I think my dogs might have killed another dog

[muttmeister]

Well, I think all of the others are right; it was not your dogs' fault; it was fairly normal behavior; etc.

Just a thought: you are in a new place and trying to meet some different people. Is there any place there that offers dog training classes for people with their dogs? It would be a great thing for your dogs to learn to be more obedient and it would also be a great way for you to meet some other dog lovers.

 

[Fran]

Good idea mutt.
I attend classes with one of the youngster just because it's a good way to bond but it doesn't hurt to learn new things. Try one of the big dog chains. They offer basic obedience classes although I suspect yours are normally obedient.

 

[DammitJanet]

Fran and Mutt...great points! I am not fond of retractable leashes either especially with big dogs. I never found one that could hold my large dogs if they really wanted off. Now with my little guy I have now, it holds him fine but I only use it if I take him on a trip and use it for potty breaks on the trips and while at Jamie's and my Dad's. Both their yards are fenced so I can take him out on the adjustable with no fear I will have a problem with dogs getting to him.

 

[Abbey]

As a trainer, I would NOT let your dogs out on a walk without being muzzled. You cannot control instincts. They are too big to control without proper training. Even with that...instincts will always come into play. No free-roaming leashes. Short leash with a choke collar, maybe even spiked. Then, you have control. A sharp yank and they'll know who is in control.

I am so sorry you had to witness this. It had to be horrible. Poor little guy. He probably just wandered off from home.

Abbey

 

[BusynMember]

You were in the RIGHT.
On the other hand, before I personally judge the owner of the dachshund, sometimes little dogs just sneak out the dog. Still, if it ran away, it's probably all right.

My three "big" dogs cocker spaniel, cockapoo, border collie/cocker started picking on my daughter's chihuahua. It was because the chi thought it was a pitbull and would challenge the dogs with a stare. One day my mild mannered border collie/cocker mix started tearing into her and the others went into pack mentality and joined in. By the time I saved the chihuahua, I was bitten up and the chi had one eye pulled almost out of it's socket. My dogs have never even nipped me before or since. My easy child daughter was screaming. In that frame of mind, shaking, easy child and I drove the chi to the vet who reparied the eye with surgery. Since that incident, both my border collie/cocker and my cocker spaniel can not be around smaller dogs. We rehomed the chi.

It never occurred to me though that the dogs were "bad" or "evil." It just struck me as dogs picking on a smaller dog. I don't know if we can ever get the two offenders to be nice to small dogs. We do have a trainer who has helped in other areas, but I'm afraid to try the cocker and his sister with small dogs ever again. Because I must take precautions, I walk each dog seperately so I can maintain control of my dogs if they go nutty over another dog (in a bad way) and my dogs stay in the small dog park at the dog park. And if anyone tries to come in, I warn them to let me get my dogs back in the car first.

I wish I didn't have to do these things, but that's the way it is for my pups. They are sweet pups in the family, but not good with other dogs. BUT...they ARE animals and I love them to death, even though they do not always have good manners with other canines.

I don't know if this helped or not...it was my attempt to offer some empathy. I'll bet that little dachound, which are feisty little things, challenged your dogs with his eyes and they took the bait.

 

[TerryJ2]

Great comment from Matt, Steely!

I personally hate retractable leashes. I want to control the dog, not the other way around.
I always go with-a standard 6 ft leash and a choke, even for my "perfect" dogs, because they have all learned to slip out of their collars. Very clever.

Best of luck!

 

[SRL]

I will not walk them together anymore - and I am going to get them a pinch collar for when I do walk one of them, so I have more control. And no more retractable leashes. That is what made me not have as much control as well. For now, they are going to have to be lazy bums, and hang out inside - cuz I can't take chancing it right now.
.

