bad dog

[joehalford01]

Most of you seem like dog lovers so maybe you can lend me some advice. My boxer bolted from the yard this morning when i opened the gate and attacked someones dog while he was walking it. The dog was ok but could have been really hurt, it took everything i had to pull my dog off. I apologized a million times and told him to let me know later if he noticed his dog was hurt. What do I do now?

We havn't walked him for the last month or so and I think that's part of it. He's always been dog agressive with bigger dogs but this dog was smaller and not fighting back. I think he would have killed her if given the chance. He dosn't go after people, i was able to put my hands in his mouth and force his jaw open without getting bit during the fight. I think it's my fault somewhere along the lines for his behavior so I'd rather not just put him to sleep for being "unpredictable". Where should I start though? I can't own a dog that's going to get me sued either, I'm just hoping there is some way I can re-train him. any help would be appreciated.

 

[donsrods]

We had a couple of big dogs in our lifetime. a German Shepard, and a Doberman. Both were extremely gentle though.

How long have you had this Boxer, and how old is he? I know you have kids, how old are they? The reason I ask is I don't think I would want a dog that has shown an agressive side near small kids.

Don

 

[joehalford01]

we adopted him at 2 years old and have had him for the last two years. he was fine when we adopted him around all sorts of dogs. the first walk we took him on some stray dogs attacked us and he has been weird around bigger dogs ever since. he did a good job protecting us though. i think he thinks he's protecting us but he's been getting progressively worse. i don't think he would attack a person as he has never shown any aggression towards people in public. he was not after the guy this morning, just his dog. my wifes 13 year old sister lives with us on and off. he's good with her.

 

[donsrods]

Oh, I was wrong about you having kids...sorry. Well, here is my take on it. I don't think it should be a problem as long as you keep him on a leash, and IMO, all dogs should ALWAYS be on a leash unless in a totally fenced and gated yard from which they can never escape.

My ex-GF and I would take long walks at night with her ****su (Sp) on a leash, and many times we were approached by some loose dog, and sometimes the owner would come out and say "He doesn't bite." My comeback was "maybe not but do you know there is a leash law, and he is running loose?" Not trying to get on you, because you are obviously a nice guy or you wouldn't be asking these questions..........you are concerned............but it just made me wonder when you said you opened the gate and he attacked the other dog. If he were leashed you could have pulled him back.

As I mentioned, our German Shepard and Doberman were both kittens tempermentwise, but I still kept them leashed because you just never know what an animal is going to do, and like you, I didn't need any lawsuits.

Does that solution seem reasonable? You obviously were looking for honest suggestions, and I just felt obligated to be honest with you.

Don


Hahaha, that's pretty funny. Trippers zapper won't allow the breed of my GF dog to come through because it is similar to a cuss word !!! That's funny, I don't care who you are !!!

 

[gassersgarage]

In my area. having an unleashed dog is a crime. If a dog attacks, either humans or animals, they are taken by animal control and quantined for a month (at owners expense). 2nd offense, the animal is destroyed. Animal attacks would be a civil matter unless acting under the directions of the owner.
My dog was rescued from the pound. She was a terrier mix. We trained her and she was a great dog. She would ignore people, cats and dogs unless we told her to chase. When I was a kid, we always had Great Danes but they were kept on a leash because we knew they would attack.

 

[FlatBroke]

What kind of dog is it Joe?

You may just need to start spending more time with him.

Some dogs just need to be reminded "Who the boss is". My Pitt-Bull (Poochie) Was as fierce as they all come, but when I told him what to do, he did it. The only "unless" in there was if there was a loose dog in the neighborhood that got too close to me while I had Pooch out for a walk.

Hope that helps.

 

[cycledog]

we raised, showed and taught dog training for about 20 years, my first question may sound odd but what do you feed your dog??

 

[joehalford01]

don, my wife and i totally agree on the leash thing. that's one of the reasons i feel so dumb about the whole thing. we live in an area with alot of loose dogs and if i were in the other guys shoes i would be livid. i do have a chain right inside the gate so i can chain him when i do yard work, i just didn't have him on it this morning.

flat, he is a boxer, we spend quite a bit of time with him but he hasn't been on a walk in a while. we've been keeping him around the house this last month until our puppy has all her shots. we don't want him to come into contact with another dog (guess it didn't make much difference) and bring something home that would make her sick. i think thats part of it though. i think i need to start exercising him again. i was running alot a couple months ago. i'm thinking about starting that up again on my few days off and making him run with me.

cycle, we were feeding him the costco brand dog food but we just recently picked up a bag of lamb and rice purina i think, we've been feeding him that this last week or so. i looked up dog aggression and i saw food mentioned but didn't find any good info. how would that affect his temperment?

thanks for all the suggestions guys, it was just really upsetting this morning. made it really hard to work. i wish i had got the guys phone number so i could see how his dog is doing but i didn't think about it until later.

