Angel Morphs Into Demon

OK, so the title of this article is a little over the top.  But do you remember that old Disney movie, The Ugly Dachshund? Where a great dane is raised with three dachshund puppies and the dane ends up thinking he’s just a little dog and, of course, gets in all kind of trouble. Well, I seem to have a slightly similar problem with Angel.

Angel lives with Vinny, a miniature poodle and Coco, a toy poodle. When she first came home she was about 11 months old, just a big puppy really, and a lot smaller than she is now. She would wrestle and chase the poodles around the house and garden and zip through the small pet door with ease. Now she’s a bulked-up 60 lbs but doesn’t seem to know it. Vinny and Coco still zip through the 8″ x 11″ opening of the pet door and, where they go, Angel will follow, sometimes to the detriment of the door, which she’s ripped out a couple of times! Did I mention she’s become a very powerful dog?

The bigger concern is wrestling and chasing. At the park, Angel gravitates toward the smaller dogs. Some of this, I’m sure, is because she’s used to Vinny and Coco. However, I’m also convinced that she is a mix of Pitt Bull and Rhodesian Ridgeback, a combination that can be risky for a small dog, in part because ridgebacks are hunting dogs, often with strong prey drive, which means they will drive as hard as they can until they reach their prey, then hit it like a bulldozer. Not a good thing if the “prey” is someone’s cute little pomeranian.

When I first began taking Angel to the dog park she was always one of the most submissive pups there. Her best friend was Henry, a yorkie, and they played together with no problems. Then something happened that caused a change.

Angel will often lick another dog’s mouth; a gesture of friendliness. Not all dogs like this, however, and growl to say “enough”. Unfortunately, Angel’s response has always been to lick more and try harder to be friendly, which can annoy the other dog even more. It happened one day that a dog snapped at Angel when she was licking and, in doing so, caught Angel on the muzzle and gave her a couple of puncture wounds. Angel was instantly transformed into an aggressor and went for the other dog.

It’s no lie to say that I was shocked. My meek mutt had acted mean.

The incident was over almost as quickly as it began and both dogs were passive with each other again. However, the episode seemed to empower Angel and the next time we were at the park I noticed some dominant behavior toward other canines. Then, in what began as play, she knocked down a small dog. The little guy panicked and howled, which brought every other dog in the park into the action and whipped Angel into a greater state of excitement. Thankfully, no dog or human was hurt and, though this latter incident was not actually an act of aggression on Angel’s part, it was entirely unacceptable behavior.

Since this happened, Angel and I have been doing quite a bit of work together, going back to some basic training and walking a lot more on the lead. We still hit the dog parks daily (she’s a dog that requires vigorous exercise) but I go at off times and keep her away from most other dogs, especially the small ones.  We’re still a work in progress on this issue and, though she has made some improvement, that prey drive is so strong I will have to remain vigilant at all times.

Happily, in every other way, Angel is still the sweet-tempered, well-behaved pup that we love. With her own pack (Vinny and Coco) she plays just fine. She loves people, she’s gentle with our cats. In fact, for a mutt that suffered such dreadful abuse she is amazingly well-adjusted and even-tempered.

There is a moral to this story. Before you jump into buying, or preferably adopting, a pup, do your homework. Research the breed (or breeds, if it’s a mutt and you have an idea of its parentage). Find out about exercise requirements, temperament, potential socialization and aggression issues, even shedding. If you’re not a high-energy person, don’t get a dalmatian or a jack russell. If you want a dog for your kids to play with, think twice before getting a lhasa apso. You get the idea!

“When a dog wags her tail and barks at the same time, how do you know which end to believe?” ~ Anonymous