Yesterday I visited another pair of large dogs that are wonderful in the house but who are giving the lady owner problems out on walks.
Kaiser and Boodie are most unusual and stunning to look at. They are young cream-coloured German Shepherds, both in their third year.
Their experienced German Shepherd owners have given their dogs a perfect mixture of love, discipline and socialisation. Unfortunately, the man is now no longer fit enough to walk the dogs, so it is his wife’s job.
Kaiser was attacked by a dog
It is such a shame when a dog that used to absolutely fine with other dogs is attacked by one. Sometimes ‘life happens’. An off-lead Staffie went for Kaiser back in January and since then he has become very wary and reactive to any dog he feels might be aggressive, especially if they bark or make a noise.
The lady was naturally very shaken after he was attacked and came home in tears. So, in addition to coping with being attacked, Kaiser also had his owner’s emotion to deal with. It is so often the case that when the dog most needs our calm strong moral support, we go to pieces.
The same thing happened to my own Shepherd Milly a while ago. A Staffie leapt over a wall and went for her. Due to my experience I wasn’t fazed I reacted calmly and knew what to do. I stood talking to the gentleman owner for a few minutes as he held his dog.
On our way back past that wall Milly was unconcerned. Fortunately, thanks to her long coat she was more or less unharmed.
Why Staffies?
Sadly, it is often Staffies who are the culprits, and this is nothing to do with the fact they are Staffordshire Bull Terriers. It is to do with the type of owners who choose them. This I know is a gross generalisation so
I humbly apologise to the kind of SBT owners who would be reading this. Too often they are owned by people who don’t use leads and whose way of disciplining their dogs is very harsh. Too often they are not bred carefully for temperament. I have met many wonderful Staffordshire Bull Terriers.
Pulled over
Anyway, my client is a lady who last weekend was pulled over and dragged along the ground by her two dogs. Kaiser lunged towards a dog he didn’t like the look of, backed up by Boodie. The lady has a cut face and injuries to her arm and legs. She needs help.
Previous walking has depended upon the man or the son being strong and the use of choke chains.
The lady needs these dogs to walk beside her through choice and for Kaiser not to be on the defensive, so she needs different equipment and to learn a completely different walking technique.
Home life with these two dogs is harmonious in every other respect, but now that they have this problem the lady will need to be stronger mentally and more confident so that Kaiser doesn’t feel he is needing to protect her and himself from other dogs.
