# My dog won't defend himself



## jonty1512 (May 26, 2019)

I have a lovely 2 year old Working Cocker Spaniel who won't stand up for / defend himself when other dogs get aggressive towards him when out at the park. It's not that he is being submissive as he doesn't lay down & show his belly in submission, he just runs away from the other dogs as he's wanting them to chase and to play. It seems that he is oblivious to the other dogs aggression to the point where he still goes back to try and play after he has been attacked. It is becoming a problem. 

He does have a serious side to his character as if he hears any noise outside of the house he will growl and bark so he will guard the home, but not himself!

How can we teach him to recognise when other dogs are being aggressive and teach him to defend himself?

Any help would be greatly appreciated


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

jonty1512 said:


> I have a lovely 2 year old Working Cocker Spaniel who won't stand up for / defend himself when other dogs get aggressive towards him when out at the park. It's not that he is being submissive as he doesn't lay down & show his belly in submission, he just runs away from the other dogs as he's wanting them to chase and to play. It seems that he is oblivious to the other dogs aggression to the point where he still goes back to try and play after he has been attacked. It is becoming a problem.
> 
> He does have a serious side to his character as if he hears any noise outside of the house he will growl and bark so he will guard the home, but not himself!
> 
> ...


I would suggest that the last thing you want to teach him is to aggress against other dogs.
Instead, better for you to step in and defend him as needed, and remove him from situations as needed. 
Perhaps instead of allowing him to interact with other dogs inappropriately, have him engage with you and play with you. Dogs don't need to constantly interact with other dogs. Teach him to be neutral towards other dogs and look to you for play, mental stimulation, and companionship.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Am guessing he's running away then coming back as he's unsure, nervous and overwhelmed

I don't get your logic about standing up for himself do you really want a dog fight on your hand?


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## Teddy-dog (Nov 2, 2017)

Agree with the others, you really don’t want him to stand up for himself and have a serious dog fight on your hands!

Its not up to our dogs to attack/defend themselves it should be up to us, their owners, to manage situations and make sure they aren’t put into situations where they feel the need to attack or defend themselves. Obviously, accidents happen and it’s not always straightforward but I believe that is what we should aim for.

What is happening in the situations where your dog is being attacked? Is it running over to other dogs or are other dogs approaching it?


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## Ian246 (Oct 27, 2018)

Is this a joke post? Are you saying you want your dog to fight?!


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## Linda Weasel (Mar 5, 2014)

Agree with everyone else.

Some dogs aren’t very good at ‘reading’ other dogs, and situations, but it’s certainly something that owners need to learn so that they keep their dogs out of trouble.

You say your dog goes back after being ‘attacked’; why do you let him do that?


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Avoid situations where your dog is exposed to bad mannered or unfriendly dogs.

It’s the owner’s responsibility to manage interactions - not the dog’s.


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## Guest (May 27, 2019)

That’s good that he won’t stand up for himself and fight. It’s our job as owners to avoid/protect our dogs from situations where we could have a serious fight on our hands.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Your dog is a 2 year old working cocker are you actually doing anything to work with him? Working dogs need mental as well as physical stimulation they need good training, if your dog has been the way you describe for the past 2 years what training have you been doing with him? The last thing you want with a 'working' dog is aggression - he is obviously receiving conflicting signals from you - start going to some classes with your dog before another dog really does him a lot of damage & you regret not doing so.


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## jonty1512 (May 26, 2019)

For crying out loud. I thought I was coming on to a mature forum to get mature answers but obviously I was wrong. No of course I do not want my dog to fight that is the last thing I want however most of the dog owners in my area seem to think that their dogs aggression is not their problem. I feel that if my dog would recognise the body language / posture of a dog that does not want to play but wants to become aggressive my dog would be able to either give appropriate submissive behaviour to defuse the situation or to return to my partner for protection. 

As to the comments about the dog being a 'working' cocker spaniel we chose this breed specifically as he is finishing his training as a Seizure Alert dog as I have several seizures daily. A 'working' cocker is the perfect dog for this we wanted a 'working' breed so he would have the drive and ethic to want to 'work'. He has saved my life more times I care to think about. The only time he is off duty is when my partner and sometime myself take him to the park twice a day to give him plenty of exercise as all he wants to do is chase his favourite ball or to find the scent toys hidden in the bushes for him to find. A lot of the day is spent with myself following my activities with a large chunk of time playing scent games within our home to ensure his brain is well engaged. Now I want to possibly return the favour to my dog and possibly save my dogs life by getting him to recognise that other dogs can be dangerous to him 

So 'thank you' for your 'advice', You can take your self important vitriolic opinions and stick it where the sun does not shine. You can carry on with your self opinionated clap trap as I will not be returning to this sorry excuse of a forum and of course I will be removing alerts for this post. Goodbye


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Who would have thought that advising an owner to step in to remove him from situations that could escalate would be met with such a defensive and rude post 
FWIW the last thing that you want to do is to teach any dog to "defend" themselves as that could lead to a full blown fight if he was to come across a dog that doesn't take kindly to such behaviour...it is much more effective to teach your dog a solid recall so that you can recall him away from the other dog *before *he gets in their face so that the situation doesn't arise in the first place.

It is much better to teach a dog to be dog neutral so that they learn that not all dogs are there to play...of course if another owner is happy for their dog to engage in play then let your dog play, but for the most part you don't want your dog running up to any dog they see.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Jonty1512 said:

“as I will not be returning to this sorry excuse of a forum”

Probably best


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