Frank 

I agree with Frank.  From what you described, I don't think Tank was being aggressive but really just too excited.   Hallie used to get wired up like that and grab my arm when we would run and play.  I took her to training and we broke her of using her mouth to play with us.    I had a dane who at the end of his life went after kids.   It was a horribly frightening thing.  BUT obviously different than play.  Hair up, teeth bared and snarling.    Taking him to obedience class and monitoring the situations he is in is the most important thing you can do regardless.    That is alot of kids to take at once and having all them around him and one up from behind probably just was too much.   I am sure it was very frightening to see a child's arm in his mouth but it looks like he didn't bite down at all.

 

Jennifer

 

 

It sounds like play to me but, of course, it has to be corrected.  Like Frank aid he needs to be properly trained.  As far as the kids, since he was friendly with them, I'd take him over as a novelty for them to come up and pet but never off the leash.  That way he'll see them running and screaming and figure out it all OK.  I just wouldn't let him "Play" with them since he doesn't know the rules of "Play" yet.

jeri

well thats just it he and I play at home and he is not mouthy at all. That is why this came as a shock. I have tried talking to the kids there are some I feel very comfortable with around my dogs and some that I try to be carefull with. Of course this was the first time I have seen him do this. usually when we go outside and kids are playing he barks and bounces a little like he wants to join in and many of them will let him play with the balls and stuff this is the bigger kids but this is the first time he has gone after a child. We are working with him it just really scared me you know.

I agree with the play factor. If he intended to hurt her he would have.

Tessa

I agree I know if he intended to hurt her he would have but obviosly children can't just turn around and ignore, which is what I've been doing when he gets too rough with me. He is not mouthy with me though just a jumper so my question is how do I stop him from doing this. Infact it took me fifteen minutes before I took him out that day because he was jmping up and wacking me in the back of the head with his paws while I had the leash in hand.

It doesn't sound at all like he was trying to be aggressive. Barrett has done this many times when we've been playing outside or if he follows me down the stairs and he'll run up behind me and grab my arm. He does it more with Brandon because he will get down on the floor and wrestle and play with him.  Never leaves a mark, but still not allowed. I think he really was just trying to "catch" a kid! If they were all running around him, I think it was just his way of saying "hey, stop and pay attention to me!" I think your best bet is to get him into some training and be VERY consistant with him and the fact that biting and jumping are NOT allowed. I think you also need to be very strict with the kids that they are not allowed to run close to Tank or come up behind him without warning. The mom is right, the girl shouldn't have been running behind him, but at the same time someone needs to teach the kids how to behave around a dog, especially a big dog! Idealy that responsibility would fall on the parents, but you may have to step in and remind them how to behave around Tank because Tank is your responsibility. We frequent the Petsmart by our house and everyone there is wonderful with Barrett and very respectful of our rules and guidelines with him, except for one lady. She is always the one to get Barrett all excited and get him to jump and mouth and chew at her and swing his paws and then she will turn around and will always tell you "I'd rather get attacked by a small dog than bit by a dane" (one of the other staff members was bit about 4 years ago by a dane but she flat out admitted it was because she did something stupid around a frightened dog!). Needless to say, after about the second or third time she did this and both us and a few of the other staff telling her it's not ok to get him to act like that, she doesn't get to interact with Barrett anymore. She's old enough to know how to behave around dogs, but untimately its our responsibility if Barrett should accidently hurt her so we had to step in and make sure that she doesn't interact with him anymore. You may have to do that with the kids in the neighborhood too... Not cut them off completely, but make it clear that Tank will go inside if they get him too excited or are not acting appropriately around him.

I'm with everyone else on this that his intention wasn't to hurt her, but it was too much for him.

I have a dane who when put in situations that he isn't comfortable with, barks and gets fearful.  If you don't know him, you would think he's gonna hurt you or someone.

Just want to give you some of my experience with this.

 

A few days ago, a friend of mine and her dane (very mellow dane) me and my dane went to a school field to let the dogs play together.  Three kids show up, ages of about 6 - 10.  I'm thinking great, my dane hasn't really been much around kids that age and their running and hollering is gonna freak him out.  I always have his "fabulous" treats with me when we are trainig or out for walks.  The kids ran like wild animals up to us, and he barked.  Got him to stop, told the kids they had to move slow around him because he doesn't know them and they don't know him.  They all gave the dogs some treats and let the dogs sniff them, with in about 5 min they were all running around for an hour til the kids had to go home.  Kids were yelling, touching the dogs, holding them by the collars and all was fine.  They even gave them a kiss when they left.  The only thing mine wasn't too sure about, but let happen was a hug.  He was uneasy about it, but didn't bark.

 

Yesterday my friend and I met again, except I brought my daughter and my other dog as well.  Those same three kids were there, except when they saw us they ran up to us again...got a bark from my dane because he was charged at.  I reminded the kids they can't do that and all was fine.  Off to the field we went.  Within about 15 min.  there was kids from the ages of 6 - 15 out there; kids totalling about 12 in all.  He (my dane) got anxious and would bark and run up to them at first, would scare some of them.  Some of them, understood that they couldn't move fast and to just turn their back to him and ignore him.  One kid put it this way, that he was like an autistic child, too much stimulation at one time and he doesn't know what to do.  Then once he gets used to it and feels safe he's okay.  

We did have to put my dane in a time out once, but that was the first time he had been around so many kids, running, yelling, arms flailing, etc.  He not one time trampled one, grabbed one, there was lots of correcting, praising, and many of the kids were given his fabulous treats to have on hand.

I never thought I'd see the day that he was running around with kids.  I know I can't just turn him loose.  We have to work at it, like yesterday, but I have greater hope now, and know it can be done.

 

I just wanted to share that with you, because I have a very fearful dog.....and fearful dogs can be agressive dogs because of that fear.  And we have been working thru it, so I know you can because thru your posts it doesn't sound like Tank is an agressive dog.

 

Tam 

Tessa 

Ok so I have never used a shock collar but I do have one for him but I don't leave it on there all the time, I usually only put it on him when he is acting up in the house ie chasing cats, Since he is a little shorter than Gracie but stockier I have a large kennel that I bought for Gracie when she was a pup but she is now to the point her back touches the top plus she never crate trained so I have been thinking at night  crating him. I will try the rolled up newspaper cause the coke can isn't working. I know allot of it is he is a puppy cause he still does the puppy bounce and has hurt himself twice. Twice he has sprained or pulled something he was being stupid and doing his puppy bounce through the house you know when they look like a big clumsy gazelle. All of a sudden he stopped and came over to me all hunched over wimpering. I just looked at him and told him now we shouldn't act like idiots should we. I told him to lay down he did and about 10 minuites later he got up and walked to the back door. Goodness these kids will be the death of me lol and yes I have two and Gracie is always first out the door since she is the calm one.

When I was younger my grandparents had a lab/shepherd cross who was the best dog I'd ever known (up until I had my danes, lol)... he would walk off leash with us kids out in the back fields, he'd walk to the store with us, off leash and wait outside no problem. He was very well trained - my grandpa used a rolled up newspaper to bang on the wall anytime he needed to correct the dog.

At any rate, I remember one day when there were a bunch of kids running around on my grandparents driveway and Prince was out there with us, lounging on the grass. One little boy - about 5 or 6 maybe, started running down the driveway toward the street. Prince jumped up and tackled the boy, bit him on the back and broke skin. He pinned him to the sidewalk (3 ft from the road) and waited to be told "off"... he wasn't attacking the boy, but trying to keep him off the road from what we understood - there was no reason for him to go after him otherwise... The boys parents freaked (naturally) and wanted Prince pts. My grandparents wouldn't do it, and discussed the situation with the family - there were NO adults out near the kids, I think my grandma was up on her porch but there was a large hedge & stone wall so she couldn't see the kids to know what happened - but I was there, might've been 9 at the time, so I was the "adult" in charge.

 

At any rate, who knows what really went through Prince's head, and nothing was ever done to correct him after that since it seemed that he was only trying to save the boy.

 

I think Tank got excited and just wanted to play. Prince used to grab hold of my sister & my hands/arms when we were running around, but never bit us, just held on & ran with us.... I think Tank was playing. Kids to him seem like other dogs, you are bigger so you're considered something else to him - not another puppy, does that make sense?

 

I hope you get this figured out and all works out with you & Tank!!

Good luck!

 

Jill & Shelby

 

I am currently taking Mercury through the intermediate class, and I'm still working with him "freaking out".  He is getting better, but I still have fears, but mine are with other dogs more so. 

 

The one thing she (trainer) told me was that I always had to be prepared to react.  Because if anything happens, no matter who's fault, it would probably come back to me not having full control of my dog.  Sucks, but soooo true.  It sounds like tank was just playing.  If he was truely wanting to be mean, I think he would have bitten down alot harder.  I know that when I play with Mercury and I get him going, he acts like a kid and gets rough before he even realizes it.  But like everyone stressed~  train train train......  I love the classes because we always run into a different situation.  Then the trainer can get a true picture of what is happening.  Like when I told her about Merc. getting freaked out and I was afraid he was going to attack other dogs, she watched and said it wasnt aggressive behavior, but uncertainity to the surrounding events. 

 

Good luck!

Deb