Hi there,

London is a super sweet 14 months old Bernese Mountain Dog that gets along with everyone, every child, and every dog he meets. He has never barked or growled at anyone or at any other dog, but unfortunately other dogs seens not to like him as much, specially the German Shepherd ones :( He has been constantly attacked by them and we are always coming home with some kind of cut that bleeds and leaves marks...either near his eyes, ears, face or even his paws. My poor baby has beeing bullied since he was born (one of the reasons I picked him from the litter, even his brothers were attacking him) and makes me feel so sorry and at the same time so ungry, that he doens't stand up for himself.

This morning for exemple while walking in the park, we met this white german shepherd that was very agressive towards my boy, and the owner seemed so pround of his dog dominant behaviour. I got so upset coz I couldn't interfere with the situation as the white shepherd was all over my sweet London.

Is any one of you out there have already experience this?
There are people that tells me that is something in my dog's smell, (he isn't castrated as I really don't see the need coz he is just a doll) and hurts me to see my lovely London get bitting up while the other owner don't do anything... Please leave your thoughts on this.
Thanks,

Miss London & London

At his age, it may be possible that his odour is stronger than most males, giving off a more dominant smell than he really it. Eventually everything may settle down. Thats the only thing I can think of?

Its not on that people just stand there and allow their dogs to bully and fight with your boy. And i wouldn't really want your dog to stand up and fight back as this can cause more problems..

Do you have over there Pet Corrector or can you order some? This causes a diversion for the dogs and stops them fighting, normally for either of them to walk away or at least separate them. There is only 1 dog i've known it not to work on..

Do you walk in different locations? Some places you see more off lead dogs than on, which seems to be the problem in your case - off lead dogs? Is there some other place you can walk which would be safer for your boy?

I can't offer much other advice, hoping that someone who is trained in behaviour can assist you further.

Hi Suejaw, I've never heard of this 'Pet Corrector' but will definitely check if I can get it over here in The Netherlands. I normally walk between two parks that are for dogs off lead only as I think it is better for a large dog to feel more freely. I do try to avoid meeting German Shephards at all costs but this makes my walks a bit of a paranoia and not as enjoyable. Everytime London meets a dog that for sure shows a lot of dominance he freezes, puts his tail between his legs and waits, but they often attack him anyway :( 

With these off lead parks could you not recall you boy if you see a GSD and put him on a lead, or for the time being see how other dogs react while you go to an on lead place to walk him and see what happens then?
Amazon sell Pet Corrector if you can get delivery to Holland.

How about rebuilding your boys confidence by taking him to training classes where its in a safe environment around other dogs?

It's not on that owners with over confident dogs allow theirs to bully yours. Can you alter where you walk?

Sometimes a young male adolescent gets told off a lot by older ones, this is not unusual as often their testosterone levels can be higher than that of a normal adult male. Usually later their hormones settle and so does the more aroused/aggressive response from other males. However, ti seems that your boy London has been harried since he was born which is not fair.

I'd suggest a little vet check just to see if his hormones are normal and he is not giving off any kind of odd scent which confuses other dogs. For instance, sometimes dogs can have a mild skin infection which is a bit yeasty, and this can cause other dogs to try to mount them in a confused manner.

Other than this, it may be that he is giving off ultra submissive or appeasing signals and the other dogs are just bullies :(
I think somehow you need to stop these bad experiences he is having and if that means going to a different walk then try to do so. Also, try to find some friendly nice dogs for him to play with.

Best of luck - I know you must feel very protective - don't be afraid to stand up for him to other owners if you can bear to. And definitely don't feel he "has" to meet other dogs because if all his experiences are negative, then the socialising won't help much.

Are all the dogs that go for him males? are any friendly? What usually happens?

Lindsay
x

Hi Lindsay, thanks for your thoughts...If I alter where London walks means that he has to be on the leash all the time as most of other places do not allow dogs being off lead and I think that a Bernese Mountain Dog needs to exercise on a more open eviroment and feel free, so far we have only met two dogs (both golden retrievers) that were nice to him, apart from that, we also meet the ones that just growls or barks at him, the little ones that try to bite his nose when he approuches them and the others ones that really go for an attack for really no reason. These dogs are mainly males but has happened with females too.
I went on holiday and I left London on a dog holiday farm for BMD only as I thought would be better than at the kennels, plus he would be among dogs of the same race. Well, from the moment he entered the farm, two top berners went straight for an attack! London got bitten in both sides of his cheeks and the farm owner told me that they were asserting dominance between themselves so to leave.
I left him there feeling awful but I just had to let it be. When I came to collect him 2 weeks later, he had several wounds in his body and face and the lady told me that was because he wanted to play in a certain way and the other dogs constantly tried to correct him, she also said he got some love bites from a female that was a new guest. Love bites? I am not really sure that dogs can do that to each other ;)
A lot of people say that is his hormones and that I will have to castrate him, but I still not sure if I want to that but maybe I will have him checked for his hormones level.

