"Bully Breeds" and Dog Aggression...

[kady05]

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

Not really by breed as much as breeding styles and lines.

My staffordshire was very hot tempered and a horribly intense little fighter when offered the chance.

Rescue pit bulls can be found all the time with pretty cold game, not seeking a fight(no reflection on how well they fight), but you can also find some seriously DA APBT in rescue and with good breeding.

Amstafs are *supposed* to be less aggressive but that too is not fool proof, ime.

Agree here.

I've seen more DA (true DA, not DR) in APBT's, the ADBA style dogs.

Amstaffs are supposed to be more dog friendly but I know of a few that aren't. Sako's whole line is VERY dog friendly for the most part. His mom can be a bit snarky but she is capable of living with other dogs just fine. Sako is extremely dog friendly, his BFF is an intact male Rottie LOL.

Originally Posted by sillysally

Kind of OT, but are there many GSDs in daycare? I only ask because I see many at the dog park and it never seems to end well. I don't know if it's the breed in general it just our area.

My experience with GSD's hasn't been so hot, when it comes to other dogs anyway! My friend has one (same friend who has Sako's BFF) and that dog has gone after all 3 of my dogs on separate occasions. Put a hole through Piper's ear, for no apparent reason (she just walked past him). He's also gone after her own dogs. We don't allow any of them to play together anymore.

We have another GSD in our agility class who is a bit DR as well, and has launched at Sako a few times while he's been in a down/stay.

[Aleron]

Originally Posted by sillysally

Kind of OT, but are there many GSDs in daycare? I only ask because I see many at the dog park and it never seems to end well. I don't know if it's the breed in general it just our area.

The breeds that never seemed to work for us long term were APBTs, GSDs, Rotties and Boxers were hit or miss. GSDs were split, many of them didn't work simply because they hated being left there and did nothing but search for their owner all day every day for months. Beyond that, mature GSDs rarely enjoy interacting with strange dogs and especially in-your-face-overly physical sorts of dogs like Labs, Goldens or Boxers. GSDs are control freaks The other GSD issue was predatory drift with smaller dogs. Rotties were often fine as youngsters but became intolerant of other dogs, especially males with males as they matured. They also tended to pick out certain dogs and be "bullies" towards them obsessively following them around, posturing over them, physically pushing them, etc. With Boxers, they tended to be same sex aggressive at times but often ended up having issues because they would play too rough, get corrected by the other dog than turn into "oh so we're fighting...ok!". That actually was similar to some of the APBTs too. Very happily and easily switched from rough play to fighting.

All that said, I took my GSD to daycare with me every day for years and she was good. She had little to no interest in interacting with strange dogs and just followed me around chewing on her tennis ball. She was very SSA with household dogs but didn't care about non-family dogs much. Now I would not have left her there when I wasn't working, she wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. She liked going because she got to hang out with me all day.

[AdrianneIsabel]

Do you guys have luck with Dobermans?

Ours are super hit or miss here but mostly they tend to be breedist snobs. We have a group of dobes that play well together but they rarely tolerate outsiders.

[drmom777]

My pittie was the product of God knows what breeding, part of a litter found by the train tracks at what was thought to be about four weeks of age. He was a great and totally reliable dog with the family, always. However, as he reached adulthood he was aggressive to all dogs and all people who were not his family. He was socialized as thoroughly as could be. it seemed to just be part of him. He was never "unpredictable", you could predict his exact behavior in any situation, but ultimately we had to have him put to sleep because he was too dangerous to own. It was horrible because we loved him and he worshipped us. It was a terrible decision to make, and left us sick with grief.

His name was Deuce

[sillysally]

The only dog that Jack has ever snarked at in the dog park was a GSD female that was keeping an ever changing perimeter around her owner and charging at any dog that breeched her parameter. The first few times Jack either backed off or ignored her, then finally as she charged up to him he turned to her and showed his teeth. It was only a split second, but she backed off and left him alone after that.

Jack was also attacked by a GSD at the park. It chased him and pinned him against the fence. I was able to drive the dog away long enough to put Jack behind my and ward him off by swinging the leash at him while the owners attempted to catch him. He kept circling around looking for a way to get past me to Jack.

One of Jack's best friends is a female red dobe, and I know that particular dog goes to the dog park without incident.

[SizzleDog]

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

Do you guys have luck with Dobermans?

Ours are super hit or miss here but mostly they tend to be breedist snobs. We have a group of dobes that play well together but they rarely tolerate outsiders.

HA, yes to the bolded part. It's a common theme in the breed.

