Following on from another thread and something that happened to me today,it got me thinking,how do you manage with a DA dog.

A bit of history,my last dog was DA with large dogs,he was a Lurcher and was attacked by a GSD when he was about 2 years old.

After that he was very aggressive to larger dogs,he was always great with small dogs.

So I managed the situation by walking him where there were none or hardly any dogs,then when he got to about 8 he started being fine with all dogs and for the last 5 years he was a fantastic dog,never on the lead.

The thing that happened to me today and what got me thinking about this was I took Craven to a wood outside of town,and the only way to get there is by car,with my last dog I used to turn into the car park and pray that there were no other cars in there,today with Craven being the total opposite,I was praying that there were loads of cars in there.(and there was,we had a great walk with lots of dogs.)

Now I'm not a particularly social person and walking my last dog alone suited me fine,and it isn't really until I look back now and realise that for 4/5 years I isolated myself and Stripe,the dog from other dogs.

It worked for us,and he came out of it a great dog,but even if he stayed like that all his life,I would have managed the situations to make sure he didn't get upset by other dogs.Even through the darkest days with him,I never considered getting rid of him.

So how do you manage yours.?

Lola was also attacked by a German Sheppard when she was little and had dog aggression ever since. Well i wouldn't put it totally down to that but was kind of the nail in the coffin so to speak.

Now we try our best to walk her at times when not so many other people are out and if they are than not so many on lead encounters. I am quite a social able person when it comes to dogs and would love to walk with other dog owners i went through a long phase of trying to socialise her with every dog i met but it was increasingly obvious that she wasn't happy in the situation and it was recommended to me that i should try and keep her stress levels down and only give her good experience when out. Which meant a short, non excitable walk avoiding other dogs! I have a puppy now who i would like to socialise as much as possible not sure what im going to do when they can go out together. I think might have to take them on separate walks for a while as don't want him to pick up on Lolas bad feelings.

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Walter - Whippet
Lola- American cocker x Jack Russell
Ruby-Exotic Long hair
Pepper- Persian

I fostered a Lurcher who wasn't DA exactly but would literally treat any dog under the size of a Westie as prey. He had killed the previous owner's mum's Yorkshire Terrier and many cats. He was in rescue because of that reason -once again, a dog with issues that somebody couldn't be bothered to fix -

Anyhow I only had him for 6 weeks but went out of my way to take him very early in the morning (at about 5.30am) for 40 mins and then for our other walks just kept him muzzled, on a flexi lead. Luckily he didn't need long walks exactly just a good run so the early morning walk had that covered. We did have a nightmare once when I took him on an early morning up on the moors and bumped into a man with a JRT, thank god I was able to grab the Lurcher before he took off but if I hadn't then there would have been a chance.... don't even want to finish that sentence. That was totally down to me and my fault. I got too complacent. He has now been rehomed. Unfortunately I do not have any input as to where the dogs I foster go so don't know if he's gone to a suitable home. Hope so though. He was a lovely boy.

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I've never had a DA dog of my own...I have fostered a couple before I had my children though and pretty much did the same thing with them as you did. One was a staffy and the other was a collie/GSD mix. No real back history on them....just a lot of supposition really. Mostly we never ever get to know for sure just what has happened in their lives to make them that way.

If indeed anything has. Sometimes it's just complete lack of socialisation and training that compounds the issue. They don't need to have had a "dodgy" past.

I did a lot of night time walking...silly o'clock, while most folks were asleep. I ran a bar/rest at that time, so late nights were a norm for me anyway. Turned my night into day most times....and at other times, bundled them into the car and took them to remote places to allow them to have a good offlead run around. I used to get slagged off (in a jokey way) about marching around in the wee small hours with my head torch on and my attack alarm in my hand

They were transient dogs though...only with me for a few months each until a knowledgeable and flexible home was found for them. A place that was aware of their issues and committed to changing their way of life to a certain extent...to accomodate the needs of these dogs.

Both of them have gone to the Bridge now of course. But I kept in contact with their new owners sporadically....and I know that they both had a good life. Happy in their own way....with no pressures. People forget that some dogs DON'T actually need or want other doggy company....are much happier in your company and the company of people.

Sometimes it's us hooman beans that need to make peace with that, instead of forcing something when it just brings unhappiness.

Well said BenMac... some of the dogs I've fostered have been dog friendly but others were just not interested in other dogs at all. Happy to have human company and a good run. And there's nothing wrong with that

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I used to avoid other dogs like the plague, and do alot of night time walking etc. Now I have a little more confidence I no longer let Maddie's issues dictate our walking schedule. She is always on her long line so I can control her. I've never felt it necessary to use a muzzle tbh. I have a 3 second rule where she is allowed to sniff a dog for 3 seconds then we move on. Obviously if she is being a numpty before we get to the dog, i distract her and we just walk straight past.

If any off lead dogs walk upto us i get her attention with a treat and make her sit nicely. again 3 second rule and start walking. generally other dogs bugger off but if they don't i find that maddie settles fairly quickly when walking alongside another dog rather than stopping and letting her get all worked up and not getting anywhere. if the dog sticks its nose up her bum, well then it's doomed

This seems to have helped alot, I also encourage play time with the only 2 dogs that i know she likes.

I am currently training her to associate dogs with something good. every time she clocks a dog, i say "dog" and giver her a treat and loads of praise. I'm aiming that when she sees a dog she will expect a treat and then all of her attention will be on me. She is controllable now and a hell of alot better

Absolutely

Sure...it's nice to see dogs playing together and getting on. But it's not for everyone.

WE don't like being forced to spend time with folks we don't like, so why should they!

I'm happy if they're happy...it's as simple and as complicated as that

I used to own a staffy cross that was DA, though wierdly never in the house only when she was on a walk. I would walk her seperatly from the rest no later than half 6 in the morning and no earlier than 10 at night. She had a muzzle on if i ever had to take her out when i knew other dogs would be but where we lived everyone knew her and knew she was DA so always put there dogs back on leads when they saw us. In the 5 years that i had her she only ever got in to 1 serious fight which was my fault as i should have been more vigilent. Other than that she was a darling to own.

I have a question for people, if your dog had a muzzle on and it was attacked by another dog, would you try and remove the muzzle for it to protect itself??

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That's obviously working for you...so that's great My situation was different as they weren't my dogs. You can work on Maddie's issues long term. My role was to keep these dog's as stress free as possible in they time we spent together. Get them to relax a bit with human company and one to one focussed attention. Something that they may not have been used to. Gave them a good grounding to build on in their new forever home.

I'm posting I promise i'm just waiting on a video to finish uploading to share

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R.I.P Barney, I had 4 wonderful years with you, Thank you-29/04/06-25/11/09
The dog who saved my life
Proud owner of Maya, the Rescued Alaskan Malamute

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