Hi, I have two dogs - a Doberman female and a German Shepherd male. They do have a little odd fights - nothing major. Today I went to park with the doberman.
German Shepherd came later with my son. Doberman ran happily to meet them. I am not sure what happened, he attacked her. He hold her by her neck, pinned down. He would not let go. I thought he is going to kill her. We were pulling them, trying to stop the fight. I do not understand what happened. They never have a fight like that before. Why? Can anyone help me to understand what triggered the attack?
dog attack
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Re: dog attack
I think the minors fights at last become major 
lolx
just kidding but
Seriously i also can't understand what's the problem really is.
lolxjust kidding but
Seriously i also can't understand what's the problem really is.
Re: dog attack
Well, we have no background and no information about them, so that's what we need.
It is very unusual for a dog to attack a b itch.
You say they have fought before, so you can see this is escalating into a dangerous situation.
I think both dogs need a full medical workup. Sight, hearing, bloods for organ function especially a full thyroid check, prostate check on the male. skeleton, joints, teeth, everything your vet can do make sure gets done. At the bottom of something like this is often pain and/or illness.
At home, see that they have nothing to fight over, and make sure they each have a bed with another bed spare.
It is very unusual for a dog to attack a b itch.
You say they have fought before, so you can see this is escalating into a dangerous situation.
I think both dogs need a full medical workup. Sight, hearing, bloods for organ function especially a full thyroid check, prostate check on the male. skeleton, joints, teeth, everything your vet can do make sure gets done. At the bottom of something like this is often pain and/or illness.
At home, see that they have nothing to fight over, and make sure they each have a bed with another bed spare.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Re: dog attack
Thank you for the reply. She has got a little cut on her neck near ear around 1 cm long not deep. He seems to be ok. There was nearly no blood. He was holding her down with her neck in his mouths. Was he going to strangle her? After while he let her go. Not because we were yelling and pulling. It was his decision to let her go. After we came home - we took him home immediately and I stayed with her.I wanted to calm them down. To lower their adrenalin levels. They are friends again. He licked her cut (it is not deep only around 1 cm). Is it possible he did not recognized her? He is aggressive towards other dogs. When he pushed to her to the ground she started to fight back. She is the dominant even thou she is smaller. He is gentle, very gentle towards her. They are close to 3 years old. Last fight (small fight) had when my sister put down the dog. I came home upset and crying. They started to fight. The fight was a fraction of what was now. Then they had one more fight while puppies. Over the food. She came to his bowl. Again very small.
Re: dog attack
If she ran straight up to him, its likely she triggered his fear aggression and he didn't recognise her, when she tried to fight back he still didn't recognise her. The best thing to do in that situation would have been to stand still and stay quiet, but that is VERY hard to do.
Dogs do not generally kill by strangling, they kill by shaking, so if a dog has a grip on another dog and is NOT shaking, and the other dog CAN breath, don't yell or try and pull them part as you will just make the one biting bite down harder, and if you DID physically pull them apart you'll do more damage to the dog being bitten too.
Anyway back to your dogs - dogs as we all know have great sense of smell... but what people forget is that they have fantastic vision for detecting shapes and movement - when you have a dog who is fearful of something and a dog who is aggressive towards other dogs most likely IS fearful of other dogs, then hes keyed into the shape of ' a dog' and also the way a dog moves.
You will find the exact same thing with anyone who has a phobia about spiders, wasps, dogs etc etc - they have inadvertently fine tuned their brains and their sight to pinpoint those exact shapes and ways of moving - i know because I am seriously scared of wasps, I can tell you its a wasp or a hornet, as opposed to a bee or a fly from a long distance, and in poor lighting and without being able to hear it, because wasps and hornets move in a specific way and are a certain shape. I know a spider phobic who could see a spider out of the corner of her eye and be gone outta the room before you knew what was happening!
Once that fear is triggered, the phobic person or dog just reacts, thats really important to know, its not that the dog doesn't want to think or want to calm down, its that they cannot do so! So thats why it will have taken your boy a while to calm down and let go of the *****!
Dogs do not generally kill by strangling, they kill by shaking, so if a dog has a grip on another dog and is NOT shaking, and the other dog CAN breath, don't yell or try and pull them part as you will just make the one biting bite down harder, and if you DID physically pull them apart you'll do more damage to the dog being bitten too.
Anyway back to your dogs - dogs as we all know have great sense of smell... but what people forget is that they have fantastic vision for detecting shapes and movement - when you have a dog who is fearful of something and a dog who is aggressive towards other dogs most likely IS fearful of other dogs, then hes keyed into the shape of ' a dog' and also the way a dog moves.
You will find the exact same thing with anyone who has a phobia about spiders, wasps, dogs etc etc - they have inadvertently fine tuned their brains and their sight to pinpoint those exact shapes and ways of moving - i know because I am seriously scared of wasps, I can tell you its a wasp or a hornet, as opposed to a bee or a fly from a long distance, and in poor lighting and without being able to hear it, because wasps and hornets move in a specific way and are a certain shape. I know a spider phobic who could see a spider out of the corner of her eye and be gone outta the room before you knew what was happening!
Once that fear is triggered, the phobic person or dog just reacts, thats really important to know, its not that the dog doesn't want to think or want to calm down, its that they cannot do so! So thats why it will have taken your boy a while to calm down and let go of the *****!
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Re: dog attack
Thank you for your information. I am now trying all sorts of things with my dog.I did order a muzzle for him but also I am introducing more dog smells to him. I bought a little dog toy and letting the dog of my sister to play with it for few days. Then I bring it home to see what my dog will do. I am relieved that he was not going to strangle her. He was not shaking at all. Just having a firm grip. They are now playing. Also she started to be on heat. He has been neutered but I wandered if the fact that she was before heat could somehow play a role as well.
Re: dog attack
be aware that even though he is neutered he can still mate with her. You do not want this - it has potential for injury. You will need to separate them after the first week until her heat is finished, and if they get touchy with each other, before then. Watch them carefully and good luck. 
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
