please help?!?

[misskris]

Hi everyone!

I was out on my morning walk today with Daisy when the neighbor's pit bull charged us. He is usually fenced in and always says hello to us as we walk by, but I've never let them smell each other or anything because he doesn't look like he would be too dog-friendly (I think he's trained that way because there are plenty of signs to warn you that he's a "GUARD" dog and not a pet.) The owner was trying to call him back, but he wasn't listening, so I didn't know what to do. I picked Daisy up because I was a worried that he would latch on and he jumped up on me trying to get her. I think he nipped her tail and he got my arm, but very lightly, no blood or anything, we're both fine. And the poor pit bull - the owner assured me "he would be taken care of..." The dog knew already what he was in for...

I am very worried, however, about the psychological effects it might have on Daisy. While I was holding her, I noticed she was barking very aggressively (teeth showing, snarling, not the usual type of yip she does in the house). Then, when we returned home, she had secreted this strange smell, fishy and very strong, from her behind. Is this from her anal glands? Anyhow, I gave her a bath, because she seemed to be drenched in the smell and she kept licking her butt and her tail. I wasn't sure if it was because she was bitten or because she was licking the scent, but I just threw her in the bath.

The bath went fine, but then after while I was drying her, she was snapping at the air all crazy. I know dogs go nuts after the bath, which she always does, however, she has NEVER done the snapping thing. Could this be a result of the attack?

So, I guess I'm just wondering where do I go from here? It didn't seem to affect her too much, after he got the dog behind the gate, I made Daisy sit and gave her a treat and she was ok, just shaking a little. But, ok. Did I do something wrong? Should I NOT have grabbed her and raised her up? Should I proceed as normal, socializing her with other friendly dogs (she is doing really great with this, but I'm not sure if it will change now with what happened)? I am at a loss, if someone could advise, I would be most grateful. Just don't want to backslide since she's almost 5 months and has made great progress.

thanks so much, everyone!

[Nettle]

The smell was the anal gland discharge, which only happens during extreme fear.

While in general picking a dog up is not a good idea, this was an extreme circumstance and the best decision of the available options.

What do you do now? Baby steps. Go right back to the beginning and build up her confidence like you have been doing. Re-introduce the friendly dogs carefully.

And I'd be walking another way to begin with, even if it meant driving to another place and walking. Eventually you'll be able to go past Pit Bull Hideout, but not until her confidence is better.

Should anything like this happen again, don't fuss your dog by making her sit while she is upset. Just quietly walk away from the incident.

Hey - you did fine. Nobody got hurt.

[misskris]

oh thanks so much, nettle. I'm just worried that the next time she sees a dog instead of being friendly like she currently is, she will charge and be aggressive. Where's the best place to begin to re-socialize her? Our puppy class is done and I've signed up for another one, however, it's not for another 3 weeks Do you have any suggestions? thanks very much, again. The first thing I did was sign on and know that I would be given wonderful advice from experienced owners like you!

thanks
kris

[Erica]

When you see a dog, from whatever distance, either give her treats immediately (if she seems okay with the distance) or happily run/skip/quickly walk away from the dog, then treat. Just rebuild positive experiences with any sighting, any distance dog.

Edit: And if she is uncomfortable with dogs, and it takes longer than 3 weeks to change her viewpoint (completely possible - you DON'T want to rush it!), ask the trainer if you can change to a later class. In fact, you should probably tell your class teacher about this now. If they're a decent teacher, they'll understand and let you postpone, if you need to.

[jacksdad]

one bad dog/dog encounter may not cause any harm at all. but for some dogs all it takes is one bad encounter to make them fearful of all dogs or just dogs that resemble their "attacker".

I would suggest reading up on some of the recent dog reactive thread and do as already suggested. keep some distance from ALL dogs for a little while. let Daisy calm down. And just realize she IS going to be a bit on edge with her next dog encounter, and just assume she will show teeth and growl and such. IF she actually does this, all that is happening is her being EXTRA careful.

Because those things are VERY high probability of happening Nettles is saying Re-introduce friendly dogs carefully. It's more so the next dog/dog encounter that will set the tone, than this last one. IF the next "encounters" are from a distance with treats and you protecting her then slow progressing to a carefully selected dog that you KNOW isn't going to be a problem. you tip the scales in your favor as much as you can.

Remember, baby steps as Nettles says, take it slow there is no rush. And give her some time to calm down before she has to deal with another dog up close and personal.

When Jack and I got jumped a little over a year ago by another dog, right afterwards he seemed fine. But the next day and for the next two weeks or so he was jumpy, on edge, hyper alert. It took him a while to calm down.

as for your next puppy class. what is the purpose of the class. such as just to let the puppies run around and play, or is it to teach you to train your puppy etc. also is the size of the puppies about the same. such as this is small dog puppy class or is it any and all puppies in an age range. is the class an small enclosed area. all that will go into should you or should not go the the next class. three weeks may not be enough time for your dog to calm down, so my suggestion error on the side of caution and just assume you will not be going for now. only because if you accept you aren't going, you won't be tempted to rush or "see" progress that isn't there. just take the next two weeks or so cautiously and really protect your dog and anytime another dog is out and about keep some distance and pop those yummy treats to your dog. believe me, daisy will KNOW the other dog is there even if they aren't doing the old sniff exchange.