Fear and aggression: attacked by dogs now attacks

[pgaiccdeborah]

We adopted a lovely cross labrador in April (now is November). He was 1,5 years when we came with us.

 

Zapote has a splending personality and he is extremelly well behaved. His previous owner spent evidently a lot of time training him (he got sick and had to give the dog in adoption).

 

Zapote is known to be sweet and playful and everyone. Dogs and persons who meet him melt for his sweetness. However, in our presence Zapote was attacked twice by other dogs. Once we made the mistkae of throwing a ball in front of another dog at a park, and Zapote suffered from it as the other dog attacked him to take over zapote's dog. There was blood in his ear and a short vet visit. The second time was out of nowhere, a dog came from behind against him in the forest.

 

We learned 2 weeks ago that Zapote attacked a smaller dog during Zapote's walk with his beach pack. The dog walker tells us that Zapote is insecure and that he picked on this outer dog to prove himself to the pack. We can't believe that our sweet playful dog would do this.

 

While we are looking for a trainer and behaviour support we witnessed last week a 3rd attack against Zapote. A larger dog was blocking him from playing with a third dog. Zapote avoided the larger dog repeatedly yet the larger dog insisted. At a point of tension zapote grawled and the larger dog went to his neck. No one got visibly hurt but the fight lasted long. it was horrible. Yet the large dog owner told us that his dog had never attacked anyone.

 

So now, I am afraid that Zapote's attack against the little dog was a result of his past attacks. I am also worried that he is not able to better communicate to tell dogs off and prevent these horrible incidents.

 

Thanks for your advise.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

I am so sorry to hear about these recent happenings. It can be very disheartening witnessing dogs being attacked. While there can be no certainty whether Zapote decided to attack because of the past attacks directed towards him, if he was previously a very social dog with no history of attacking, it could very well be that he is stressed from all these recent interactions gone wrong. Even among service dogs who have proved themselves as being "bomb proof," just one negative encounter with the wrong dog could lead to emotional repercussions that may take a very long to overcome.

 

For several good reasons, many dog trainers and behavior consultants are not very fond of the practice of taking dogs to dog parks. While dog parks may provide dogs with a good opportunity for socialization and off-leash exercise, the biggest drawback is the risk for altercations. Fortunately, many altercations are mostly loud and no dog gets seriously injured, but these sure are often enough to cause dog owners concerns about their dog's physical and emotional wellbeing. Not to mention, there are risks as well to humans who can become victims of re-directed bites should they get in between two or more fighting dogs.

 

What triggers fights at dog parks? There are several factors that act as triggers. According to a study, excess mounting led to aggression 85 percent of the time, then you have dogs with different play styles which may cause discrepancies, dogs with play skill deficits, and simply dogs who are pushy, guard resources from other dogs and simply dislike each other.

 

From what you describe, it sounds like Zapote was unfortunate to have encountered dogs who were prone to reacting towards certain behaviors or prone to resource guard. It sounds like he had no fault. The first incident involved a dog who was trying to steal a ball, another incident involved a dog blocking him from play (possibly a dog trying to play the "fun police" role), and finally the dog in the woods perhaps was acting territorial or simply was dog-reactive.

 

Now, we don't know for sure what happened with the smaller dog incident. The dog walker may just be interpreting things his/her way. Usually, we don't post labels and intent without at least knowing the exact trigger that evoked the fight. In behavior modification terms, we call this the "antecedent." For example, when several dogs are walked together, it often means unfamiliar dogs of different sizes and temperaments are put together. Not always these dogs are a good match.

 

There are many triggers that may evoke fights on walks and these include environmental factors (dogs may redirect on other dogs when they see a stimulus that arouses them), accidents (a dog may accidentally step on another dog's paw or the leash may get tangled with another dog causing fear and subsequent fight) or just plain simply personality discrepancies (dog walkers should always screen dogs walked in their care individually to ensure there are minimal clashes).

 

Even once the antecedent is found, there is little literature to back up claims about dogs being picking up fights just to "prove themselves." What we know for sure though is that, while dogs seem to heal well from scrapes and bites, there are emotional scars every time a fight occurs and these may be difficult to overcome. Fight after fight, tension insidiously accumulates. A traumatic experience could potentially undo years of behavioral training and confidence building. There is a high possibility with these negative encounters of the making of a dog-reactive dog, not because the dog needs to "prove himself," but just because of tension associated with negative encounters. Yes, dogs can develop a fearful emotional response after such encounters.

 

It's therefore important to protect Zapote from any future negative encounters as much as possible. I would suggest skipping the dog park and if you wish him to have fun walks and play sessions, then stick to a handful of good dog friends that have proven over the years to have gotten along well with your dog. As it happens in people, best a few good buddies you can count on that many superficial acquaintances that haven't proved worthy of trust.

 

Your dog trainer/behavior consultant (look for one using humane, positive behavior modification to prevent things from getting worse) can help you better assess your dog's behavior and interactions with other dogs and help find suitable playmates. You want the right type of dogs for remedial socialization after negative encounters. If the assessment reveals that your dog is tense around other dogs, then prior to scheduling play and walks with other dogs, behavior modification may be carried out to better manage and protect your dog's emotional wellbeing.

 

Hope this helps!

Best,

Adrienne

Edited November 23, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli