There are two dogs that live very locally and that we meet on occasion. They are both very tall and slim, mongrels as far as I can tell. Local dogs which means they're always off-lead (I don't think the locals here know what a lead is!). They will always come up to us if we're walking down the road and have a normal doggy greeting. Willow absolutely hates them. She will cower away with her tail between her legs and, if one of them get a little too keen with the sniffing, she will show her teeth and even snap towards them. She is obviously very nervous around them, but for the life of me I don't know why, because I can't see any suspicious body language at all. The only thing I can think of is that she met them when she was very small and they towered above her then, making her scared. They're still way taller than her, but she's fine with other big dogs. I'm more than happy for her to stand up for herself if she feels stressed, but I'm also worried that in the future it may escalate into something worse. One of the two dogs always gets bored as soon as he realises that she's not interested in playing, but the other one sticks around for more smells until he's called away by his owner. I try to be casual about it and walk on by, but as soon as his nose goes near her, she's cowering and snarling. Any tips on managing this?
There are lots of dogs Charlie doesn't like. He doesn't like a least a dozen dogs on the Common that for one reason or another upset him (from growling at him to failing to follow what he considers proper rules for a chasey game). He also seems to dislike any dog called Boris. And he is not overly keen on terriers. He likes to avoid all of these dogs and I always allow him to do so. So I'd say that there is no reason for Willow to like every dog, and it maybe that she doesn't like these two but can't avoid them because she in on a lead. (Is she on a lead?). I absolutely hate off lead dogs coming up to my dog on lead - for lots of reasons, but one is that I think a dog on lead feels very much at a disadvantage.
She's probably on a lead about 75% of the time at the point we meet them (always the same place because this guy likes to stand on a corner and chat to all the other old farmers of the village ). She behaves the same whether she's on lead or not. In general, she's quite aloof to dogs she doesn't know (except lurchers, she loves lurchers, I think because they play the best chasey game ever!) and so most dogs tend to ignore her. These ones don't, which is maybe why she gets stressed.
Lochan does something like this if male dogs indulge in what she considers inappropriate sniffing. She will clamp her tail down between her legs, leap round and really, really tell the male dog off. It is all noise and posturing, never any biting. The same dog rarely does it twice she is that "firm" with her telling off. Most of the male dogs have a "well you can't blame a dog for trying" sort of attitude to her telling off, and it never escalates into anything more serious. Do you think Willow is doing something like this?
Maybe. When we were in France and her dad (doggy variety, not human!) tried to mount her, she put up with it a couple of times but then turned and had a go at him. He didn't do it again (instead, he moved on to Shadow ). I guess the difference is that I knew that dog really well and knew that he wouldn't have a go back. These two I don't know from a doggy owner's perspective and so I'm not sure if they'll take her defensiveness as aggression and fight back. If it was just one dog, I wouldn't be so worried, but the thought of having to defend Willow against two big beasts is a bit daunting! I also don't want her to become wary of other dogs.
No, she just stays in place, hunched over and tail between her legs until the other dog leaves her alone (because he's been called away or I push him away). Today was the first time she really snapped and snarled, so was definitely an escalation. She had shown her teeth before, but not in a particularly assertive way. She's probably not seen them in a month, though, so she's done a bit of growing up, and has put another dog in his place in the meantime.
Are they male dogs? Males wil very rarely react to a bitch being a bit snappy. I think it's fine for her to say she isn't comfortable, and to warn another dog out of her personal space.
Yes, they're both males. One (the one that persists) is certainly entire. The other one, I'm not sure about - there's nothing obvious, but I've not looked that closely! It would surprise me if he's been neutered because not many of the local people's dogs are - they don't like to spend money on their animals... Good to know it's unlikely that a male will react to a snappy bitch. I certainly don't want to stop her telling them off when they're crossing the line; I just don't want it to escalate into something more if the other dog reacts. I have a pretty hefty side kick on me, though, so can always call that into play if needs be.
I do agree that an appropriate telling off by a well socialised bitch is absolutely nothing to worry about - indeed, I paid for Charlie to meet a lot of bitches like this when he went through his teenage lack of manners stage. Thanks to a particularly effective greyhound bitch called Heidi, Charlie knows that a "3 second sniff" means just that... But, the bitches I've seen do this, have not been hunched over and cowering. They have stood tall and been very confident...so I'm not so sure from your description of Willow. Maybe these dogs are just threatening in some way? In which case, I'd avoid them and try to stop them approaching (easier said than done - and I really know that!).
Yes, it is hard to avoid them - I can go two ways out of the front door. Left leads up to the end of the road and a short walk. Right leads to the village, more (longer) walks, and where I go training. These dogs live about a hundred yards along the road to the right and there's no way around. I walk that route most mornings and some evenings, and am lucky that the dogs aren't there very often, otherwise I'd be very hemmed in, other than driving past them in my car. Willow is very submissive in general with new dogs that approach her, so I'm used to seeing that body language on her and it's not specific to these two dogs. She met loads of different dogs as a young puppy (from grumpy old men, to other puppies, playful adults and aloof bitches), so it's not due to lack of socialisation and she's never had a bad experience with another dog. I pretty much put her demeanour down to still being a puppy, although I know some puppies are the polar opposite and will bounce on anything until they're told off. Willow generally susses out a new dog that comes up to her pretty quickly, picks herself up and then proceeds to ignore it. Unless it's super fun, like a lurcher. But these two are different somehow. Maybe because they're so tall. Maybe because there's two of them (even though one gets bored quickly and wanders off). Maybe there's something else that I'm missing.
There are only 2 dogs that I have seen Hattie worried by, tail between her legs and walking stuck to my leg, one is a very nervous aggressive Border Collie that has set about her twice and the other is a Flat Coat, again that has actually attacked her twice When we come across these dogs I use BATing and it's been very successful to the point she sees the dog she automatically looks to me for a great treat ignoring the troublesome dogs until we have walked past. We use this technique a lot with Charlie and have had really great results, I don't know if training a little of that would help Willow but might be worth a try. xx
I agree with Helen - give Willow something else to think about by focusing on you or heeling instead. It's worth a try - you'll need to start practising at a distance from these dogs though, in the usual way! It doesn't sound like the two tall dogs are behaving in a problem kind of way, or are likely to escalate it themselves. It doesn't sound to me like the makings of a fight. My main goal would be to help Willow with her comfort levels, rather than worrying about what the other dogs might do.
Hmm, yeah. Practicing with these dogs will be an issue, because as soon as they spot us, they come trotting up. Willow is already focussed on walking to heel at the time, because it's not far from home. So it's all about the proximity, which is out of my control. Her "Look at That!" is really good, and she does use it, but once the dogs are on top of us, she can't cope with ignoring them, which is fair enough. It's a tough one. All my friends's dogs are pally with my two, other than one who is a million years old and grumpy and another who is too haughty to play. Next time, I'm going to try turning and walking away when I see them, and hope they want to stay in some sort of proximity to where they live, so don't follow us far. I may then be able to use that distance to our advantage.
Yep, given all that I'd just try to get out of there. And also put yourself between Willow and the other dogs.
Just from the other side Fiona,Dexter can be a really over enthusiastic sniffer ...mainly with girls.He could have really bad manners if I didn't help him out ,if he's being a bother before I have called him away and he gets told off,he takes it in the best way,kind of shrugs as if to say 'well you can't blame me for trying' he's never shouted back or retaliated x
