How (as a human) to react to other dogs

Discussion in 'Labrador Behavior' started by salieri75, Jul 27, 2016.

  1. salieri75

    salieri75 Registered Users

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    Rather than being about training my dog, I'm wonder how I cope myself in this scenario.

    When walking Ziggy today a pit bull type dog came trotting over. Usually my boy prefers being approacher rather than approachee and he lies down and assesses the scene before he approaches dogs.
    Anyway this dog trots over, so Ziggy's already out of his comfort zone as he's not sure about this dog he's never met and then he hopped straight onto Ziggy's back end and started humping him and growling. Ziggy started whining, clearly upset. I called to the owner as I wanted her dog off mine ASAP but didn't want to make what I perceived to be a slightly menacing situation worse by ordering around a frightening looking dog whose behaviour I don't understand. She didn't seem in any hurry to catch up.
    The dog was wearing a harness with a handle so after a minute or so I pulled him off, slightly fearful that I could be about to lose an arm by doing so.
    Once free, Ziggy turned and bared his teeth at the other dog, something I have never seen him do other than in play. Finally the owner sauntered up and announced "He's not aggressive at all!"

    Ha! Perhaps you might not define that as aggressive but certainly unpleasantly dominant - my dog was scared and I was scared.

    How do you best "rescue" your lab from this sort of situation? Was I right to intervene or is it best to leave the canines to work it out between themselves?
     
  2. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    I am in a situation where we very rarely see any other dogs, day to day, which has led to my two not being massively comfortable around other dogs on occasion, especially when they come into their personal space. I'm one of "those" people that wants to train their own dogs through positive reinforcement, but can't see how to employ the same techniques when my two are potentially under threat (perceived or real).
    So, if I come across certain known nasty dogs in the village, I body block them, putting my dog(s) behind me, rising up on my toes, looming over them and gruffing at them to "don't even THINK about it!". These are a pair of dogs that are a LOT bigger than my two, both entire males that are very pushy and bully my girl (who has no interest in interacting with any dog, so gets quite upset when they push her around), and I would have no qualms about grabbing them by the scruff if necessary - not happened to date, but, still, I have my plan - and getting them away from us. I wouldn't hurt any dog that isn't an immediate threat, but any dog that is threatening the immediate mental wellbeing of my dogs still needs dealing with. My dogs are my priority and I'm never going to apologise for that.

    We have come across a Mastiff before that was loose and protecting what he thought was "his" territory - it wasn't, it was a public footpath, but how was he to know. Luckily, he was wearing a substantial (Julius K9) harness, and I grabbed hold of the handle and fed him handfuls of chicken while my husband got my two well past. He could have been sensitive to chicken, I could have been setting his training back by holding onto his harness, I don't know. All I know is, I did what was necessary for my dogs, and his owner wasn't anywhere around to consult.

    Don't feel bad about doing whatever you feel is necessary to protect your dog. Scared dogs are dogs that don't make great decisions. Be the decision-maker and let them learn to trust you to make the right choice :)
     
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  3. Oberon

    Oberon Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    This is a really good question.

    I'm regularly in exactly this situation with a bully type dog who lives in my area. He pulls like a train so the owner has him off lead all the time. He has no recall. He runs up to any dog he sees (from half a km away) and lunges and barks at them, without pause. My dog Obi quickly becomes frustrated with this and starts to talk back at the dog. The owner is typically hundreds of metres away and not moving fast. I can't leave the scene as the dog follows. If my hubby is there he picks up Obi, but Obi is too heavy for me. I just try to stay between the dog and Obi, giving Obi as many treats as I can (Obi is very food motivated so even in the face of this menace he'll sit for treats, but he is clearly very stressed). When the owner finally arrives she takes an age to catch the dog, who is expert at keeping out of her reach. One time I was so over it I got him myself by the collar, and he bit me (not bad, but there was blood). So I won't do that again.

    Trying to keep between the dogs is a good approach but that's not possible when the other dog is in the process of humping yours. The good thing is that a humper probably doesn't have truly aggressive intentions. So in this instance I think you did the right thing by waiting for the owner.

    I must admit that on the last occasion I was so mad that once the dog was finally caught I lost my temper and yelled at the owner. However next time I see her I am going to give her the name/website of a behaviourist.
     
  4. Stacia

    Stacia Registered Users

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    My friend and I met two Staffies (I like Staffies) one attacked my friend's dog and she screamed, one attacked mine, so as he/she had a harness with a handle on, I just lifted the dog off, the aggression stopped immediately and the dog seemed relieved that I had intervened. The dogs were with a youth of about 15 and he just walked off looking very embarrassed.
     
  5. MF

    MF Registered Users

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    Such a pertinent question. In all situations I would ideally like my dog to respond in a nice, friendly, cheerful manner. But when I myself am faced with protecting my dog, I become aggressive! What kind of example am I setting?!! I always think -- afterwards, of course -- that I should've had treats and made the aggressor dog who was bothering my dog think that seeing my dog is just wonderful because here are all these yummy treats. But I don't always remember to take treats with me, and when I have them with me, I forget to use them in the heat of the moment! I have done the following: I always try to put my dog behind me; I talk sternly to the other dog and use my hand like a traffic cop indicating Stop and loom towards the other dog to intimidate it; I have grabbed the other dog's collar and waited for the owner to come and leash up his/her dog; if the other dog will not leave my dog and is jumping around and I can't catch it, I have smacked that dog with my leash (and then feel terrible for doing it).

