Foster dog attacked my dog and bit me

[Andre Mendizabal]

Hi, my sister is fostering a mini schnauzer girl, she has done great at home and gets along pretty ok with her other dog (a mini schnauzer as well). However, the rescue seems to have some dog-dog aggression issues, she has been properly introduced to several dogs, including my beagle, and she sometimes growls at them but nothing further. However, this Sunday we were playing (my sister, her dog and the foster dog, me and my two dogs) catch, fetch, ball, alltogether and everything was ok, we even went for a walk with all 4 dogs and everything was fine, suddenly and out-of-the-blue, the foster went on to attack my beagle (ran directly to her), which was sitting besides me in the floor, at that time we were all on the floor relaxing and the dogs were either siting or running around... Anyway, she went on to the beagle growling and barking, beagle barked back and growled, all of the sudden (and this was awful to see so closely) mini schnauzer went to bite beagle and she was so scared, I pulled them back but when I did mini schnauzer threw me a bite, not hard, but a bite anyway... When it happened we took both dogs and pulled them apart and put them in different rooms until they calmed down (beagle was scared out of her mind and mini schnauzer was like agitated) and we didn't let them play together again... they were all the time apart in different rooms until we each went our way...

Anyway, my questions are how to deal with this, did I do right, and how to handle this thing from now on.... My sister is planning to adopt this foster (a real sweet cutie besides this incident) and if she does she will be part of our family and will have to interact with beagle.

Thanks

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Andre!

How long has this dog lived at your sister's house?

You mentioned that the rescued dog sometimes growled at the other dogs, including your Beagle. It would be very helpful to know what triggered those growling incidents. Apparently they were not seen as too significant, but maybe to the rescued dog, she was trying to communicate something important to the other dogs.

Do you have any idea if the rescue organization (or shelter) where the mini Schnauzer came from did any type of temperament test on her before your sister took her in as a foster?

Do you know how this little dog is when she sees dogs in the neighborhood? Does she bark, growl or otherwise carry on aggressively? Do you know if she has any issues with guarding food, toys or people or specific places?

Hope to hear from you soon!

Hi, my sister is fostering a mini schnauzer girl, she has done great at home and gets along pretty ok with her other dog (a mini schnauzer as well). However, the rescue seems to have some dog-dog aggression issues, she has been properly introduced to several dogs, including my beagle, and she sometimes growls at them but nothing further. However, this Sunday we were playing (my sister, her dog and the foster dog, me and my two dogs) catch, fetch, ball, alltogether and everything was ok, we even went for a walk with all 4 dogs and everything was fine, suddenly and out-of-the-blue, the foster went on to attack my beagle (ran directly to her), which was sitting besides me in the floor, at that time we were all on the floor relaxing and the dogs were either siting or running around... Anyway, she went on to the beagle growling and barking, beagle barked back and growled, all of the sudden (and this was awful to see so closely) mini schnauzer went to bite beagle and she was so scared, I pulled them back but when I did mini schnauzer threw me a bite, not hard, but a bite anyway... When it happened we took both dogs and pulled them apart and put them in different rooms until they calmed down (beagle was scared out of her mind and mini schnauzer was like agitated) and we didn't let them play together again... they were all the time apart in different rooms until we each went our way...

Anyway, my questions are how to deal with this, did I do right, and how to handle this thing from now on.... My sister is planning to adopt this foster (a real sweet cutie besides this incident) and if she does she will be part of our family and will have to interact with beagle.

Thanks

[Andre Mendizabal]

1. She has lived in her house since mid January.
2. She growls at dogs usually when she first meets them, it resembles the sniffing, as soon as she meets another dog she starts growling. The weird thing is that she growled at my beagle at first when they first met and the first times they played together, but now they seemed to get along ok.
3. I don't think they did. The thing is she didn't passed through the shelter. This dog owner died and nobody else could take care of her, his children called the shelter to take her away, and they got in touch with my sister (she has foster before) and she agreed to take her right away. So the day they picked her up they only took her to the vet for a complete checkup and took her to my sisters that same day.

It was weird because my beagle is the most peaceful animal I know and she's kind of submissive but she growled back and even showed teeth but when the small one was going on to bite her she seemed like she was going to answer back but at the end she didn't...

Thanks Renee, great to have you here!!!!

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Andre,

One recommendation I'd like to make is that your sister (and you) read the book called, "Feeling Outnumbered? How to Enjoy your Multi-Dog Household," by Patricia McConnell. This book is available at http://www.dogwise.com Dr. McConnell gives great advice on how to get to get along well within the same household, but you can use her suggestions when other dogs are either visiting her house or other people's houses that she's visiting regularly.

This little dog needs to learn obedience and be put on a deference program. That program is Nothing in Life is Free. You can read about this by going to our articles pages and read the article with that same name. Implement the NILIF program ASAP.

I think it would be important for your sister to hire a trainer to work out these issues. If she's dog aggressive, then your sister will not be able to work through this by herself. This would require professional help. Check out these links:

www.apdt.com
www.iadbc.org

Good luck!

1. She has lived in her house since mid January.
2. She growls at dogs usually when she first meets them, it resembles the sniffing, as soon as she meets another dog she starts growling. The weird thing is that she growled at my beagle at first when they first met and the first times they played together, but now they seemed to get along ok.
3. I don't think they did. The thing is she didn't passed through the shelter. This dog owner died and nobody else could take care of her, his children called the shelter to take her away, and they got in touch with my sister (she has foster before) and she agreed to take her right away. So the day they picked her up they only took her to the vet for a complete checkup and took her to my sisters that same day.

It was weird because my beagle is the most peaceful animal I know and she's kind of submissive but she growled back and even showed teeth but when the small one was going on to bite her she seemed like she was going to answer back but at the end she didn't...

Thanks Renee, great to have you here!!!!

[Andre Mendizabal]

Thanks Renne, after the incident we thought about the trainer too, now that you have recommended it we will look for one... we actually have been working with the NILIF with all of the dogs, and this new one has been a real challenge, so I think she just needs more work done... Thanks for your help we'll look through the book and sites...

[Amber]

she may just be a fear biter...nothing really initiates the behavior, it just happens out of the blue. I've known of other dogs that have growled when "meeting and greeting" other dogs, but then have stopped and never had any problems after that. Do you introduce her to other dogs on neutral territory? If you're not, that may be why she growls at them.

[Andre Mendizabal]

Hey Amber, they were introduced in neutral grounds... (park nearby) and the first times they played it was in neutral territories, and this happen in a neutral territory too, since we were all at my father's when this happens and he does not have any dogs and all the dogs know his house... maybe it is fear aggression, she has been a frightened little girl since the beginning, I just hope this does not continues, we have a pet picnic coming and she's invited, as our other dogs, and we don't want to have problems there... :?