Aggressiveness in dogs

Santa Claus

So we adopted two 9 year old dogs earlier this summer and so far so good.
We’re out of the house for a few hours each day so figured older dogs would be better suited to us as they’d sleep during the day and 2 of them would keep each other company.

They are a black collie/terrier cross and a small wire haired terrier. They have lived together since pups and when their owner died they went to a shelter and we got them there 4 weeks after they were surrendered. The shelter had no details about their history etc, just the surrender form so we have no idea of where they lived etc.

They’re quite friendly dogs but are always a bit agressive around bigger dogs. One of them was attacked by a German Shepard from down the road a few weeks ago but no harm done thankfully.
As a result my wife is very cautious bringing them out when other dogs are loose around the road. Tonight we were putting them in the car to go for a walk when our next door neighbour came over to chat outside the house. She was fussing over the dogs and her German Shepard (not the same German Shepard that had attacked our dog previously) came over and our 2 dogs attacked him. The collie cross went straight for the German Shepard’s throat and the terrier was hanging off him as the German Shepard was trying to retreat to his own house. We had to fight the 3 dogs to break them up and this really shook us and the neighbours up.

Any suggestions on how to handle this, they’re fine in the groomers and in the dog park off the leads but went for the neighbours dog and were so vicious it’s scared us.
Is there way to try and prevent this occurring again in the future, would training help?

em_cat

You may need to seek a behaviourist as there will be some foundation training to put in place. We are going through this with our rescue, brilliant with resident dogs in the office, at the groomers and off lead as long as the other dog is polite.

However he becomes a very vocal devil on a lead with close passes. He has nipped a dog in the neck, once. We muzzle trained him, but no longer need it as he is progressing.

I know what it feels like to be frightened of your own dog around others.

I had to learn that I can’t control all the other idiots with dogs, but I can work to keep ours at a safe distance for him.

Your dogs may never be comfortable around other dogs, it can be managed but only if your willing to put in the effort, also it can be exhausting at times but extremely rewarding.

Glass fused light

Santa Claus wrote: »

They are a black collie/terrier cross and a small wire haired terrier.

being terriers is a big part if the problem. That breed is is very much in the yappy, snappy territory. Unfortunately going for or being aggressive with bigger dogs would not be unusual as they can be bossy brats and once they comitt they are full on 100%.
first question is how did they react to the humans who were breaking up the fight?
Not being judgemental but how much experience do you have with dogs?