Bastard Dog Club

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

Roll up, roll up! Anyone who has a Bastard Dog sign in here! Does your dog hate other dogs? Does he or she bark, lunge, growl or actually want to eat other canines? Are you regularly stressed, embarassed or rocking in a corner by your Bastard Dog's antics? Then this is your safe zone. Come hither and share your tales of woe, and also hopefully your successes.

Give us some background, thus:

BD breed: Spaniel cross
BD age: 18 months
BD behaviour: Jumps at approaching dogs and tells them to fuck off in a very vocal way.
BD training attempts: We're working on BAT, using tons of treats and actively avoiding interactions.
Frequency of BD incidents: Probably some kind of reaction every month or so, usually my fault.

Now, who's for gin?

BD breed - sausage
BD age - 4
BD behaviour - no recall whatsoever. Incontinent. Untrainable. Barks at people. Runs away from dogs. In love with the cat.

Good points - nice and warm. Snuggly. Looks good.

My dog would be alright with a sausage. Little dogs don't bother him too much. It's the big bouncy hounds he goes postal at.

BD breed: Springer Spaniel (rescued...may have other invisible parentage)
BD age ??4ish...had her 4 months
BD behaviour: growls, bares teeth and snaps roughly translated as "get off me stupid dog I want to get on with being a Spaniel..I don't play"
BD training: brief positive interactions with dogs and MOVING ON with plenty of rewards. Never ever take her ball into a place with other dogs. Read the body language...bit of a novice at that.
Frequency: hard to say...i get lulled into a false sense of security and then some stupid dog won't leave her alone even when she is being perfect and then she cracks...and we are set back.

My success...when we got her she was paranoid about large black lab type dogs and would react if she saw one miles away...we can now pass one in the street and can occasionally say hello off lead so long as they are only one at a time .

now pass that gin..what do you mean it's early????

I am here

BD breed: Staffy cross something that makes her look like a mutant staffy
BD age: between 3-5
BD behaviour: Jumps at approaching dogs and tells them to fuck off in a very vocal way, shows her teeth, tries to rip their ears off
BD training attempts: treats work sometimes
Frequency of BD incidents: often daily but we dont avoid other dogs, we were advised to go where the dogs are!

Her arch enemies are my mums bouncy Airedale and any dog off lead with their daft owner shouting 'it's ok my dog is friendly' while my dog is trying to chew their dogs ear off!

Interesting, fool. My dog loathes large black lab types, too. He properly freaks out.

Non-Bastard lovely old collie dog has a thing about black labs too.

BD breed: Scottie
Age: 2
Behaviour: polices village. Anything moving barked at, from leaf to juggernaut. Made worse by cowardly response when leads are off: goes onto belly and grovels. Very good guard dog, though, and happy to be cuddly lapdog and loving pschyotherapist to teenagers, when needed.
Training: walks when village is quieter. Walks with other dogs, with friends. Use 'touch' and also whistle and clicker to encourage recall and paying attention to me.

Maybe black Labs are Bastard Dogs in the eyes of actual Bastard Dogs?

Hello owners of Bastard Dogs.

My dog is actually not a bastard, but wanted to throw in why your BDs might not like black labs....

I've got a black lab x. He's had his head kicked in about 27000 times. Apparently, black dogs are much harder to 'read', a they can't show much in the way of facial expressions. He has a very scruffy beard and eyebrows, you can barely make out that he's a dog tbh!

Also, i think dogs like boxers and airdales have very upright stances, that make them look as if they are challenging other dogs, no head dipping or other submissive/calming gestures. A bit of a 'come and have a go if you're hard enough.'

My boy has become an expert at displaying other calming signals, he licks his lips a lot, yawns, sniffs around the floor or bows now. He's also a very fast runner, which helps.

Or I could be talking bollocks and labs seem to be needy 9yr old girls of the dog world. "Be my friend! Please! Look I'm a dog, you're a dog! Lets be best friends FOREVER and sniff stuff. Let me sniiiiiiifffff you!!!". I'd find that a bit much I reckon.

My dog is a bastard. Well I am fairly sure his parents weren;t married. I suspect it was a brief liaison by the dustbins.

However he is very polite - to a fault. He runs away more often than not

Inthepotty you are right about the Airedale stance, thats exactly what the trainer my mum and I use says, my BD sees it as a threat when she sees him standing there, she also doesnt discriminate against other bigger dogs, anything thats bigger than a spaniel is the devil!

I'm here

BD1, staffy. 10 months.
Complete inability to remember any commands for more than 5 minutes.
No recall, just stands and looks at me as if to say "I am laughing at you because I know you are going to try and chase me in a minute. And I will run off. So there.
Transformed from one of the good dogs at puppy class to the actual horror now he is a teenager.
Is very offended by gloves and socks and will either bark, cry or take them off if you wear them.
Also not too keen on hats.

BD2-staffy/boxer 2 years or thereabouts.
Used to be my foster, went to new home but came back to me forever as he snapped at one of their older DCs. Was living outside 24/7 for 2 months.
Very dog aggressive. Through fear I think not actual aggressiveness IYSWIM
No recall whatsoever. At all.
Tries to attack/run away from every dog he sees outside, depending on which mood he is in.
Chews everything in sight although this is getting much better.
Takes great offense to anything spongelike, will bark at it.

Potty, you've hit the nail on the head there about labs being needy 9 year old girls. I have a Springer/Lab x (essentially a small black lab with a slightly longer, wavier coat) who is utterly wet. He thinks everyone wants to be his friend, but the second another dog, no matter how big or small, shows the slightest bit of bad temper, he legs it. He is, basically, a big girl's blouse. I blame DH and the 3 DCs who treat him like a baby.

