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The doghouse

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Original poster

Does your dog have its dog enemies?

86 replies

SirChenjins · 16/04/2023 10:17

And how do you deal with it?

Mine is great around other dogs, very friendly and happy to say hello/play when appropriate - until he sees certain dogs eg, the 2 collies from along the road, the cockapoo from round the corner, the big dog of unknown breed we sometimes see on our morning walk. Then all hell breaks loose and I’ve no idea why.

OP posts:
Papergirl1968 · 16/04/2023 12:13

My dog (Staffie cross) hates random dogs, especially Collies, yet she has a Saluki boyfriend and is very tolerant of puppies. When she lunges towards another dog it takes all my strength to hold her.
We have various routes we have to avoid so we don't go past their houses (sigh).

weebarra · 16/04/2023 12:14

Yes, he really dislikes a cockapoo three doors down and an acquaintance's lovely plodding golden retriever.
With him and the cockapoo it's mutual but the goldie just looks slightly confused when Ddog is barking at him.

ToBeOrNotToBee · 16/04/2023 12:24

Yes!

One fluffy pomeranian.

He's had it in for it since he was a pup and pomeranian went for him.

Just seeing the pow is enough to send my dog into a rage.

It's really annoying as the Poms owners aren't that clued up and haven't taken any steps to address their dogs antisocial behaviour, in fact they bloody laugh about it.

They wouldn't tolerate that behaviour from a bigger dog but because little menace is small and fluffy it's 'cute'.

It won't be cute when he messes with the wrong dog and ends up as a snack.

neilyoungismyhero · 16/04/2023 12:27

The huge bitch down the road on the corner and the 2 huge unknown gender dogs opposite her absolutely hate my boy. He's a small terrier. He does nothing to deserve their attention. If they see him out they are fiercesome and bloody scarey. I worry that the owners, young slim women, might not be able to control them. Last month I actually hid behind a car on someone's drive..I felt a complete tit but they just stood across the road looking at us while their fiercesome animal tugged and lunged. It was awful. I time my walks to avoid them now.
I've also reccied the wheely bin situation so I can stuff my pup in one if I had to!

ClaireandTed · 16/04/2023 12:49

Yes when we are walking on lead, my 17 month old will randomly bark aggressively at selected dogs, maybe one in twenty that she sees. We are working on her reactivity. Usually she is fine but it's so embarrassing.

When off lead she hardly ever does it, and loves socialising. Apart from one dog, who she absolutely hates. This dog (offlead) jumped on her quite nastily when she was walking slowly towards it about six months ago. Now every time my dog sees it my dog stands and barks really aggressively at it. But she doesn't actually go up and attack obviously.

But then two weeks ago they had an altercation, because my dog saw it from a distance and started growling, so I quickly bent down and grabbed her collar and put some frankfurter on the ground to try to distract her. This massively backfired because the other dog came up to see the frankfurter, my dog started barking and lunged forward but I was holding her collar. The other dog reacted, went on the attack and bit me several times on the wrist and hand because I was crouched down holding my dog by the collar. Basically my hand was in the way, quite lucky really or my dog would have been bitten on the neck.

SherbertDabs · 16/04/2023 12:57

My dog is scared of all other dogs. Sometimes he hides behind me and sometimes he lunges - depending on how close we are/how the other dog reacts to him/how many triggers he’s encountered already etc. We’re training him to be indifferent by playing games like saying 1…2…3 and giving him a treat on 3 or scattering treats on the grass and saying find it. Hard slog but worth it for the wins.

17CherryTreeLane · 16/04/2023 13:02

Yes, only one particular 'look' of collie. The ones that look a bit like they're prowling. All other collies and dogs totally fine, he plays really nicely or ignores them. But put a prowling collie in front of him, and he turns into a rabid beast!

CaptainMyCaptain · 16/04/2023 13:09

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 16/04/2023 11:19

Apparently it's also common for dogs to dislike flat-faced (brachycephalic) dogs like boxers, pugs etc. Again, the theory is that they find them hard to read.

Show quote history

Mine used to hate these but she's met a few and is fine now.

XelaM · 16/04/2023 13:52

YES! Our dog is perfect with all dogs EXCEPT our next door neighbour's Jack Russell bitch! They absolutely HATE each other and would attack each other if not held back. I have no idea why. Our dog also angrily barks at her when he spots her over the fence in the garden. He's an absolute sweetheart of a dog with everyone else. I think she's probably saying mean things to him in dog speak 🤷‍♀️

coffeeiswgatkeepsmesane · 16/04/2023 14:01

Well that's interesting about black dogs and boxers as all 4 of my dog's 'enemies' fall into these categories!

