Heathy2

Hey Everyone,

Well I could really use some advice on what to do, I was going to call some local breeders for info but then I thought there is way more people on here and I could probably get better help. It is sort of a long story but please read and help if you can.

Here is what happened last night:

I (the male/head of the house) went out last night to visit my dad, my wife and mother in-law were at my house while I was out. When I returned this is the story I got.

My mother in-law was going to take the trash out the front, she got to our front door and opened it to walk out. As soon as she opened it Tank (our male boxer who is almost 12 months old and currently not desexed) pushed his way past her and ran for a dog that was on our front lawn with its owners walking past.

The other dog which was a large labrador barked at Tank so tank obviously ran over to him and they started having a bit of a fight. Lillie (our 1 and a half year old female who is desexed) pushed the door also and ran out after Tank. while Tank was fighting with this dog Lillie stood behind him and was barking and like encouraging him maybe.

When the 2 girls that were walking this labrador tried to run off Lillie sort of like rounded them up, she didnt attack them or anything she just chased them. the fight didnt last that long as my mother in-law pulled Tank away as soon as she got to him and my wife ran from inside out to the front and chased Lillie. Lillie knew she did something wrong and ran away from my wife and went maybe 100 meters down the street. So all in all the actual fight was probably 10 seconds or something.

Now this behavior is really random I take them down the dog beach together most weeks and they are great with other dogs?? Im thinking it is because I was out of the house and they went into protection mode? No dogs were hurt or injured or no people were hurt either so everything is fine in that regards.

So my question is basically how can we stop them from trying to protect my wife so much when I am away? when I am around they are really good dogs and they listen to everything I say. But I am told when I am away Tank takes my place and does what he wants.... I really need them not to care about other dogs being around our house.

sorry for the massive post but I had to explain it.

Thanks for reading everyone.

HannaBanana

You need to work on recall with your dogs. The dogs should not be door darting and if and when they do get out, then they need to have a strong recall and come back . Door darting is a behaviour you need to nip in the butt or you are in for some big time problems and possible law suits down the line. Also when people are coming in and out of the house they also need to know that esp if you have a door darter, that they need to be extra cafeful.

Here is some info on how to stop this behavior as I dont think its over protective, just needs some obedience.

Dog Tip: Teaching Dogs Not to Run Out the Door

How to Stop a Dog From Door Dashing | eHow.com

Heathy2

Awesome thanks for your help Hanna ill read both those links you put there and put them into practice. I know what you mean by law suits and that as this time I know I was lucky.

But what about the fact that they fought with this other dog? why are they fine down the beach and around other dogs usually but this time they just were so different.

HannaBanana

Could have been many thing. Vibes given off by the dog, location (guarding resources), scents anything. Dogs are like people - something make them react and sometimes because they get long with many dogs does not mean they will with everydog. Man thing is to correct the behavior that lead to the fight. This way you stop the thing before anything happens.

Heathy2

yeah true, well I have been reading those links and there are some great tips in there which I am going to start training with tonight thanks for your help I was pretty worried about it all but now I feel better and I know with training this will stop.