JACKYSIAN Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 I think I've posted this before when Sidney was alot younger. But this weekend I saw his behaviour in full view and have to say I was nearly bought to tears! Cromwell has a history of dog agression, for the first 4 years he was never off lead unless muzzled! Recently he has improved 100% and I trust him off lead unmuzzled. Unfortunately this does mean though that if another off lead dog does show agression first he will not always back down! Anyway on Saturday I was out with all of mine, I tend to walk very quiet places as it's just easier for me to cope! I saw in the distance a fella who looked like he was alone, so I got Tiz and Cooper to me and put them on lead (staffie x's = run to stranger and demand attention!!!) I then noticed his dog, but it was too late and it charged at Cromwell (who is getting deaf) it surprised him and he reacted violently!!! To my absolute surprise Sidney came from no where and instantly put himself between the dog and Cromwell and barked in Cromwell's face!! He almost rounded Cromwell up, and pushed him (not physically but with his body language) away from the other dog and towards me!! I actually was so transfixed with the behaviour I didn't even think about calling them back to me!! The fella then came over and said what on earth was that? He asked if I'd trained Sidney to do it and if I did how!!!! Does anyone know why he does it? Is it a control thing, cos Sidney isn't a very dominant dog...he is a complete wimp when he's on his own and is extreamly subserivent(sp) with new dogs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 Crikey Jacky it must be a shaggy dog thing as I have seen George do this with Archie on several occasions! Archie can react badly to other dogs if they jump on him or are otherwise bad mannered in their approach and he can really go to town in his response. George has got himself between the two and almost pushed Archie back to me - like the friend trying to keep an argumentative pal out of trouble. George is top dog tho unlike Sidney. Otherwise what an amazing coincidence! Marion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owl Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 (edited) Sometimes it would appear that an apparently low dominance dog exercises influence from the bottom of the pack. My sheltie used to do this - the obvious boss dog was big puli Mojo, who was in charge of and protected all dogs, cats, goats, sheep, rabbits and poultry. But guess who was telling him what to do all the time? The old, tiny, timid but very, very smart sheltie. In a situation like you describe she would probably have done something similar to defuse the situation. I am convinced that pack order is much more intricate than some of the behaviourists would have us think. In a situation like that we can see and hear what is going on, but our limited sense of smell would mean that some of the nuances of the encounter would pass by without us understanding them. Edited January 22, 2007 by owl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingrid Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 Zen can be dog aggressive with strange dogs, but the only time I;ve ever seen anything close to thast behaviour is when we used to walk with 2 female GSDs who had a thing about each other at times, if they sparked off Zen would run straight in between them, using his sheer size to part them and stand there looking. It was an amzing thing to see especially from a dog that would normally dive in and join the fight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanrossscot Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 This is a lot of what AS does. The dominance thing is not easy either as I would have said that Tia was the dominant of our two, yet AS reckoned Keira was a lot more in charge than it looked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted January 22, 2007 Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 (edited) This is a lot of what AS does. The dominance thing is not easy either as I would have said that Tia was the dominant of our two, yet AS reckoned Keira was a lot more in charge than it looked. She does and its amazing to watch the dogs working. Even just a glance from one of the policingdogs often calms situations down. Edited January 22, 2007 by safneo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACKYSIAN Posted January 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 (edited) Oh interesting stuff! Just been looking at Angela's website!! Extreamly tempted by the livestock course!! Sheep are the only thing I have a problem with (well not me but my dogs!!! ). Sidney is turning into a real chaser as well, he's decided that quads and bicycles are great fun!! So far I've managed to recall him but I have a feeling one time he'll just ignore me completely! I've been watching the dogs alot more on walks, and I really do think Sidney is taking over the leader role! Cromwell is letting him get away with so much more recently...well as far as I'm concerned as long as Sid continues to stop Cromwell's aggression...I'm happy!!! Still makes me laugh though when I take Sid on his own to my friends farm...and he becomes a quivering wreck when he see's their GSD bitch!! He's not so tough!!! Edited January 23, 2007 by JACKYSIAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenrir Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 I've seen this sort of behaviour too. As Owl suggests I think there is a lot more to pack politics than the usual alpha dog stuff that gets bandied around, dogs are far more complex than that in my experience. I have read that Newfoundlands are known for this sort of behaviour, that if one of their pack (I think it was talking about humans) is threatened they will not act aggressively but will put themselves between whoever they are protecting and the aggressor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts