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Interaction With Other Dogs


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Hi!

 

I have a question about Spriets behaviour. A little background story: she's 9 years old. She doesn't really know how to play. If she wants to play with Tibbie (which is very rare) she is way too harsh, so Tibbie starts hiding herself under the table. Towards Tibbie she's very dominant. As a puppy Spriet wasn't socialized very much.

 

I think the best way to learn her how to interact with other dogs, is to interact with other dogs (like going to a dog park), but she can't run off leash anywhere (except our yard) because of an injury...

I think she just doesn't know what to do. She starts barking, growling and wagging her tail at the same time. She never bit a dog, she just growls. She would love to play, but doesn't know how. Once we've met a certain dog a few times and she knows it's OK, she calms down and is totally fine.

 

Example: Spriet wants to sniff and greet a dog we meet. But as soon as the other dog wants to sniff and greet Spriet, you can see she doesn't know what to do. It freaks her out and as soon as the other dog comes too close you hear a loud scream/growl.

When we go for a walk with a large group of dogs (20+) she's fine. As long as we keep walking in a "pack" it doesn't bother her if dogs bump into her or something like that. But what does freak her out is meeting other dogs, direct contact. Sniffing each others back or snout.

 

I don't know what the best way is to handle this. Don't let her greet other dogs? Or should I force her to meet many dogs so she learns how to deal with it?

Is there something I can do to discourage this behaviour and train her how to do it right, to feel comfortable in this kind of situation?

Anne, Sasha & Tapas. Spriet (2002-2015), Tibbie (2000-2015) and Gunda (1996-2009)

www.rapiddogwear.com

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Once we've met a certain dog a few times and she knows it's OK, she calms down and is totally fine.

 

Anne, I think you could use that trait to help her. Think of the behaviors you want her to display with friendly dogs she doesn't know yet. Label those behaviors with a "command" (for example, "You're OK" when she allows another to sniff her; "Eaaaaaaaaasy" for being calm when another approaches her) and praise/treat for good behavior -- practicing with the dogs she knows and is comfortable with. Once you have done that a lot, it might be worth picking out an unfamiliar dog to try her on -- using the commands you have practiced to indicate what she should do. I would try to pick out a friendly but not bouncy/effusive dog -- maybe one that has been trained to ignore others until released.

 

Does that make any sense?

 

My girl Zema did not like most other dogs and did not like being approached. She did learn to relax a bit when meeting one or two strange dogs at a time. It was easiest for her if the other dog was very calm and not overly focused on her -- she liked to watch the other dog from a short distance before the two approached.

Edited by Batmom

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Guest verthib

Take her to an indoor doggy play group. Our Angus was the same way. Dog parks are generally too big and wide open for good teaching etc. Our group is inside and it isn't that big, maybe 1000 sq ft. The parents stay and help with socializing and behavior modification, toy sharing, manners etc. It's done wonders for Angus. When we first started going we had to do it in small doses because he'd just get super stimulated by the other dogs playing and running and he didn't know what to do with himself. He'd start barking growling and nipping. I was the mom with the bad kid on the playground who left with her tail between her legs. They kept encouraging us to come back, and we did. Two months later he's like a different dog. It's taught him SO much, more than I can put into words.

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Batmom: Thanks for the advice, it makes sense. I'll try to do that. In the meantime I should try to avoid other dogs she's not familiar with, probably? In 2 weeks we are planning on going to a walk with 20+ hounds. She has met a few hounds before that are very calm. I could try to let her greet them, and just keep distance from all the other dogs until she's a bit more confident.

 

Verthib: That would be a perfect way to teach things. But we can't do that with Spriet. Once we visited a friend who has a small yard. We let Spriet off leash, and within 30 seconds she started to run like crazy. :blink: And we can't risk that because of her injury... The only area where she can interact with other dogs without a leash is inside a house.

