How do I handle this?

[Leann]

My 2 cents.

I have 2 Pit mixes (one has boxer in him as well) and a lab mix. Pits are boys, lab is a girl. I agree that people always see the big dogs as the aggressors... I have been bit over half a dozen times in my life, all by ankle biters. I've dealt with pits, dobies, rotties, etc...stray, abuse, dumped etc...never have they even tried.
If she doesn't like a particular dog, I say avoid that dog. If little dogs are being aggressive, I'd let the owner know that it appears FiFi has some aggression issues that training may help to curb. I would also say, if your dog is off leash trained, you may want to sign up for advanced classes for a little while and get her solid. In order for a verbal leash to be accepted the same as a physical leash in most towns, the dog has to be able to be called off immediately in an aggression situation, and return to the owners side. I've even seen cops try to rile a dog to see if it's really that well trained. I hope the situation works out, but if not, maybe a different bark park would be a good idea. If she is being forced to defend herself at the park, that may explain the other aggression situation. Akita's (and the rest) surely do not need any more negative stories about them in the news. Good luck!!!

[purplefdu]

First I'd like to say your poor baby must be a saint for putting up with them this long. I know I get fed up after the first time the ankle-biters come for me. I own two rotti mixes. one lab cross and one golden retreiver cross.

My oldest is the golden cross and has never showed agression towards any animal that respected his boundaries. He's done basic obedience, agility, and some therapy work (but failed to qualify when the testers Newfie pup ped on his leg and he barked). When we got the puppy he really got fed up with being climbed on, barked at, and run into (and his toys/food/water being stolen). He's never nipped the puppy hard, but he's scared the poop out of him a couple times when he's been too obnoxious. Originally it was all the time, but its gotten better as the puppy has been trained to leave "big doggy" alone more.

Akitas do have prey drive, and it sounds like your dog has finally decided its getting old. If she's being annoyed in "her yard" she may be more annoyed which is normal. I try to make sure other dogs don't run up to my boys in the yard (or at least not until the edges) to keep them from being too possessive. Its their instinct to protect me. I won't correct them for minimal agression over this. But I have rather traditional positive reinforcement through clicker training and anti-Ceasar Milan training ideas, lol.

[thecoop]

I would just warn small dog owners, now that your dog is being aggessive, you may want to leash it, if not, it may end up in my dogs jaws, yours is starting it. Back it off.

[collectorofbells]

I agree with Coop...your dog is simply telling them off....not unlike what we do to humans that are getting on our last nerve..

My Tasha (female Samoyed) wasn't willing to put up with the ankle biters nonsense either! she let them know by a growl and show of teeth...I let her do that much..and then said with a leash jerk-"that's enough, you made your point" and she would back away at that point.

YOUR dog is NOT the problem! however to protect her..she needs to be taught some form of the above comment, so that she knows YOU are calling the shots. always keep her on leash!

if you see the other dog coming toward you turn around and walk the other way,cross the street..don't give her the chance to get into it with the little brats!

only dog bites I've EVER had came from little dogs with a Napoleon complex! but of course it's always the big dog's fault!

[munchkinmomx3]

Hi,

I am new here. I have been training dogs for #) years now.

One thing that struck me is that your dog is Akita and Shepherd. Both are fabulous breeds, very bright and trainable, very good with their families. However, Akitas can be dog aggressive through no fault of their own, as it was bred into them, and your girl has just finished puberty and is into adulthood, which will make her less tolerant.

I don't blame her for getting irritated, as I hate when little dogs are allowed to be yappy and out of control. I would consider telling the other owners, "Please keep your dog away. She may bite."

My old dog was a lab shepherd mix, and a wonderful dog, but he didn't like little in-your-face dogs. Their owners would say, "Is he friendly?" as Fifi would yip and scrabble to get at him, and I would say, "No."

"Does he bite?" "He has."

My favorite was when the people would let the little squirt run up and get in my dog's face. As I reeled my dog in, the owner would say, "Oh, don't worry, she's friendly."

I would say, "But he's not."

They would leave us alone. You could also inform the other owners about the appropriate way to let their darlings approach your dog.

The other thing to consider is your own response. Akitas were developed for protection, as were shepherds. Dogs communicate mostly by body language. If your own body language is even slightly tense, she will pick up on it and react to protect you, which is genetically programmed into her and one of the breed's greatest characteristics. I see that a lot in the protection breeds: rotts, boxers, shepherds, chows, dobermans, especially with their female owners.