LaurieFairyCake · 16/04/2023 14:19

I have one dog who's a massive twat (lockdown rescue who was attacked in rescue by a massive dog) who LOATHES big dogs - particularly German shepherds

At home so unbelievably cuddly with hoomans 🤦‍♀️

Outside the house he could be in The Omen, inside he's a cuddly sloth

ProbablyDogNappersHunX · 16/04/2023 15:10

Mine has a number of enemies

  • two breeds - but very similar looking breeds are absolutely fine. One breed he hated before I met him, the other breed started one day for quite literally no reason at all.
  • one dog in the park who is perfectly nice but mine has taken a dislike to - but others of the same breed are fine
  • one neighbour dog (sadly now passed) because mine is intensely territorial.

In all cases I avoid them. I prefer parks which are quite open so I can see who is coming, make big detours if necessary, and pop him on a lead and call out a warning if meeting is inevitable.

herlightmaterials · 16/04/2023 15:11

Collies have enemies.

Retrievers, no.

Maxifly · 16/04/2023 15:20

My calm placid greyhound is friendly with just about all the dogs we meet. But one woman has 2 small terrier types who bark and snarl at her. She just gave them a wide berth for about 2 years. Then 1 day she barked and lunged at them, hackles up, ready for a fight. I had to hold on and shorten my grip on her lead or she would have done them some damage no doubt. But the woman views my girl as a menace,without taking into account her previous behaviour.

Original poster
SirChenjins · 16/04/2023 15:35

So what do you all do when your dog has morphed into the Tasmanian devil in the split second it’s taken to notice The Enemy?

OP posts:
Snoken · 16/04/2023 15:43

Both my dogs hate German Shepherds. They don't bark at them or anything, they are just very scared of them. In return most poodle mixes seem to not like my dogs, especially the larger ones, and they bark at them. My dogs always stay quiet but they prefer to go the other way if they see a GS, but they ignore the barking poodle mixes.

sherbertyellowteddy · 16/04/2023 15:47

Yes! Anything small that yaps at him. And pugs. Pugs he really can't figure. Bigger dogs he bats no eye and if he has his tennis ball I don't think he sees anything else around him 😂

magicstar1 · 16/04/2023 16:02

My dog is a German Shepherd, and has a few enemies. She’s a lot less reactive now that we’ve worked with her, but like others she has a problem with black dogs. She’s not too fond of what we call Mopheads….little white fluffy dogs.
Weve met one dog who hated her on sight, he was a St. Bernard and had to be dragged away from her.
She’s also not fond of other GSDs…it’s not surprising when she was used as a breeding dog and only saw other GSDs when they were getting her pregnant.

crispinglovershighkick · 16/04/2023 16:36

We have a placid elderly lurcher who can't see or hear very well and rarely takes notice of any other dogs but he has a nemesis named Wolfie. Afaik Wolfie has never done anything to deserve his enmity, it's a mystery. I've barely laid eyes on him, usually we're in the next field and my dog is sniffing and twitching and grumbling and I hear the owner calling Wolfie.

Our other dog is a JRT cross and much more bolshy and this is the only instance where she is fine and the lurcher is in a froth.

SparkyBlue · 16/04/2023 16:42

I've a JRT and he is happiest friendliest little chap expect for the terrier across the road. I think it's all a territory thing

lightinthebox · 16/04/2023 16:42

No. But there is only one dog that can successfully tell mine off.

Babyroobs · 16/04/2023 16:43

Yes can walk past many dogs without a problem but has a couple who she will bark loudly at from across the road ! Older dog also does not like puppies, although that's probably because they are a bit jumpy/ move around too quick for her to suss out the situation.

Soubriquet · 16/04/2023 17:00

Hahaha this brings back memories.

There used to be an elderly couple walking a jack Russel by our house every day. They detested each other and would bark up a storm.

If they saw each other outside the house, they would bark up a storm.

Me and the owners would just nod at each other and laugh.

TotheletterofthelawTHELETTER · 16/04/2023 17:15

My cockapoo has 2 enemies. The French bulldog from up the road and the saluki from round the corner.

She’s super friendly otherwise, best friends with next door’s chihuahua and the other sides cockapoo.

we’ve met other French bulldogs while out and there’s no issue, it’s just the one that dares to go past our house.

telli · 16/04/2023 17:18

One of my dogs was excellent with all dogs except this one Samoyed that lived nearby, we would be out in the car and he would start going crazy growling at him! It was so strange the Samoyed also hated him and when I saw the owner one day he said my dog was the only one it ever barked/growled at!