Need advice about JRT's behaviour

[MirandaGoshawk]

DH's dog. Just to paint a picture of him: He's three years old, he has a lot of hound in him and teeth like Jaws. He was the big one of the litter and likes all other dogs to submit. Once he flattened a neighbour's puppy, it sounded nasty but was over very quickly with no harm done and now they are best buddies and he is very patient with it. He loves chasing cats/squirrels/rabbits etc which is doubtless what he was bred for, but thankfully no disasters so far, but I do worry about what would happen if he did catch a cat. But at home he is a softie, insecure when DH isn't around, & he's always been fine with people.

Anyway, we have just moved house and I go out with him, hoping to meet new friends with dogs. Yesterday he attacked a beautiful puppy - I'd picked him up, it was a female (he's usually OK with girls) and he seemed fine but when I put him down he went for it. The woman was understandably irate. Doubtless if I'd let it continue the pup would've submitted, which was all he wants, but this isn't nice for owners. Today he went apeshit at another dog - the lady was initially friendly but quickly hurried away when he started snarling. So that's another potential friendship buggered.

We had a dog behaviour lady look at him and she said his behaviour is normal. Said not to have him castrated as that would make him feel under threat & therefore worse. Basically he needs to be top dog, and the hound in him means he won't be told what to do.

Any ideas?

Please be kind - he's not mine and it's not my fault he isn't trained!

I'm 99% sure. He is aggressive - there is no avoidance on his part, no seeking to get away. He spots another dog and wants to put them in their place .

The only reason he tries to "put other dogs in their place" is because such behaviour has been enabled. My labrador has been attacked on 3 different occasions and is now very wary of other dogs and often raises her hackles. She never starts fights with other dogs, but definitely provokes them with her stance etc (I keep her on the lead when in public, she's only really off the lead on private land or up in the fells where she becomes very relaxed!) What I am trying to say by my ramble is there is no need for her to behave this way - she could've been a confident, relaxed dog around other dogs but no, because some idiot with a dog like yours allowed it to "put her in her place" when she was a pup, she now thinks every dog is going to act the same! She was pinned down and snarled at by 3 different dogs over the space of a few months and it has made her a very nervous animal! She is absolutely fantastic with children, couldn't be a better dog for my kids to grow up with. Just a shame she's now terrified of other dogs because of irresponsible dog owners with similar attitudes to the OP.

Seriously - you need to find away to manage his behaviour. It is not acceptable for him to "put dogs in their place" - its like that big biker in the pub scaring everyone in the pub, or the bully in the playground...in any of these situations it is not acceptable.

I have a giant breed - he is a gentle giant and has never had bad experience's thank goodness - often in play he will lie on his back with his friend standing over him - it does look quite ridiculous. However the other day he was rushed at by a terrier who wanted to put him in his place - he was having none of it. I hate to think what could have happened if I was not right there. The terrier was definitely the aggressor, and for a horrifying moment I thought I was going to have to kick it to stop it biting my dog......but as I said he was having none of it, and if I did not have control of him, him seeing this terrier off, could have been fatal for it....given it must have weighed 6-10kg , and mine is 65kg.

So on all fronts you need to do something - your dog could behave inappropriately socially and get seriously hurt....and you are damaging a lot of other dogs socially.

This suggests to me that this behaviour is 'normal' among dogs. However, yes, like a bully it's obviously not acceptable to us. But I haven't been able to take responsibility for Jack as he isn't my dog and DH is just resigned to 'managing' each situation (i.e keeping him on the lead & yanking him away when necessary), which is not something I want to do. I want to be able to go for a walk and 'switch off' as I used to do with my collie, although I don't think that will ever be possible. So Jack needs some training. Yesterday I saw the friendly lady approaching again with her dog and told Jack not to misbehave, and he didn't! It's a start.

This suggests to me that this behaviour is 'normal' among dogs.

Attacking a puppy, without reason, is not the behaviour of a normal, balanced dog. That these attacks happen so regularly doesn't mean we should accept them as normal. It does mean there are far too many careless or ignorant owners about.