Steely, I'm glad you came to this point on your own. It always concerns me when I see people in our neighborhood walking dogs they obviously don't have control of or walking so many dogs that they would have trouble controlling if something went wrong (and I see it a lot). We have neighbors on our block with a pit bull and they have absolutely no control of that dog. I know for a fact that the dog is a big baby in a controlled environment (he crawled up on my lap one day on the sofa) but they don't have control of him on a normal walk--if that dog ever seriously decided to go after something they wouldn't have a prayer of a chance of controlling him.

 

[donna723]

GoingNorth mentioned the 'leash aggression' ... that's a very big thing, for many reasons. Even dogs that are friendly and peaceable at home can turn into a holy terror when you have them out on a leash. Many dogs are nervous on a leash, their movements are restricted and they can't react the way they usually would. If they are restricted and another dog is running free and gets right in their face, you just don't know how they will react. They may be trying to protect the small circle of turf that the leash allows them, or they may be trying to protect their owner from the 'intruder'. Or a smaller dog might react aggressively out of fear because they know they're restricted and cannot run away the way they usually would. And the last thing you want to do is get in the middle of a dog fight!

I would kill to have a fenced yard but I don't. Fortunately my two hyper little Bostons get enough exercise just bouncing off the walls at home, because for us, long walks are out! Makes me so mad, but there seems to always be at least one rowdy neighborhood dog running around loose at all times and I just don't want to chance it. Bostons are goofy, funny, friendly little guys but they can be real scrappers under the right conditions - and they seem to have no idea they are that little! If threatened, they will take on a dog that is ten times their size, and don't even seem to notice that they're getting hurt. So no walks for us, even around the block. Even if I were to muzzle mine (and most muzzles don't fit on smooshy Boston faces) that big neighbor dog is NOT muzzled! Makes me want to stick a note on their collars that says 'KEEP ME AT HOME!" I do take my very sociable Ms. Katy to some neighborhood events because she loves people and the attention she gets, but if there are other dogs there, they are always leashed too. She's been to art festivals, community get-togethers and street dances, and she is my standing date for the annual Christmas parade - her favorite! I just hope she never notices that a girl one block over has a Great Dane!

 

[klmno]

Sorry I'm late to this but you've gotten some great advice. I just wanted to add that my lhasa apso who doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body and NEVER tried to fight with another dog bolted out of our FENCED yard one day and chased the neighbor's chihauhau (sp). Honestly, I don't think my dog "saw" it as another dog. She loves her stuffed animals that make different sounds (and some move) and sees squirrels and such in the yard and I think she thought it was a toy. Still, I wouldn't want her to hurt another animal and I'm sure you were horrified. But, I doubt that your dogs have turned into sociopaths if you have never seen this agression in them before. And, with yours on a leash and another dog approaching them, that was just instinct.

 

[Steely]

Thanks again guys. I have gotten great advice. I think if anyone is to blame it was me for thinking I could handle 3 dogs at once. In retrospect I knew I couldn't if something went terribly wrong, I just kept assuming nothing would, and boy did it.

The super sad thing, is this is the same way my precious baby, Ash (my cat) died 3 years ago. I had let Ash out on the front porch, where he always just sat and never wandered - but what I didn't know is that the Doberman next door had gotten out of his fence. He attacked Ash the same way my dogs attacked this little dog. My neighbors intervened and stopped the attack, but Ash later died of internal injuries. The vet said Ash just could not take the internal shaking that occurs with a dog attack of that nature. I fear the same thing happened to this little dog.

God I loved that cat. I cried for months. I hope that is not the same reality as these people are going thru. I could not really blame my neighbor, however, she did pay the vet bills and the city came down hard on her for not having them in a more secure closure, and not having their shots.

Sigh. Owning pets can be just as painful and stressful, as they are wonderful and loving. I am not sure which side is winning this week.

 

[TerryJ2]

Sigh. Owning pets can be just as painful and stressful, as they are wonderful and loving. I am not sure which side is winning this week.

You said it! That's for sure. Somewhere deep down, we all feel they are worth it or we wouldn't go through it. Best of luck.