/if-not-dominance.php

When you're finished reading the latter two, have a read of this one:
http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/status-reduction-programmes.php

Finally for now, an article by Ian Dunbar on the subject:
http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/misconceptions-mythical-alpha-dog

I hope these go some way to explaining to people what it's all about, why dominance is an oft-misinterpreted term, and the explanations for behaviours which have been traditionally been explained using the dominance excuse.
Happy reading!

Ronnie Beck

DBB wrote: »

FOr me, this article by David Ryan, Chairman of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) sums up the dominance misapprehensions quite nicely. It's too long to post here, but well worth a careful and considered read:
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die

Here's another nice article from the Dog Welfare Campaign:
http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/why-not-dominance.php

Having read the latter one, you might want to go on to read this:
http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/if-not-dominance.php

When you're finished reading the latter two, have a read of this one:
http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/status-reduction-programmes.php

Finally for now, an article by Ian Dunbar on the subject:
http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/misconceptions-mythical-alpha-dog

I hope these go some way to explaining to people what it's all about, why dominance is an oft-misinterpreted term, and the explanations for behaviours which have been traditionally been explained using the dominance excuse.
Happy reading!

Good stuff there dbb.

I was at a friend of a friends house before and their dog took a leak on the carpet. The guy there clipped the dog across the nose and threw it out the back went on about it trying to mark his territory a show his dominance but sure it was just a pup that needed to piss. It was only about twelve weeks old. There is alot of misinformation out there.

john t

unbelievable the op was asking advice on what too do if dog attacked , and last 15 or so posts talk about wolves, dominance, alpha, which bear no remote insight too original post.... too many `experts` get lost in their blinkered opinion and cant get their point acroos in one post..

Ronnie Beck

john t wrote: »

unbelievable the op was asking advice on what too do if dog attacked , and last 15 or so posts talk about wolves, dominance, alpha, which bear no remote insight too original post.... too many `experts` get lost in their blinkered opinion and cant get their point acroos in one post..

It is relevant. If people were better educated in dogs behavior and training there would be less incidents of dogs attacking other dogs.

Discodog

john t wrote: »

unbelievable the op was asking advice on what too do if dog attacked , and last 15 or so posts talk about wolves, dominance, alpha, which bear no remote insight too original post.... too many `experts` get lost in their blinkered opinion and cant get their point acroos in one post..

It's totally relevant. People expect simple easy answers & don't realise that everything in animal behaviour happens for a reason. Rather than "blinkered opinion" I see a lot of people who are willing to give up their time to try & explain the reasons why certain behaviours occur. These reasons are also highly relevant to what you should do if an attack happens.

Your advice was to stick your hands into the middle of a dogfight. You might think that relevant whereas I see it as insane. But if you found the last 15 posts irrelevant then don't read them - even if they might explain why you shouldn't try to grab fighting dogs.

Cherry Blossom

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

It is relevant. If people were better educated in dogs behavior and training there would be less incidents of dogs attacking other dogs.

The OPs dog did not attack anyone, so none of this is relevant to this thread.

Mod Post : If anyone wants to have a discussion on packs and dominance theory feel free to do so, just don't high-jack inappropriate threads for the purpose.

Discodog

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

The OPs dog did not attack anyone, so none of this is relevant to the this thread.

Mod Post : If anyone wants to have a discussion on packs and dominance theory feel free to do so, just don't high-jack inappropriate threads for the purpose.

It's totally relevant because the OP dogs was attacked - what's the difference ?

Cherry Blossom

Here's a reminder of the OP's query, any more posts are to be directly relevant to it.

Snake Pliisken wrote: »

. . . Insert description of events and history of dogs here . . .

Was I right to protect my dog? I've been told that Kerry Blues are supposed to be muzzled when out in public, any truth in that?

john t

in my post i said use your hands not kick or use weapon.. you wait for a moment when you can straddle aggressive dog and use your hands too suppreess its anger... never said jump in with hands..... op dog was attacked so easy too walk around stradddle angry dog amnd restrain...i mean dog lovers dont kick dogs...bad owners have our dog pounds full not bad dogs....when i say experts with blinkers i mean dog lovers without open mind too other peoples situation who love their dog... but yes i can and have held 2 angry dogs apart ....

Discodog

I would happily respond to your post but it would be against the Moderators direction.

john t

im not weak so go for it...

Cú Giobach

Snake Pliisken wrote: »

Was I right to protect my dog?

That is up to you and your morals, but if one of my dogs were to be attacked, I would do whatever is in my power to protect them, they are family and instinct would take over, also, the more aggression we would be faced with, the more aggression would be used, no question whatsoever.
Only once have I ever been in the situation where things got very badly out of hand, cycling with one of my dogs last summer we passed a farmhouse with about 7/8 dogs, they all ran at us, I jumped off the bike and put it between my dog and the pack. As dogs do, they came in at all angles and the "top" dog went straight for mine (no warning or sizing up), rapidly followed by about 4 others.
I went straight into "fight" mode without thinking, and with an almighty roar joined the fray, without going into details I showed the "pack" we weren't going to be a pushover and they eventually backed off.
In such a situation there is no time for thinking or rationalisation you just do what has to be done, we are all animals and all animals will instinctively fight to protect themselves their family or their pack when backed into a corner.