I need behaviour advice

[garlicandsapphires]

Doing some soul searching as my 18 m.o Bedlington Whippet has been expelled from her doggy day care for attacking a smaller dog
Never shown any behaviour like this before, in fact I thought she was good at reading other dogs' body language.
Wondering whether she was over stimulated - there were lots of other dogs, she seemed to love it, but maybe it was a bit too much. She'd been there about 8 months.

I now realise I need to step up the training, her recall is okay but she jumps up and I don't really think she knows that I am boss.
Very concerned that this may happen again.

In the early days I watched youtube videos and had a couple of books but feel a bit lost now, can anyone recommend where to look in terms of training guides?

thanks in advance

Honestly, I think unless extremely carefully managed, and limited to small groups, doggy daycare is an absolute recipe for disaster, I would never personally use one, despite having very well socialised placid dog.

How long does she need to be left for? A walker is likely to be a better solution, but again, carefully chosen and not too big a group.

Pippa Mattinson is good, her interest is more gundog type breeds but no reason why her methods can’t be applied to others, she has various books. I would be going right back to basics.

I assume you mean one of those warehouse type set ups where large amounts of dogs are allowed to mix with impunity all day? I imagine there are quite a lot of them under extreme stress for the whole time they’re there. I wouldn’t immediately jump to thinking your dog has any kind of problem tbh. The best most well adjusted dog could struggle with that environment.

I am also team "Doggy Daycare is an awful idea". Unless it's extremely well managed with the dogs kept separated apart from heavily supervised interaction, it's honestly surprising there aren't more dog fights. My girl would hate every minute of it. I'm pretty sure doggy daycare in that warehouse style setting is just a recipe for reactive dogs.

If your dog has never acted like this before, and interacts with other dogs fine outside of the daycare setting, I would say that yes it's most likely overwhelm and lack of supervision of the two dogs interacting.

Let your dog decompress from this situation, keep further dog interaction well managed and read up on how to avoid your pup developing reactivity. My girl is reactive, she came to me with this, it's really hard work.

I'm pretty sure doggy daycare in that warehouse style setting is just a recipe for reactive dogs

I totally agree. I think there’s a good chance that the prevalence of this and dog walkers that have 6-8 dogs out at a time and/or stick in a van all day with lots of other dogs, while they do their rounds, is why there is such a deterioration in general dog behaviour out and about over the last few years. Well, that and the owners not being interested in the most basic training. Which incidentally doesn’t sound like the OP who wants to improve the training. I’ve not used a book before OP but I’d say look for something by a respected positive reinforcement trainer. Pat Miller or Victoria Stilwell maybe?

I also agree that daycare is an awful idea for most dogs. I think it can work in a home environment with a very small, select group of dogs but those big commercial daycares are a recipe for disaster.

I honestly don't think you need to do anything except find alternative care for your dog.

I think there’s a good chance that the prevalence of this and dog walkers that have 6-8 dogs out at a time and/or stick in a van all day with lots of other dogs, while they do their rounds, is why there is such a deterioration in general dog behaviour out and about over the last few years.

I completely agree and I say that as a dog walker myself - though not one of the ones who takes 6-8 (or more) dogs - it would give me a panic attack! Three is my maximum - four if I have someone with me.