soa in an 11 month old puppy
My 11 month old Puppy Paddy had an incident where she got into a fight with a 4 month old puppy. There were no warning signs, they were playing and then all I heard was crying from the 4 month old. I ran to the fight and saw my paddy girl within a mm of killing this poor dog. Paddy's eye were glazed over and non responsive to my commands and actions of trying to seperate them. It was almost as if she was blacked out. My cousin kicked her in the ribs and twisted her neck off before the fight was finally broken apart. Within seconds of the fight ending Paddy was crying and trying to play with Milo the puppy whom she fought with. I have never encountered any aggresion towards other dogs before with her. She is a very anxious puppy with humans and strangers but never an animal. She is a very friendy dog who has many friends. She is now considered an aggresive dog who has to wear a basket mussle at all times :-(......... The trainer whom im in constant contact with believes she may have SOA.... Can anyone give me advice on how to help her and see if this is the true cause of her issues ...
Comments
Due to the circumstance you described, Paddy sounds like she had an episode of pure dog aggression. It's very hard to say what caused it unless you had been watching closely to the two dogs prior to the fight. Regardless what triggered Patty there truly nothing that would warrant her attacking a 4 month old puppy. That was totally wrong and she should have been harshly reprimanded for her derogatory actions to the point where she knew there were going to be serious consequences for that type of behavior.
Paddy is still a puppy herself and just coming into adulthood. Her harmones are changing a lot as well as her behavior. This is an important time of her life to socialize her well with other dogs and keep an eye on her to ensure she isn't showing any signs of aggression or dominant behavior. Often people that aren't familiar with dominant behavior don't even realize their dog is doing it. from time to time I see my Bullies doing it and put a stop to it. It can be anything from standing over a dog like they're hovering over them as to say I'm in control of you. A dog may even start humping another dog (regardless if they are male or female) as an act of dominance.
The unfortunate thing about dog fights is that when a dog gets into a fight (with true aggression) it can have an impact on both dogs for a long time. Yes, they might be getting along great right now but I'd be keeping a close eye on her for a good while and correcting all actions she may display that show signs of dominance and/or aggression.
How were the temperaments of her parents? How is Paddy with other dogs she isn't used to seeing on a daily basis? Does she interact with them appropriately or does she act wildly with them almost provoking them to get angered by her actions?
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
Your 4 month old puppy Milo may be provoking Paddy like any puppy of her age but she isn't doing it in a fashion that's mistaken as dominating or aggressive. Paddy should naturally sense this without ever having an urge to attack a young puppy. If she has that capability with an innocent puppy she'd be more prong to doing it with an older dog especially one that showed true dominance towards her.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
As much as we all like to beilive our own dogs are not even capible of harming a fly, it does not
at all sounds like SOA, but more like dog aggression.
You must remember, for this breed to be succesful in its job-they HAD to be able to "block out"
physical pain, sounds, owners touching them, smells and even food-dispite what
posative only trainers would have you beilive-its not somthing that is easily broken up
using a treat with some praise or a choke chain.
Your Paddy very much went into a "red zone" and would very well of Killed that pup had she gotten
the chance to.
Im assuming the puppy was all over her, in her face, nipping playfully, trying to climb on her
snapping playfuly at ehr ears, body blocking her off and on, chasing her.
perhapes the pup bite down a little too hard and caused a reaction, perhapes the pup
got up in Paddys face to try to be domineering and Paddy wasnt haveing it and reacted.
dogs are like humans-we reflect how we are being treated- if your having a nice conversation with
someone and suddenly they begin screaming at you and accusing you of somthing, well your going to begin
yelling back, they hit you, you hit them ect ect.
and also like people, sometimes other people can do or say things to us without intention that really
pisses us off-ever see a guy get punched in the face for talking to another mans girlfreind?
we all have our own threshholds on what we can and cannot take-same for dogs, some dogs
just dont put up with it.
and also remember, Bull Terriers are a domineering, pushy breed by nature, they dont appreciate
being told what to do-THEY are the ones who tell everyone else what to do 9or so they think)
had it been sudden onset aggression-she would have turned onto you or anyone else touching her or nearby
she would not of selected the other dog over a human.
And depsite the myth-truly aggressive dogs donot are if it is a puppy or a cat or an adult dog
they WILL attack them if they feel the need to.
same sex dog aggressive dogs are usually good natured towards puppies and only get pissy towards other intact males/females
because they are competeing and htey feel no thret from puppies.
Ask any purebred APBT owner and youll hear many stories of very stable temperd dogs attacking
puppies because they are truly dog aggressive.
And while we beilive that Bull Terriers are waterd down versions in everyway-the sad thing is
that is not true, because in the Bull Terrier breeding world, dog aggression is very much accepted
and breeders do not take that into account when chooseing a dog to breed/use as a stud other then
will it be a natural mating or an AI?
Even the famous westminster Winner Rufus's owners would not keep intact males in the house around him
and he is thee embassidor for the breed!
My advice is to learn Paddys threshhold because this WILL happen again, it is now become a learned behavior-Paddy has learned that
she is able to release this newfound frustration and aggression-and she will do it again
only the next time she will not wait as long to let it surface.
And donot think this is somthing that can be "trained away" it can be MANAGED and thats it
unless you are Cesar Millian with his facility.
buy a break stick, learn how to use it properly, buy several and keep them handy whenever you go around other dogs.
begin working your butt of teaching paddy leave it, focus, and desensitization around passing other dogs.
excercise her as much as you both can, keep her active so at the end of the day she is too exhuasted to
care about much.
never, ever drop your guard thinking things are going well- while it may appear to be, never take
your eyes off paddy around other dogs!
im not saying she cant ever been around other dogs again-but im saying is-untill you know
specifically what caused the attack-your going to have to keep your eyes peeled.
i wish you the best of luck!