Sometimes my dog just surprises me !

HI all

Havent had bruno since Wednesday due to building work in the house so went out to pick him up from grannies house this afternoon and we took him for a jaunt in the fields before we left. It was just starting to get dusky, Bruno is used to being let off in those fields and you c an clearly see if anything comes in the fields from either end, anyway - he was off running around mad as usual and me and Oh were having a natter - ( i was quiet far away from bruno as waddling is very slow at moment !! ) all of a sudden I look up and see Bruno running at full speed towards the side of the field - only to see a guy entering from the fence of a local steading - WITH A DOG !!!

our worst nightmare basically.

OH starts running and shouting on Bruno to come - needless to say bruno has slective deafness - i couldnt run if I tried but was shouting on him - only to watch him get up to the dog and start sniffing it, tail wagging etc - OH by this time has caught up to him and says to owner of spaniel - is he alright - has he growled etc ??- spaniel owner is like - no not at all he is lovely its my dog I am worried about he isnt great with others- and at that point the spaniel starts to growl at Bruno so my OH puts him on lead at this point.

anyway moral of the story - MALE spaniel - Bruno my dog aggressive staffie is offlead and not in the slightest bit bothered about growling etc back at this spaniel ???? Is my little mutt really all that dog aggressive or is this just lead aggression now ???

This is the second time this has happened with OH as happened before at 2am in the morning and we just put it down to Bruno not bothering cos it was dark and not getting a chance to have a go etc - but it makes me think that maybe Bruno isnt really dog aggressive just lead aggressive after all. never really having been brave enough to test this theory it does appear that bruno has done it for us.

He was so good and even after we walked away from the spaniel we let him back off again and he did not run back to the other dog but ran ahead of us the whole time and wasnt bothered,,,,,,,.......... has my dog been abducted by aliens and returned dog friendly??

what would be the best course of action now to try and prove my theory as he is still lead aggresive as on our way back home he met a lab who was offlead when he was onlead and he growled and bared his teeth at it ???


bruno - what is going on ??

just to add aswell that I have broken my own law of dogs offlead and not under control as bruno clearly wasnt - however there is normally not a soul in the field and we really were quitre complacent and not paying attention to the top boundary - we were very lucky that Bruno was being an angel !!!

Hi Dani
This is difficult,Do you have any info on Bruno before he came to you?
I'm actually wondering if Bruno was attacked by another dog when he was on-lead,,before he came to you,hence the aggression towards other dogs when he is on lead.
Just a thought

Hi Sal

No not really very much, he had 2 homes by 1 1/2 yrs old and the last one had a teenage son - the impression was that he had certainly not discouraged Bruno not to fight anyway..... We always thought that he just hadnt had much socialisation as used to be left alone for long periods of time etc.

As far as the lead aggression is concerned- he has always been very bad onlead, straight away and really doesnt like dogs approaching.

However we have only ever let him off with one other dog - my friends now dearly departed mongrel bitch - and he loved her - would follow her everywhere and even when she growled at him he would never retailiate. but we put that down to her being a bitch and the gradual introductions they had.

But this spaniel was male so am utterly surprised that nothing kicked off
Maybe its all bravado after all.

Hi Dani !

I've been wondering same thing about my Sammie. Most of the time he is OK when meeting other dogs, but occassionaly he will have a go. So i kept him onlead whenever other dogs were about just incase, but i too was surprised by a bloke with 2 males, and he was totally fine ! I think the lead defo has summit to do with it.

Not sure how ya can test it though, quite a difficult situation. Would be nice to know ya can let him off lead without worry though. Hope ya get it sorted

I've said before that Takoda is on lead aggresive...but fine off lead...It's very possible bruno would be fine off lead...The only thing I could think of is put him to the test in controlled situations...It's hard unless you know people with dogs but maybe you could meet other people that have dogs and find a non flappy type with a hardy tolerant type of dog to ask if you could let bruno off lead with them...If I was a dog walker around your area I would be more than happy to let you practise with us. Could you have met up with this dog owner again? Sound like the two dogs got on well and that the other dog would also benifit. To keep trying him in these situations is the only way you are going to find out really.

hiya mys

All the dog owners in my area now avoid me like the proverbial plague as they know Bruno is always a handful, dog classes are not an option as ONlead and as soon as i mentioned dog aggressive and staffie I get told that I cannot bring him along anyway.

its unfortunate timing due to baby being due in 5 weeks so I amnt really able to get out as much with bruno anyway. I was out at my inlaws area when we met the spaniel so not likely to see them again either !!

its very frustrating, none of my friends really have dogs anymore locally, and also it would still need to be a controlled situation with the dogs offlead and not sure how I could be guaranteed that no other dogs will enter into the playtime unless we go to a private field etc.

I think perhaps the next time we have him out on fields and we see anyone with dogs we will approach them first and ask if they would allow us to try Bruno - I think my main worry is just that he could do so much damage in such a short space of time if he chose to that i would be horrified if my theory of being lead aggression was wrong and that yesterday wasnt just pure luck.....

i dont think it was to be honest - but there is always that thought in the back of my mind.

arrghhh dogs who would have them !!

I know what you mean...I felt like that with Takoda and was quite unsure of trying him out at all...Luckily we knew someone who was fine with letting us test him off lead with her dogs...she bought two to our house...we let them all meet outside onlead first and no surprises with Takoda's reaction, lunging, lots of noise, looking a bit lunatic...we all stayed calm, ignored him and started walking with all dogs on lead, periodically he kept spinning and lunging but soon focused on walking, we then got to a field and let them all off.

Takoda = different dog, calmly walked up sniffed and ran about playing happily. One of the other womans dogs remained quite cautious of Kody and nervy but there was zero trouble...After the walk we came back to my house and they all went in the garden, the other womans two dogs were both male and completly attached to Keena and paid Kody no interest what so ever...all he wanted to do is play with everyone but they were to busy trying to hump his big sis, not only that bit the other two dogs actually started growling at Kody everytime he went near (because they wanted Keena!) poor Kody was so trying to get everyon'es attention and just stood barking and play bowing at them all...One of the other male dogs, the one that started out as most nervy of Kody ended up standing in our door way to the house and growling at Kody to keep out (of his own house!!) and Kody just took it on the chin...This is when I knew...Dog aggressive whatever! I now know the whole problem is with the lead because it is obvious that Kody is actually not that confident with other dogs and that is the reason why he is coming across as aggressive on lead, it's all a front because he feels that he can't escape if needs be.

I know how it feels to be avoided like the plague, people have seen Kody lunatic style on the lead and I say he is actually friendly only to hear them mutter, could have fooled me as they quickly leave...It can be quite upsetting. And in turn you find yourselves interacting with other dogs less and less, making the problem only get worse Your only hope is to find someone who knows a little about dogs and the way they interact and who will let you get close with bruno. Maybe sometime after the baby and everything you could take him to different walking areas where you may not have been so people can meet bruno without having judged him before and take it from there? You will get a good feel of who to try this with or not.

Well done Bruno, the only thing I can think of for the purpose of the exercise is , how will he cope if you muzzle him, maybe get him used to one, then see if you can find a few people with steady sound dogs to put him to the test. if he does not mind a muzzle he will at least be able to interact with a few dogs, then if all goes well you can get rid of the muzzle

Hi Dani, there's a few people on here, you included, that have met Bandit and know how laid back and soft he is. I bring so many dogs into this house for him to share and he's fantastic with most. But if I was to walk past a dog and he's on his lead he's like a different dog. Offlead - great. Onlead - maniac. So you could be right about Bruno
Tracie