Boogie's blog

On Boogie’s “Dog aggression”

November 17, 2009 at 9:55 pm 7 comments

Here are two videos of the Boogs trying to play with Butch taken last week.  Butch is totally not interested in playing with him.

This is what we always say: Boogie is friendly only towards dogs that he knows.

I can count about six or eight dogs… including Butch and Emma who stay with us from time to time, Mighty and Stinky, and our neighbors’ dogs. Everyone else, he lunges, snarls, snaps, bites.

Dogs that Boogie “knows” are either:

1. Dogs that he met over a year ago when we first adopted him back in the day when he was still “dog-friendly”.

2. Dogs that he met more recently, barked or lunged at, then accepted as a buddy after an elaborate human-controlled buttsniffing introduction. Once he accepts another dog, he will always remember this dog and he will be cool when he meets him/her again. So yes, he CAN be friendly but it is a huge risk to introduce him to other dogs.  Especially big ones.

This is really awkward to explain to some people.

I remember one time  when I was walking Boogie , a guy passed us with his very large, slow-paced and fumbling English bulldog.  He was very taken by Boogie and  wanted our dogs to meet and become friends.  I did my usual spiel:  “Sorry, Boogie isn’t dog-friendly. He might bite”.

As I was saying this, Boogie was hanging out with Sky (neighbor’s placid lab) right before our eyes, behaving in a perfectly friendly and chilled-out fashion. This was a total contradiction to what I just said.

The guy seemed hurt:  He’s ok with the other dog. How come he is ok with the other dog?

Me: He already knows that dog. He is aggressive towards dogs that he doesn’t know.

Guy: My dog is really calm and friendly. We could try introducing your dog to her? She is so calm, she doesn’t fight at all. She really doesn’t care.

Me: I’m sorry… I can’t guarantee that he won’t attack if he gets close. He is unpredictable… and it will take a lot of effort to introduce them nicely.

I have this sort of conversation more often than I would like, and it’s awkward. Especially when I am walking Boogie and Butch together …people don’t believe me when I say that my dog is “not friendly”. They take a look at the two bostons walking nicely side by side and they think I’m crazy.

Some photos from Boogie’s “Dog-Friendly” days.

At Silverlake Dog Park. (2008)

Playing with neighbors’ dogs (2008)

Boston Tea Party (2008)...  He was happy to meet all the dogs and he got along fine with everyone. (In contrast to this year’s Boston Tea Party where he lunged at every dog that got close.)

So what changed?

Last year on three separate occasions, Boogie was attacked by another dog when he was on leash. In all cases, the other dogs were not under their owner’s control (one was off-leash, the other one on a loose-leash) when they charged at Boogie. And in all cases, Boogie was just happily minding his own business when they bit him.

It makes sense that when Boogie now sees a dog, his first move is to ATTACK.   He was always very sensitive to begin with, and now he bears new emotional scars…

Keeping Boogie away from other dogs is not easy.

At the vet’s office, there are usually lots of dogs in the small cramped waiting room. I keep Boogie on my lap and I get the feeling that he is totally content to stay there, away from the other dogs. But occasionally another dog will come close due to the smallness of the room and we have a situation.  It’s awkward.

At Thankdog Bootcamp, it’s great that all dogs are leashed and in an “obedient” frame of mind. Boogie is fine if the other dogs don’t come close or make any sounds. If another dog approaches him or so much as let out a small bark (friendly or not), this sets him off.   UPDATE: Knowing what I know now, I would NEVER recommend taking a sensitive/aggressive dog to a bootcamp full of dogs and “correcting” him  whenever he reacts. This was what I was taught to do – the bootcamp was  incredibly unfair to Boogie. I regret that experience with all my heart. 

Boogie also has nervousness around PEOPLE THAT HE DOESN’T KNOW and he lunges if they freak him out…

Personally, I hate putting my dog in quarantine from any sort of social activity. I miss the old Boogie. I want to help him overcome his fear-aggression and reactive-ness. Boogie LOVES to play and I bet he misses having buddies to play with.

Obedience training is  awesome but doesn’t address the social issue. I have started reading Ali Brown’s Scaredy Dog! Understanding and Rehabilitating your reactive dog.

If you have read this book and tried the techniques (I haven’t gotten to that part of the book yet)… please share your thoughts!

I also have Emma Parson’s Click To Calm on my reading list.

Entry filed under: Play, Social stuff, Training.