He does, however, show a million different facial expressions, and he always smiles, and even laughs (he does, I promise!).

But I'm afraid I can't really join the BD Club as he's actually rather well behaved, dammit!

I'm here too

BD breed: retreiver x collie x lurcher x ?

BD age: around 2. I've had him for 4.5 months. Is from Ireland via Dogs Trust

BD behaviour: Strong dislike of other dogs wanting to play or being too close or sniffing him, responds with lunging, barking, snapping.

Other bonus BD behaviours: serial absconder, highly dodgy recall, rodent eater, duck & squirrel chaser, cat menace.

BD frequency: Down to maybe 1 problem a fortnight now. BD is always on a long lead (see serial absconding above) and he does now come straight to me 95% of the time when he sees another dog. We mainline sausage until the threat has passed. Next challenge is meeting other dogs offlead

BD training success 1: Strangely, the other dog reactivity has helped us with recall. It has made me this immediate point of reference/centre of the world figure that all the trainers tell you to be. This goes completely out of the window when other mammals or birds are present.

BD training success 2: We used to get bothered by other dogs a LOT. I think Gymdog was giving off confusing and confrontational signals and inviting a lot of the trouble we got. Now he looks at me and eats sausage rather than look at the approaching dog it's made a huge difference. Reduced the number of dogs who bristle at him by 75% I'd say. Still never seen him use a calming signal with another dog though. He prefers just to ignore them if they'll let him.

BD low point: when he bit my leg rather than a collie. 100% unintentional and no broken skin but I have never had bruising like it

BD redeeming qualities: He's gorgeous, very affectionate and I luffs him

Signing in

BD Breed - Springer Spaniel
BD Age - 5 how did get to that age?
BD Behaviour - Sniffs happily with other dogs, then goes for them, sounds very scary but all sound and no substance. Will ignore when on the lead but if the other dog starts straining at the leash he will go into full on aggressive mode. Fortunately has fab recall but if allowed to socialise the aggressiveness would happen every day

Plus points, he worships the ground I walk on and adds massively to sum of enjoyment in my life.

Pics on profile.

my dog is a bastard dog's nemesis - the labrador puppy.

she doesn't understand dog-language, expects you to love her and doesn't wait to be asked.

then if you really mean it she will be scared and hide behind legs.

i like her to meet bastard dogs so they can teach her a lesson but it is all undone when she meets flatcoats, golden retrievers and labradors who think her behaviour is perfectly acceptable.

in case i meet any of you, i apologise but god knows i'm trying.

Forget to say, my BD loathes, loathes, loathes boxers.

Just saying.

I wish my BDs hatred of other dogs was limited to just one breed

But no, he hates every dog equally.

BD Breed: Weimaraner
BD Age:2
BD Behaviour: He's just a complete arse. Bouncy, barky, over-excitable, accident prone, enthusiastic roller in fox shit, avid consumer of horse manure.
Plus points: gorgeous, affectionate, gentle.

I have three dogs and two BDs, both hate other dogs and each other. One practically fits in the other's mouth. We have fun...

Hello. Can my black lab join you bastard dog group?

BD breed - black lab
BD age - 19 months
BD behaviour - over friendly, to the point that if he sees another dog he will attempt to drag me to said dog and bounce and slobber over it. Won't take "piss-off and leave me alone" (from another dog) as an answer.
He is as inthepotty says the needy 9yr old girls of the dog world. "Be my friend! Please! Look I'm a dog, you're a dog! Lets be best friends FOREVER and sniff stuff. Let me sniiiiiiifffff you!!!"
Unless you happen to be a terrier, in which case he will bark and lunge.

Recall is fine as long as there are no dogs or people in a 2mile radius.
Can't walk behind another dog, but is fine the moment he is 1metre in front of other dog.
Won't retrieve unless it involves a purple plastic bone and the sea

Good points - he can do "beg" looks bloody ridiculous and no I didnt teach him it, he does it off his own backside (pun intended)
And he doesn't bark if left briefly outside a shop.

BD breed: working cocker
BD age: 2 1/2 yrs had her 1 1/2 yrs rescue

BD behaviour: will bark at all dogs going past the house in very very aggressive manor. On lead fine if not approached, off lead fine as long as dog approaching is calm, she finds a quick sniff acceptable but does not want to be chased or launched at by hyperactive dogs. Excellent recall and will sit and ignore dogs walking by as long as they are calm.

BD training attempts: Treats and Praise, avoid situations with known 'just playing' dogs by changing route of walk

Frequency of BD incidents: Varies some weeks none other weeks daily.

On the plus side she has come a long long way from the dog we got back in sept 2011, she was, back then, an unsocialised wreck of dog scared of her own shadow had never set foot in a house let alone seen a child or a cat.

BD breed - Border Collie
BD age - nearly 7
BD behaviour - generally hates all other dogs, especially small dogs which we call edible dogs. Cannot be trusted at all with other dogs, can initially appear to want to play to lull them towards her. Will always pick on submissive dogs and those she knows she can beat.
Now also obsessed with our new chicken.

Plus points: Very obedient, brilliant recall, has passed Gold good citizen years ago but no longer goes to training due to it being rather stressful.
Up for anything you ask her to do. Loves people. Never barks at doorbell, postman, bikes, cars, burglars etc but barks like a loon during agility
Good at agility but doesn't compete due to stress involved in running whilst other dogs are running and the fact that competitions make me ill with nerves

Just checking in quickly as Bastard hound is at the hairdressers having a cut ,wash and blow dry .
Breed X Patterdale
Age. 2.7
Behaviour Fine if everyone else would leave him alone !
Plus points. He is the love of my life ! ( and I do have a husband and children)