Edited by AnneGTS

Anne, Sasha & Tapas. Spriet (2002-2015), Tibbie (2000-2015) and Gunda (1996-2009)

www.rapiddogwear.com

anne_sas4_qf3zva.jpg

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That is what I would do, Anne. You want her to have as many positive experiences as positive, where you can give her some signal words and praise her for being calm.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Also, keep in mind that there is no need for your dog to greet every dog she sees. Think of it this way: when you go to a mall, you don't go up to everyone and say "Hi, my name is X, nice to meet you". You're dog is the same way. Now, if you want her to interact with specific dogs, then I'd follow the advice you have been given.

77f6598d-2.jpg

My blog about helping Katie learn to be a more normal dog: http://katies-journey-philospher77.blogspot.com/

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Guest Giselle

The idea of "meeting another dog" is so mercurial and complex. It runs the gamut of just a casual sniff on a daily walk to full-fledged, off-leash wrestling match. So, I would recommend you define exactly what you want from your dog, and be realistic. For example, do you want your dog to learn how to casually sniff dogs on walks? If so, keep in mind that some dogs do not have the right personality for this behavior and many dogs off the street aren't polite or friendly. I actually discourage meeting strange dogs off the street precisely for this reason. OR do you want your dog to play politely with a few select other dogs? If so, find a playgroup and try to start building relationships there. You see what I mean? Learning to interact with other dogs is pretty complicated when you break it down into bits and pieces.

 

For starters, however, the main idea with all of these interactions is to ensure that: 1) your dog is always under voice control 2) you can always recall your dog 3) your dog is unstressed. Excessive panting, salivation, unresponsiveness to handler, tail twitches, and hard stares are signs of stress. There are more, so you may want to brush up on body language before you embark on this training.

 

To start, you may want to try some calm and controlled greeting exercises like these. Your dog will need to know "Focus" or eye contact, first. It would also benefit you if your dog understands recall and other impulse control behaviors.

#1: Let dog sniff and click/treat for any reorientation back to you. Eventually, you can ask for a "Focus"/eye contact, but you'll see that my dog is stressed and a little unresponsive (my fault, I'm always learning!):

th_SniffandFocus.jpg

#2: This is how it should look. Her response is much faster because the situation is less stressful (less dogs crowding around us).

th_DisruptFocus.jpg

Just a refresher on how to train a recall with an emphasis on impulse control:

http://drsophiayin.com/resources/video_full/come_when_called

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Guest Greyt_dog_lover

One thing that hasnt been mentioned is that you said something about sniffing and meeting and your hound not reacting well. Does your hound get upset when another dog tries to sniff her face? Realize that direct face to face meeting in doggie language is considered a hostile act.

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I'd like her to stay calm when a dog accidently comes close and I'm too late to distract Spriet. I don't want her to greet every dog we meet, I just want her not to feel so tensed when a dog approaches us.

 

About 4 times a year we meet up with a large group of sighthound owners. When we gather at a parking lot I can see Spriet is curious and wants to come closer to a dog near us. I didn't know what to do then, hold her back so she doesn't come close (even though she wants to)? Or just let her go even though I know she's going to behave like I explained in post #1? It always scares me (and the other dog owner) when Spriet suddenly growls/screams very loudly.

 

Recall training sounds like a good idea. She knows her name of course, but during a class 2 years ago we learned her to respond when I click my tongue. She responds pretty well and I could try to expand this so I can distract her when we see other dogs.

Great videos, btw. It gives me an idea on how to distract her at the right moment.

 

Greyt_dog_lover: I never thought of it... But the face sniffing is not the main issue. The worst thing for her is when a dog sniffs her back, she absolutely doesn't want that to happen.

Edited by AnneGTS

Anne, Sasha & Tapas. Spriet (2002-2015), Tibbie (2000-2015) and Gunda (1996-2009)

www.rapiddogwear.com

anne_sas4_qf3zva.jpg

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