Confusing hatred
He has never been aggressive in any way to them, but they just want to rip his throat out. They are both mixes one a staffy mix Buttons the other some form of hairy Whippet Alfie, talking to the (seperate) owners it is only Archie that inspires this behaviour, both really nice male dogs and never display this behaviour with any other dogs, and it can't be Archies size, as they play happily with bigger dogs, the Staffy mix regularly plays with several Beardies, so it probably isn't the hair or lack of eyes normal comments I get when some other dogs are unsure - but are the same with other hairy dogs. As soon as these two dogs catch a glimpse of Archie, even in the distance, they are straining at the leash barking and snarling. What is really odd the hairy whippet mix's sister happily plays with Archie, obviously I take care when near these dogs as do the owners when Archie sets them off. Has anyone else came accross similar (undeserved) behaviour from other dogs towards your Sheepie, is this just an Archie thing? Archie is very happy to play with other dogs, and is never aggressive erring on the side of stupid going back for more bites when others tell him off  there are lots of dogs happy with him, there seems to be no particular breed or another that really likes him or not as the case maybe.
But the two dogs above confuse me (and their owners) as to why they show this aggression towards him, when he has never done anything more than wag his tail at them? |
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Yes! There is a Rottweiler who lives in our road, he has the same reaction to Ru. The owner walks him on the common on a leash (thank goodness) but he can barely hold him back when he sees Ru. I have honestly never seen anything so frightening, and I have never been afraid of dogs, but this one wants Ru dead. He goes crazy, lunging, growling and barking and foaming at the mouth. The owner says he only has that reaction with Ru, and says it must be the fur. I have stopped taking him to that place just in case. However, I have seen the lady walking that dog tied to her baby's pram a few weeks after she had it  I went very quickly in the opposite direction. |
yes people down the road walk their golden retriever past and it snarls and carries on with henry just standing there doing nothing and also a really small chi x terrier does practically does backflips snarling at him and yet they insist on approaching us every time .....really it just makes me insane  |
| I've not had the problem with my sheepie, but I have with my Dalmo.
A dog went crazy with aggression for no reason a few years back. Its owner said it had been attacked by another Dalmo though. He swore that his dog could recognise Dals from quite a distance away and that it was aggressive every time with every one. We saw it at a distance a few more times and it was very aggressive every time. Very scary when your just wandering along with your friendly dog minding your own business.  |
| Well, there goes the theory that it's the lack of tail that makes it harder for other dogs to read OES.
Some dogs have what is referred to as a kick-me sign on them. They're like a walking target. They don't just attract a couple of arch enemies though, pretty much any dog that is prone to not liking other dogs is not going to like them. I think some insecure dogs find a sheepdog with lots of coat confusing and less secure dogs will bark and carry on ("make the big, scary thing go away!!!", they seem to say). For some reason this seems to be especially true the more white the OES has. I lost track of how many border collies and shelties would flip out just at the sight of Belle. It they got to meet her and they had the guts to do so, most got over it. My masked girls never elicit a second glance, hair or not, but that may be completely coincidental. Some dog just don't like a specific other dog, just like some people instinctively don't like each other. It could be something in the mannerisms (body language) of the "offending" dog. It could be a chemical thing for all we know. And in other cases you have owners who don't want to admit their dog is actually triggered by a number of dogs, so they make you feel like yours is the exception to the rule. A friend has a young rescue OES who gets especially worked up over larger black dogs. She grew up at a "breeders" till she was ten months old and only knew other OES as far as we can tell so she started out with some other dog issues, but was fine with OES she met. Then as she was socialized she learned to accept more other dogs, but she is still, I won't even call it reactive since it isn't fear based but if you didn't know her you'd be excused for thinking that's what it is. Her owner insists it's frustrated play drive -- she's rather dominant, or at least a social climber, and has to control the dogs around her. My sense is she just really gets upset that certain other dogs are allowed to walk the face of the earth And the big, black dog trigger could be tied to a black lab who is in another class at the same time as us and who when excited screech barks non-stop (and he's excited most of the time  ). She gets very wound up and has a hard time focusing. He IS distracting and quite frankly very annoying to the humans around him as well, though most other dogs can ignore his rudeness just fine.
