15 month old Mini-Aussie

Question
QUESTION: Cody is a darling dog. For socialization,my wife has taken him to a couple of dog parks. He has been well behaved until recently.

We have planned on breeding him so he is not neutered. He has not had any problems with aggression until one day at the park he chose to "bully" another dog. My wife quickly broke it up. No Problem. That is until last week, he apparently(I don't know the circumstances) lit into a Bull Mastiff. My wife grabbed Cody by the hind quarters to pull him away and Cody bit her on the hand. He didn't bear down or break skin, but he caught her pretty good. We are now concerned about his aggressive responses. He seems to know that he hurt her and is sad about it. I think he was being protective, but still wonder if we have a problem to deal with. My wife feels responsible to add to it. Can you please offer some insight?

Thanks for this forum,
Mike

ANSWER: Not to be impolite, and I don't wish to offend you, but this is your fault, not your dog's - the dog's responses are normal canine behavior under the circumstances you put him in.  Truly, most un-neutered dogs do not belong at dog parks - it's an invitation to  disaster.  At fifteen months, your dog is reaching the age of social maturity.  That means that he will be starting to assert himself with some other dogs to determine where he fits in the social order, and intact males do tend to be more aggressive to other dogs.  That often leads to considerable bluster (most males fight ritualistically), but can lead to serious fights, too.  And any time a human sticks their hands in to stop aggression, they risk a redirected bite - there are better ways to stop fights.  
In my opinion, if you don't yet have a good knowledge of canine development from puppy hood to adulthood and beyond, then you don't yet have enough knowledge to be keeping an intact male for breeding purposes.  My first inclination is to say that you should neuter him so that you don't have to deal with the liability of another owner getting bitten if their dog is involved in a scuffle with yours.  
But, if you have your heart set on breeding,(and he has been tested - CERF, PennHip, OFA, and his lines are epilepsy-free), then, at the very least, you should first get a good mentor from the ASCA or AKC breeder referral list.  If you can commit to: giving your puppy buyers a lifetime guarantee, going to the expense of genetic testing of both parents, doing no merle to merle breedings, and belonging to Ask-Tell, then maybe you could begin a breeding program.  Otherwise, please do us all a favor and don't do it.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Does the AKC and ASCA even ackowledge a Miniature Austrailian Sheperd as a breed, or as a genetic anomaly. Should I try and contact the owner of the mastiff my 25 lb. dog accosted and let him know this info? He made the comment, "Boys will be boys." I was trying to offer my wife some objective "insight" and understanding. Instead we get a lecture on breeding. My wife has had a traumatic experience with her 1st puppy, a 10th anniversary gift from me. She is already embarrassed and concerned. We are adults. I have had dogs all my life. Most people have had to learn from experience. I didn't have the luxury of a volunteer encyclopedia at my finger tips. I'll be sure and tell my wife to watch out for those "phantom merles". Oh, and the "cryptic" ones also.

Answer
Q. Does the AKC and ASCA even ackowledge a Miniature Austrailian Sheperd as a breed, or as a genetic anomaly.

A. The ASCA and AKC do NOT recognize the Miniature Australian Shepherd because "Preferred height at the withers for males is 20 to 23 inches; that for females is 18 to 21 inches, however, quality is not to be sacrificed in favor of size."
An Australian Shepherd should be of a size and quality as to be able to do the job for which he/she was bred - herd cattle, guard the ranch.


Q. Should I try and contact the owner of the mastiff my 25 lb. dog accosted and let him know this info? He made the comment, "Boys will be boys."

A. Dogs of any size can challenge a larger dog, and often do, especially if they are under-socialized, intact, over-appeasers, or any one of a number of other things.  The only difference size makes is the ability of the larger dog to do more harm to the smaller one once a tiff occurs.  The fact that the Mastiff owner was a dolt does not mean that you were correct in bringing an intact male dog to the public dog park.  It just isn't a good idea in most cases.  

Q. I was trying to offer my wife some objective "insight" and understanding. Instead we get a lecture on breeding.

A. That's because you stated that you intended to breed your intact male, and you appear not to have the knowledge of canine behavior and development yet to support that decision.  I realize that no one likes to be told that, but the fact is that you would probably be much happier with a neutered pet that could play successfully with other dogs - though I think that an open dog park with obtuse owners certainly isn't the place to be.

Q. My wife has had a traumatic experience with her 1st puppy, a 10th anniversary gift from me. She is already embarrassed and concerned.

A. She should have no reason to be embarrassed about normal canine behavior.  If it's her dog, perhaps she would want to neuter it now that she knows that un-neutered dogs are more likely to be aggressive to, or attract aggression from, other dogs.

Q. We are adults. I have had dogs all my life. Most people have had to learn from experience. I didn't have the luxury of a volunteer encyclopedia at my finger tips.

A. And yet, when someone with decades of experience tells you the facts, you provide them with a negative rating and call them impolite (which I stated from the beginning that I was not trying to be - just trying to caution you about some issues, and suggest that you avoid irresponsible breeding.  If you were after knowledge you got some, it just probably wasn't what you wanted to hear.

Q. I'll be sure and tell my wife to watch out for those "phantom merles". Oh, and the "cryptic" ones also.

A. My comment was not directed at phantom merles or cryptic merles.  It was an effort to prevent yet another litter of deaf and/or blind puppies.  Don't forget - a responsible breeder takes responsiblity for any puppy that he or she breeds - for life.