Dog Aggression Towards Other Dogs
Dog and Puppy Training
This is something I’ve seen way too many times, especially at the dog park. And it doesn’t have to be an aggressive dog, it can be an annoying or obnoxious dog. Sometimes it is just a really happy dog doing a “run by” that can scare the owner of the timid dog.
I’ve been at the dog park where a large golden puppy was the culprit. The owner would just stand there while their little pride and joy full of energy would just nip at and annoy certain dogs. In my case, Coco wouldn’t be aggressive at all. She would try to move and hide to get away. You could see the discomfort in her face trying to get this obnoxious puppy to stop chewing on her ears and trying to engage her in rough play. The odd thing about my dog Coco is that if this was a large dog it would have been a big fight. Coco never backs down from a large dog and in most cases starts the problem. This is why we don’t go to the dog park as often as we used to.
Recently I read a good article related to this subject so I thought I would put my spin on it.
If you are out with your dog and another dog that is off leash appears from nowhere and seems aggressive what can you do? In most cases the best thing you can do is keep calm and continue on as best as possible. Focus on continuing to walk and do your best to ignore the other dog. Most dogs become bored and when they are not engaged there is a good chance they won’t follow for long. When they get no response from the dogs they might just move along. Many times dogs off the leash just want to come and say hello and nothing else.
Your dog will know if there is a problem. Unfortunately, there is a better chance of your dog being aware of your basic concerns and emotions better than the average owner recognizes the same in their dog. Because of your concern, fear or anxiety, your dog will pick up on it. If you have a protective large dog, this can be a nightmare! This is where the expression it goes down the leash comes from. Your dog will pick up on your nervousness. This type of tension doesn’t help. If you remember what happened the last time, so might the dog. After a while, your cue of pulling the dog away or your change in attitude when you both see the same trigger will be promoting the bad behavior. “If my human is scared, I must protect him.”
There is a point to where this can be a training exercise. I am NOT saying you should ever put your dog or yourself in a risky or dangerous position. Training is often taking little steps closer to the trigger (in a controlled environment) so you can modify the behavior by removing the internal triggers and reactions. This doesn’t necessarily take care of the aggressive loose dog attacking your dog, but if your dog doesn’t react to the aggressive dog and even better ignores the aggressive dog, it might just move along and there might not be an issue at all.
I realize this has been primarily about the responsible owner who keeps watch and control of his dog at the dog park, or on leash in public. Let’s look at the other side of the coin. There is always two sides to every story.
We know there are so many irresponsible dog owners who have no control over their dogs at the dog park, walking in public or even in their own homes. I know we never want to be that person, but it happens. You turn away for a moment and your dog pulls to the length of its leash and knocks over someone you are walking by, or just gets too close to someone who doesn’t appreciates dogs. One time I was going to an event which was in a large convention center. Not knowing the building I entered the wrong door with Coco on a leash. I entered the nice building that had clean carpeted floors. I was looking up and down the halls for the location of the event. In the corner of my eye, I saw Coco starting to squat. Being only a few feet inside the building I quickly dragged her outside. Now I am outside trying to get her to do her business on some patches of grass we found. Of course I had my handy poop bags ready for her to go, but she never did. Now minutes are passing and I wondering why others in my party didn’t come outside to meet me. Well, later when I got to the event we did find each other. The reason no one came out was because unbeknownst to me I was too late in dragging Coco outside. She already left a little gift on the carpet! I missed it all. Thank God the other person with me quickly cleaned up the mess. I know there are times when an owner/handler turns away for a second and really awful things happen; bites, dogs run into traffic, dog fights… I am not trying to say this compares, but it surely was very humiliating for me.
Ok, back to the other owners who allow things to happen well worse then the responsible owner would.. Ok, maybe there was some sarcasm in the line. Remember, if you are the one at the dog park always showing people where their dog just went, you better not take your eyes off of your own dog.
Sometimes it isn’t the irresponsible dog owners who have no control over their dogs that cause the problem, it is the decent owner who just one time turned away.. Or who’s dog got out and ran down the street and you are the first ones he or she comes across…
So instead of being too hard on them consider this… Most dog owners (you and me) will admit that there have been times when their dog has behaved in a way that they felt embarrassed or a bit out of control about. I remember a time at the dog park where Coco started chasing a smaller dog, I think she just wanted to play so when the owner of the smaller dog complained to me I told him with a rude attitude that she just wants to play and he should leave them alone. Looking back, this is the behavior I detest now. He didn’t have his dog at the park to be chased (for fun or not) by Coco and I should have called her back immediately. He wasn’t in our little group, which primarily consisted of German Shepherds or dogs which had no problem taking care of themselves within the group.
Then there are even occasions when dogs who are normally great in a particular situation suddenly act out of character and the owner is left feeling shocked and embarrassed. I hate it when this happens.
Sometimes I hear the offended or violated person complain when they remark… that the owner wasn’t sorry enough or didn’t care that their dog didn’t come when called. Lets remember when people are embarrassed and feel awkward they often don’t know what to say or how to act! So lets try to give what we consider the aggressive owners the benefit of the doubt and move on.