ok macy my ab is 6 months and plays very well with other dogs however , this afternoon she was playing with a dog that had a ball and when macy went to get the ball the dog attacked macy in return macy snapped back in result she had torn this dogs ear there was alot of blood from the other dog but the dog seems fine, what worries me is macy did not start the fight but did snap/bite back and i would love to know how i can stop this from happening in the furture , as she will come across dogs that can be aggressive and i would like her to be able to come to me rather than attack back

so any ideas etc or what you think i should do would be very appreciated xx

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Hopefully it will be an isolated incodent , but she was only reacting in a way that dogs do she may not be naturally submisive and so given that the other dog snapped first she was saying " bog off " in return . our dogs will play sometimes with our friends dog in what looks to be agression but its only play and they have to be really pushed to show thier teeth , its usually Miles who is the instigator as he likes to rough and tumble he thinks our 2 are his bitches lol .just keep your eye on her and dont intervene at the slightest thing she will soon learn when enough is enough .

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I wouldn't be worried about it. Milo and Jayjay would do the same thing if pushed enough but Trinny would come running back to us. It just depends on the individual dog's personality how they will react.

awwww thank you both for your advice , she loves the kids and the cats and the cats tell her off she goes running lol bt for some reason she has just started to find her feet i guess and wont let other dogs tell her off too much , maybe keeping an eye on her as she plays will help

If you're worried take her out the situation before it gets too heated but personally I wouldn't worry unless my dog was the aggressor.

I would just work on a really good recall and try and avoid situations where other dogs may get defensive. Also, make sure she is extremelyt well socialised with all dogs of all types and call her bacl to you if anythign untoward does happen.

Whilst I wouldn't tolerate my dogs getting possesive over toys (and they never would anyway) it is a fairly normal doggy ehaviour, sonot especially unreasonable that the dog went for your girl. It is also not that unreasonable that your girl defended herself, although it may be she over-reacted to an over zealous warning from the other dog.

As long as the other dog was fine, and the other owner was fine, I wouldn't worry too much.

the dog is going to the vets tomorrow so will find out but she did seem fine wagging her tail etc ..... and the owner was very shocked however did admit to her dog being the one who was aggressive, i have started training macy in recall etc and she seems to be doing well, she does socialise as we meet up with a dog walker once a day who has all sorts of dogs who she plays great with !!

Just a question...Is Macy your first American Bulldog?

Please DO NOT let her off lead in public again, however well socialised she happens to be, I've been with this breed for almost 7 years now and like Staffords they are extremely well known for their aggression towards other dogs (I know you say Macy wasn't the aggressor) but there may be a time when she eventually becomes the aggressor.

They have hard drives, and can be very dog dominent they also like to play very rough (which may have been the case with Macy, I don't know - if so more than likely why the dog snapped at her).
They are not always dog friendly and this can mean keeping your dog on a lead nearly all of the time, sad, but very true with this breed unfortunately.

Macy will start to mature between 1-2 years of age, this is when you are going to have to be extra vigilant with her around other dogs & quite possibly other animals. I currently own two AB's a rescue dog & a bitch who cannot be left together when alone if they were all hell would break loose.

I was given some advice years ago when I brought my first AB home, I was told to treat them as I would 'any other' dog, wrong advice!

Please don't make the mistake I did, please see that I am not saying now, I am not saying she will - but please do take on board in most cases once mature, they generally don't do well at all with other dogs, especially ones they are not familiar with.

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