Other dogs being mean to poor Humphrey
I've heard that some dogs don't like how fluffy he is... one parkgoer has the theory that they can't see his eyes and so for some reason that means he is the enemy. Humphrey always just stands there and I don't think he even has a clue that he is in danger or not liked. He certainly doesn't mind the smaller dogs barking at him because he knows he's so much bigger. I am proud that he has never reacted aggressively. Why do other dogs hate Humphrey!? He's the friendliest dog I've ever seen! |
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| I don't know why this is happening to Humphrey. The eyes theory is a good one, and some also say that lack of a tail sends mixed signals.
Could you put Humphrey's hair into a topknot for trips to the park? Welcome to the forum!!! |
| I had the same thing with Merlin. He was giving off some mixed signals. Dogs read tails and eyes and they could see neither with Merlin. He was attacked twice by neighbor dogs... then he became dog aggressive...sort of I'll get you before you get me. I stopped taking him out which did not help his anxiety. He gets along great with dogs that are sheepies, other dogs...not really, especially males.
I don't have any suggestions, but clearly what I did with Merlin wasnt the right thing to do. |
| At agility school the Goldens in the previous class bark at Harry when he goes by and their owner who is the instructor and a breeder says they don't like black and white dogs! Go figure. The top knot seems like a good idea.
Keep going back as long as he is not bothered by it. Eventually the dogs will come around to him. Good luck. |
SheepieMommy wrote: At agility school the Goldens in the previous class bark at Harry when he goes by and their owner who is the instructor and a breeder says they don't like black and white dogs! Go figure. The top knot seems like a good idea.
Keep going back as long as he is not bothered by it. Eventually the dogs will come around to him. Good luck. Top-knot doesn't deter the barking/agressiveness for us. My guess, they just don't know what to make of all that hair coming at them. Might be interesting to hear if those with shaved OES have the same problem. |
| Also, little dogs seem to have no fear. The larger dogs have always respected our Sheepdogs, but the little ones seem to take the "A good defense is a swift offense" approach. |
| We have the same problem with large dogs. Never with little dogs but I do agree that little dogs tend to snap first, in general. |
| Here's my twist....
Bosley is usually long coat, so can't see the eyes....But he has a tail. He never has anyone barking at him, or showing that they don't like him. But, he is also a very confident dog with other canines, so gives off a strong, relaxed, friendly air around him. If anything, he will decide he doesn't like someone (those darn boxers  )....
For the first year of his life I was extremely watchful of who he related to. They are very impressionable during the young ages, and is is important that they get lots of "good" expereinces with dogs. Dixie usually has her eyes visable, and has no tail. She is very submissive with dogs and she used to be picked on quite a bit. She has never initiated anything, or given any indication that she did not like a dog. She used to stay close to us, and then little by little she gained confidence enough to introduce herself to other dogs. She still prefers puppies and quiet dogs, though. But I used to watch her very closely, or rather, the other dogs. I did not want her to be fearful, or get hurt, so I did try my best to keep her safe and unafraid. I shielded her from known bullies, and encouraged her to hang around with the calm ones to give her good experiences. Now she is fine, and although she will still cower and be submissive with a bully, she can also run away really fast... 
I guess my suggestion would be to watch the other dogs and not put your dog in a postion that they will be afraid or hurt. A bad experience can cause great problems down the road. That is not to say be a wuss, but some dogs are not well socialized, themselves, and you don't want them to learn on YOUR dog, to the detriment of your dog's own development. |
| I think sometimes dogs just exude some sort of scent that inspires some sort of fear or defensiveness in other dogs. Clyde never has a problem-- with or without topknot and of course, no tail. Bear, the Komondor, on the other hand has a very expressive tail and his hair is usually pulled back if we're meeting other dogs. However, he can be seated at my side, on lead and some dogs just go insane when they're around him. Crying and cowering or, in other cases, they run to attack him. I have no idea why. He's sweet and plays well with those who aren't scared of him on sight so I really have no explanation why. It makes me sad for him because I feel like he's always on the defensive. |
| We had this problem with Bailey, although it seems to be a little better now. Usually he's in a short cut with his eyes showing, so in his case it's not the big hair or the eyes. My guess is that he's too submissive which is why certain other dogs want to beat up on him. We walk into the dog park and dogs run up barking, which causes Bailey to go down on the ground in submission. Which caused me to yell "get up and be a man, you 100 pound chicken". Which does nothing for the other dogs but sure gets a laugh out of the other owners. Bailey has never been attacked, it's just a lot of barking (other dogs) and cowering (Bailey) until he finally gets over it and gets up to run around.