From there she extended her lounging and barking to other black/dark dogs including porties. Her owner works hard at making her knock it off and she is getting better. Often, again, if she gets to meet another dog (any new dog in class is likely to get barked at) she gets over it and tries to play with them instead, but woe the dog who won't play with her. She gets in their face. A domineering little itch if ever there was one. The interesting thing is that once she knows a dog and they have conceded to her superiority she's fine with them from there on after. And she remembers who will play with her. Last night we were doing figure eights using handlers and their dogs as posts and it was the two OES and a maltese. When the OES went around the maltese post she tried to pounce on him. I about lost it - six lb dog, I figure he's an easy snack. I snapped at her owner to not let her do that. The maltese owner was fine though. Apparently they let them play before class some times.
Dogs have their own complex social hierarchies and we're not always going to understand what makes some play nice and others not so much, or why they have certain likes or dislikes, but some times you can take an educated guess. Not fun if your dog is the target no matter what. Kristine |
plenty of other dogs big and small that play with Henry and have no problems at all with the big furball....... 
those other dogs must have no taste! |
| Boy, does this sound familiar! Oscar has a very hard time with other dogs. There are a few that don't mind him, but they tend to be very submissive pups. Most dogs we meet, though, don't like Oscar at all.
Kristine, it might support your "white coat" theory, as Oscar is probably 60 - 70% white. I always though it had something to do with Oscar's deafness, and social miscues stemming from that. Maybe he does things to other dogs that they consider rude, but whatever it is, I haven't been able to discern what in his behavior could provoke such a reaction. So Archie's Slave, you're not alone. Laurie and Oscar |
| Yes this happens to us too.
Some dogs (mostly little ones) appear to hate him on seeing him. hes such a softie he just runs away when they growl or bite at him. My husband really gets offended with people when their dogs attack him and their have been occassions where it has almost come to blows |
| Yes, this happens with Barney. The whole neighborhood will bark their heads off as he walks by (not even seeming to notice any of it!) |
| We have never met a Great Dane who likes any of my 4 |
loried wrote: We have never met a Great Dane who likes any of my 4
LOL. My sister's Great Dane will only tolerate Owen. She hates all other dogs. |
| I've heard tell and seen to a slight degree, Great Pyrs and other livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) hate anything that resembles a wolf or coyote.......inherent hatred? I doulbt it, but don't tell that to a Pyr person.
Yeah, I think sheepies with coat, not tail and eyes obscured do present a threat to other dogs as they are harder to read. |
| Yes, sort of...
Our Theeps got along well with everyone, dog and human alike...until we'd go to the vet. He would lie there quietly, greet dogs and humans well, and wait patiently like a little angel. Then he'd get bored. Then, he'd scope out the room with his eyes (his body wouldn't move) and he'd give a random dog the look. That dog would go nuts. Growling, snarling, carrying on. It would jump up, try to rip the owner's hand off with the leash and go after Theeps. He'd just sit there, looking innocent. Rarely would a dog ever get close enough to be a threat. The owner would be horrified. The techs would run from all over the clinic. They'd all jump in to protect ThePas (as if) and EVERYONE would scold the dog that attacked. (I'd be saying, "Don't get mad at him. MY dog started it.") No one would believe me. The offender would be moved to a quiet corner or an empty room, and Theeps would be surrounded by people stroking him and cooing at him. My eyes would roll... Then, about ten minutes later, if he was feeling bored or neglected he'd choose another dog, shoot them the look, and play innocent all over again. The whole scene would repeat. And he'd be treated like he was the oh so innocent victim again. Once or twice a dog got close enough to take a snap at him, and he could snap back and sound really scary. Again, that dog would be in trouble and mine would be getting cookies... "Oh, poor puppy. Did that big dawgie scare you? Here, have some cookies..." I cannot tell you how much I admired his cleverness. He sure knew how to work a room. But, take him anywhere else (that didn't involve waiting) and he'd get along beautifully with everyone. |
China, my Aussie Shepherd, does not like German Shepherds. China is a laid back sweet dog, but as soon as she sees a GS she goes mad. In our old neighborhood there was a breeder of GS and we used to go out and walk the dogs about the same time. So if we saw each other in the distance we would go in different directions. I have had China since she was 8 wks old and has not have a run in with any dog but Violet. 
