Anyone ever seen this?

[PFC1]

I have had a lot of exposure to a lot of different breeds of dog-- mostly well socialized dogs, including Rotties. So this is not an attempt to slam Rotties, it just so happens that this incident involved one.

I went to a client's house to go ever some paperwork. He had a nomral sized, that is to say, a big male Rottie. It went nutts when I knocked on the door. The owner grabbed his collar, and pulled him back with every ounce of his being, and opened the door to let me in. Once I was in, we sat down at the kitchen table to talk. As soon as I was inside, the dog calmed down, and was very docile. He came up to me and smelled me, and let me pet him. Then he layed down the whole time. When I got up to leave, I reached for the door knob to leave. I had forgotten about the dog, as he had been quite the whole time. As I reached for the door, the dog lunged at me, and went nuts again-- and by tha, I mean it was trying to eat me. Fortunately, the owner was expecting this behavior from the dog (obviously, it does this all the time.) and had reached for, and grabed the dog's collar. He was able to hold it back, but it certainly gave me a bit of a start.

Looking back, it certainly seems pretty creepy. Maybe this guy was a Hanible Lecter type, and his dog is trained to help him contain his victims. I don't know. How would someone train a dog to act this way? Is this some type of instinct in the animal? Has anyone seen this type of behavior as an instinct?

 

[oriondw]

Dog probably learned by itself when door opens someone comes in. If the dog has alot of territorial issues he will do that to most people who come to his territory. We can only guess but there might've been some issue with dog when it was younger, for example someone broke into front door and scared the dog, now the moment the door is being opened he will give aggression response. Multitude of possibilities.

Main thing is the owner knew about it, and had absolute control of the dog, thats all that matters

If you came to his house few times over the course of a week or two the dog would learn that you are welcome and wouldnt act like that

I speak from experience of owning an extremely territorial dog who has nearly identical response to strangers at our door. Then after a couple of exposures he see's that that specific person is no threat and he will not attack him thus pup can be let him inside the house. But everyone else is still a suspicious stranger if you know what i mean.

 

[Renee750il]

I had a friend with a Pug who did the exact same thing . . . fortunately, Pugs have a hard time biting, lol.

 

[poodlesmom]

Friends of my daughter had 2 rotties. She was a frequent visitor at their house and the dogs were always fine with her, would play with her, take treats and follow basic commands from her. Jen grew up around dogs and knows how to pretty much read them quite well. Unknown to her the male had a problem when visitors would leave the house. She never realized it because each time she was there when it was getting close to time for her to leave the owners would without bringing attention to it put the dogs in another room. One time it didn't work out that way and as Jen was walking towards the door, saying good bye to all, the male rushed from the other side of the room and attacked. It took 3 people to get him off of her and she got some nasty bites as a result. His owners were aware of his problem and said this type of situation was the only time he ever showed even the slightest hint of aggression.

 

[corsomom]

My friends lhaso *sp? does the same thing to alot of people when they leave her house,because she is small they think its funny.

 

[groominggal]

Lhasa's are EXTREMELY territoral dogs. They were bred to protect the Tibetian monastaries and warn the monks.

 

[gsicard]

Could this behavior exemplifies the difference between a livestock guardian dog and what is called a protection dog? I am aware of the differences between Watchdog, Guard Dog and Protection Dog and I use the term protection dog here to address the dog in the home protecting it's property.

One day were walking two Caucasian Ovcharkas in our neighbourhood and we were attacked by a Rottie (not very smart thing to do). - just another Rottie story.
Behavior in the house
Whenever our door bell rings or someone knocks on the door they will be greeted with a growl or deep bark depending on the time or situation. At night when we are sleeping and the house is dark - Any disturbance will be greeted with the sound of a wild beast ready to do battle. During the daytime when we are home and moving about - it is more like a curious bark for the first knock or bell ring.. a pounding on the door brings back the beast.

Anyway - once someone is invited into the house and introduced (smelled by the dog), they are watched from a distance and not bothered anymore. They are also free to leave without problems. This behaviour is probably a part of the LGD trait bred into nomandic protectors so that trades could be made and the flock protected at the same time. If the visitor was to get upset or aggressive - then the protective instict of the LGD takes over and all hell breaks loose.

A protection dog attacking a visitor who is leaving is not normal in my opinion. A dog attacking a child who poses no threat and is leaving is also not normal. Protection dogs should keep threats out of their territory (the aggressive barking and postering) but should allow a receeding threat to go away (out the door in this case) since staying with and protecting the flock is the primary mission.

Anyway, I am not knocking the Rottie - I would just not accept that kind of behavior from any dog.

This behavior could indicate what is just bad training, or some kind of state conditioned event that went unchecked. All the best.

 

[yoko]

i have a friend who's dog would let you in and would let you love on it but as soon s you went to leave it'd go crazy

 

[gsicard]

Could be misplaced separation anxiety:0

 

[oriondw]

One day were walking two Caucasian Ovcharkas in our neighbourhood and we were attacked by a Rottie (not very smart thing to do).

Remember reading that story on molloser board, welcome to Chaz