The odd thing is that it never happens at our new dog park, which has a lake. You know how at the average dog park, all the dogs stop to check out every new arrival when they come through the gate? That doesn't happen at the lake, all of the dogs are too busy retrieving or splashing to be bothered with new arrivals, and they blend into the group without commotion as they arrive. So when we go there, Bailey is too distracted by the lake to go through his cowering phase, and no one feels the need to put him in his place. |
| Thanks for the replies everyone!
It sounds like it's pretty much hit or miss. Perhaps I'll give the topknot a try, tomorrow afternoon when we go back. I wouldn't say Humphrey is submissive to other dogs, but he isn't agressive. When a dog (big or little) starts barking obnoxiously 6 inches in front of his face, he litterally just stands there with he tail wagging. With little dogs he'll sometimes lift his paw and give them a playful slap (which is adorable) Anywho, thanks for the advice and stories, and I'll just be careful to make sure nothing terrible happens - I suppose some dogs will just be unfriendly and we'll have to live with it. |
| Chewie actually gets the same reaction from some dogs as Humphrey. He is quite a fluffy pup, and almost always has his hair pulled up in public. (Its so embarrassing to have your dog walk into stuff in public! ) I don't know why it happens, because he is just standing there being a quiet boy. I just attributed it to his fluffy look. I don't remember it happening to Ollie or Bart (our previous OES). |
| Same submissive behavior with my new oes, Lucy. I think everyone got puppies at once in our neighborhood. We have a mixed sheperd, lab (super wild), boxer, and a few others. When we walk, they all come along. I have noticed that Lucy is the lowest on the totem pole. She is the most submissive of all of them; therefore, they constantly chew on her and make her lie on the ground. Drives me insane. I know she needs to work out her order. Before I decided on an oes, I read that they were very gentle with all animals. Maybe this is the downside to having a gentle breed. She is only 5 months. She is now beginning to take up for herself, but she could careless if she was the leader. She just wants to have FUN! |
| I don't think that submissive behavior is really a sheepie trait. My Sophie would happily rule the world, or at least our house, if only we'd let her. She has to settle for bullying her littermate Sherman, who outweighs her by at least 15 lbs. She doesn't dare mess with 7 year old ARchie, who is at the top of the pack order, but she'd love to boss the humans around.
Around other dogs, she's very assertive--she wants to play and tries to initiate play with any dog she can. She's not aggressive as far as I can see--never any growls or snarls or aggressive body posture. She saves her aggression for her brothers as she tries to get all the attention from the outside our pack dogs for herself. I haven't seen other dogs behave aggressively towards her, in part, I think because she's female. Archie tends to ignore dogs who act as though they might be agressive; Sherman does as well. They are mostly friendly and confident around other dogs--enjoying play and just companionship. Sherman is mostly omega: last in line for everything, atlhough he is sometimes challenging Sophie, or at least standing up to her. Archie rules the pack, although I notice he seems to avoid really rough play with Sherman who is now bigger than he is. Sophie and Sherman love to wrestle and chew on each other. My male dogs have attracted some aggressive behavior from other dogs, mostly as older adult sized pups and young adults, despite being neutered. It's seemed fairly random: one boxer in the neighborhood used to go after my OES, but as it happens, he had a neurological disorder and had to be put to sleep. A standard poodle who used to live in the neigborhood used to escape and try to go after my dog when we took a walk. It was fairly random; we might not see him for months, but then suddenly, one afternood, he'd come up from behind, ready to tear Merlin apart. Never was any contact--just growling, snarling. The owner would retrieve her dog--eventually. I think that it is also a size issue. My childhood beagle loved any female dog and any dog his size or smaller. But he'd try to go through the fence to take on the St. Bernard who lived behind us. The saint just stood there, mellow as could be. Our neighbor used to have a toy poodle who maybe weighed--surely less than 10 lbs, but used to bully 110 lb Merlin in his own yard--until Merlin figured out that nothing that Spot could do would possibly hurt him, so he simply ignored Spot after that. Now, most of the time, we walk all 3 dogs at once. I think the sight of 3 large dogs deters most other dogs from even considering aggression. |
| Truman always seems to have problems with other dogs at the dog park.
All he does is gently runs over to say hello and the other dog will attack him. He has never been the agressor. This was happening almost everytime we were down there and usually a couple of times per trip. Recently he started reacting to the other dogs aggressiveness (fighting back a bit) so we figured it was time to have his manhood taken away. That was only a few weeks ago and there hasnt been much change yet. Hopefully other dogs will stop hating him. How could anyone hate Truboy as he is sooooo cute and funny. |
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