 

[Reason 4]

Just a bit of info to pass on to ya.....

I know for a fact that some male dogs tend to get a bit aggressive the older they get, my vet's suggestion to that problem with our pitt before he passed was to have him fixed, she said it would calm him down alot. Flat wouldn't let me do it though.
You may want to talk to your vet and see what they recommend.

 

[chop509]

It sounds to me like maybe the dog hasn’t been socialized around other dogs. Our rescued Lab was very aggressive around smaller dogs when we got him; we have neighbors who have small dogs, and I was sure he’d kill one of them if he ever got a hold of any of them. After he has been around these dogs (on leash) he has calmed down. He now is best friends with the wiener dog down the street.

Jeff

 

[cycledog]

Nutrition or the lack of can affect dogs just like it affects humans. The lack of trace minerals, essential vitamins, protiens, the balance of protien to fat content etc. Some dog foods do not contain the proper balance to maintain brain and body function. I can tell the general health of a dog just by looking at the coat and eyes. DO NOT FEED PURINA. I can tell you in a pm why not if you wish. Do not feed your dog anything that contains ethoxiquin..check spelling..this is a petroleum product. Also check ingredients for any thing that looks or sounds like an antfreeze ingredient. That would be glycol or a variation of the spelling. We made our own dog food for many years. Alot of work, but it solved many health and behavior problems. At times we had as many as 8 dogs to cook for...every night. But we raised high quality animals. Try some of the **** Van Patten stuff, give your dog raw beef bones on occation. NO rawhide chews. Vitamin C. and raw veggies if he will eat them. Also you can try going to a health food store and getting a product called Rescue Remedy drops, not the spray. Put it directly in the mouth if you can, if not, in the drinking water, this should calm him down, its homeopathic so the more he needs it the calmer he may become, if he doesn't need it it will have little or no effect.

Another issue is over vaccination. Most vacines contain mercury as a preservative. This has been linked to all sorts of health and behavior issues including autism in humans.
Your dog being around 4 yrs can still be dealt with, you might try to find a dog training club in your area and see if they have a behavior modification class. Boxers are great dogs.

Here is a general tip for anybody getting a puppy. When you look make sure to turn the puppy on its back, if it fights, whines, cries, and makes a general fuss, move on, this is a dominant dog and possible trouble down the line. If it lays calmly and submits, thats your puppy.
I hope this helps. I wish I were close so I could have some hands on and help.

Oh and another thing. This is difficult, some have the touch and some don't. Lightly run the palm of your hand down the dogs back. See if you can dectect any warm or hot areas. If you can, these are nerve irritaions to the spine. Gently massage. At first the dog may not like this because of the irritation but if persistant he will begin to enjoy because of the relief. I have accutally had dogs go to sleep doing this. You know how cranky you can be with a sore back. If severe, find a chiropractor will to work on a dog. Could change this attitude if he is sore and not feeling good.
Good luck, keep me posted.

 

[cycledog]

Good point Chop, I agree totaly

 

[FlatBroke]

WOW Cylcedog,
That is a lot of good info.

 

[joehalford01]

thanks for all the info cycle, i'll print it out and show it to my wife. he's a pretty good dog besides this dog agression thing he has. we love him to death, i think this was a wake up call to spend some more time training him. i'll definetly keep you guys posted.

 

[Reason 4]

Well.....Have you heard anything from the other dog's owner?
If not that is a good sign, I will keep my fingers crossed for ya.

 

[joehalford01]

nothing yet, my fingers are crossed to.....

 

[Inked Monkey]

I had a black lab that loved other dogs until he was about 4 and a Chow attacked him. From then on I had to keep him away from other dogs. He was still as loving as ever, but no matter what I did I couldn't have him around other dogs.

 

[Lakota]

Joe,

I've been a trainer and handler in both the military and civilian. Cycle is right on the money as far as food goes. Be aware, ALL DOGS ARE TERRITORIAL. If another dog comes close to it's territory, it will excercise it's genetic trait. What happened is not your fault. You opened the gate to leave and your dog saw another dog too close to the property, before you could, and bolted past you. Outside of their territory, they become docile. They know that they are in another dogs territory. There is a great book out there that goes into this in detail, and teaches you how to train your dog as well. It's called the "Kohler Method" I've used this method on all our dogs with great results. I even trained a 2nd generation (parents were wild) male Alaskan Timberwolf.
Right now we have two dogs. A four year old female Border Collie that grew up with our grandchildren and will lay next to them for hours as they play in the sandbox. The other is a three year old German Spitz who attemps to be the dominant male. It ain't gonna happen. I can stop them dead in their tracks and make them lay down with only one word. That word is "OUT". You can learn to train your dog to do this, or to just simply walk on a leash without pulling. Try the Kohler Method book.

 

[Reason 4]

Wow, That is great information! I will have to look for it myself! Thanks!

 

[FlatBroke]

I wish I would have known about this method when I had my PITT. He used to love to take me for a walk.