[Chapstaff]

Tala has been getting a bit snappy around other dogs for a few months now. I no longer have Geoff's dog Brychan round to play (next door's Springer) as they weren't comfortable around each other any more. They would fall out over little things like a leaf, & I noticed Tala just wasn't interested in him, she just wanted to play with me. I admit I wasn't surprised as Staffs often aren't doggie dogs, they're more people dogs, but I was hoping!
They still have an occasional walk together & she's always happy to see him, they run around offlead with no problems, but that is probably cos Brych runs off & does his own thing most of the time.

Today Geoff & I took the dogs over the fields to meet up with a chap from North Northants Badgers. We wanted to show him a myriad of badger activity in the fields where we walk that are soon to be desecrated into a housing estate.
Anyway this chap brought his dog with him, a beautiful Border Collie. I kept Tala onlead for a few minutes while they met & when I saw neither dog was showing any interest in the other I let Tala off, but kept a very close eye on her. We walked the dogs round the field looking at setts for about 20 minutes with no problems at all. He went to sniff her bum at one point & I gently redirected him & she didn't even notice. I was feeling well chuffed. But a bit later he decided to do a Billy Whizz & charged at her. I knew it would be trouble & sure enough she grabbed him & there was a lot of snarling & growling & rolling over & over. It was over in probably less than 10 seconds when we managed to grab them & pull them apart.
Both dogs seemed fine, though he didn't really check his dog over very thoroughly. I noticed Tala had blood on her teeth so hope his dog is ok.

I have his card & have been trying to ring him, but no reply yet. If his dog is hurt I shall of course offer to pay any vet's bill.

[tangles]

Oh Caroline, how awful, I bet those 10 seconds seemed like ages. It can flare up so quickly. I hope they are both ok

[MChambers]

That's too bad. I hope it doesn't cause any problems for you or Tala in the future

I think you handled it all quite well, I don't think you could have done anything differently since you took it slowly and watched them carefully! I hope the other dog is ok too, it could be that Tala caught her own cheek or gum with a tooth and had a bit of blood from that. Shaka's done that before just playing rough with other huskies.

for both of you after the rough experience.

[Grimalkin]

Hope you and both the dogs are ok

[Ryn26]

Hope everyone is OK Sorry to hear that her and Brychan no longer get on so well, used to love the pics of them together.

[Chapstaff]

tangles, on 21 March 2010 - 06:02 PM, said:

Oh Caroline, how awful, I bet those 10 seconds seemed like ages. It can flare up so quickly. I hope they are both ok

Thanks - those 10 secs felt like minutes

MChambers, on 21 March 2010 - 06:05 PM, said:

That's too bad. I hope it doesn't cause any problems for you or Tala in the future

I think you handled it all quite well, I don't think you could have done anything differently since you took it slowly and watched them carefully! I hope the other dog is ok too, it could be that Tala caught her own cheek or gum with a tooth and had a bit of blood from that. Shaka's done that before just playing rough with other huskies.

for both of you after the rough experience.

Thanks - that means a lot I hope it was just her gum she caught

Grimalkin, on 21 March 2010 - 06:05 PM, said:

Hope you and both the dogs are ok

I'm surprised at how calm I am/was. When my late Cleo had her one & only fight I was in tears & shaking, this wasn't any less a fight than that

[Chapstaff]

Ryn26, on 21 March 2010 - 06:11 PM, said:

Hope everyone is OK Sorry to hear that her and Brychan no longer get on so well, used to love the pics of them together.

Thanks Kathy there'll still be photos of them together, but on the move

[bugs]

Quote

I'm surprised at how calm I am/was. When my late Cleo had her one & only fight I was in tears & shaking, this wasn't any less a fight than that

You've already had your first experience Tat, so this time you reacted calmly. You're also a much more experienced owner now.

Hope both the dogs are okay, and as Mercedes has said, you did everything you should do. Tala obviously felt threatened when the BC did zoomies, and reacted to it.
I'm really sorry that she and Brychan no longer play like they did, it was always loving watching them, but you know your dog.

[Chapstaff]

Thanks Sue - I think I was wanting reassurance that I didn't do anything too wrong I feel a bit better now.

[Steve]

Im sorry that Tala reacted badly,but dont beat yourself up about it Tat.I know you say she had blood on her teeth,but a little blood does go a long long way so my guess if she nipped the Collies skin.Also,the old saying that a dogs bark is worse than its bite is oh so true.They can sound horrific when fighting or playing infact,but often they make none or hardly any contact.

You did everything right by introducing them carefully and you wasnt to know it would end this way.

[K9fan]

Sorry to hear this Tat, I know that feeling of time standing still all to well. You handled the situation well, remaining calm is the most important thing....something that took me a while to grasp

for you all.

[Loopy Lou]

So sorry to hear Tala had a fight, and that she isn't so happy around other dogs now. Hope you asre both OK, and the collie too.

[Lisa-Willow+Finn+AlfiesMum]

Don't beat yourself up Tat - I think on the whole, most of us have had an experience of either being on the end of a doggie fight (ie, a dog having a go at ours) or the other way round. I really do think that with just some dogs, they take an instant dislike to each other. Alfie and Finn chased and saw off a husky the other day much to Rod's embarrassment. We just keep them on lead if we see it now - just in case they remember it.

Try not to let it get you down - she might not be so happy around some dogs but remember, the doglet was running at her in a playful manner and with her eye problems, she just reacted to that situation, she didn't just fixate on him and have a go 'out of the blue'. It doesn't mean she is aggressive. Hope you understand what I am trying to say

It isn't nice when it happens and all you do after is scrutinize every detail and drive yourself mad thinking what you could have done and so on.

