<p>^^^ Gee, coolweather. You neglected to post the famous case of the woman attacked and killed in her apartment hallway in San Francisco in 2001. And if you search cc, I believe there was a thread about pit bulls and whether or not they were dangerous dogs. There were probably articles in that thread about attacks by pit bulls too. </p>
<p>Sarcasm aside, this thread was about why a normally very gentle dog would selectively go bonkers over one particular dog or breed of dog. Anyone know? I like the suggestion to call the owners of the other dog and have a friendly chat. Keep the cops out of it, if possible.</p>
<p>If you are walking your dog and Sid’s parents are walking Sid, what happens? Do they growl, lunge? I wouldn’t go setting up that situation, but if you encounter them walking I would a) cross to the other side to avoid direct contact and b) make your dog sit till the other dog is out of sight. </p>
<p>Good luck. Dogs are even harder to reason with than kids!!</p>
<p>I second Pizzagirl’s suggestion of talking to a dog trainer. We did that when our Golden was a puppy and bit my husband. She had several suggestions on how to correct bad behavior. My husband wanted to give him away but I knew we could change his behavior and we did.</p>
<p>We also have an electric fence and our dog will not go through it for anything. He’s chased many a bunny right to his line but will not cross it. His lines are so ingrained that even when we have a power outage and he could go across, he won’t. Once, every couple of years we’ve had stray dogs that got lost and wandered into the neighborhood but none have attacked our dog. They might poop in our yard, but that’s about it. Electric fences are the overwhelming choice in our area, almost every dog owner that I know has one.</p>
<p>We have a similar issue with our neighbor’s dog, MOWC. This dog is small and sweet to everyone but our gargantuan marshmallow Lab. He sees our dog and goes nuts; lunging on his leash, barking, you name it…the whole nine yards. And it’s only our dog. </p>
<p>I think a dog trainer may be in order for some coaching on how best to control your furry friend, for everyone’s sake. Maybe it won’t solve the issue of why he doesn’t like Sid, but you’ll be able to keep him in check when there’s a Sid sighting. You don’t want your animal friend injuried, either! Our poor neighbor sees us on walks and makes a beeline to keep her dog on a tight leash- mostly involves preventing her dog from seeing ours!</p>
<p>Dogs are unpredictable – even the most gentle.</p>
<p>A few years ago, when our first dog was a puppy, we were dog-sitting my mother’s gentle-as-a-lamb golden retriever. H and I went to walk the dogs; he had the golden, I had our new puppy. We were about a half mile from our home when we passed someone else with a dog. The golden – the most perfectly docile, well-trained, mild dog on the planet – suddenly broke loose from H, broke the leash and attacked this other dog. My H lunged in there to stop it and of course was horrified and apologetic to the other owner; luckily, the other dog was fine. Meanwhile, my new puppy got scared with the commotion, took off and pulled the leash from my hand, and ran off into the night. I ran around crying for the puppy, thinking “OMG, how am I going to tell the kids we’ve lost the new puppy” (it was their 13th birthday present). I ran home to get the car to continue the search and the poor puppy was on our doorstep, crying but fine – we were amazed that such a little puppy could find his way home. It was a night we will remember!</p>
<p>I would be concerned about future aggression generally. I know your dog hasn’t bitten anyone or Sid but you don’t want him to. Our daughter had a friend through middle and high school who had a dog who was generally sweet and loving to everyone but my daughter. At a sleepover in middle school, the dog “marked” my daughter’s sleeping bag. When my D spent time at their home, the dog was generally confined because it was apparent she did not care for my daughter. We believed these people to be responsible dog owners who were taking precautions with their dog when they invited D to their home or she never would have gone. </p>
<p>Fast forward to high school. D went to the friend’s home. My daughter had been there for several hours with no problems. The dog was not confined as “everything seemed fine”. As D returned from the bathroom, the dog approached her, wagging. Without warning or provocation, the dog suddenly leaped up at my daughter’s face and split the area from her upper lip to her nose when she bit her. </p>
<p>You can’t imagine what it was like to have the mother call to say she was bringing D home and might need to go to the hospital for a butterfly bandage due to a “minor dog bite”. There is no such thing as a minor dog bite to the face. </p>
<p>We did not sue them but in retrospect I probably would have had I known how they would act. Please find out what’s causing your dog’s aggression towards Sid so you can manage it.</p>
<p>It is a rare that our dog and Sid are outside at the same time. I think once in the past before we knew they were not friendly to each other, there was some lunging, but nothing more. Our dog has been to overnight doggie camp while we’ve traveled and got along with every dog. Same with the dog park.
I’m not sure I want to restrict my dog from barking from within the house. It is a good warning to us when someone is outside. He barks at the UPS man but with tail wagging and then wants to say hello.<br>
I appreciate the suggestions and may talk to a trainer about this. At this point, I am just not concerned about my dog being aggressive towards a person or another dog besides Sid. I just don’t see it.</p>
<p>I love dogs, but I’m an over protective owner —I think they could be a potential “weapon” toward others. My dogs have never shown any aggressive behavior, however I feel they are territorial. Just for that is that this trait made me to be overprotective:</p>
<p>-I have a fence-- it is not an electrical fence, will never have one, I have seen my neighbor’s dog getting out of their “invisible” fence.
-Use a leash when they go out.
-When visitors come to the house, I mention the name of the visitors many times with a happy voice.
