Some of you may already know that there is a large Boxer in our village, Charlie and said Boxer do not like each other. David took Hattie & Charlie out for a walk one morning last week as I had an appointment. They walked down the track and were put back on lead when unexpectedly the Boxer came through the gate on lead. Neither the Boxer or Charlie made a single sound or lunge or even acknowledged each other and they were very close to each other. I am wondering if this has anything to do with the fact that Hattie loves this Boxer and they play beautifully, so was Hattie giving off calming signals to Charlie and the Boxer indicating that everything is alright? Any thoughts? Thanks xx
Hi Helen, good to see you back on the forum . Interesting, do they normally meet on or off lead? Is there any particular reason why Charlie doesn't like the boxer? I've known a few and they were all very calm, gentle dogs (mad as hatters when young though ) It's quite possible that Hattie, being Hattie, makes a difference to both Charlie and the boxer and how they react around her.
I can't say one way or another, except that Shadow is getting to the point where, alone, he's ambivalent about other dogs when on lead, but still gets wound up when Willow is around. So I don't see why the opposite couldn't be true. Shadow gets more distressed by feeling he has to protect Willow, but if he found Willow a calming influence, it could go the other way.
Hi Helen, I was reading John Bradshaw's In Defense of Dogs earlier and as I was reading thought about Charlie and the boxer. I was actually reading about the Resource Handling Potential model which advocates that where a conflict of interest arises (food, toy or whatever) each dog is thought to make its decision based upon on the answers to two questions: how much they want the resource and how likely is it that the other dog is going to beat them if they fight (taking that dogs avoid a fight whenever possible). If the dogs know each other they are able to use their memories of previous disputes to decide their action. If they don't know each other they use information they have previously gathered regarding similar looking dogs or dogs they have watched. In this way a dog can be fearful of say "brown" dogs because he has been attacked by a brown dog previously and his response has nothing to do with the actual dog, just the general look/appearance of it. I was just wondering perhaps whether Charlie has some bad memories which kick in when he sees the boxer but when Hattie is there the memories don't have the same impact due to her reaction to the boxer.
Hi Rosemary, that's very interesting thank you. The Boxer is male, 8 years old and always lived in the village so Charlie has seen him regularly and I can't think of any incidents that should make Charlie react but maybe in his previous life he had a bad incident with a Boxer or a similar looking dog. The only thing I can think of is the Boxer barked at Charlie first and now Charlie feels he has to bark back. Also there are very, very few dogs that get on with this Boxer. I did read that dogs with squashed faces are not as liked as dogs with "normal" faces. Charlie is getting a little better at passing him if David is able to curve and walk on the road to give him distance. If a dog ever barks at Charlie he will always bark back on the next meet Of course we are still using BAT to assist with this and he is making really good progress I really think it was something to do with Hattie and her very good calming signals as it was a totally unexpected calm reaction. xx
I've read something recently along the same lines regarding dogs with "squashed" faces/noses. I can't remember where it was I read it, so know getting annoyed with myself, but it sort of went that "normal" dogs have more difficulty reading the facial expression of "squashed" dog which I guess when you think about it seems reasonable. Hattie is a little star. Would love to have a Hattie dog to go with Juno
Hi Helen, what is BAT? I've seen it mentioned before when I first joined the forum but no idea what it is
Donna, there's a thread somewhere that @Jen started a long time ago, she is very knowledgeable on this technique as she uses it with her two boys. I think it stands for Behavioural Adjustment Training. You essentially give your dog a choice, e.g. looking at you for a treat instead of at the trigger, so telling your dog there's nothing to worry about, it's very useful and I use it all the time xx
@charlie Who was nearest the boxer charlie or hattie ? I think it could well be possible that Hattie was a calming influence on both dogs. On our walk there is a section of road that Scout doesn't like. Just before and just after the house with the Tibetan terriers that attacked us so it's fair enough I suppose. On our own as we approach the house Scout will keep stopping while he checks there's nobody outside then after we've passed his tail is still down and ears back until we turn on to the next lane. When we walk with the Rottie though he's much less bothered. Now maybe he thinks the Rottie will protect him and to be honest she probably would and it would be bye bye Tibetan terrier or maybe, as Rosemary has suggested, the scary stuff didn't happen when the Rottie was there so Scout isn't as bothered like charlie with the boxer because hattie is there. @Newbie Lab Owner This is the thread Helen mentioned Donna. It's very long but if you can be bothered to read it you'll get to know my dogs http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/bat-tips.4868/ This website explains BAT. http://www.training-your-dog-and-you.com/Behavior_Adjustment_Training.html
I don't think so Stacia, it's David who mostly walks Charlie. I have yet to encounter the Boxer when I walk him which makes me think it was Hattie x
