Another problem at the dog park. :( really upset

[AlyHope]

Ive had my german shepherd since she was 8 weeks old. In june she'll be a year and a half.

Apache is my baby. She loves people and other animals but Apache and I have a special bond nothing could ever replace. I have never in my life see her get agressive or mean.
Shes my 7 month old yorkies best friend and she also gets along great with my two cats and even our pet rat. Shes a gentle giant and I trusted her. She has been playing with my neighbors baby since she learned to walk. ( this baby hugs her, hits her, pulls on her ears, eye lids, and apache does nothing. )

Last night I was at the park with the usual crew, when a guy came in that I hadnt seen before. He had a small 15 pound puggle. Something about this dog didnt agree with apache. Apache ran across the field to tackle and attack this small dog. I Pulled her off as quickly as I could and then yelled at her. I put her on the ground with my hand and made her submit to me. I made her lay like that for 5 minutes in a time out and then let her go again (keeping a closer eye this time). She went right back over to the dog and started to attack again. I grabbed her by her collar, and then it happened.


She turned around and bit me. Not lightly either.
Besides the fact that she had just dug her k9s an inch into my hand, and now I was bleeding everywhere, my main concern was the smaller dog. I grabbed her with my good hand and left the park.


So now, Im in shock.
How can a dog that is so sweet and gentle with my three pound yorkie, babies , and cats, turn into something so aggressive?
It just hurts. I love that dog so much, put so much effort, time, money, & love into her and she turns around and bites me?

What did I do wrong? Has anyone else had an experience like this? I dont know what to think

[yorkiemini]

You probably didn't do anything wrong per se.
Big dogs who are protective have the size and equipment to do damage.
I would guess that pugged just really got his adrenalin going somehow and it was bigger than she could handle. You were between her and the "problem" so you got the end of the K9s.

Hope all is well now. Is she obedience trained? That is often the best way to get in control of big dogs.

Sorry this happened -- but don't think we have to worry about who is going to protect you

[kjc]

My first instincts tell me she may have picked up on your uneasiness about the stranger and the new dog.

Don't have your feelings hurt.... all (or most, except for the super well trained) dogs will bite once they reach a certain level of excitement and they're intent on doing what they're doing.

Dogs live in the present, her bite I believe was more a reaction to your action of trying to interupt her behavior.

More to follow... gotta go now....

[AlyHope]

Shes obedience trained, very well actually. She just got out of control. It was like she was a different dog

[tjdmom]

Oh no, I'm so sorry. That must be devastating for you.
I belong to a site that has a different way of training...I'd like to encourage you to check it out, I'm sure there is someone there might be able to help you....
It is a little different and takes some adjusting but please at least check it out and good luck!
SATZ_Main : Safe_Alternative_Teaching_Zone

[shelimcallister]

My boxer (the sweetest little babyin the world) bit me once when his foot got caught in between the plexy glass of a door. It was really jammed in there and he was wailing and freaking out. I reached down to try and pull it out and he attcked my arm. I had to get stiches.

My point being that dogs have one track minds sometimes and he didn't mean to hurt you. I am sorry this happened.

[lynzy420]

Originally Posted by AlyHope

Ive had my german shepherd since she was 8 weeks old. In june she'll be a year and a half.

Apache is my baby. She loves people and other animals but Apache and I have a special bond nothing could ever replace. I have never in my life see her get agressive or mean.
Shes my 7 month old yorkies best friend and she also gets along great with my two cats and even our pet rat. Shes a gentle giant and I trusted her. She has been playing with my neighbors baby since she learned to walk. ( this baby hugs her, hits her, pulls on her ears, eye lids, and apache does nothing. )

Last night I was at the park with the usual crew, when a guy came in that I hadnt seen before. He had a small 15 pound puggle. Something about this dog didnt agree with apache. Apache ran across the field to tackle and attack this small dog. I Pulled her off as quickly as I could and then yelled at her. I put her on the ground with my hand and made her submit to me. I made her lay like that for 5 minutes in a time out and then let her go again (keeping a closer eye this time). She went right back over to the dog and started to attack again. I grabbed her by her collar, and then it happened.


She turned around and bit me. Not lightly either.
Besides the fact that she had just dug her k9s an inch into my hand, and now I was bleeding everywhere, my main concern was the smaller dog. I grabbed her with my good hand and left the park.


So now, Im in shock.
How can a dog that is so sweet and gentle with my three pound yorkie, babies , and cats, turn into something so aggressive?
It just hurts. I love that dog so much, put so much effort, time, money, & love into her and she turns around and bites me?

What did I do wrong? Has anyone else had an experience like this? I dont know what to think

Yes I have had this happen, it was heartwrenching and horrble beyond words. I spoke about this in another thread here, somewhere. I can't go over it again, but I will say this. That is still your baby but you no longer can trust her with others (people or fur) and you must secure her when they are in your home. I would not leave her alone with your Yorkies. Others may disagree but as someone who has been there....I'm sorry the risk is not worth it. I had to rehome my dog because I couldn't trust him around my children or dogs again. To this day, I do socialize my dogs and they are fine, but when small children are around, they go away.

When my Gus did this we had a close single friend rehome him, took him for a refresher course in training and then a few years later it happened again. Anyways, this is just my experience and opinion, you may want to seek the advice of a professional.

Good Luck and I really am sorry you went through this, I hope its an isolated incident. I truly feel your pain.

