Do Other Dogs Go For Your Newfie

[new_2_newf]

Sulley gets it with medium dogs most often, but on occasion little dogs as well. Sulley doesn't seem to mind 99% of the time, just makes a very quick zig and is right back beside mama because they scared him when they flipped out. There are two exceptions. One is a poorly socialized male lab mix that is recently adopted out of the shelter....I can't blame his owners there, they are doing their darnedest to work with him and we have met up with them and their trainer to work on it because Sulley really seems to set something off in this dog. Sulley doesn't like it...it is the first dog that he has ever stood his ground with...hackles, posture, teeth, noise the whole bit unless I correct him. The other is an extremely dominant rottie pup...he and Sulley are two intact, dominant young males of roughly the same size...Sulley does NOT like when Lincon does anything even remotely dominant, and Lincon in the same. We leave when they show up because I don't think I could break up that fight on my own, and Lincon's owners are apparently oblivious to what is going on between those two. Scares the jeepers out of me and a lot of other dog owners. We seems to have a lot of dominant young males in our pack at the park and a lot of them have issues with Lincon.

 

[R Taft]

All the freaking time. But don't blame the little so-and-so, blame the mouth-breathing idiot who didn't socialize their little dog properly, don't have the little dog on lead, and don't monitor and correct the little dog's bad behavior.

The dog is just being a poorly-trained dog. Blame the owners.

Yes I sooooo agree with this. you just have to look at our Kennel Club, where we make a huge issue out of Socializing. The little dogs ( and big ones)love ours and want to be with them. We use our dogs a lot for newcomers to get them used to quiet reliable dogs. Dogs , any dog, just need to learn how to be social and have social manners. that doesn't mean they all have to be friendly and play. it just means they have to not be aggressive and tolerate other dogs near them

 

[luvxl k 9]

Absolutely, I can't tell you how many times at a show I've heard and said, "why does everyone want to pick on the Newfy?" The only thing I've come up with is that they can sense these guys are gentle giants, so figure they can get away with their Napoleon complex's. But yes I also agree with Nessa, it's the dog owner's and handlers that need to get a clue!!

 

[jrahm2003]

I have the same problem with Mya. There is one dog in the neighborhood that barks, lunges and growls at her as it walks by. The owner does nothing, she doesn't even look at us. This has been going on since last Nov when we moved to the area. For the longest time Mya would just sit there and watch the dog go by. It seems she has had enough. Now when she sees the dog, she barks, lunges and growls as well. Of course, it looks really bad as she is 125 pounds were the other dog is about 10 pounds. I have no idea how to stop her from doing this, we can eventually get her to sit again.

Any ideas on how to stop this? Whenever we go outside, if I see the dog coming I quickly take her back inside until the dog passes. With all other dogs she's fine.

 

[Cascadians]

No doubt other dogs feel 'challenged' by the Newfs' bigness and ALSO sense that under all that is a heart of gold kindness so the other dogs feel they can attack and make their little ego feel good.

After enough of this and being bitten, Orka has under his golden heart a wary street smart wolf and will put a quick stop to anybody trying to take advantage of his Newfness with actual evil intent to bite or fight.

He is an excellent example for me. Live and learn.

 

[Jorge's mum]

No doubt other dogs feel 'challenged' by the Newfs' bigness and ALSO sense that under all that is a heart of gold kindness so the other dogs feel they can attack and make their little ego feel good.

After enough of this and being bitten, Orka has under his golden heart a wary street smart wolf and will put a quick stop to anybody trying to take advantage of his Newfness with actual evil intent to bite or fight.

He is an excellent example for me. Live and learn.

I have to say I think Stanley is a little more street wise than Jorge and I doubt he would put up with nasty dogs although I hope he is never put to the test!

 

[Higgy]

Thanks for your posts, on one hand I would love Hagrid to stick up for himself
but the other hand says chill we are Newfs and proud to be gentle and caring.

It's up to me to educate the Owners then the growling pooches. Now where
did I put those steel toe capped boots. rofl.

 

[NewfMom]

A guy at the dog park yesterday had a theory on why small dogs are so often aggressive that I had never heard before. According to him, dogs develop aggression before they develop restraint. In order to be small, small dogs have been bred to have arrested growth before they hit the stage where they would have learned restraint.

This seemed a bit far-fetched to me but I wanted to see if any of you had heard this theory before. I lean towards thinking the owners need to train little dogs.

 

[Jorge's mum]

A guy at the dog park yesterday had a theory on why small dogs are so often aggressive that I had never heard before. According to him, dogs develop aggression before they develop restraint. In order to be small, small dogs have been bred to have arrested growth before they hit the stage where they would have learned restraint.

This seemed a bit far-fetched to me but I wanted to see if any of you had heard this theory before. I lean towards thinking the owners need to train little dogs.

my small dog isn't aggressive he is a shih tzu and loves other dogs big and small. but he has always been exposed to dogs and I think living with a little pack helps too

 

[JackandKelly]

A guy at the dog park yesterday had a theory on why small dogs are so often aggressive that I had never heard before. According to him, dogs develop aggression before they develop restraint. In order to be small, small dogs have been bred to have arrested growth before they hit the stage where they would have learned restraint.

This seemed a bit far-fetched to me but I wanted to see if any of you had heard this theory before. I lean towards thinking the owners need to train little dogs.

I think it is owners and lack of training, but some breeds (large or small) are more likely to have issues. Our biggest problems are lab or boxer size dogs, but small dogs can have what they call small dog syndrome.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/smalltoydogs.htm
Which is because of the way they are treated.
I will not disagree some breeds take more work. I have longhaired dachshunds (4 of them) my mom has 6 of them. They are all very sweet, gentle and love other dogs, BUT I would not bring a smooth doxie in the house. Please, no offense to smooth doxie owners...There are many very nice ones!!
(just using dachshunds as an example because I have had them for 20+ yrs and know them well)
They are just like two different breeds. I have too many dogs to spend the time it takes to train a smooth dachshund to like other dogs and kids. I have met some very nice ones, but it takes alot of work for them to love kids and bigger dogs. The longhaired ones are easy, they are like big dogs with short legs. Laid back, gentle and loving.
With that said, I still believe the problem lies with the owners, not the dogs. Every breed has issues, people just need to realize some take more time and training to socialize properly than others.
All small dogs get lumped together which is wrong. Not all are yappy and don't like big dogs.
We have had to walk away with the Newfs from growling lunging dogs that were Husky, Boxer, Lab, Bull Terrier, St Bernard, chihuahua (short hair for some reason, never the longhair) and one smooth doxie...

 

[AngusMcDubhsMom]

Maneen was the biggest, softy you'd ever know. But when a friend's Newf, who was very dominant, got out of hand and cornered him there was a flurry of fur, a loud rumble and then Maneen was standing over his nemesis, who was flat on the ground. I didn't know he had it in him...LOL No Blood was spilled....

 

[lacey9875]

A guy at the dog park yesterday had a theory on why small dogs are so often aggressive that I had never heard before. According to him, dogs develop aggression before they develop restraint. In order to be small, small dogs have been bred to have arrested growth before they hit the stage where they would have learned restraint.

This seemed a bit far-fetched to me but I wanted to see if any of you had heard this theory before. I lean towards thinking the owners need to train little dogs.

Huh. Never heard that before. I still think it's lack of training, and thinking it's funny that a little dog wants to go after a bigger dog. Do they concern themselves with what will happen when the bigger dog defends him or herself though?

And I do think sometimes dogs pick on the biggest dog they can find. We were at the dog park over the summer, and this little 40 lb pit mix kept trying to jump on Maggie. She kept moving away from him and doing her thing. He followed her from spot to spot, and tried to hump her, so she turned around and came back towards me. Everything was find until the dog got turned around and in between her and Ashton. Then Maggie's whole demeanor changed, she stood up straight and got in front of Ashton and got close to the dog, almost like she was trying to push him back.

Luckily his Mom came and got him, but it made me wonder why she didn't correct him the other 79 times he was annoying her. Why wait until he's made anothe dog mad??

 

[HeidiPeterson]

I don't seem to have that problem with Ben. He LOVES little dogs. Whenever we come upon one on a walk, he will put himself into a down and let the little dog come up and sniff him. One of his best friends is a poodle who adores Ben. Maybe I just have great dog owners around me.

 

[Garden_girl]

Same with us, no problems with other dogs. My guys are exposed to breeds like Anatolians, Dobes, Mastiffs and Leonbergers to Min Pins and Doxies, and every thing and every size in between. In fact, the apple of Murphy's eye is a little wire-hair Doxie named Cassie, he just goes nuts when he sees her! In any training classes we go to, the Newfs are always the calming influence in the class. I don't do dog parks any more ever, but when we did go, Murphy would always place himself in between any two dogs that were having a scuffle and the scuffle would immediately stop. That's one of the reasons we no longer go, I don't want to put him at risk like that. He did earn the nickname of Dog Park Sheriff, though. :lol:

Last week at my training class, we had 7 new reactive dogs & Tucker. When class started it was utter chaos, all of these dogs were barking their fool heads off, except Tucker. He laid down next to where I was standing, and I guess Tucker had had enough of all the barking. He let out this wail that sounded like a moose in heat (I think some of you know that sound, lol), and he did it 3 times!!!!! Well, all the dogs stopped barking and all of the adults started laughing, but we were able to start the class. :beer:

 

[Emma]

Dogs in SA are generally well socilized as we all take our dogs to the beach, the mountain and on holiday, there are very few places you cannot take dogs here, only game reserves and eco sensitive areas.

But my cousins Yorkie pup is often found hanging on Archies neck wrestling him to the ground, I don't think Archie has noticed though...

Arch did get a bite on the bun from my daughters dog Scooby as Arch sat on him when we first got him. but now there is a better system of all getting a good spot in the car.

 

[CMDRTED]

I've had it happen, and since I'm NOT Politically Correct, I have no problem telling the owner to take their little &*^(%%!! dog and buzz (or something like that there). I was told I was rude, OK, so now what's that got to do with your yappy lil ankle biter being obnoxious, and you are a crappy dog owner?

 

[luvxl k 9]

Now that would have been a great video!!!! Way to go Tucker!

Same with us, no problems with other dogs. My guys are exposed to breeds like Anatolians, Dobes, Mastiffs and Leonbergers to Min Pins and Doxies, and every thing and every size in between. In fact, the apple of Murphy's eye is a little wire-hair Doxie named Cassie, he just goes nuts when he sees her! In any training classes we go to, the Newfs are always the calming influence in the class. I don't do dog parks any more ever, but when we did go, Murphy would always place himself in between any two dogs that were having a scuffle and the scuffle would immediately stop. That's one of the reasons we no longer go, I don't want to put him at risk like that. He did earn the nickname of Dog Park Sheriff, though. :lol:

Last week at my training class, we had 7 new reactive dogs & Tucker. When class started it was utter chaos, all of these dogs were barking their fool heads off, except Tucker. He laid down next to where I was standing, and I guess Tucker had had enough of all the barking. He let out this wail that sounded like a moose in heat (I think some of you know that sound, lol), and he did it 3 times!!!!! Well, all the dogs stopped barking and all of the adults started laughing, but we were able to start the class. :beer:

 

[Babymine]

Bear was never socialized so when we adopted him he was very dog aggressive. We have worked very hard with him and when Dewey came along he was 75% better. He has calmed down a lot and we make sure we walk them at a time when we know people are walking their dogs.

Dewey and I went to Petsmart and they have a big window where you can see the small dogs in the daycare. They went wild when I walked Dewey by. Dewey could are less. Now Bear has some problems with that because there were about 10 of the ankle bitters spazing and he isn't comfortable with that yet. The training never stops even when he is 100% socialized.

We have 1 gentleman who walks 4 ankle biters with a leash and his retriever off the leash. The dog is excellent with commands but that doesn't mean he can be without his leash. We had adopted Bear 5 days previously and happened to meet them. Bear went ballistic and the owner could get his retriever to return to him. His dog just stood there confused why Bear was in attack mode. Finally he went back to his owner but that should have never happened. His ankle biters were going crazy until we got a good distance.

 

[NewfieMama]

IME it depends on the dog/owner. We know several teeny tiny dogs that are great with the Newfs and have encountered more than one that are not. Generally the ones that are not have the owners that either scoop up their dogs to get away from the scary black monsters OR just laugh when their dogs go way out on their retractables, nipping at my dogs, and say something like "Dumb dog, don't you see those guys would eat you for a snack?".

If the owners are amused by the behavior, or don't correct it in some way, the dogs can't be blamed, KWIM?

My dogs never react, except to back off when charged.

 

[BLCOLE]

With Vinnie, it seems to depend on the breed of small dog. He gets along FAMOUSLY with "westies" and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. I know this one Cavalier owner from our morning walk. She says that Vinnie is the only dog her Cavalier DOESN'T attack!