Why is she so mean to little dogs?

[sheesh]

Help! I am utterly dismayed with my cattle dog mix. She is probably part border collie/blue heeler, maybe some lab. She is 1.5 years old. She gets along perfectly with my Saint/Great Dane mix. As well as other big dogs. She is a sweet, gentle dog at home. Never has had any aggression towards humans. But with small dogs, this is something new. She used to do fine at the dog parks until maybe the past 2-3 months. She has suddenly become very aggressive towards the most helpless dogs - the ones who are very tiny, puffy, or those that are extremely passive/submissive. Today at the dog park, after an hour of frolicking with the big dogs and having a dandy time, we came across a little dog. Maybe a shihtzu? Some kind of "toy" dog less than 15 lbs or so. This is the 2nd time I've seen her do this - she nearly attacked this poor little dog. Pinned it to the ground and was growling, bearing her teeth. The poor other dog was crying. When I finally grabbed hold of her, I threw her to the ground and scolded her. [b]The man told me my dog should be shot[/b]. I was so embarassed and felt so horrible for this other poor dog. I must now never let her go off leash again or else a tragedy may happen. After I scolded her, she looked as if she felt bad and knew she did something wrong, but WHY did she do this to this poor little dog who did nothing wrong? I don't blame the owner for telling me what he did. Thank god the other dog was OK.
I know she goes CUCKOO for cats and maybe she thinks these little dogs are cats? Or maybe she thinks they are stuffed animals (which she loves to tear apart)? I am just very sad to see her do this. With no explanation. She occasionally goes to dog daycare and they never say she is aggressive. But this is the 2nd time at an off leash park which she has acted this aggressive and I can't let it happen again.

Does anyone have any suggestions for this newly acquired BAD BEHAVIOR?

THANK YOU

[kendalyn]

Hmmm... So she's a year and a half? Maybe she is moving out of adolescent/puppy hood and acquiring some new ideas about small animals at the same time? That's the only thing I can think of.

Tough situation though, maybe someone else will have an idea to help you out. My only idea is to take her to a puppy class or something where you know there is a controlled environment and smaller dogs. Make it a positive experience where she can learn that small dogs are not to be attacked...?

Maybe stop giving her those stuffed animal toys...

[Guest Anonymous]

Ok first of all you should NEVER "throw down" your dog and scold her, this is why she acted like did something bad and felt guilty most likely. You are not going to correct this behavior with a harsh correction, you will mostly likely make you dog not trust you, which is something you do not want. Cattle dogs and Border Collies are high prey drive breeds, and may not view smaller dogs as dogs, but as prey. She may never be able to be around them unleashed, or you may be sucessful in redirecting her behavior. Does she have high ball drive?

Some Info about Cattle Dogs from the net...

The typical heeler personality is forceful, energetic, highly intelligent, and intently focussed. Handling beef cattle takes a lot of force of will and heelers have no shortage there. They focus on whatever they're doing at the moment as if their lives depended on it, and of course, when working a 1.5 ton steer, their lives do depend on it.
You will often hear that heelers are very stubborn dogs. While they can be difficult, I think 'stubborn' isn't quite the right description. Heelers have very strong personalities, and they are often very dominant dogs. You have to establish who is boss and you have to maintain that status.
Heelers are very demonstrative in their body language so it's pretty easy to learn to read them. A heeler who knows his place is actually very eager to please but a heeler who thinks he's your boss will be a royal pain and potentially a threat.

If you try to train your heeler with force he may well just refuse to comply and actually fight back. If you train you dog consistently with positive reinforcement, ie operant conditioning, you'll find that heelers are very quick to learn and extremely eager to please.
Heelers thrive on hard physical exercise. Clovis, at 4.5, still wants at least 1.5 hours of fetch every day. They need activity and they thrive on company (the most severe punishment I can inflict on Clovis, from his point of view, is force him to be in a different room than me.) A bored heeler will find something to keep him busy, and they can be amazing engines of destruction.
Heelers typically are extremely confident in their own physical capabilities and throw themselves into everything with gusto and abandonment. Fortunately, their physical toughness matches their personalities.

This same forcefulness is the one real concern with heelers and kids. They need to be carefully taught that kids must be treated gently. A heeler who lives with children shouldn't have any trouble with this, provided he gets consistent training. Heelers tend to have no qualms about telling off a child who annoys them, though, by nipping them gently. This is not the sort of dog which is a complete pushover for kids.
Heelers tend to be very one-mannish, that is they latch on to one or two people very strongly and are more or less indifferent to others. They are routinely aloof or even suspicious of strangers. In fact, the standard says that a suspicious glint in the eye is expected.
Heelers are often aggressive with other dogs, for pretty much the same reasons. They tend to be picky about their friends and pack and not really like anyone who isn't part of their normal circle.
And heelers tend to be very dominance-oriented. Many domesticated dogs, while they display the standard dominance-submission behaviors of wild dogs, do so sort of lackadaisically and it isn't all that important to them. Many heelers find this posturing an essential part of meeting any new dog.
Heelers also tend to be officious. They seem to have an understanding of the concept of rules and will follow them when learned. They also love to enforce the household rules on other animals in the house

[url]http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/australiancattledogs.html[/url]

Other animals: Many cattle dogs get along fine with other dogs, especially those of their own size and energy level. However, as a rule they can be more dog aggressive than other breeds and may do best as the "only" dog or with dogs of the opposite sex. Many actually prefer to be only dogs as they are people dogs, not dog dogs. Many have high prey drive and are not good around cats or other small animals unless raised with them.
Animal aggression is relatively normal with this breed, and can be normal with some (not all) Border Collies as well.

