Quote:
Originally Posted by shazalhasa
I do hope that this post won't offend you as it is only written to offer some advice in relation to the situation you have described.
The most important piece of information regarding this outbreak comes right at the end of your post, where you described a previous incident that has scarred you and caused a fear of bull terriers. Dog's pick up on feelings very quickly without you having to touch them, you only have to be in the their space. When you realized what kind of dog you were coming close to, your fear would have been picked up by your own dog causing him to react in the way that he did... he would be protecting you because you were afraid. The bull terrier was reacting to a dog attacking him, acting out and showing aggression towards him. You say that both were unharmed, that to me says that the bull terrier was just correcting the bad behaviour your dog was demonstrating... you've seen what a bull terrier is capable of first hand so you know what I'm talking about.
I don't know if you can see this video, but it may give you some understanding as to how sensitive dogs are to feelings and emotions... especially fear.
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From your first paragraph, it comes across that even though your dog will cease aggressive behaviour... growling etc, on command, it shows that you don't have leadership of your dog... he shouldn't be growling to start with, this needs addressing.
I won't make comments on the fight between people as I wasn't there to witness and have no way of knowing the facts, I'll leave that to others  |
Thanks-I accept that I might not have as much as control over my dog as my parents do, (they are the ones who trained him and look after him for the most part etc..)
So I'm going to keep him on a lead when I walk him, except when I reach some open grass parks that I know well where I can let him have a run around. Even then I will keep an eye on him and keep an eye out for other male dogs and put him back on the lead until it seems safe.
I will tell my parents when they come back from holiday (I'm looking after house and dog whilst they are away.)
Although the behaviour of the other dog's owners was outrageous, this incident has alerted me to the fact that I might not have as much control over my dog as I should, probably because he treats my parents as his real leader. If I feel patient I might try to get him to do some of the commands my parents have trained him to do, such as roll over and lift up his paw etc... Just to try and assert some leadership.
Thanks everyone for the supportive comments, and the girlfriend is completely fine now, apart from some worries about the clumps of hair pulled out by the other woman.