# Fear of other dogs



## kbaker (Dec 14, 2010)

I'll start off by telling the story of my dog. We rescued him from the animal shelter when was around 5-6 months old. He was slightly scared of everything for the first week but slowly warmed up to his surroundings. We brought him with us to a family visit to play with their lab and it didn't take long for him to warm up to the lab and play together. A couple of months later, I brought him with me to another visit and to let him play with the lab. Shortly after arriving, the dogs were out of sight running around when I heard the dogs barking. A neighbors pit bull came over and attacked my dog. It took all the strength I had to get the pit off of him and he took a couple of large chunks out of my dog. This was around the time of 8 months old.

Now, he's about 11 months and he is terribly afraid of larger dogs. My parents have two dachshunds and he's completely fine with them. It's only larger dogs. Today I took him to the dog park and it was a disaster. There were about 6 other dogs, all medium-large size dogs. They would come up to him and he would growl at them and not let them get close. The whole time with his tail tucked under his legs. I know he was only growling because he was scared, but we had to leave because the other people were not comfortable with him, thinking he would attack their dog.

What can I do to help him? I would love to be able take him to the dog park and let him play with the other dogs without being afraid.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Poor fella. :frown: Sounds to me like he was lucky to find you. 
I think that the dog park is not the place for him right now. It seems that he is very easily overwhelmed....so having many new and strange dogs around him is not helping.

I would start off slow. Maybe you have a friend that has a large dog you could get together with? Start off maybe one on one....then when he's okay with that then try adding another new dog. Always make it very positive. Tons of praise and treats. Keep things fun. Try to end things on a positive note and don't push him. Maybe short increments of time together to start with and work up to longer. 

Just some of my thoughts.

I know that others with more experience will come along and offer some advice. Good luck. :smile:


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## Mia (Oct 4, 2010)

Wow! That is so sad. Maybe a trainer can help out? Or some sort of rehabilator?
Sorry to hear that. HUGS!!


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## Sophie45 (Jan 3, 2011)

My dog was seriously attacked at 13 weeks old, so I understand how traumatic that is. I'm sorry your pup had to go through that 

I definitely agree that a dog park might have been a bit overwhelming. I would try and do one-on-ones with other medium/large dogs in a neutral place, and I've heard that walking dogs on leash next to each other (but not interacting too much) is a great way for dogs to warm up to each other, and convince him the other dog won't attack. Obviously this is best with a dog that has good leash manners, not one that jumps and barks and gets all excited when it's near other dogs because sometimes their intentions (happiness and excitement) can be perceived as aggressive, and could make your dog even more nervous.

Sometimes just being close to another dog might be stressful in the beginning after a trauma, much less interacting with them closely. Once he's warmed up to the other dog by going for a walk near him and begins to trust his intentions, then maybe let them do more face to face greetings. I'm sure after a while he will relax and become more comfortable around other dogs-but there is a possibility that an uncontrolled environment, such as a dog park, might not be the best option for your dog anymore...

Good luck!


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## kbaker (Dec 14, 2010)

Update

Gave the dog park a second chance today. Jake stayed close by with his tail tucked for about five minutes but eventually opened up when a shy lab/pit mix (Buddy) came up to sniff him. They warmed up to each other and ran around playing with each other for a while. They both gradually opened up to the rest of the dogs and it seemed like Jake and Buddy's fears both went away. The other dog's owner said his dog as never opened up so much to all the others.

So all in all, a pretty great day!


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