Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 11:41 am Post subject: Disaster in the park!!!!!
Sorry in advance for the long post but I had an absolute nightmare in the park yesterday and I don't know what to do now......
Toby was safe to meet other dogs from Friday onwards so I took him out on Friday evening and he meet a nice yellow lab and they got on fine but yesterday was to be his first visit to the park without being carried! All was fine and he was playing wih a lovely pointer and then met a nice spaniel. I had him on lead the whole time and was walking towards two men with 4 dogs - 2 minature jack russells and 2 cairn terriers I think. All 4 dogs were off lead. Anyway one of the men came over to see Toby and was stroking him and asking about him. All 4 dogs were now round us sniffing Toby. In a split second one of the jack russells went for Toby and the next thing I knew all 4 dogs were on top of Toby attacking him and it was definitely not playing it was vicious! I panicked and was trying to get to Toby and had to kind of drag him up by his lead to get him out from under the dogs. I got him and he was shaking and crying and I was so upset. Anyway things were a bit blurry as I was in shock but I remember one of the men kicking his dog REALLY hard and then one of them asking me if Toby was ok and then saying something like "oh well that's what happens when you're the new kid on the block" then they both walked away with their dogs, the man with the cairn terriers had put both of his on leads but the jack russells were STILL off lead! A really nice lady then came over with her black lab and said "I saw it all, is he ok?" and I was checking him and miraculously he seemed to not be cut anywhere but was still shaking and whimpering and she said "you don't want this to affect how he is with other dogs, my dog will be fine with him can she come over?" so I said yes and her dog came over and Toby was still kind of cowering down but seemed a bit better so I took him home and he now seems fine but I feel terrible as I shouldn't have let that happen. Should I have not let him near 4 dogs who clearly knew each other? What signs should I look out for that a dog is going to attack him? Basically how do I make sure that this NEVER happens again???
awwwww poor you and poor baby puppy on his first trip out awwwww.
Ok right first thing is FORGET IT sooo many of your feeling szip through the lead that last thing you want to do is let him eed off you that walks are scary - even though you will be nervous for a while I would think.
So you know any other friendly dogs? Maybe you can go back to the park the same time tomorrow or today and hope to bump into the lady gain? See if you can meet up with her daily/weekly whatever. You need to get him to meet 'nice' dogs as much as possible for him (and you) to get yor confidence back.
OORRRRRRR Where are you? Arrange a GT? The BEST medicaine for a nervous puppy (or owner) is a GT
He will get over it as long a you get him out there having as many positive experiences as you possibly can. Does he go to puppy class? If not then can you get him to one? Take him to the vets once a week to weigh him maybe? stalk people with other dogs heh anything just get him out there.
ps Idont think you CAN ever stop it from happening BUT you can teachhim as much as you can and hope that he can tell the nice ones from the nasty in future.
oohhh sorry I didnt really answer your question did I - waffled on about stuff you didnt ask
When Ruby was teeny I tended to shout out to people with offlead dogs 'are they friendly?' if they ignored me or said 'no' I used to run off making LOADS of exciting noises so Ruby followed me AWAY from the 'dodgy' dog
Thanks Vicky, I don't really know anyone with a "friendly" dog. One of my best friends has a Border terrier who is GREAT with people ut has shown aggression to other dogs in the past so I definitely don't want to take the risk with her for a while. I live in Glasgow and am going to be taking Toby to puppy classes, starting next Thursday so hopefully he (and I!) will get over it!!!
ooohhh there are Scottish GTS - not a clue where in relation to Glasgow though Have you had a look at the lab liasons section?
I am SUCH an advocate of GTs they are fabulous!!! Ruby was a petrified pup (although nothing happened to her she just was) and we used to go to GT's LOADS it felt like everywekend but sure it wasnt quite that many hehe I wore out a set of tyres and drove anywhere and everywhere BUT it was soooo worth it - Ruby is 16 months old now and doesnt bat an eyelid at other dogs at all and I know in my heart she would have been scared for life had i not got her out there.
