# Lucy got trampled today

Sorry in advance for the long post, but I need some advice. I have a couple of friends that are going to South Africa for 10 days next week and they asked me to check in on their dogs while they are gone. I thought it would be fun for them and Lucy if I could bring her over to play with them so we…

## Thread
In General · started by _dlroberts · 13 replies
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## _dlroberts · 2008-02-18T23:18:30.000Z
Sorry in advance for the long post, but I need some advice. I have a couple of friends that are going to South Africa for 10 days next week and they asked me to check in on their dogs while they are gone. I thought it would be fun for them and Lucy if I could bring her over to play with them so we arranged an introduction today. It didn't go well at all.

They have two dogs, Banjo a boxer mix of some sort and Princess a Shepherd mix. When we arrived, I took Lucy in back in the fenced in yard to make the introduction. I kept her on leash just in case. Before we were really ready, Banjo and Princess can barreling out through the doggy door and ran right up to Lucy. She was a little nervous, but they got some sniffing in and it seemed to be ok. I took her off leash and as soon as she stepped away Banjo went after her. She screamed and started running. Unfortunately Banjo is faster than she is he caught up to her, trampled her and refused to let her up. We ran over and broke it up as quickly as we could. 

We held Banjo back for a while so Lucy could meet Princess more calmly, but she was clearly shaken. We put Banjo back inside and locked the doggy door so he couldn't get back out. After about 10 minutes, Lucy finally put her tail back up and started sniffing around on her own, but she wouldn't let Princess get very close. We threw balls and played with Princess to try to get Lucy interested, but she refused. Lucy did chase the ball a few times as long as Princess wasn't that close.

We decided to put Princess inside and try having Banjo and Lucy meet on leash outside the yard. It worked really well. She was interested in smelling him and let herself be smelled. The tail went right back up. After they lost interest in each other, we put them back in the yard and took of the leashes. They continued to do well. They didn't play with each other, but they did play with us.

We then decided to bring Princess back out and try the three of them together. Lucy took one look at Princess and ran for the door tail tucked between her legs. After that, she refused to put her tail back up. She very cautiously made her way around the yard until she could get near me. From that point on, she did her best to stay as close to me as possible. We put Princess back in the house again but Lucy was just too upset. I kept trying to distance myself from her and get her to play with Banjo or sniff around but she refused.

After a while, we decided to try in the house. We all went in and Lucy cautiously followed. I'm guessing not because she wanted to but because she really didn't want to be left alone. At this point I really just wanted her to relax some before we left so she wouldn't be leaving the house in such a bad frame of mind. 

Inside, she refused to get close to the other dogs, and did her best to stay near me. Even though Banjo and Princess were completely calm Lucy wouldn't relax. She tried to stay as close to me as possible, but I kept walking away from her to try to get her to explore on her own. The whole time her tail was tucked between her legs. After a while, I put her up on the couch and she just sat there, frozen, refusing to even adjust the position of her paws. I kept putting her tail up to try to get her to relax. At that point, I gave in and let her stay closer to me, but I kept inching away when I could. Finally, two hours after the initial incident, she laid down next to me. At that point I clipped on her leash and we left. As soon as we got out the front door, her tail went right back up and she seemed normal again. We got a very good cuddle in right after we got home.

I guess I'm looking for advice on two things. First, while I know we botched the introduction, did I handle it properly after the initial mistake? Should I have taken her away more quickly or was I right to try to get her to calm down on her own? Second, how do I minimize the effect of this going forward? Is there anything I can do to try to make sure she isn't afraid during introductions in the future? She hasn't always done well with introductions at the dog park, but that only lasted the first few weeks I had her. In the last six months she has really loved the dog park and has had very few problems, if anym even with the big dogs.

Thanks for any thoughts. Don't hesitate to tell me I screwed things up if you think I did. This will hopefully be a learning experience for me. Sorry again for the long post.

## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-02-19T00:45:48.000Z
I actually think you did pretty well. Introducing dogs to each other is such a dynamic situation - the success of it depends on some many factors... Like the dogs attitude, the other dogs attitudes, the energy level, the types of dogs, the size of the dogs, the location, how exercised where the dogs before hand, etc, etc, etc..

In our experience the key to dealing with those types of situations is staying calm. Try to show Lucy that you are not concerned by the other dogs precsence while keeping  close eye on things. If it gets out of hand, like it did, just calmly remove her from that situation and giver her some treats or something in another area (basically redirect) - then slowly work your way back. Really I think you pretty much did all that tho.

She was probably more freaked in the house because it was covered in the other dog's smells and she might have felt more trapped, so that may have stressed her out. You know, with dogs its flight or fight - being in a house may have made her more nervous because she felt like there was no escape.

Jen and I have learned that it works best if you can introduce dogs with a barrier between them. Like take Lucy over to that house and have her meet the dogs through a screen or in a pen or a gate. Keep them separated till the initial excitement wears off, then casually let the crated/penned dog out to mingle. We have just found that in the initial excitement is when all the bad experiences usually happen - once they get past that they are calmer. I am not saying you should put Lucy in a crate and let other dogs bark at her and growl (torment) her tho - just to be clear.

## Romi (admin) · 2008-02-19T04:54:26.000Z
I think you did pretty well.  Usually when introducing dogs to eachother, I heard you should always let them meet on neutral ground, so there are no territorial issues.   When we first brought Ninja home, we took Ninja and Portia to a neutral ground to let them sniff eachother out and then we made them walk together.  After that, Portia and John went on walking and I brought Ninja inside the home to get familiarized with his new home.  About 15 mins later I put Ninja in the front yard and John and Portia came back and we took off the leashes.  They sniffed eachother some more and then started playing a bit. 

I've never met the other dogs or lucy, so its hard to say what the initial problem was.  Maybe Banjo felt thretened that a new dog was in "his space".  I always think that dogs should be introduced on leashes.  But other than that, I think you did a great job.  As I learned on this forum, you should never try to force your dog to do something that they are not comfortable with, it may traumatize them forever.   I think the next time you guys go over there, try walking all of them together and release some of that energy and then invite them all in the backyard again and see how it goes.

Hope this helps and Good Luck!

## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-02-19T10:12:05.000Z
Other than not meeting on neutral ground (which just can't happen all the time) you did well.  It seems like Banjo just gave Lucy a bit of a rough introduction, sometimes that can shake a dog up for the rest of the day, or maybe Lucy just doesn't like rough play.  By staying calm and acting as nothing had happened, you did the right thing, coddling is never a good idea.  Maybe Banjo, Princess, and Lucy will become great friends after a few more minutes, or maybe Lucy will never like them.  You should try having Banjo and Princess over to you place too before you give up, or meet up at the dog park where you take Lucy.

Nemo has given more than a few dogs rough introductions at the dog park.  Sometimes the dogs shake it off and play with him, sometimes they do everything they can to stay away from him, and sometimes the owners get super offended and leave.  Then well, Nemo got worse and he doesn't get to play with other dogs at the dog park anymore.

## _dlroberts · 2008-02-19T12:09:08.000Z
Thanks guys for the support and suggestions. I felt really bad about it (in case you couldn't tell). Lucy seems to have had no ill effects other than bad diarrhea this morning. Hopefully that will clear up soon.

I've decided that I won't bring her over when I check in on their dogs. I just don't want to put her through that again if I can avoid it. The interesting thing about it for me is that while Banjo was the aggressor, Princess was the one that made Lucy most uncomfortable. Lucy kept her tail up and allowed Banjo to sniff her even though she wouldn't play with him. Princess, on the other hand, Lucy wouldn't even allow to come within five feet of her. Somehow that seemed backwards.

Sometimes I really wish I knew what was going on inside her head.

