Ugh, my adrenaline is still surging. Just had a very scary experience at the dog park. Don't worry, I won't ever be bringing my foster again, so you all don't have to tell me what a stupid idea it was...
I brought my foster pittie to the dog park today so that she didn't have to stay home yet again when I brought my own doggie. There is hardly EVER anyone in the small dog side. I figured I could let her run around in there, and if anyone needed to use that side, I'd just put her in the back of my wagon with the air going for a while. Everything was going beautifully--Sophie ran around on the other side of the fence while I supervised Sasha with about half a dozen other dogs. Sophie greeted the others beautifully through the fence, flopped over on her back for belly rubs from the other dog owners, etc. Then, a guy comes with a medium-sized black dog and a very, very tiny jack russell puppy. He doesn't see Sophie in the small dog side and goes to put his dogs in there. I yell "Wait!", but he doesn't hear me. Sophie greets the dogs fine and I grab her collar and walk her over to the picnic table to pick up my leashes. The guy lets his tiny, tiny puppy walk over to Sophie, who is still being held by the collar, and Sophie lunges and grabs the pup. I figure the puppy is maimed or dead. I'm horrified. The guy gets the puppy away from Sophie and the black dog comes over. Sophie growls and barks at it. Thank god it didn't go for her, and I got her leashed and out of the park and into the car. Miraculously, the puppy is unhurt. Guy says Sophie didn't puncture the skin. Thankfully he's cool. Says something like "dogs will be dogs." But I'm a shaking mess.
So here's my question--what do I do about this foster? What kind of home would she be suitable for? Supposedly she came from a household with two other dogs. She greets my two dogs fine, and greets every dog we encounter on walks fine, etc. I've let her play with my younger dog twice. She played beautifully both times until resource guarding reared its ugly head. At least I'm assuming that's what it was. First time, my dog went too close to Sophie's crate (pretty much her whole world right now) and Sophie attacked. No damage done, just lots of noise and rearing up on hind legs, etc. Today, Sophie played well with Sasha until Sophie jumped up on the picnic table where I had put my leashes and Sasha followed her. Sophie snipped at Sasha and Sasha went away. That was the end of it. I think the thing with the puppy arose over the same issue--he got too close to Sophie's (my) "stuff." How hard is resource guarding to control? Can it be trained out of them? Do you all think that this is what is going on? Sophie is wonderful with people. Generally flops over on her back for belly rubs as a greeting. As I said, mostly good with dogs, too--though I don't know if I'd trust her to live with one. It's time to look for a new home for her now and I'm not sure what I should be looking for.
I brought my foster pittie to the dog park today so that she didn't have to stay home yet again when I brought my own doggie. There is hardly EVER anyone in the small dog side. I figured I could let her run around in there, and if anyone needed to use that side, I'd just put her in the back of my wagon with the air going for a while. Everything was going beautifully--Sophie ran around on the other side of the fence while I supervised Sasha with about half a dozen other dogs. Sophie greeted the others beautifully through the fence, flopped over on her back for belly rubs from the other dog owners, etc. Then, a guy comes with a medium-sized black dog and a very, very tiny jack russell puppy. He doesn't see Sophie in the small dog side and goes to put his dogs in there. I yell "Wait!", but he doesn't hear me. Sophie greets the dogs fine and I grab her collar and walk her over to the picnic table to pick up my leashes. The guy lets his tiny, tiny puppy walk over to Sophie, who is still being held by the collar, and Sophie lunges and grabs the pup. I figure the puppy is maimed or dead. I'm horrified. The guy gets the puppy away from Sophie and the black dog comes over. Sophie growls and barks at it. Thank god it didn't go for her, and I got her leashed and out of the park and into the car. Miraculously, the puppy is unhurt. Guy says Sophie didn't puncture the skin. Thankfully he's cool. Says something like "dogs will be dogs." But I'm a shaking mess.
So here's my question--what do I do about this foster? What kind of home would she be suitable for? Supposedly she came from a household with two other dogs. She greets my two dogs fine, and greets every dog we encounter on walks fine, etc. I've let her play with my younger dog twice. She played beautifully both times until resource guarding reared its ugly head. At least I'm assuming that's what it was. First time, my dog went too close to Sophie's crate (pretty much her whole world right now) and Sophie attacked. No damage done, just lots of noise and rearing up on hind legs, etc. Today, Sophie played well with Sasha until Sophie jumped up on the picnic table where I had put my leashes and Sasha followed her. Sophie snipped at Sasha and Sasha went away. That was the end of it. I think the thing with the puppy arose over the same issue--he got too close to Sophie's (my) "stuff." How hard is resource guarding to control? Can it be trained out of them? Do you all think that this is what is going on? Sophie is wonderful with people. Generally flops over on her back for belly rubs as a greeting. As I said, mostly good with dogs, too--though I don't know if I'd trust her to live with one. It's time to look for a new home for her now and I'm not sure what I should be looking for.