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Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago, I got a second dog. My first dog (Chelsea) is a 6-year-old Afghan mix, who has a couple of issues. She wasn't socialized to people as a puppy, and has some shyness issues that she manifests by barking at things (people, dogs, loud engines, etc.) She actually loves most other dogs, but tends to have issues with Great Danes and Black Labs, for whatever reason.

Our second dog (Fisk) is a retired racing greyhound. He is pretty chill, and his only issues are eating too fast being a big baby if he has to sleep in a crate. (We've solved that by having him sleep on a dog bed in the bedroom.)

These two get along great. They seem to especially love walks together, and walk close enough that their shoulders touch most of the time. The magical thing is that since we started walking them together, Chelsea's fear reaction has gone down about 80%. She hasn't barked at a single school bus/garbage truck since we got Fisk, she will willingly approach people for pets if Fisk does it first (even people she has a history of not liking). In a few weeks, he has accomplished more than 5 years of desensitization/counter-conditioning.

On this morning's walk, though, we had an incident. Chelsea saw a lab mix she didn't like, so I brought us as far away from it as I could, so we could let it pass. As usual, Chelsea barked and lunged when it got closer than her threshold allowed (we've worked her to the point of being okay with other dogs about a block away), but I was able to keep a good hold on her leash. The problem is that Fisk got too close to her in the midst of her barking. She snapped at him twice, he snapped at her once, growling and teeth on both sides. I separated them by their leashes, and they calmed down instantly. I checked their faces, and neither of them had any marks or broken skin.

After that, they stayed on separate sides of me for less than half a block, and then went back to blissfully trotting along, shoulder to shoulder, tails wagging. Later on the walk, we saw a dog we're familiar with, and they approached her more calmly than we ever have. (Chelsea usually goes crazy pulling and whining when we see a dog she likes/wants to say hi to. It's really easy to tell the difference between this and dogs she's telling off.)

So...should I be worried about this? Or was it just a case of Chelsea misdirecting, and Fisk saying "Hey, that was ME, moron!"? I'm definitely going to keep working on Chelsea's reactivity, and will do my best to keep them on separate sides of me when we see a dog Chelsea doesn't like. But should I be taking more drastic measures, or chalk this up to them having a brief tiff and then being okay?


EDIT: Okay, messageboard, I WON'T post a picture, then. :/



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Last edited by NissaV on 9/1/2014 9:11:11 AM

It's hard to say for sure without seeing it first hand but it sounds like misdirection & self defense. With any luck Fisk will have learned his lesson and will keep his distance the next time she goes over threshold. Otherwise just keep him out of her way when she starts lunging.

grif,

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Last edited by griffin on 9/1/2014 11:51:39 AM

I wouldn't walk them together by yourself until she can stay under control when a dog is nearby. Have someone walk with you, one dog controlled by one person. Transferred aggression can escalate, and you can end up with two dogs that can't live together. I'm not saying they will never be able to be walked by one person, but for now the best thing is "together but separate" on walks. If it is within your means, work with a behaviorist. Good luck.