[Sweet72947]

I haven't worked at a dog daycare, but from my experiences working at other dog places, including FOHA, most of the pit bull types I have known have had some level of DA, from simply being dog selective (some only like opposite sex dogs, for example) to hating every dog in existence. There were two "pit bull types" at FOHA recently named Patience and Silence who are not DA in the slightest, but they are more American Bully than anything, I think.

GSDs tend to be leash reactive. I think some of that is misdirected protective instinct. They also tend to become very neurotic in a kennel situation. There is a pretty female GSD with fluffy hair who boards at work who CONSTANTLY knocks over her water bowl, even the no-spill bowls! You can hear it banging around as she plays with it. She also spreads her food around her kennel instead of eating it, craps in her run, and is generally a real PITA. There's also that annoying rapid-fire barking GSDs tend to do.

The most dog friendly dogs are usually hound types. Beagles, coonhounds, walkers, etc. They all tend to love being in, even thrive, in large groups. Labs, some are OMGILOVEEVERYTHING and some are just bullies to other dogs. There is a yellow lab and a shepherd mix boarding at work together and they try to charge at other dogs when you have them out on leash, and they try to fence fight with all the dogs you walk them by.

[yoko]

Originally Posted by sillysally

Kind of OT, but are there many GSDs in daycare? I only ask because I see many at the dog park and it never seems to end well. I don't know if it's the breed in general it just our area.

I have some friends that have two GSDs that go to daycare during the summer. They say they love it but they do have to stay with the larger dogs. Which IMO is just common sense.

[Aleron]

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

Do you guys have luck with Dobermans?

Ours are super hit or miss here but mostly they tend to be breedist snobs. We have a group of dobes that play well together but they rarely tolerate outsiders.

We didn't have many Dobe people wanting to bring their dogs, so I don't have much experience. We did have one who was evaluated but couldn't come. That dog was exceptionally jerky though and his owner was...dumb. He peed on everything while we were evaluating him. Like obsessive marking. On everything included on the owner's tween daughter and her friend who had tagged along, to which the owner's response was "HAHAHAHA! He's marking his territory!!!". The dog was pretty iffy with quite a few of the easy dogs I let in with him and it just all around seemed like that dog coming to daycare was a bad idea. And FWIW, the dog was neutered and was neutered before a year old. I got the idea that he was allowed to do whatever he wanted though and found myself wondering how much their house smelled like pee while I cleaned up after they left.

[Bahamutt99]

I don't know that I've ever met a true AmStaff; my experience is more with Pitterstaffs (pits with a staff infection, dogs bred with a mix of both). Overall, they don't seem to be as hot as APBTs, especially APBTs with that old-school breeding. That doesn't mean that a Pitterstaff won't throw down, but maybe they just have a longer wick.

Loki is probably fairly described as Pitterstaff. I can take her anywhere and I don't worry about other dogs. She will sniff noses and seems to default to play if there is no call (in her mind) for aggression. But she has hard lines that you do not cross (re: resources and personal space, usually), and clearly her preference is to deal with other dogs in short spurts, then be done with them. When dogs have crossed her, she will pop like a bubble on them but once you grab her collar and break it up, she isnt trying to "scratch" back into them. In the past, lacking a clear exit to take the offending dog out, I have been able to put her on a down/stay and use both hands to carry/drag the other dog away. She has gotten less dog-tolerant with age, but her reactions are predictable at least. She fights when need be, and will sometimes "trap" another dog by setting them up to cross her boundaries, but you can tell its not something she loves. She just wants the other dog to go away.

Terra is a might trickier. Her mom is Loki's grandma, so there is some similar breeding there. But her dad is gamebred. I did a LOT of control work with her young because I didn't want a super-hot dog. But at a year, her and Loki fell apart. (Loki probably started it, but Terra was ready to reciprocate.) She went after our boy, Priest, as well. Sex is no barrier to her. Although Loki is for sure her special object of affection.

At present, Terra can play with the right male dog, under the right circumstances. But any over-excitement, any barking, and it's like throwing fuel on a fire you didn't even know was there. Because Terra doesn't fling straight-ahead or mouth off unless a dog is really in her face trying to evoke an aggro response. (I've seen her do it twice at ADBA shows, both times in response to a really mouthy dog.) She's subtle, especially if she thinks she may get a chance to make it count. The changes in her are mild: tail raised just a bit, muscles tensed, ears a bit more up than normal, and sometimes she will deliberately avert her gaze from something even though she wants it.

Like I was born yesterday, Terra. *eyeroll*