Thai streetdog rescue- seems to want to kill other dogs on sight?

[WhyAlwaysBoris]

We have just adopted a lovely, lovely dog rescued from the Bangkok floods last year. We already love him!

Prior to the floods he is thought to have been a wild street dog so he has never lived in a domestic setting.

He is very gentle around people, even new people coming into the house, but when we take him outside he goes completely beserk when he sees any smaller dog- straining on his lead to get to them, snarling and (if the other dog is off lead and comes near us) snappy too. He also sort of somersalts to try and throw off his collar and lead so we are really worried he will hurt himself doing this.

He is thought to be about 4 and has been neutered. What can we do to help him? (Also, he is doing very small wees against furniture as if marking his territory, so any advice on how to stop that also appreciated! We are washing the furniture down in biological washing powder solution, which seems to stop him returning to that item, but he just pees on another one). Thanks for any advice.

[ChocDee]

Sorry I have no advice to give, but I am just chuffed that you rescued a Soi Dog! The Thai King has/had one and the people admire that dog almost as much as they do him. When they printed up special addition t-shirts with a picture of the dog on it they sold out in just two days. I have read a book about the dogs awesomeness!

Anyway, with the peeing bring it back to basics. Treat him like a puppy and take him out into the garden as often
As possible and treat etc. but I am sure you are already doing that! I just wanted to add something vaguely intellectual to my drivelly post...

Good luck and keep us posted!

[daisydotandgertie]

Don't rely on a collar and lead in this situation. It will not give you the control you need, and he's likely to be able to back out of it.

Get a slip lead which will make keeping hold of him more certain. Make sure you read up on how to put it on correctly - ie that it self loosens if there is no pressure on it.

A behaviourist will be invaluable for you - his situation is quite a complex one and will need a bit of unravelling. I'd need some professional support to do it well. If you're in the UK, ask your vet for a referral.

[WhyAlwaysBoris]

thanks for the replies, much appreciated!

The loud praise when weeing outside seems to have worked so effectively that he does 2 or 3 proper wee's on his walk and then 'pretends' to do others if he thinks we have any treats left! He hasn't gone inside since.

I have got a slip lead now, thanks, that was a really good tip. I feel much safer with him on it.

My friend who has three Soi dogs brought hers round yesterday and it was world war three for about 5 mins and then they suddenly just started getting on. After that he seems much better with other dogs, not perfect, but at least not in danger of hurting himself.

we have the number of a behaviourist and our friend suggests giving it a week to see how he's doing/what problems he is presenting first.

I can't believe how quickly he is making progress, we feel so lucky to have him.

[ChocDee]

Yay! What about if there was a tiny picture of the wonder Soi dog? Can you tell that I am a bit partial to all things Thai? Are you living there?

[herbertjane]

Oh well not here to make friends but I totally disagree with using a slip lead.

If you have a reactive dog for whatever reason puling tight to control them on a slip lead will make the situation 100 times worse. The dog is anxious an is probably hyperventilating and then you cut off the remaining oxygen going to his brain by using a slip lead = more anxious dog and more reactivity.

A head collar would be a much better option as you can still control the dog safely eg turn his head away if needed but also allow the dog to breath. Halti or gently leader would enable you to do this. I would use a double ended lead so one end is on the head collar and one end is on the normal buckled collar for added security.

There are lots of ways to help a dog reactive dog but if things are settling down I will not go into details but hope things work out for you

[WhyAlwaysBoris]

I'm in the UK, he came in via heathrow on sunday.

My DH says when the dog is feeling more relaxed he is going to drive him around London one eveing and show him the sights!

Oh dear the slip lead info scares me now as he does really pull.

I have just been on the gentle leader website and they look really good so i'll order one today. (There is a gorgeous st bernard (i think anyway) on their homepage video, if you can bear the benny hill style comedy falling over shots and music!

Thanks for the tip.

I will try and figure out how to post up a picture of him, he's so lovely.

[WhyAlwaysBoris]

sorry thursday, not sunday! You can tell i've taken a few days off work, ah the temporary blissful ignorance!

[daisydotandgertie]

Ah well - I absolutely hate head collars of any sort.

Give me a slip lead every time, reactive dog or not. I have seen reactive dogs panic very badly with head collars - they are a lot to get used to.

[WhyAlwaysBoris]

oh gosh now i'm really confused about what he should be wearing!

I'll have to try him with both types and see

toughasoldboots, not really, I am very lucky. He is just so lovely. We have had a shit time this year, 2 mc's and lots of other stuff, and he is our ray of sunshine!

[ripsishere]

Is it a Bangkaew? When we lived in Thailand, we had oodles of Soi dogs along our Soi oddly enough. We got to know individuals quite well.
The Bangkaew's were always in the centre of trouble.
Well done you for adopting one though.