Q:  Hi, I was fostering a 3-year-old male golden who had been chained in his backyard for the majority of his life. I have a 7-year-old female and 6-year-old male golden. Both dogs have had other foster brothers and sisters before and have never had a problem. The foster male made no attempt at all to play with my dogs - they left each other alone. Actually it was as if the male did not even acknowledge my dogs. The fourth night the male foster stepped on my female while she was sleeping. She got startled and barked. The foster grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and dragged her across my bedroom floor.  He tried shaking her and would not let go of her.  I finally got him off of her and he just sat down and did not seem phased by what happened.  My female was in a submissive the whole time and after the incident.  My 6-year-old male stayed out of the situation the whole time. And not once did the foster show any aggressive behavior towards me before, during or after the situation. Could you explain why the situation happened and why the foster would not let go.  I later learned that the foster had done this in a previous home with another older female.

A:  Hi there. I applaud you for fostering rescue dogs!

Since I don't know the foster dog, or your dogs, and I didn't see the episode, I can't be sure why it happened. I do think I see a few clues in your account, though. Just bear in mind that this is speculation on my part.

You mention that the foster spent most of his life chained and that he didn't even seem to acknowledge your dogs, much less play with them. This suggests to me that he has little or no social experience with dogs and simply doesn't know how to interact with them. So does the fact that he stepped on your female while, apparently, just walking around.

Now, the foster's specific response, on the face of it, seems to have been predatory rather than socially aggressive. He didn't fight with your female — he grabbed her by the back of the neck and dragged her around, and he held on, which isn't typical of a normal dog dispute but is typical of predation. As you know, normal dog arguments end when one dog signals his or her submission.

That the foster responded this way to a *bark* also suggests that he doesn't recognize the communications of his own species.

It's difficult to advise on such a situation by email, especially since, as I said, I can only speculate about what's going on. Assuming my guesses are correct, I'd suggest having the foster interact only under careful supervision and only with socially skilled dogs, to give him a chance to learn from them. A predatory response to other dogs is potentially extremely dangerous to them, of course, so I would never leave him unsupervised with your dogs or any others, and in fact it might be wise to condition him to wear a muzzle to keep those interactions safe. I would not, for the foreseeable future, allow him free access to small dogs. Even socially normal large dogs sometimes treat small dogs as prey if the small dogs squeal or yelp, and your foster may be at higher risk of responding this way to the cries of a small dog.

Once again, all of the above is speculative. Your best bet is to consult a knowledgeable behavior specialist; check the listings at the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers (www.ccpdt.org) and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (www.iaabc.org) for someone near you.



 

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