Dave F Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Hope somobody can give me a bit of advice on a dog problem. We have a four year old Patterdale/cairn terrior that we have had from a puppy. In the day time he is off the lead at the stables with my partner and gets on great with the dogs that are there with him. Recently he has had a couple of incidents where he has shown aggreesion towards a couple of new puppies and tonight, unfortunately, he bit one of them enough that it looked like stitches will be needed. Up until now we have never had any concerns of him being aggresive but at the moment are not too sure. My partner has been in tears all night not knowing what to do as we could not leave him at home all day but cannot take him to the stables for risk of another attack. Has anyone had experience with dog behavior experts or is this route a waste of time? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Keeping him on a lead seems pretty obvious to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesArup Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Sounds like it's a territory thing to me. The same thing that got me 3 days in hospital and plastic surgery on both hands 3 weeks ago (see Here The reason he gets on well with the other dogs is probably because those other dogs have always been there too? He recognises them and acknowledges the fact that they are 'supposed' to be there. These new puppies have shown up on what your dog considers to be 'his turf'. He's just being naturally protective of what he considers to be his territory to these new 'intruders'. When we got our new puppy, the older dog who was born in the house and was 11 at the time wasn't overly impressed either (she'd also just lost her mother). They slowly became used to each other, but it took some time. The puppy slept in an 'enclosure' overnight, but in the same room. So they slept together, but there was never any danger of harm. Now the 'puppy' is 2 years old and she's big enough to stand up for herself. The older one still gets VERY jealous when there are people around though. For example, if I am sitting on the sofa with the older dog, and the young one ventures within 10 yards, the old one gets VERY grumpy (growling, barking etc etc), but the young one usually totally ignores her. If it's the other way around, with the young one on the sofa, and the old one coming close .. there isn't the slightest problem. Every once in a while, the young one will get so annoyed that they will go for each other (hence my hospital trip), but it's very rare. If they are left alone together, there will be no issue at all. I reckon that if your dog was left alone with these puppies in a neutral place, there would be no issue at all. My advice for now would be to buy a muzzle for your dog, making it impossible for him to harm the puppies. Keep taking him to the stables, with the muzzle on, until he gets used to the fact that these new 'intruders' are here to stay, and he accepts them as part of the territory. In time, it should get better and he will realise that the muzzle comes out to play if he's bad at all. Hope that helps! Don't be too concerned though, it's just part of his nature to defend his territory against a new threat. Not all breeds will do this, but most will show some sort of 'disagreement' to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 tsssst! dominant but not aggresive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt _Aero top_ Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 sound advice from james Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 I know it's not the same but we took in a stray pitbull cross a few years back. the Vet reckoned he was 6 months old at the time. We had our own dog Charlie who was about 7 back then and we tried to integrate the two. At first things went well and "Buster" was a joy to have around. There was the odd baring of teeth at meal times but nothing serious. Once buster got to 12 or 18 months he started showing aggression to other dogs and particularly Charlie. After 5 or six incidents of dogs needing stitches and around £800 in vets bills over a 6 month period I decided to take Buster to the dogs home and let him go. It's the hardest thing I have ever done but with kids on the way I unable to take that gamble any longer. I had intervened in a couple of scraps and been bitten myself for my trouble. I know your situation is slightly different but you may not win the battle with a dog that insists on flexing it's muscles..!! Good luck. H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_Strike Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 territorial dog, simples.. you need to do some reading and counter his behaviours. Its important to recognise how to react to situations. I would read much about integration and help him to accept these unfamiliar faces. i would recommend using a muzzle on the dog whilst he is out, be i tpublic or farmyard from now.. nothign worse than having your dog carted away to be put down (i imagine). Its not the end of the world but will probably involve change the way you are towards him from now and for ever. Just get him used to as many dogs as you can, but as said, you wil need to do some reading to recognise what YOU need to do, and when as even unintentionally, its usually the owners 'fault' (for lack of better word) that createss behaviours in the animal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aman00123 Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Yup, what James and C_Strike said, just him saying "this is my house"!! Kind of like how would you feel if you came home to find a stranger sitting in your living room watching television, I'm sure you'd feel the same way as your dog too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted June 27, 2010 Author Share Posted June 27, 2010 Cheers for all the advice guys, got a muzzle for today and a dog behaviourist coming next week. Along with the vet bills I think its going to be an expensive month but am sure he can change for the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 http://www.leerburg.com Muzzle good, short term. Dog behavioural therapist? Hmmm, probably tell you in couched and scented terms what the Leerburg site will tell you for nowt, and more to the point. Patterdales are hunting (ratting) dogs, all hunting dogs have strong prey drive, a Patterdale more than most. If it thinks it can "hunt" other dogs it will. Terriers are not easy dogs once they find and chase / kill inappropriate prey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted June 27, 2010 Author Share Posted June 27, 2010 Cheers Chris looks like a good site. The annoying thing with the dog is that we have had him for four years and he has been fine,not perfect, but seems to have got worse over a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 Don't forget the heat makes some dogs uppity, if he is getting hot and bothered it may be making him feel bad tempered. One of our dogs is a *ugger when it gets really hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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