agility gone wrong :(

well, tonight was indies 3rd week of agility. was a complete nightmare to say the least.
indie was all worked up and excited and was acting aggressively toward other dogs if her attention wasnt on me.
anyway, halfway through the lesson we were putting them through the tunnels etc and when it was indies turn she did it fine, but as she came out the other side she ran for a little jrt onlead a little way away and started growling, at this the owner of the jrt lifted her dog up by its lead right in the air and indie tried to attack it. Then i think she dropped him and he started running, indie stopped growling for that brief moment, but then she grabbed her little dog again and indie just went right back into attack mode and grabbed hold of the little dog i managed to get her off him and the other owner whacking indie etc, which i didnt mind cos i would have done the same
i just, cant believe she did it. Thank god the other dog was un hurt, but he is scared of dogs so no doubt that didnt help

i kno she can be aggressive onlead, but never has she ever done anything like this offlead b4! and to actually carry on and run after the dog and attack him again when he was running away
im still shook up now and cant stop crying

the trainer said putting a muzzle on her might be ok, but if she still displays aggression like that then she cant go back to the class... which is a given i guess cos it wud still scare the dogs half to death! i dont kno if i shud even bother goin back or not i was hopin this wud be a chance for her to socialise with other dogs and work on her aggression
i mean, after this... i think i shud perhaps have her on a muzzle all the time now... i cant risk it happening again
sorry, rant over

Jenny, this is almost certainly going to come across as harsh from me, so I'll apologise in advance.

I think the scenario you experienced tonight is exactly why, when you first posted about agility, members were advising you to work on basic obedience before you attempted something like this. Basic obedience isn't about being able to bribe your dog into sitting for a biscuit when there's no or little distraction.

I might've been dreaming this, but I could've sworn you once posted about Indie acting aggressively off-lead before (backing a dog into a hedge, I think) - and on-lead aggression can easily transfer to off-lead behaviour.

You need to seriously work on her basic obedience and her aggression problems before you attempt something more 'advanced' like agility.

I'm sure you already know all this Thank god the other dog is unhurt.

Becs

hi becs, yes i kno wot ur saying. i think this is it for indie and agility, i doubt we will go back next week, its not fair on the other dogs, even if i put a muzzle on her.
i guess i never ever expected her to do something like this, i jus cant believe it. sounds dense considerin shes aggressive onlead, but the way she attacked him, just.. was shocking.
i am going to go to pets at home tomorow and get her a muzzle, i cant risk her 'turning' like that again otherwise the outcome might be worse next time

Hi Jenny, my what a night you've had
Glad the JRT is ok.
I would agree with becs, agility needs a very good level of OB. I wouldnt dream of taking a dog to agility without it.

I think her aggression issues need to be addressed jenny, maybe have a chat to a behaviourist.
I wouldnt take her back to agility for the time being.

well, she did very well on all the exercises and her general obedience had been good up until now, even with the other dogs around she had been listening to me. im definetely going to have to call a behaviourist, its getting too out of hand now

Sorry to hear of your experience Jenny.
I'll leave others with much more experience to offer advice.

I don't think simply buying a muzzle will cure the problem; simply alleviate it. What happens if she gets out without her muzzle on? I think Gems is right, you have to seek proper professional advice on this one Jenny.

Graeme

hi graeme, yes thats wot i plan on doing. but i think she will need to wear a muzzle until we can sort the problem out

Hi Jen.

I am so sorry this has gone wrong. I go to agility with Sal and to be honest in my agility class you would have been "not allowed back regardless"

Has there been anything that has led up to this - I am sorry to say but you could end up with WWIII soon if you do not get a handle on her behaviour and why she does it. Is there no warning nothing?

I would suggest doing as said and getting a behavourist in - does it come under your insurance I wonder?

But I would restrict her to on lead rather than off lead excercise now. Especially if she is becoming agressive off lead because sooner rather than later she will meet another dog aggressive dog, or a dog that won't tolerate that kind of behaviour - such as "sad to say" another Staff - ( ie not to upset anyone or name another dog) like my Sal.

hi there kazz, well, she has been getting herself worked up in the lesson itself. she gets really excited and restless at first, and then she gets herself so wound up she gets aggressive while on lead waiting her turn. As suggested by the instructor i had been keeping her attention with a toy which she wud take out all her aggression on. She would happily say hello to some of the dogs, then the next minute be aggressive toward them.
To me, i think the whole situation was perhaps a bit too much for her and i think maybe she had worked herself up so much that she had turned it into aggression no matter what.
jmo from what i personally saw and the way she acts at the lesson. She is fine offlead at a park full of dogs for example, shes not stressed in any way and shes fine in general. But onlead amongst alot of other dogs onlead who are also worked up excitably, i think was possibly too much for her, i could see by her general attitude and body language that she was perhaps finding it all abit too much to deal with. i could be completely wrong, im not tryin to make any excuses for her aggression, her aggression cannot be tolerated at all, jus tryin to find some reason behind it.

however, i will not be risking it again, and will be getting her checked by a vet firstly, and get them to refer her to a behaviourist so i can sort out this problem before it esculates any more. god forbid. will keep u updated

thanks for ur response kazz, i see wot u mean about meeting another aggressive dog as she has once had a grumble at a dog that was aggressive toward her, altho it was only a snap to warn them off, it can quickly esculate. she generally ignores other aggressive dogs, we've had a couple of staffies be a bit grumbly and she not pay attention, but the once she did snap back at them.