    On Saturday we were walking in a very popular dog-walking spot. My dog was having the time of his life racing into the river and racing around with all the other happy dogs. There was one big dog in particular that kept seeking my dog out and being very overbearing, sticking to his shoulder and pushing him around. And any chance he got, he'd hump him. I'm not against humping per se, but with a big dog and with my dog's bulging disc, I want to make sure my dog is not injured. So when the humper would not get off my dog, I simply reached for his collar and lifted him off. His owner had her iPhone earbuds in her ears and was oblivious/couldn't hear me calling her. Her dog was surprised when I pulled him off and then started to make aggressive noises towards my dog, not towards me. My friend started to panic and shouted, "Let him go, let him go! You're making that dog aggressive." So I let him go because when faced with a panicky situation I do as I am told! But I did feel annoyed that "I" was "making that dog aggressive" -- do people really make dogs aggressive? I am my dog's protector and I will do whatever it takes to protect him -- I am definitely not in the school of "let the canines work it out for themselves" if I think it might end badly. If, however, I don't perceive any danger -- there was also a collie who would seek out my dog and give him the eye and come shoulder to shoulder and try to force my dog to submit, but I didn't perceive danger and I felt I could see this was not going to go anywhere bad -- in this case I called my dog and he managed to get himself away. Also, the owner of the collie was calling his dog. My dog did eventually growl at the collie when the collie simply would not leave him (this was about the fourth time the collie had done this to him), and this gave the collie a direct message that he should leave now.

    I don't want my friendly dog put into these situations where he starts practicing being aggressive back. He is not submissive so he won't stand down. But he's not aggressive either and he never initiates these kinds of interactions. So why should he have to suffer? He has been bitten once and he screamed -- it was really horrible to hear.

    When I do see "the usual suspects" -- the dogs we see regularly who are not nice to my dog -- I keep my dog close using treats and focusing on me so that the other owner is really showed up for their dog seeking out my dog. It has the effect of making them spring into action and taking responsibility.

    I must confess that in heat of the moment I never feel I am in danger; I never believe the aggressor dog wants to attack me because it is focused on my dog. Afterwards I think I was probably stupid putting myself between the two dogs because I might've got bitten. Thankfully to date I have never been bitten.
     
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  6. Jes72

    Jes72 Registered Users

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    Where we walk most dogs are off lead so there are plenty of opportunities for dog to dog interactions. Fortunately most dogs are well socialised and friendly and owners are aware of their dog and interacting with them so the few incidents we've had have been quickly resolved.

    Twice Homer has been attacked by a young male Dalmatian, jumping onto his back and biting him. The first time I managed to grab hold of Homer and pull him away from the Dalmatian by the time the owner came over. The second time I managed to see the dog coming along the path and so did Homer. I put Homers lead on but the Dalmatian still managed to get onto Homer and there was a lot of bared teeth and growling from both dogs. The last time I saw this dog he had a mussel on.

    There's a young Doberman dog that we come across from time to time, he is a stunningly beautiful dog with owners who are training him well and taking good care of him. Once coming round a corner the dog were suddenly face to face, both started growling and snarling and lunging at each other. I managed to get hold of Homer and put his lead on and turn him away as did the other owner. It was a close call and we both took a moment to calm down and passed a few sympathetic words to each other as we were both taken by surprise.

    There have been a few other minor incidents where theres been a bit of a snarl but quickly dissipated. In these situations I've managed to get hold of Homer and get him away or between them as soon as I notice he's uncomfortable, or making the other dog uncomfortable, he's rarely but not always the innocent party. Many times I've simply turned and gone another way if I feel unsure of a dog, or a person for that matter.

    For four years of two walks a day most of which are off lead at some point these incidents are rare but can happen quite quickly so I'm constantly watching him and the surroundings, unfortunately not all dog owners are the same. But the benefits of him being off lead free to run and sniff and explore and smell and swim and play by far out way these few incidents.

    So yes, from my experience and my instinct, I'd rather intervention than let dogs sort it out themselves, although I've never experienced a full on aggressive dog fight, not sure what I'd do then.
     
  7. SwampDonkey

    SwampDonkey Registered Users

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    It's our instinct to intervene and protect our dogs.I body block a dog which I don't like the look of and avoid dogs which have a reputation for aggression. If I have to grab another dog I try to go for the none bitty end and I carry a hissy spray. I've also taught Rory to run away he's very fast and gets out of the way. I just say run away he runs in an arc and I get out of the area asap and I then call him in. It happens a lot around here you just learn to really look at what a dogs looking like body language wise and often the owner can looked stressed and say things like he's just playing......yeah right. Holidays are the worst the dogs who don't really come out and meet other dogs are out and causing trouble. I tend to avoid parks or keep a low profile this time of year. Just have an idea about what you are going do before hand have a think about a strategy so if the worst does happen you don't panic but just do. Having a way to cope can really save the day.
     

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