> My poor baby has beeing bullied since he was born (one of the reasons I picked him from the litter, even his brothers were attacking him)

I think the clue may be here, it sounds like he is a total Omega, the one in the pack that is the 'Punch bag'.

It sounds like eh just gives off all the wrong signals.  It's a bit like some people that just seem to be a magnet for bullies.

Sorry I really don't know what the answer is, but castrating him could make him much worse, as he would loose what little confidence his testosterone gives him.

> It's a bit like some people that just seem to be a magnet for bullies

This sounds like me at times LOL.  What works for me is when I feel confident about myself.  What else can work for me and my dogs is when I feel confident and/or have others who feel confident in me and help me stay calm and focused on what I'm doing and ignore those around - "What do I care about them - I'm OK [reminds of a a book I once saw ' I'm OK - they're OK'.  Not  bad attitude to have, perhaps?  If your dog looks to you if you can have a nonchalent [couldn't care less /whatever] attitude, he can then follow suit.  Amazing how these bullies will lose interest!

I went on holiday and I left London on a dog holiday farm for BMD only as I thought would be better than at the kennels, plus he would be among dogs of the same race. Well, from the moment he entered the farm, two top berners went straight for an attack! London got bitten in both sides of his cheeks and the farm owner told me that they were asserting dominance between themselves so to leave.

Oh dear, what appalling advice! Absolutely appalling! :( Dogs should almost never be left to sort things out, especially 2 against 1.

I left him there feeling awful but I just had to let it be. When I came to collect him 2 weeks later, he had several wounds in his body and face and the lady told me that was because he wanted to play in a certain way and the other dogs constantly tried to correct him, she also said he got some love bites from a female that was a new guest. Love bites? I am not really sure that dogs can do that to each other
A lot of people say that is his hormones and that I will have to castrate him, but I still not sure if I want to that but maybe I will have him checked for his hormones level.

Again, the lady at this place is a fool. It is not on to let dogs do this to a guest dog! As for love bites, she is talking complete twaddle.
Castrating him would be something I'd only do on expert advice by someone who had seen him - as testosterone does give confidence, it is part of the whole social package - castrating may or may not solve the problem, and it could make him a bit worse in that he may lose confidence. It may make him less of a target to entire males but would not help prevent other dogs going for him...

For help, it may be possible to see this APBC behaviourist, http://www.abclinic.nl/ who is Netherlands based. Also, if not too far, this behaviourist:http://www.alldog.be/ although he is in Belgium.  I'd be very careful about anyone else because so many use poor methods of helping and can make things worse.

Good luck :)

Lindsay
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I was so angry after reading about London at the dog holiday home, I can't believe people like that are allowed to stay open - absolutely stupid!!!  I'm not sure what my reaction would have been to someone who is supposed to be taking care of my dogs allowing them to get attacked :(

But, London may be one of those dogs that give off the wrong signals, my golden retriever is one of these dogs, he had more than his fair share of agressive dogs attacking him when he was younger and he never retaliated until he was just 3 years old and boy did he retaliate, it was very scary and after that episode every dog he met he would lunge and growl at.  I have taken him to a training class to stop his fear agression and to realise that every dog isn't out to get him and after 3 months there was a breakthrough, I had got my gorgeous friendly dog back, it's been 5 months now and he just gets better each day, so really why I am saying this is you don't really want him to start fighting back because that will cause you more problems.

I'd definitly get a pet corrector this is what I carried around with me and when any dog used to attack mine I would spray it (makes a hissing noise) and it does startle the dogs and the one off lead (usually the attacking dog) runs away!  I never go anywhere without this, you can get this on line from here:   http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=480&pf_id=5998 not sure if they ship to the Neterlands but I can't see why not, I usually have the smaller sizes as they are easier to keep in your pocket.  I'd also keep your boy on a long line so that when you see there may be an attack looming you can get him back to you quickly.

Good luck with your lovely boy, when he has grown into an adult dog he will give out a less strong smell to other dogs so hopefully that will stop them having a go at him but in the meantime it is up to you to protect him - I've seen his video and he is so beautiful :) 

If you use the pet corrector to discourage unwanted dogs, you may want to associate your own dog with positives when you spray, it.  The last thing you want is your dog freaked even more by the spray.  At home, spray the pet corrector and immediately reward your dog with a treat.  At least that way the only dog which will react to the spray is the unwanted dog.  Just a thought.