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Post by CurlyCub on Mar 5, 2014 19:31:59 GMT
Today at the park Jess was behaving very strangely around a particular dog. We had just entered and straight away came across a young Staff, smaller than Jess. The dog was female and started pulling to be let off lead when she saw Jess, so the owner let her off. Jess did her usual crouch to the ground and waited until the dog drew near before leaping towards it. She then started chasing the dog, prodding it with her paws, barking in its face, showing it her teeth and biting her neck and ears up to the point when the other dog cowered in front of its owner for protection. This is totally out of character and is not at all normal Jess behavior. It was Jess' second trip to the park today, perhaps excitement had something to do with it? We carried on our walk and Jess behaved normally towards every other dog she met. Jess sometimes barks at dogs when she gets very excited but this was not her normal 'play with me' bark. Does anyone have any ideas as to why Jess behaved this way? I don't think she felt threatened, I know her and she just wouldn't behave that way if she did. Thank you in advance, CC. P.S. I've had a 6 month absence from the forum, life's been pretty hectic. Pleased to say I'm back  |
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Post by scallywag on Mar 5, 2014 20:01:26 GMT
Thank you in advance, CC. P.S. I've had a 6 month absence from the forum, life's been pretty hectic. Pleased to say I'm back Welcome back CC good to see you, I missed you  |
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Post by smilesbetter on Mar 5, 2014 22:33:18 GMT
When the other dog cowered "in fear" was that the end of it? It could be that both dogs were undecided on who was the more dominant in which case it is a totally normal behaviour, and then the other dog appearing to be cowering at the end would actually be her showing her submission. We had something like this at puppy class with two dogs who spent the whole time apparently fighting but the trainer said they were just on the same level and couldn't decide who was boss. they weren't actually hurting each other and were both happy to go off and play with the other dogs with which they quickly established who was the more dominant and were therefore able to happily play together. Would have to have seen it to be able to tell though, maybe this dog was in season or something. The smell of an in season dog is quite different to other dogs and might cause a funny reaction. Another idea could be simply because she was a Staffie. Have you come across much before? Staffies have been bred to have a natural aggressive stance, so when they are standing normally it can look very threatening to a dog who take a lot of information from body language. If you look closely at how a Staffie stands compared to most other dogs you'll see what I mean, its very tough looking and makes them appear as though they are permanently ready for a fight, which I'd imagine is very confusing for other dogs. I wouldn't worry about it too much, but if it turns out its a Staffie thing then you might wanna try finding ways to socialise her with Staffies so that she learns that they are different from other dogs (And it can be done, they learn that people are different from dogs after all) and aren't being aggressive. It would work out better for you both in the long run, because if she reacts aggressively towards Staffies then you may end up with a huge problem later if one decides to fight back. Hope this helped |
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Post by charlottte on Mar 8, 2014 9:38:18 GMT
Without seeing the behaviour I can't really say. it sounds possibly like over arousal on the face of it though.
Did the staff approach her head on and barge up to her? Or curve and come up gently?
The crouching could have something to do with her breed (or possibly a bit of fear?) but dogs often lie down as a calming signal/cut off signal to avoid conflict, too.
It depends on what the chasing/ paw prodding/barking looked like too.
Dogs chase when they play, they paw when they play and they sometimes bark when they play.
Some dogs also bite necks (gently) as it's how they'd play with their litter mates.
Just the teeth baring that seems a bit odd. Was it her front teeth or back teeth?
I say it all the time but I don't believe in pack hierarchies so I don't think it would be dominance/submission.
Like smilesbetter said, has Jess met many staffs before?
Although they're lovely dogs they can be quite imposing and tend to get over excited and barge up to other dogs (I don't think I've met a staff that can approach calmly lol).
Jasper has a bad association as he's been rolled over by a couple and pestered to play by many more.
However, she could just not like that particular dog. It's like humans, we don't get on with everyone we meet and some people we just really don't gel with.
I'd just keep an eye on her for the time being, hopefully it will have been an isolated incident.
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Post by BorderTerrier on Mar 12, 2014 9:36:54 GMT
If Jess felt threatened, then this could have sparked the behaviour. Like others have said, without seeing the behaviour in person, it is very hard to analyse. Beware however CurlyCub, as if Jess has the opportunity to perform this behaviour more frequently now, it may become a habit and she may become defensive therefore aggressive. This is what happened to Earl after being attacked by a dog in the past, so we spoke to a behaviourist and they helped up reach the road to recovery of the behaviour. However don't worry too much, as not many dogs appreciate being barged at if this is what did occur. What were you doing whilst the event was happening? Were you calling your dog back to you or just watching and waiting for the end of it? Showing teeth isn't usually excitement based, if I'm honest. Did the dog do anything to Jess or in front of Jess which you think could have possibly provoked the behaviour for your dog? If you are sure the biting of the neck was not play fighting, just keep an eye on her for the time being and keep a close eye on her social interaction with other canines. Many dogs, especially puppies, play bite the neck of other dogs to simply interact and encourage play together. However if this looked serious, then rule this out and NEVER go assuming an incident as such was playing without you knowing for sure it wasn't a serious clash between the dogs. HTH |
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