Hello everyone! Yesterday we had a very traumatizing experience where my sweet, 3 year old Labrador viciously attacked our 7 year old shitzu. We were so lucky that somehow we managed to separate them and thankfully the shitzu survived. (Just needed a few stitches, but so far so good) during the rumble, my Labrador accidentally bit my sister and her boyfriend as we were trying to break up the fight. I’m so depressed and sad over the incident and I’m so scared. If anyone has any experience with this kind of situation, please do help. I would not know what to do if my Labrador had successfully killed the shitzu. Thank you in advance!
Hello, so sorry to hear about this. You must be very shocked. What were the circumstances around the incident, was there a trigger? Was it food related ? Has there been squabbles before , is this out of character for your lab. If so worth a vet check to make sure not ill or in pain?
I am sorry to hear this, it can be very shocking and unnerving. I went through the same thing a couple of years ago. My lab is usually extremely friendly and playful, but when another dog ran at her, she jumped and growled at it for seemingly no reason. She can be unsure if dogs are full on towards her do i believe she saw it as a threat and was doing it in her own defence. Here is my advice on what to do: First of all try to find out what caused the attack, was it a squabble over a toy or food? If so then make sure they only have them when someone is around, or when only one dog is around. If you can't find out what it was then keep a close eye on them for the next week or so. Have they been together since the incident? If they have and it all seems fine then maybe it was just a one off. If not, reintroduce the dogs both on a lead incase another fight happens. If they seem tense or try to fight keep them separate for now. If they seem fine keep them under very close supervision. If your lab is very sweet and this is unusual for her then please take her to the vets, she may be in pain or have something neurological going on. If she has been known to fight before maybe keep her under close supervision and give her some more socialisation, praising for a calm reaction. On the event of another fight then don't manually split them up, even if it is a full fight and the other dog is being seriously injured instead use a loud noise or shout/squeal as even when the attack is in full flow this will get their attention. Finally please remember that this could be something that started out as play and went far too far. Be sure to visit the vets a the same, if it is out of character for your lab. Hope this helped, sorry it was so long! Good look to you and your dogs xx
My 2.5 year old lab attacked a small dog out of the blue when we were doing our usual walk off lead.I was absolutely mortified and shocked beyond words.The owner of the other dog was understandably very angry and abusive towards me ,which made it so much worse. What could have made my Lab do such a terrible thing to a small dog on a lead ?? Ive lost my confidence with him off lead now and the has being so well behaved .He's intact and appears healthy.The other dog was also intact and the owner stated I was blaming him for my dogs behviour !! I understand that when 2 dogs are intact its going to be challenging ,but this was so out of the blue for Winston . Any help or advice welcome please.
Any number of reasons could contribute towards a otherwise friendly dog attaching. Medical and social are the two main ones. Medical get them checked out at the vet. Social. It doesn't matter how friendly your dog is if the other one was never socialised it leads to mixed messages. Best thing is prevention. You see a dog on or off a lead recall yours and put the lead on before asking about approching.
Thanks for the info ,really helpful . Ive already started to put him on the lead and have an appointment with the vet booked .
