Dogs attacking my puppy

[FluffyFlufferson]

I’m not sure if we’ve just had bad luck, but 3 times in the past week small dogs off lead have attacked my puppy quite viciously in the park. One even bit me on the hand when I tried to push it away. It was tiny so didn’t do me any damage but still!
Their owners were semi apologetic but clearly had no control of their dogs.
Is it because he’s a puppy? He’s fairly big compared to his attackers, and the bigger dogs just ignore him. It’s our first dog so not sure how best to respond/prevent this.

Was your puppy on or off the lead at the time?

Mine was on lead those times but I am going to have to start recall training soon.

Report to the dog warden
Are there signs up in the park about dogs, on lead only, in certain areas only

If your dog was on lead and you got bitten then I would report them to the police.

There are in some areas, but these incidents did not occur there, so in theory the dogs were fine to be off lead.

I would check, most parks insist on leads unless it's a specific dog area.

Small yapping dogs are quite vicious however the damage they can cause is minor so don't think they will ever require to be muzzled in case that's something you were thinking. Fault? As ever owners fault for dogs having not been trained and dogs fault as they're nippie sweeties!

Are you 100% sure they are dog attacks or dogs playing.

I ask because dog play is super rough and can look like an attack. Getting in between play can also invite an accidental bite or graze with teeth.

It doesn't really matter - OP's puppy was on a lead so off-lead dogs shouldn't be approaching without permission.

I've owned dogs for years. My current dog is a well behaved, large dog who doesn't have a n aggressive bone in his body - despite being attacked several times by other (usually small) dogs.

I have definitely noticed an increase in aggressive dogs in recent years. Mostly you can tell it's fear aggression rather than true aggression. Whether that's down to poor breeding, socialisation or training is not for me to say. But it's definitely a thing. I suspect lockdown has a lot to do with it.

Sometimes you can't help having a dog with issues. I've had one. It was really hard work being able to find locations where he could get the free-running exercise he desperately needed (to prevent further issues from arising due to pent-up frustration) while being absolutely sure he could not pose a risk to other dogs. I'm amazed at how many dog owners are blasé about this and let their reactive dogs off lead in unsafe situations. There's a market I reckon in buying up land, segregating it into lanes and hiring it out for 30-min intervals at a sensible price for people with reactive dogs to go and let their dogs off lead.

You sound like one of those 'but he's really friendly' types. OP was bitten. Don't minimise out of control dogs.

If the dogs are small, OP, then kick them. Or yell "call your dog back or I will kick it." Usually gets their attention.

How old is your dog?
is he unneutered?
is he black?

It doesn't matter if her dog was on or off lead. Nobody should allow their dog to run up to others without the owners permission.
But especially as your dog was on lead, I would report these incidents to the dog warden.

Did you tell them that their dog had bitten you? That is really bad! They need to keep the dog on a lead as it could be a child it bites next time.

They weren't fine to be off as they were out of control. Some dog owners really piss me off.

How old is your puppy? Is he unneutered?
Small neutered male dogs often react badly to larger intact ones in my experience especially if we are talking an older puppy.

Yyy to all of this. Absolutely noticed a rise in this, and also people letting their dogs charge up to yours when they are on lead.

When I had my previous puppy (8 years ago), this was just not an issue. Everyone socialised nicely, and if you were lead training, people stayed away.

With my 15 month old current dog? A nightmare. So many reactive dogs off lead/ no recall- you name it. And it perpetuates the issue, because she’s now very anxious on lead of other dogs approaching. Drives me absolutely crackers.

Mine is a big dog and was neutered at 18 months and before that he would quite often get smaller dogs being aggressive to him. He always just looked puzzled.

Since being neutered himself (partly to stop him being a target but mostly to curb his incessant humping which was somewhat successful) he can be a bit more fearful and sometimes react aggressively to intact male dogs especially ones who are bigger than him.

I only let him off lead in very selected circumstances and not around dogs we don't know so it would not arise that he would ever have the chance to go up to an on lead dog and act aggressively. I am afraid that owners of small dogs are often less careful in my view because they know that people are more forgiving/ there would not be much harm done.

Mine is 5 months and neutered.

I did tell the owner her dog had bitten me. She said ‘ohh… sorry…’!

This a very controversial approach but I will absolutely kick an off lead dog away from my puppy, I will block the dog with my body and very loudly and clearly say, "no thank you" whilst pushing the dog away with my foot.

My dog absolutely needs to know he is safe with me, and friendly or not, my dog will absolutely not be bombed and have his space invaded by rude and untrained dogs. He's a submissive personality anyway I I will not tolerate poor ownership to cause my dog to become aggressive or reactive.

Have you studied dog behaviour at all?

Older dogs can and do "correct" puppies. This can look like snarling and snapping at a puppy who is approaching too boisterously. It's how they learn. However the older dog does not hurt the puppy.

My puppy was attacked by a dog and the actual attack was completely unlike this. The dog launched an absolutely silent run at my puppy as if he was a squirrel. There was no warning or growling. My puppy would have been killed but for the halter around the attacking dog's muzzle.

"Pushing the dog away" or "kicking"? Because they are very different things. And kicking is aggression - so it would be ytou teaching your dog that aggression is the way to deal with other dogs.

You preventing socialisation of your dog and giving the message to him that other dogs are unsafe is much more likely to make a dog-reactive and anxious dog.

I think you’re anthropomorphising dogs. My dog has never turned around and gone ‘ah yes, devils kicked a dog that was attacking me, now I must kick all dogs.’

No I am not. Dogs are dogs. But they learn from humans. You act aggressively and they will see aggression as normalised. Kicking an animal is never right unless you are in clear and obvious danger from it. If anything, I am "anthropomorphising" humans - I kind of expect them to act like humans and not animals. In some cases I am clearly disappointed in that hope.