[Gowan]

My dog Milo, a fixed two year old hound/shepherd mix and I recently moved from the country to the city. I spent a bunch of time introducing him to cars, dog parks, and such, and he did great. our place had a fenced dog park half a block away, and I was able to have him with me at work, we went running in the evenings, and it seemed like a pretty ideal city dog situation.

Then he and I were both attacked by two feral or loose dogs- a very large pit bull and a dog that looked like a pit cross. Both were un-collared, un-neutered males. Milo did his best to protect me, and I did my best to get us out of the situation- they had come running around a building and were on us before we had any clue what was going on. I was scratched up but not too badly hurt other than a bad bruise on my leg where I was bitten through my boot. Milo was lucky to keep his eye- my roommate is a vet tech and rushed us to the office. He recovered alright, but unfortunately this happened right by our place, and he never really seemed comfortable there again. We have since moved from Oakland to Portland- so much better!

Milo is a great dog in pretty much every way except this- whenever he sees a brindle dog, particularly a large one, he gets really, really freaked out. He gets right in front of me and starts growling, snarling and snapping. I've pulled him out of what could have been a nasty fight a few times. I can't seem to break him of it. He does great with pretty much every other kind of dog, even big males, he is so gentle with kids- he even loves cats, but he distrusts pit bulls and downright hates brindles.

I want to be able to walk him down the street in the city without a problem, and I certainly don't want him to hurt anyone's dog. I appreciate him wanting to protect me, but I can't figure out how to get him to relax about this one.

If anyone had any ideas, I would love to hear them.

Thanks so much,
Gowan and Milo

- I also just want to add that I have nothing against pit bulls; I have a lot of friends who have them and I love their dogs. I actually thought about getting a second dog before we were attacked and I was thinking of adopting a pit bull.

I know there are people who really vilify these dogs, and I wanted to be sure I made very clear that I am not prejudiced against them in general- I think running around loose in Oakland is enough to make any dog mean, regardless of breed.

If only I could convince Milo... I've tried introducing him to dogs I know are really nice, but he won't calm down enough to realize we're not in danger, and I don't want to force an interaction and get their dog hurt.

I'm really at my wits end here.

[Curbside Prophet]

I recommend hiring the services of a certified behaviorist. There's really to much to consider that a behaviorist could go through in a few minutes. I recommend you contact the IAABC by e-mail and ask for a list of behaviorists in your area. The investment could help both you and your dog deal with this specific situation.