[macdivaswagg]

Where is the dog now?

[QuickSilver]

It sounds like redirected aggression. It's actually a very common response to being grabbed by the collar in that kind of situation.

Hopefully this does not happen again, but if you need to pull her away, you should pull her away by her back paws. A dog can't do much when it's in a handstand.

[AlyHope]

I never thought of grabbing from the back paws. Good idea. She is NEVER left alone with my yorkie, not worth the risk. I Hope this never happens again. & Ill check out that training site. Thanks everyone.

[yorkietalkjilly]

You become the aggressor to the dog when you rush in & grab them by the collar or neck scruff in a dog fight where instincts kick into survival mode. The back legs are the only safe way to stop a dog fight - but don't stop there. Tell the other owner or anyone to remove the other dog so they won't start up again or they most likely will, as soon as you let them go. Keep moving your dog in a circle or "walking" it on its forepaws as you hold the back legs up so it can't get to you until it calms down & comes to itself - and the other dog is gone. One of the dogs has to be removed - usually the smaller dog - as the owner of the larger dog continues the rear-leg holding/circling away from the scene of the fight. Go faster if he's trying to turn & nip you. Try to circle/walk it toward the gate & out of the enclosure to your car, get someone to open a door & guide him in, close the door. Now that it has happened once, it could very easily recur so you are going to either have to leash him at the dog park or start pretty disciplined training to keep him in line.

[gemy]

I feel for you and the situation you encountered. I also endorse the hind legs lift.

On a further note, with working dogs and especially those bred to guard and protect; training needs to be constant. Not saying in your case that it isn't, but if not for sure you better start doing daily training.

She is only 18mths old, and for larger breeds that is the dreaded teenage years. She is just now starting to come into her own as an "adult".

If you do have a trainer, then go back to them now. You will need to build up trust again with her. Being bit by your dog, is no cup of tea, and really can shake you to your core.

This maybe folklore, (sorry I am not a GSD owner) however I have heard that Shepherds will turn on their owners at least once, and you better be prepared to deal with it.

I am how-ever a large working breed owner and breeder of Black Russians. They will not show their true adult character until about 3yrs old. Before then, I always advise to build a very stable and good working rapport with your dog. So when you "need" the absolute obedience it will be there.

I have always used and trained into my dogs, the STOP command. It is the emergency command, and is never, ever to be disobeyed. I start when they are eight week old pups.

I do believe that bite, was a result of her being in the "fight" mode, adrenaline coursing through her body, and she responded from this mindset.

[LunasMomma]

Oh my goodness I have no advice or experience with big dogs. Just wanted to say I'm sorry that happened to you and I hope that with some additional training, it never happens again.

How is your hand now?

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by gemy

I feel for you and the situation you encountered. I also endorse the hind legs lift.

On a further note, with working dogs and especially those bred to guard and protect; training needs to be constant. Not saying in your case that it isn't, but if not for sure you better start doing daily training.

She is only 18mths old, and for larger breeds that is the dreaded teenage years. She is just now starting to come into her own as an "adult".

If you do have a trainer, then go back to them now. You will need to build up trust again with her. Being bit by your dog, is no cup of tea, and really can shake you to your core.

This maybe folklore, (sorry I am not a GSD owner) however I have heard that Shepherds will turn on their owners at least once, and you better be prepared to deal with it.

I am how-ever a large working breed owner and breeder of Black Russians. They will not show their true adult character until about 3yrs old. Before then, I always advise to build a very stable and good working rapport with your dog. So when you "need" the absolute obedience it will be there.

I have always used and trained into my dogs, the STOP command. It is the emergency command, and is never, ever to be disobeyed. I start when they are eight week old pups.

I do believe that bite, was a result of her being in the "fight" mode, adrenaline coursing through her body, and she responded from this mindset.

I agree the bite was self-defense & not personal. Look at it like this - if your GSD rushed at you & you thought she was attacking, you would knock her to the side or hit out at her, defending yourself from this "attack", which you don't understand. She wouldn't take your self-defense personally. From the dog's point of view, when she's in survival mode & you try to stop her from defending her life, you are "attacking" in her mind. She doesn't understand that you are trying to stop the fight. So don't take it personally, thinking she doesn't still love you or anything. She's just acting out of instinct as you would.

[Britster]

From my small experience with Shepherds (I grew up with one - she was the first dog that was basically "mine" at young age) and now my uncle having his 9 month old girl.... but almost every Shepherd I've seen at the dog park has a totally different play style, they tend to be nippy, and protective. And to be honest? Most of them don't belong in a dog park IMO. I love the breed and plan to own them again, but I am not sure the dog park is the proper place for them. They really require respect of other dogs and if they don't get it, they will re-direct.

Was this Puggle that came in over-excited by any chance? She probably (your girl) felt the need to patrol the situation.

Also, was your Yorkie there too? Maybe she was protecting her family, as a Shepherd should.

And for what it's worth, I don't agree with making her submit and all that, but I understand it works for some people. But in my experience it makes the aggressor more aggressive.

That's not say she is aggressive by any means! To me, she is a teenager who is growing up and she is probably going to go through a few changes. I know our Shepherd came into her own at about that age and unfortunately due to bad genetics/breeding and lack of exercise, training and socialization, she became VERY overly protective of her family and ended up getting put to sleep.