Big hugs for you all xx

[bugs]

Lisa-Willow+Finn+AlfiesMum, on 21 March 2010 - 07:13 PM, said:

Don't beat yourself up Tat - I think on the whole, most of us have had an experience of either being on the end of a doggie fight (ie, a dog having a go at ours) or the other way round. I really do think that with just some dogs, they take an instant dislike to each other. Alfie and Finn chased and saw off a husky the other day much to Rod's embarrassment. We just keep them on lead if we see it now - just in case they remember it.

Try not to let it get you down - she might not be so happy around some dogs but remember, the doglet was running at her in a playful manner and with her eye problems, she just reacted to that situation, she didn't just fixate on him and have a go 'out of the blue'. It doesn't mean she is aggressive. Hope you understand what I am trying to say

It isn't nice when it happens and all you do after is scrutinize every detail and drive yourself mad thinking what you could have done and so on.

Big hugs for you all xx

Lisa, I had forgotten all about Tala's eye. Did the dog come up on her blind side Tat? Bless her, she is a gorgeous girl, and one fight doesn't make her an aggressive dog.

[Lisa-Willow+Finn+AlfiesMum]

bugs, on 21 March 2010 - 07:21 PM, said:

Lisa-Willow+Finn+AlfiesMum, on 21 March 2010 - 07:13 PM, said:

Don't beat yourself up Tat - I think on the whole, most of us have had an experience of either being on the end of a doggie fight (ie, a dog having a go at ours) or the other way round. I really do think that with just some dogs, they take an instant dislike to each other. Alfie and Finn chased and saw off a husky the other day much to Rod's embarrassment. We just keep them on lead if we see it now - just in case they remember it.

Try not to let it get you down - she might not be so happy around some dogs but remember, the doglet was running at her in a playful manner and with her eye problems, she just reacted to that situation, she didn't just fixate on him and have a go 'out of the blue'. It doesn't mean she is aggressive. Hope you understand what I am trying to say

It isn't nice when it happens and all you do after is scrutinize every detail and drive yourself mad thinking what you could have done and so on.

Big hugs for you all xx

Lisa, I had forgotten all about Tala's eye. Did the dog come up on her blind side Tat? Bless her, she is a gorgeous girl, and one fight doesn't make her an aggressive dog.

thank you Sue.

[ridgebackx]

How horrible Hope everyone involved was ok
Tat I've never known anyone to ring someone back to offer to pay for any injuries, it's usually the other way round. What a responsible owner

[Chapstaff]

Thank you all for the lovely helpful comments

I think Tala was over-excited by the dog running towards her at speed & it spilled over into violence, sort of. I said on another thread yesterday that she gets very over-excited & that that is why I stopped the puppy classes & trained her at home & out & about. I think over-excitement can turn to aggression very easily.

I can't really blame her eye problem on this. I just have to be even more vigilant.

I rang the man earlier & he said his dog was fine, he'd just got back from a long walk with him. I asked him to part the hair & have a really good look at him & if he found any wounds to bathe it with salt water & consult a vet. I gave him my tel no & where I work.

Anyway - on a slightly different note - I hope he manages to delay or stop the building work now he has seen how active the badgers are. The field is absolutely riddled with setts, including new ones dug this last week, he said that would be the pregnant sows digging a separate sett for themselves to have their cubs in. Very interesting talking to him

[K9fan]

Chapstaff, on 21 March 2010 - 09:02 PM, said:

Thank you all for the lovely helpful comments

I think Tala was over-excited by the dog running towards her at speed & it spilled over into violence, sort of. I said on another thread yesterday that she gets very over-excited & that that is why I stopped the puppy classes & trained her at home & out & about. I think over-excitement can turn to aggression very easily.

Tat you are so right here, Star is the same - excitement turns to aggression so quickly. My behaviourist says that the two have a very fine line between them. Even with the few dogs she is ok with, she can't be fully trusted, not even with Murphs. She is a hyper girl so the smallest things sets her excitement off

[crazydiamond]

Well done on remaining calm throughout Thank goodness no real damage done.

As you are noticing that Tala is becoming less tolerant of other dogs you will indeed have to be very much more aware of both Tala and everything going on in the vicinity ~ you will need 360 degree vision and hear as well as she does.

I know you are a responsible owner Tat and hope my following suggestion does not upset you. In my opinion, as much because of how other people perceive Staffies, as Tala is showing these tendancies more frequently you should have her on a harness and trailing line(with knots)that you are holding ~ I think you have seen write up about this. I am not saying to use it purely for recall but for security. You need to know that Tala will pay attention to you in lots of different situations, you need to know you have fantastic recall and an instantly responded to distance down and/or stop command, a look or watch me command is often useful as is teaching your dog to 'target' for fun ~ Mr Trevor knows that if we are out and about and I shout for him to nudge he has to run in and touch, with his nose,the knuckle on my pointing finger which I have bent in. I vary the level I have my hand at so sometimes it involves him jumping up to nudge it, sometimes I will have my arm down by my side so as he nudges I reward and move on with him in a close with me position.

[bugs]

Quote

Anyway - on a slightly different note - I hope he manages to delay or stop the building work now he has seen how active the badgers are. The field is absolutely riddled with setts, including new ones dug this last week, he said that would be the pregnant sows digging a separate sett for themselves to have their cubs in. Very interesting talking to him

You're so lucky to have badgers near you, I love them.