I would recommend training classes as well. Does she have any basic training?

Redirection vs. Desensitization (good link on redirecting your dog)

[url]http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/redirect.htm[/url]

[imported_Kat]

Actually Border Collies don't have a high prey drive at all. They have a high herding drive which is very different, with respect to temperament. Prey drive involves aggression towards that animal which BC's don't show otherwise they wouldn't have a place as a herding dog. A Border Collie in the wrong hands is a disaster; any dog is but a Border Collie which has the highest canine conscious capabilities of all breeds is catastrophic. Border Collies are [b]NOT [/b] normally aggressive animals as previously stated. You have Pits Pouty so you should realise the consequences of stating such a biased sentence.

With regards to your problem, desensitisation is a key factor. If you have any friends with smaller breed dogs ask if they will bring them along to the local park (not the dogs own home as she will view that as her territory). Keep your own dog on the lead and switch off to her. Remain neutral and don't show any emotion. Walk her around the other dog. If she growls or lunges at the dog then yank her back, but don't say anything. When she is good give her a food reward. Continue doing this and if she is really bad then get a range of different sizes of dogs to come along with their owners and work your way down to the smallest to attempt to desensitise her.

Good luck.

[sheesh]

Thank you Pouty for all the good advice. The description really hit the nail on the head. SHe meets 90% of that description with a few exceptions. She absolutely adores my other dog while definitely being the alpha. She has had basic training and is extremely fast at learning. I also have a 1:1 trainer come to my house and practice other things like off leash training. She does fine on the 30ft lead, but if she sees another dog or squirrel, NOTHING will bring her back to me. I am always working on this, and she never progresses to stopping the run in mid-stream and returning back to me.

Re: my actions after she 'attacked' the other dog - what should I do if anything of the like happens again? If I cannot scold her, how does she know that I disapprove of what she did? Plus the owner of the other dog had to see that I was mad (Or else I think HE would have thrown her down and kicked her :cry: ).

Interesting to read what you wrote about cattle dogs. Her exercise drive is insatiable. I have resorted to using The Springer attachment to my bike and she and I go for at least 4-5 miles and she barely is panting when we are done. Amazing girl she is.

I think her being off leash may not be a privilege of hers anymore - I am just way too scared of her doing this again and I wouldn't be able to stand it knowing she injured a dog.

Thank you for your tips.

[Guest Anonymous]

KAT..I didn't say Border Collie are sometimes animal aggressive, that was part of the piece I cut and pasted from the Cattle dog info.

"You have Pits Pouty so you should realise the consequences of stating such a biased sentence"

I have a Border Collie/Pit bull mix as well. Since I did not say it I was NOT biased. And from what I have read Border Collies DO have HIGH PREY DRIVE. Maybe what I read was wrong, but that is what I read. Here's some links to support that..

[url]http://www.canismajor.com/dog/hidrive.html[/url]

"In other breeds, the prey drive has been altered to suit an entirely different purpose. In the [b]Border Collie[/b], a herding breed, the instinct to chase and catch animals has been modified to chase and gather them together. Training can also modify [b]prey drive[/b]. Drug sniffing and arson detection dogs have high prey drives that have been redirected toward objects - these dogs are taught that illegal drugs and fire accelerants are

[sheesh]

Thank you Kat, also! I hadn't read your reply when I posted my last one.
I will try the desensitization. I'll try anything to prevent this from happening again!

What kind of action do I do if she shows aggression - just yanking the lead? NO verbal comments whatsoever? Whenever I do say "naughty girl", she knows this statement and her ears go down and she looks very sad, as if I truly am hurting her feelings. She is very sensitive!

[Guest Anonymous]

In _The Power of Positive Dog Training_, Jean Miller even recounts a time when she did the exact same thing with her dog attacking a friend's small dog. So, while IN MOST INSTANCES, you should find another way of correction, I think in matters of life & death your instincts were right. If I were you, I wouldn't feel bad about it. But I do think you must be VERY careful now when/where/if you let your dog off-leash.

I know my Petsmart has a Yappy Hour socialization time that is free. And big dogs meet at a different time than smaller dogs. Maybe this would be an option?

deb c.

[DogPaddle]

Excellent suggestion Happybooker1, any opportunity to seperate small and large dogs is useful for both groups. Even and accidental collision with a very large and very small dog can cause injury.