Pascua came to us as an abandoned dog in march last year,a young Brittany Spaniel,she was only about a year old and seemed very timid and frightened. She followed me like a shadow all the way home whilst I was out walking with our other dog. We decided to let her stay.
Unfortunately about 3 months later she was attacked by a large German Shepard whilst we were out walking. Pascua was on leash and the other dog was off leash,it seemed to come out of nowhere and as soon as it saw Pascua it crept down low to the ground like a hunter and suddenly lunged at her, in just a few paces it had lifted Pascua off the ground and bitten her. There was a moment before the attack when we tried to warn it off using a stick but it didn't work. Eventually Carmen managed to get the dog to release Pascua by hitting it between the shoulders with the stick, at which point the owners of the dog appeared and started shouting at us for hitting their dog, but that's another story. We were all really shocked by the attack.
The thing is that now we have noticed that Pascua seems to have become very fearful of all other dogs that come near her. Even a small puppy seems to feel like a threat to her. It is as if she feels that all other dogs may attack her. She deals with it by becoming very tense once she has seen the dog and then if the dog keeps coming closer she starts barking wildly, more than overtly aggressive it seems that she just wants the other dog to go away because she is afraid. It seems that if she has time to see that the other dog means no harm then she relaxes, we have managed to have a few successful interactions like this. We try to remain calm and once she sees that the other dog is just curious then she is alright. Sometimes however it doesn't go so well. Most of the dogs around here are off leash and they run free around the village. It is not always possible to control the environment. Some dogs she has successfully chased away and this probably has convinced her that her strategy works. There is one dog in particular which she just goes wild at. She barks uncontrollably and seems even aggressive, but it could just be panic. We have started to avoid coming near to that dog but sometimes we unwittingly cross paths. When she sees this dog I find it impossible to control her. She lunges and uses all her force. Once in that state she doesn't respond to anything; Voice, treats, pulling on the lead etc. nothing can get her attention. I just have to try to restrain her, walk on and force her to come by pulling the lead. I don't know what to do in this scenario.
I feel that she is not a really bad case though because we have managed to have some calm interactions with other dogs. One doubt I have is that it seems to me she is worse when on leash. It's almost as if the leash provokes the barking. The other day we met with a friend who has a young dog who is friendly and not at all threatening. When they met, there was a moment when pascua moved forward and I tensed the leash and then she started barking. Once I let it slack and she could approach and investigate the other dog she was fine, even sociable. We have another dog who is very friendly and has no problems interacting with other dogs. She is like a little ambassador in that pascua often learns from her to be less afraid. A couple of days ago I decided to let them both off leash and they met a couple of dogs on the path. There was no drama and I was amazed. Do you think that I am causing the tension as I get wary when we approach dogs because I don't know or trust how pascua is going to react and I don't feel certain that I can keep her under control. I am afraid that I may be making matters worse.
We are now walking her on a gentle leader no-pull harness. We had previously been badly advised to use a prong collar on her and give corrections If she reacted to dogs. Poor pascua. What do you think is the best way to work with her to help her to be less reactive and more sociable with dogs? Apart from this behaviour around other dogs, she is very sweet natured and affectionate.