When Violet was younger, our next door neighbor had a dog, that everytime I would take Violet in or out of the front door and bring her near the fence, the dog would tucks it's tail and back off. I had Violet's hair cut down one time and Violet got out of the car and we walked over to the fence and the little guy thought I had another dog and didn't back away. |
| Fitz is unpredictable when it comes to getting along with other dogs. Too me, it seems quite random. Some dogs tolerate him (I think he's a little "in your face" rude) other dogs seem to hate him on sight - and visa versa I'm afraid. Fitz tends to prefer submissive smaller females ... but not always, I can't count on that. Sometimes, for whatever reason, he tends to immediately provoke other large male dogs. (And yet, his best bud is my niece's Bouvier, Donny, a very strong & very dominant dog but amazingly calmly so. Definitely the pack leader, Donny has a long fuse and he lets Fitz get away with a lot. But when Donny's had enough, he just stands up and looks at Fitz in a way that says "back off bud" and sometimes growls with intention - Fitz always respects that and backs off. )
I think there's a lot of body language going on in the dog world that we don't always pick up on. |
| There are a few dogs that dont like Obe. They bark and growl. My boss's one dog hates Obe with a passion. He (boss) is always bring your dog over to the house. Why would I want to do that? It's just going to cause stress for both animals. Grant it Obe just looks and gives a big @#$& - @%. In his mind, Obe, I want to play, you dont have a nice boring life. My neighbors dog does the same thing. She wont get to close but you can see the dislike. Obe doesn't pay attention to her either. He looks and goes the other direction as if, I dont have time to waste on you.
There was a dog at the dog park not long ago you keep coming up and biting the hair on Obe's rear while he was playing with a St. Bernard. The owner keep saying sorry. Obe had had enough of this and finally just turned and ran completely over the dog. Literally ran over. The dog went yelping I smiled and said sorry. He then went right back to playing with the St. |
traciels28 wrote: The owner would be horrified. The techs would run from all over the clinic. They'd all jump in to protect ThePas (as if) and EVERYONE would scold the dog that attacked. (I'd be saying, "Don't get mad at him. MY dog started it.") No one would believe me. The offender would be moved to a quiet corner or an empty room, and Theeps would be surrounded by people stroking him and cooing at him. My eyes would roll....
WOW!!! Most owners of rude dogs never catch on to the fact that their own little angel started it. I am in awe 
Kristine |
SheepieBoss wrote: Yeah, I think sheepies with coat, not tail and eyes obscured do present a threat to other dogs as they are harder to read.
The first three submissions pretty much obliterated our no-tail theory. Not only that, but it also eliminates one of my other theories, namely that being square and upright gives them the appearance of standing tall (a confrontational stance, generally) and coiled (ready to pounce) because the non-docked dogs lose the typical OES outline and tend to look rectangular. Oscar defies the large coat theory, another pet of mine. Laurie does make an interesting point about the amount of white, though I'm still not sure what that means. Could it be <gasp> that our sweet little angels are actually a bunch of subtle thugs like Theeps??? 
That probably happens more than we know. Macy is my prime offender. Rarely do dogs actually react to her, so she isn't very GOOD at it. But she is rude and she does try. To be rude, that is
On the flip side Belle is the antithesis of rude and has been used to work with dog aggressive dogs thanks to her ability to speak dog and defuse and deflect possible "situations". Maybe it's a collection of factors, some affecting certain dogs more than others. One thing I know is that our breed as a whole tends to rank highly on the offending other dogs scale.
Kristine |
| Thanks for your insights Kristine. I have never come across any info regarding the fact that OES tend to offend other dogs, but its useful to know. So far there's just been a couple of small dogs who get scared of my two big dogs but Tiggy is still just a puppy and acts like one. Its good to be forewarned. |
| You don't think it is a jealousy of seeing our dogs as very well bred?
Or maybe they freak at the Digby film or Dulux adverts? All the dogs we passed today were all very happy to play bounce and sniffbits
The above responses make interesting reading |
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