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Comment by Stephani Shively on August 19, 2011 at 5:34pm

Thank you all so much for the advice! It is nice to know that my Chase isn’t the only one! My husband has always said that Chase has a little case of “small dog syndrome”. And I definitely agree that he seems insecure and that could be a big part of the problem. The dog park we have is quite large and there is a lot of room so maybe if we continue to take them to areas not so populated with big dogs, he will become a little more secure. Thankfully, Buddy does not seem to have the same insecurities. I am hoping that as we begin to socialize our new puppy, we will have success with Chase also.

Comment by Rebecca Marie O'Bryan on August 19, 2011 at 1:27pm

teddy use to be very afraid of other dogs but through 4months of training i have pretty much broke that. of course i dont expect him to like all dogs. he does do this excited/warning growl when they are far but as soon as we are about 20 feet, he lowers his and body and welcomes the. hes always have done that to bigger dogs.

make friends with the people at the dog park and ask them if u can walk the dogs together. walking dogs side to side is none confrontational, so no aggressive responses. if they make a growl or bark immediately correct with a sharp "eh" and have them sit, then carry on. reward calm behavior! if they see a dog and no response u need to praise the heck out of him! praise is the key here, make everything a positive experience.

 

if u are at the dog park for now i suggest leashing him until u can trust him around other dogs but then that gives u great opportunity to praise/reward if he lets another dog approach and for being calm. keep him in a sit and keep his attention on u as the other dog comes near.  now i realize some dogs are different on leash but thats an idea for u. consistency is the key so do this multiple times a week if u can. that goes for correcting and rewarding other wise its just confusing.

 

socializing your dog is the most important part of having a puppy, u MUST do it to avoid behavioral problems such as this. im not talking about once or twice a week to see a kid or two. i mean have him meet people, kids, dogs, new places, sights, smells everyday as u only have a short window of opportunity to do this, once that window closes its very hard to break them out of this

Comment by Beth Walker on August 19, 2011 at 11:39am

I would try to find someone that has a couple of big, calm, submissive dogs that Chase can be around that are not going to crowd him so he can see that big dogs are okay. I have 5 corgi's and one Lab/Catahoula mix, occasionally a corgi will go after the bigger dog, and what will ALWAYS trigger it is if our big dog stands over the top of the corgi's neck/shoulder region. The corgi's take it as a threat and will go after him, so just make sure if you can find a few big calm dogs make sure they respect Chase's space and do not allow them to stand over the top of him.

Comment by Geri & Sidney on August 19, 2011 at 11:20am

Sidney's not the only one? Whew! Sid is GREAT with dogs his size, and up to a year ago he was fine with bigger dogs too. It seemed to change after his FHO surgery last year. Now he seems fearful,  or as John put it, insecure around bigger dogs. He'll tense up and then snap at the face of a bigger dog. He's never made physical contact and when I correct him he backs off. I think for some reason he associates a big dog with his injury last year, or maybe after reading this it's just something some corgis pick up.After this initial confrontation, he seems to be "ok" with the bigger dog; it's like he's said "don't mess with me. Are we clear? Good!"

 

I'm worried one day, a bigger dog won't take kindly to this behavior and try to take a chunk out of Sid in response.

 

When we go to the dog park now, we always go to the "small dog" pen. If we're walking on leash, I just avoid bigger dogs. There is a man in our neighborhood who consistently walks his pit mix off leash and I'm always asking him to call his dog to him. He just doesn't get it - he says his dog is friendly, and when I tell him my dog  will try to bite her face, he laughs it off. JERK.

 

Oh, and Sidney's brother is a lab/dane mix. A huge dog. And they don't fight, although SId is definitely the alpha in that relationship.

 

I don't know what else to tell you, other than instead of trying to correct a fearful dog, try to avoid big dogs. If you can't do that, keep Chase on leash, be diligent but try not to be tense or he'll pick up on that and he'll be tense too.

Comment by Jane on August 19, 2011 at 8:34am

I would try to start somewhere with just a couple of dogs where he can feel more comfortable. If he's insecure around big dogs a dog park may be very overwhelming for him and you want these experiences to be as positive as possible.

Comment by Jane Christensen on August 19, 2011 at 12:01am

Wynn only growls at the big dogs also...he has become more tolerant when I started making him lay down and stepped on his leash when he growled. don't have a clue if this is why but he had to focus on that instead of the big dog. Being consistant is a biggie but this was with him on a leash when he's loose he's fine...?????

Comment by Bev Levy on August 18, 2011 at 8:55pm

Sparty is great around other dogs but Izzy makes it clear that after one sniff from a strange dog she is over it. The last couple times we were at a dog park we ended up leashing her to keep her out of trouble. Both of my dogs have been around lots of other dogs and people so I am not sure it is a socialization issue.  I know this is probably not helpful but I wonder if it is just a personal preference on their part.

Comment by John Wolff on August 18, 2011 at 8:24pm

Similar problem with our Al 5 y.o., a perfect dog in every respect EXCEPT he seems... insecure? ... around larger dogs sometimes, and will occasionally curl a lip and then snap, quite aggressively, lunging and snarling, pressing the attack, with no apparent provocation from the other dog.  He's never done any damage (no blood drawn).  I do not understand this behavior so I don't know what to do.  I always have to put him on-leash around another dog.  He's OK with smaller ones, so I think it may be a fear/insecurity thing.  He just doesn't always like to be approached.