My Bullmastiff attacked a puppy :(

[TopJimmy]

Please help me to understand what happened here.

A little history about my dog:

I have had him since he was a puppy, he is now 6 years old. He is extremely gentle as most bullmastiffs are and has always been great with kids and other dogs. We have a mini dachshund also that has been in his life since we got him (they've grown up together). He has always had children climbing all over him and is always very tolerant of anything they do. The dachshund often climbs up on top of him and sleeps on top of him. He has met and lingered with MANY other dogs in the past, always gets tons of praise from groomers or pet hotels when he has been boarded (where is always with the population) about how well mannered he is and what a pleasure he has been. We have taken him to a few dog parks with zero issue and every time we bring him around other dogs I have always been confident that he will not pose a threat.

My friend brought his puppy to my house and his daughter brought the puppy inside. I didn't realize that the puppy was here, coming over or inside the house until the girl came in my room with the puppy in her arms. My dog stood up and displayed an interest in the puppy with his hair standing up (normal reaction from what the past has shown) and because I was concerned about the puppy peeing on the carpet I said "let's take the puppy outside. Along with my wife and my friends 2 daughters, both dogs went outside where my dog didn't pay the puppy any attention at first. The puppy was taken off the leash and my wife suggested that the girls put the puppy back on the leash so it doesn't wander off. They put the puppy back on the leash and my wife started coercing the puppy toward her, holding the leash and gently pulling it in. The puppy started a "whiny barky" noise and all of a sudden my dog just attacked it. He grabbed it by the neck and shook it, breaking it's neck instantly. Very sad I know.

My question is, why in the world would he do this? He has always been such an upstanding dog with ZERO past infractions.

The only things I can think of would be:
That he thought he was protecting my wife?
We used to let him chase squirrels at a park (he never came remotely close to catching them so I figured it was harmless and good exercise for him), and there are a few squirrels that seem to taunt him across our back yard fence occasionally and he get's all worked up about them when they do it. Maybe he was confused?

Any ideas???? Please help me sort this out.

 

[Sadies Mom]

New dog in his house/yard comes to mind. I am very sorry this happens, but always introduce new dogs on neutral ground. It does not change what happened here, but it sounds like he was protecting what is his

 

[voidecho]

Yeah, the only thing I could think of was that the puppy was on his turf or he thought it was a threat.

So sad. Sorry to hear about this.

 

[musicdeb]

OMG! I'm so sorry to hear this. Sounds like he thought pup was a threat.

 

[CeeCee]

OMG!!! I am so sorry! I can't imagine how traumatic that must have been for everyone.

First, the puppy was on his home turf, but that isn't always an issue - just something that needs to be managed carefully. You said your dog was ignoring the puppy, but I wonder if he was avoiding the puppy - two different energies and two different contexts for the encounter. Was your dog nervous in its presence i.e., lip licking, giving sideways glances, yawing, etc. This tells your that your dog was not comfortable. Was the puppy giving any of these signals? If so, they puppy was not comfortable with your dog.

When your wife started to pull the puppy toward her (I understand gently), the puppy clearly said I am uncomfortable and I don't want to. Now, you have an uncomfortable dog, who is "trapped" (on a leash), with tension coming toward your dog's person. This might have been the final trigger than caused your dog to react.

Also, what was the general energy of the yard? Were the little girls excited? Was there a lot of noise, activity, etc.? Now you have uncomfortable, excited dogs (your dog's fur was on edge) who are trying to get their bearings in a high energy environment. If people are reaching for the dogs, they might have also been feeling trapped and/or overwhelmed.

Just a sad situation all around. I am so sorry this happened!

 

[thelady_v2010]

I am so sorry. That must have been horrible for everyone involved. I think you got some good insights and I hope everyone is able to recover from this.

 

[NYDDB]

"The puppy started a "whiny barky" noise and all of a sudden my dog just attacked it. He grabbed it by the neck and shook it, breaking it's neck instantly. Very sad I know."

This was what stood out for me. I know that in a park full of dogs, all it takes is for one dog to start yelping/crying/screaming for all the dogs to come running. Something primitive about that sound, and your dog's response may have just been some kind of prey instinct kicking in...?

That's my best guess. I am sorry this has happened; such a tragedy.

 

[ZEBO75]

Sorry to hear this and would be lying if I said I knew excactly what set you dog off. The sound of a puppy making noise could resemble the sound of a prey animal in distress to your dogs. Was this first time your dog was socailized with a pup on his turf?

You didn't do any thing wrong and this just reminds us that even our domestic dogs still have wild instincts and certain situations can trigger these instincts.

My hearts goes out to the pup!
I don't buy squeaky toys because I've been told by experts that the sound resembles the sound of a prey animanl in distress.

 

[DennasMom]

Wow. OMG is right!
So sorry this happened!!

Normally puppies get a 'free pass' - they have that puppy smell that helps adult animals identify them as young, to be protected.
So... obviously that was not the case here.
Something must have set him off - some good suggestions were already given, so I don't think I can add anything new.

Other than to add my condolences again. What a terrible tragedy.

 

[TopJimmy]

Thank you all for your thoughts, suggestions and condolences. This was a horrible experience for all involved.
I have introduced a few dogs, young (not quite puppy) and small to him on home turf and he's always been fine. I don't know if he was avoiding or ignoring now that its mentioned.
One other thing I forgot to mention is that my wife is a paraplegic (paralyzed from about the lower ribcage down) confined to a wheelchair which is why she was pulling the puppy towards her instead if walking to the puppy to introduce herself to it. I just thought I'd mention that in case anyone wondered why she would've been using that tactic.

Anyways, this has been a difficult lesson to learn and we'll be much more reserved about bringing other dogs around our house, especially without proper introduction.

 

[thelady_v2010]

Did the puppy owners report it?

 

[TopJimmy]

No they didn't

 

[Penelope's Mom]

How horrible.

Good luck to you in the future.

 

[Effie]

You might want to also get him to your veterinarian and explain what happened, and get a complete health checkup for him, including blood work, etc. He could be developing a health condition, such as hypothyroidism, which can cause aggression in a dog who was not aggressive before. Bullmastiff's seem to tolerate a lot of pain and it can be really hard to tell when something is physically wrong with them.