My female lab, a big doofus, was bitten in a training center by a snarly, defensive rescue dog; she snarled back and broke his skin. After a while, I couldn't take her in the center without a lot of aggression on her part every time another dog came around. I tried to figure out what the problem was. It turns out that she was reading my body language, which kept escalating with every new incident, and reacting to "protect" me. Duh. Now I can take her anywhere, and the worst I fear is that she will smack the annoying little dogs and smoosh them.

Also, another thought: if you watch mother dogs with pups, when the pup gets stupid, the mom will snarl and show her teeth, like "Straighten up!" This is a normal dog reaction.

Good luck with your girl. I really like the Akita and shepherd breeds, and you sound like your are an informed and responsible owner who wants to do the right thing.

Diane

P. S. Just so I don't offend anyone, I like small dogs, too, and would consider owning any one of a number of them. What I don't like are the people who have dogs for the wrong reasons or don't train their dogs.

[miacat]

Thanks for all the posts. I don't have anything against small dogs either, there are several here that are great, and mine is extra-gentle in play with them.

She still tolerates the neighbor's puppy dragging her around by her face, I guess because that's not aggressive, just puppy-learning. She has yet to correct him, unless he bites her ear, and then it's just a bark, 'no!'

I don't know how to explain it, her correcting him and reacting to aggression is just totally different.



I do think my dog was appropriate - all she did was say 'back off, I can snarl and flash my teeth too'. She hasn't 'become aggressive', just tired of taking crap, imo.

I liked it when she 'took crap', I guess. These little ones are hard to avoid, not all of them do this, and I thought mine was a smarty and realized 'you're just a silly, you can't hurt me, so I'm just going to give you a pass on this behavior'. That's how she used to respond.

She'd back up out of their reach and wag her tail, like 'come on now, being friends is more fun!' I guess I was expecting too much for it to stay like that!

Being what it is, I now avoid the small dogs I know will get in her face, and do not seek to meet 'new' little dogs. I just hate that because I feel like I'm reinforcing that something is bad about them, and could creATE aggression on her part toward them.

I'm pro-Cesar, so I do still introduce her to little dogs I can see are 'calm and submissive' and continue approaching the ones we are already friendly with, or letting them approach us with mine in a sitting position at first. I want to reinforce friendly as much as possible.

[miacat]

PS the whole incident that started this thread was MY fault. The little dog was one she had been friendly with when the little one was a baby. We haven't seen him since he grew up.

He was trying to play with her, and she wanted no part of him. I basically made her, and then this happened. She looked at me like 'are you happy now? I told you I didn't want to play with that thing!'

I fell to peer pressure, lol. The other ladies were saying 'why won't she play with him now?', on and on.

I won't make that mistake again ;-)

She and I have to trust each other's instincts :-).

[munchkinmomx3]

Originally Posted by miacat

I do think my dog was appropriate - all she did was say 'back off, I can snarl and flash my teeth too'. She hasn't 'become aggressive', just tired of taking crap, imo.

I liked it when she 'took crap', I guess. These little ones are hard to avoid, not all of them do this, and I thought mine was a smarty and realized 'you're just a silly, you can't hurt me, so I'm just going to give you a pass on this behavior'. That's how she used to respond.

I don't blame her, either. What she is doing is normal dog behavior. However, you are smart to keep her out of situations which could escalate into something difficult, through no fault of hers, yours, or the other little dog.

Today my neighbors were out with their darling Silkie Terrier puppy. My big boy, Harry, and I have been working on his dog aggression issues, which he had from being in the pound. Imagine this --the pup wasn't on a leash and joyfully ran over into our yard to greet Harry. While I don't think he would have intentionally hurt her, she is about the size of a hamster, and of course it would have been all my fault if she had been hurt. My son, who is eleven, intercepted her and scooped her up.

You're right--they are hard to avoid, and it seem so unfair that we have to worry and our dogs have to suffer when their own owners don't appear to be concerned at all.

d.

[miacat]

I believe absolutely that a large dog is a huge responsibility, especially the powerful breeds. They are potentially lethal, and people shouldn't have one if they're not going to socialize/train it properly.

It never occurred to me that with little dogs, it's just as important. Good points have been made here that it is :-)