I know how scary this can be but you did exactly the right thing in that you managed to remove Toby from the situation and he was unhurt. Pud had quite a few experiences with not so friendly dogs as a pup but hundreds more with dogs who loved to play or were happy for a pup to give an enthusiastic welcome. He soon learned to approach dogs more cautiously and submissively to allow them to check him out before going in to full blown play mode! It probably took me slightly longer to get over each incident than Pud I've had to try really hard sometimes to hide my fear!!!
The advice that you have been given is fantastic - socialise, socialise, socialise!!! The 1st training class that we went to included puppies and new dogs - which wasn't ideal in many respects as a lot of the dogs were rescue dogs who had recently been rehomed and already had problems with other dogs - but it has made Pud fearless!
If you reguarly walk in the same places you soon get to know many of the dogs and their owners and can confidently allow Toby to go up to dogs that you have met before.
It is terrifying when this happens, and as a new owner it can seem dreadful with all the noise, the pup being tipped over and pinned down and the poor pup wetting or even pooing itself in fear.
This happened to Max when he was a pup and the culprit was my Brother in Law's GS. They had been together all day, and then the GS seemed to just flip and pinned Max down, lots of noise, etc. with Max screaming, wetting himself and pooing himself.
However, looking back the GS was just putting Max in his place and thats all it was. Noise. Handbags but dreadfully frightening.
No blood and, depending on how you handle it, no lasting effects.
You need to get out there, meet lots of new dogs and be terribly jolly hockey sticks - ABSOLUTELY no fear or worry in your body or voice.
I tend to stay away from parks - often people just take their dogs there to empty them and as soon as they have done their business, they go home. You will have a doggy place near, perhaps a woodland walk or nature trail and it will be full of people on a sunday with their wellies, wax jackets and dogs. These dogs tend to be friendlier (at least here anyway) and well socialised.
When Ruby was teeny I tended to shout out to people with offlead dogs 'are they friendly?' if they ignored me or said 'no' I used to run off making LOADS of exciting noises so Ruby followed me AWAY from the 'dodgy' dog
THAT ^^^^ is fabulous advice for new puppy owners.
Lainey I second the recommendation to organise a GT and go along to every GT within a 2 hour radius Socialisation with as many "known" dogs as possible is gonna be SO important, for both of you. In fact, probably for you more
I feel so bad that your trip to the park yesterday went so badly, reading it really affected me as when you put yourself in pup's shoes it would have been terrifying. You're right to want to do as much as possible to put it behind you and move on, hopefully you'll not have any more problems.
We too have trouble finding people we know with dogs to go walking with, none of my friends have a dog, so we're going to as many GTs as we can. Also we're concentrating on getting him confident everywhere possible, we have got him used to main roads, shops, schools, trains, buses, motorbikes, cities... I figured if we couldn't get him socialised with loads of dogs then I'd get him really confident everywhere else so that dogs eventually wouldn't bother him either!
Good luck with it all, and keep us posted! (Oh, and you'll have to join up as a full member soon as I see you're almost out of posts...)
Poor you and little Toby... Yes don't get put off, these things unfortunately happen...Training classes as already suggested are a must, not only it is good for Toby to meet other dogs but he also learns discipline in a control enviroment.
As soon as I spot other dogs while on walks I always ask first if it is ok for them to play and as Vicky said, if they don't reply or say no I go the opposite way...
I would say that if you see the dogs are on lead in a place where they could be off lead it might mean they don't enjoy socializing with other dogs, this is not a rule but it has been my experience so far. I also find that the owners are not quite open to let them socialize either...That is why I always ask first...I have to be vigilant and try to spot them before Kyra does... he he he....
Where I go to walk Kyra is a huge park and it is clearly divided in two parts, one is where all the Sunday walkers with their sunday clean outfits go, with small dogs on their leash and they keep to the promenade and the manicured fields, and then there is the woodlands and what we called the rough fields where people with wellies and happy loose leash dogs go. Their dogs are friendlier and happy to play, most of the times, even then I still ask, as you can't assume. I am working on Kyra to be trained to go ahead and play only when I say it is ok, as she still jumps up at some people and now and again has selective recall, so I have a resposibility to correct that for her safety and others.
Sorry for the long and waffled reply and I wish you good and enjoyable future walks... x
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
Have you had a look at the lab liasons section?
Socialisation with as many "known" dogs as possible is gonna be SO important, for both of you. In fact, probably for you more 