## JessicaRabbit (admin) · 2008-02-19T12:21:31.000Z
Perhaps Banjo was protecting Princess. Lucy wanted to stay away from Princess to avoid another trampling?

## _dlroberts · 2008-02-19T12:44:31.000Z
That's interesting. I hadn't thought about it that way at all. It makes a lot of sense. Thanks Jess!

## MommyofNiko · 2008-02-19T20:34:18.000Z
Im a little very late but poor lucy. It is very important for owners to know how their dogs will react when others enter their home and how to do introductions.  You handled it very well.  I know my girls are not territorial other than when the new dogs dont share their toys so I have no problems bringing other dogs in knowing how MINE will react.

## _dlroberts · 2008-02-19T21:19:21.000Z
Relief! I had been worried about things all day today so I decided to get right back in the saddle and take Lucy to the dog park. Our normal park was closed due to muddy conditions so we went to another park nearby. There were almost no noticeable effects from yesterday's episode. Lucy was pulling at the leash to get in the park and played really well with a beautiful white female boxer. Later, a miniature pinscher came in and Lucy and him were attached for the remainder of our stay. It was awesome! The only thing I noticed happened on the way back to the car when a shepherd mix, off leash out of the park, came over to meet Lucy. Her tail went down and she cowered behind me. After the other dog got a good sniff, her tail went right back up and off we went to the car.

I'm so proud of her! And so relieved that she recovered so quickly. Maybe I was just blowing it out of proportion but damn I feel soooooooooooo much better now.

Thanks again for the support!

## Leonberger (admin) · 2008-02-19T21:42:10.000Z
Good news, Dave!

Way to go, Lucy!

## sujewel · 2008-02-19T22:03:32.000Z
I agree with everyone here and am glad you're feeling better about the whole thing. Neutral ground is always better. A walk with a new dog is perfect. They can't make too much eye contact and they have a job to do that keeps things from escalating.

Unfortunately for us, Mika is dog aggressive. She doesn't intend to hurt or kill another dog, she really just doesn't know how to correctly approach a dog. She barrels up to them and sniffs aggressively (to the point of lifting rear ends of small dogs). Most dogs don't appreciate that (obviously) and, well you can imagine. The few times that we have taken her to the dog park, she's put on her prey drive. She doesn't hurt them, but any running dog, she'll chase. The only times she's ever really started a fight is when a male dog tries to mount her.  

Keigo. LOL. He's only been to the park once. And it was interesting, to say the least. Mika and I sat outside of the pen due to her aggression, but I was in heels and she was pulling so hard that I asked Kurt to change places with me. We left Keigo in the dog's area for literally 5 seconds. When I got my foot into the pen, he JUMPED out to get to MIka. The fence was about 5' tall and Keigo was standing against it on his tippy toes, but he's so incredibly strong that one little kick got him up and waaaaay over the fence. It was spectacular.

I took him back in, but he was focused on Mika, so we just went home.

## JessicaRabbit (admin) · 2008-02-19T22:25:34.000Z
I don't think you were blowing it out of proportion. She is your baby and you never like seeing your baby scared. That just makes you a good owner.

I brought  Moto over to a friends house and her chocolate lab ( different one from the chocolate lab that bit me and put me in the hospital, although I am really starting to not like the breed) cornered Moto and pinned him. I had to pull the 100lb dog off him and hold Moto until we could leave. I know I was upset too.

## MommyofNiko · 2008-02-19T22:48:53.000Z
There was this obnoxious shikoku named Ahi() that attacked Niko when we went over to our friends house. She tried to get Niko to submit and THAT was intersting to say the least.

Niko LOVES to get all the big dogs to chase her, Mika would LOVE Niko. Dave got to see Niko's park behavior this weekend when she starts to get going, but the park was not very open. Owners get mad whenNiko gets their dogs to chase her.

## sujewel · 2008-02-19T23:52:14.000Z
Awe. Too bad you, Chad and Niko don't live in NY/NJ. I would love to find Mika a friend other than Keigo.

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