-Tell my visitors to not touch the dog multiple times.
-When workers come to the house, I put my dogs away to their reach.</p>
<p>It is the responsibility of a dog’s owner to avoid any attack [excepting provocation, thief in your house, vets…] to others. There are criminal consequences for not restraining your dog, especially if you know the dog has shown a suspicious behavior. You can be prosecuted for the act of your dog, especially if you know the dog have showed certain tendencies…toward other dogs. You already have been notified. A dog that jumps to another dog it is capable to do the same with a human being. It does not matter that the inspector believes your dog is an angel. I suggest that you consider the inspector’s visit as a warning.</p>
<p>No excuses from anyone are accepted: faulty electrical fences, the dog escaped, he just went a minute outside, he had a bad day, the door was open, he is a good dog, and everybody knows how good the dog is…Strict liability meaning absolute liability.</p>
<p>Bottom line: “The keeper of domesticated animals, which include dogs, cats, cattle, sheep, and horses, is strictly liable for the harm they cause only if the keeper had actual knowledge that the animal had the particular trait or propensity that caused the harm. The trait must be a potentially harmful one, and the harm must correspond to the knowledge. In the case of dogs, however, some jurisdictions have enacted statutes that impose absolute liability for dog bites without requiring knowledge of the dog’s viciousness.</p>
My dog nipped someone who walked into my house without knocking a couple of years ago. She went to get a tetanus shot, as she should, and it was reported to the authorities. We were notified in writing that if our dog commits another infraction, he will be removed and euthanized. I understand that, of course, but it burns me up about the circumstances. I think he should be able to defend his house. That said, he is the nastiest Jack Russell in the history of the universe (unless he is being fanned and fed delicate morsels or is in the presence of my D), so we are unbelievably careful.</p>
<p>I agree, but Cesar Milan would say you should be able to silence your dog once you’ve acknowledged their barking and whatever it is they’re barking at. You’d learn how to make him stop barking when you want to with a command. </p>
<p>I, too, would highly recommend a trainer, but my bet is it would require some cooperation with Sid and Sid’s parents; how can you train a dog without exposing them to the stimulus that leads to the behavior?</p>
<p>btw, if you do get a dog trainer (they sometimes jokingly call themselves people trainers because it’s really the owners who are being trained initially) be prepared for work on your end. You will have to spend some time each day reinforcing the new behavior.</p>
<p>Sid barks from within his house when we walk by (which we obviously don’t anymore). I think Sid must have told Charly that he was a “slang for kitty cat” or something. I’m just hoping their house sells fast and someone with cats moves in.</p>
<p>We had a trainer when we first got Charly as a puppy. We worked hard. We did some things well- some not so well. Food has been our biggest issue. He scored almost a whole pumpkin pie from the very back of the kitchen counter one evening when we were saying goodbye to some dinner guests. We were really looking forward to that leftover pie.</p>
<p>MOWC - that’s exactly what I would have said about my mother’s golden retriever, docile as can be, who all of a sudden attacked another dog without any provocation (crossed the street to do so). </p>
<p>The story that sabaray related upthread is the worst-nightmare scenario we were lucky enough to avoid, when our first dog went crazy on us and began snarling at my daughter whenever she walked into a room (with no provocation). To that point, the dog had been part of all the sleepovers with friends, etc. – at that point, we could no longer trust him, and when the kids had friends over, the dog went into the cage, no ifs ands or buts about it. We ultimately had to get rid of the dog, and it was very, very sad.</p>
<p>I understand the dog barking to warn you of visitors, etc., but the dog needs to get the difference between a “warning bark” – someone’s here, mom – versus an aggressive, sustained bark. Our current dog barks at chipmunks, squirrels, etc. – and we shush him. He needs to know that when we have deemed an “intruder” acceptable (whether it’s the squirrel in the back yard or the mailman or a visitor) – then he needs to treat that “intruder” as a non-threat.</p>
<p>Oh - you should be able to, at any time, give whatever command you use to have your dog sit / stay and have him obey, no matter how excited he is. Easier said than done - it requires a lot of investment in the training. Create situations where he wants something (like food) - and then he MUST sit / stay / go down and wait until you release him. Same thing for when a visitor comes to the door – he must sit / stay while you chat with the visitor. It needs to be automatic enough that you can give whatever signal you use, whether it’s a word or a hand signal, and he’s conditioned to obey. (I say “sit” but I also snap my fingers.)</p>
<p>My otherwise adorable little Jack Russell is a bit of a moron about other dogs when we walk around our own neighborhood. She lunges and snarls at all of them - except, interestingly, other Jack Russells. One thing I’ve tried with great success, although it only works with people I know well enough to chat with, is to basically turn around and walk with the other person and their dog. With both dogs on leashes and walking side by side, they tend to pull at the leash and nip at one another for a bit and then fall into line and walk fairly amicably together. Once my dog has done this with another dog, she remembers it and considers it a friend or at least a neutral party next time she sees it. I read somewhere that it has to do with the basic dog pack mentality. I don’t know if Sid’s owners would be at all willing to try that or if any or all of you are strong enough to hold on long enough for it to work. Just a thought though.</p>
<p>I agree with Pizzagirl- you have to be able to control Charly. I love our dog like a child (human children say the dog is my favorite child) but I also have his respect and obedience. From what you’ve described, when Charly sees Sid or unattended food, he does what he wants.</p>