When dealing with dog-to-dog aggression, it is important to listen to our dog.
There are many reasons why a dog may act aggressively toward another.
- He may be afraid.
- He may be stressed because his space is being violated.
- He may feel the need to dominate.
- He may be protective of us.
- He may be very curious.
- He may just be over-excited.
Sometimes, what we perceive to be aggression may be the result of hyper energy, eagerness, or natural inquisitiveness. Therefore, in dog-to-dog aggression cases, it is important to understand what our dog is feeling, and what he is trying to say.
When my dog meets a new dog, I observe both of them carefully. As soon as my dog starts to get stressed, I step in and interrupt before the situation escalates.
For dog aggression issues, it is best to take a dog’s age, health, temperament, and preferences into account, while coming up with appropriate solutions.
1. Be Calm and Decisive
Dogs are very sensitive to what their human is feeling. My dog picks up on my emotions and reflects them, except with much more intensity. Sometimes, I am not even conscious of feeling nervous or stressed, but my dog notices it and starts to act up. Once I consciously calm myself down, his behavior also improves.
A common mistake when meeting other dogs is to tense up, and get fearful of what our dog may do. If we are afraid, our dog will pick up on that fearful energy, and that will likely trigger an aggressive reaction.
Be careful not to put undue or continuous tension on the leash. Also, do not pull the dog straight back, as that will likely cause a lunge forward response. To remove my dog, I pull him to the side and quickly walk him past the other dog.
2. Teach Our Dog Avoidance
When I see another dog, I usually just ignore him and move along.
I have found that avoidance is most effective when I avert my eyes from both dog, as well as owner. I keep my eyes forward, and keep walking at a natural pace. In this way, my dog learns that when we see other dogs, we avoid rather than confront.
Be careful not to crowd our dog while walking. If he feels trapped between us and the other dog, he may think he has no choice but to react aggressively. Do not stand still while trying to tug our dog away. Move away, and he will come along with us. At the same time, we are creating space so that he will not feel trapped.
I do not let my dog obsess or stare intensely at other dogs. Sometimes, my Shiba Inu will drop into a stalking-down-position, stare, and wait for the other dog to pass. Some people think that he is such a good boy for doing a Down, when other dogs are coming toward him, but he is actually just waiting to pounce.
Do not allow this bad behavior, do not let our dog practice it, do not even let him think about it. Just move him along, and ignore. If the other dog is somehow blocking us (e.g. if the owner is unable to control his dog), then walk away in a different direction. Do not stare the other dog down and do not confront him, either through posture or by physically engaging him.
Challenging unknown dogs is a good way to get bitten.
3. Create Space or Block the Other Dog
We can do this by moving across the road or into a driveway, and waiting for the other dog to pass.
We may also move our dog behind a barrier, for example a car. If there are no barriers available, we can try blocking the dog’s view with our body.
By doing this, we avoid a head-on, more confrontational passing.
I have tried all of these blocking techniques, but what works best for me is to create space, and quickly move past the other dog. Whenever I wait for the other dog to pass, my Shiba uses that time to start obsessing.
Dog treats and trying to get his attention do not work at this point, because the other dog is too close, and Shiba Sephy is no longer listening. The advantage of walking Sephy briskly past the other dog, is that he has less time to stare. In addition, he cannot fully obsess, because he must partly focus on walking.
However, using barriers and blocking may work better for a fearful dog.
Some trainers suggest turning and walking away when we see another dog, rather than passing him or waiting for him to pass.
There are two problems with this method:
- If we turn away, the other dog will be following us. This may cause some dogs to keep looking back, to make sure that the follower is not a threat. I have tried this, and indeed my Shiba keeps looking back.
- If we keep turning away, we may meet other dogs and get boxed in; especially if there are many dogs in our neighborhood.
4. Create Neutral Experiences
I try to create as many neutral dog-to-dog meeting experiences as possible. If every time my dog sees another dog, we just pass by and nothing interesting happens, it will become a non-event.
Being consistent with neutral greetings will build our dog’s confidence. Through repetition, we are teaching him how to behave (just avoid and move along), and how not to behave (get over-excited, frustrated, lunge, and pull). He will be more calm because he is not waiting in anticipation of a highly charged encounter, either for play or for confrontation.
I try to set my dog up for success, and do not let him practice aggressive behaviors when meeting other dogs. The more he practices, the more aggressive he will be.
If my dog becomes agitated during a walk, I try to end the outing as soon as possible. Once in this mode, his adrenaline levels will be high for a fair duration, and he will likely react aggressively to all the dogs that we meet. In this state, he will no longer be capable of learning, and will only be practicing dog aggressive behaviors.
5. Protect our Dog
I usually keep my dog away from people and dogs with weak energy (e.g. fearful, excited, or frustrated energy). In addition, I also try to keep other dogs and owners from coming into my dog’s space. I say a quick ‘hi’ to the people I meet, and move on.
If people with weak energy stop and want to meet my dog, I ask them nicely to please move on, because my dog is easily excitable.
It is fine and good to let a dog meet people with calm energy, but make sure to let them know how to best meet our dog. In particular, turn away when he jumps, no quick movements, and no petting from above.
6. Keep Greetings Short and Sweet
While greeting another dog, we want to positively interrupt our dog every so often, and get him to refocus on us. Do this as many times as necessary, so that our dog does not get over-excited, and lose control of himself.
Whenever my dog is meeting a new dog, I interrupt him after a very short duration (2-3 seconds). I quickly move or jog away from the other dog, while giving the positive interrupt command, e.g. Hey, hey. Initially, I may have to lightly tug at my dog while moving away. I make sure to treat him well for moving toward me on a loose leash.
If our dog is too obsessed to move away and is strongly standing his ground, then we have waited too long to initiate the interrupt. Positive interrupts are also useful for dealing with human greetings, and getting our dog away from a dirty or unsuitable area.
The key to successful positive interrupts is to catch a dog early, before he starts to obsess on another dog or object.
7. Be Aware of Aggressive Triggers
Some dogs, for example Spitz-type dogs, have a natural look that may appear dominant (ears up, hair out, tail up). This dominant look may instigate other dogs to respond in kind, and start posturing as well. Conflicts may occur, and if neither dog is willing to back down, this may lead to a dog fight.
If I am unsure about a dog greeting, I just move on. Better to be safe than sorry.
8. Desensitize our Dog to Other Dogs
The problem with dog-to-dog aggression issues, is that in regular situations the “other dog” stimulus is too strong, and environment is too unstructured for any learning to occur. Often, our dog overloads quickly and becomes reactive, because the other dog is too close, is staring, is hyper, or is charging toward us.
In the desensitization process, we do training in a quiet, enclosed environment, and start with a very weak version of the problem stimulus. In terms of reactivity toward other dogs, we can use distance to weaken its effect.
In this way, we also weaken the strength of our dog’s reaction, so that he will be calm enough to listen and learn. This is necessary, to create opportunities where we can begin to teach our dog to be calm and relaxed, while in the presence of another dog.
I did quite a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization sessions with Sephy, when he was young, at our local SPCA. The trainers there had many balanced, friendly dogs, that we could do training with.
First, the trainer would engage the other dog in training exercises, so that he stays in a fixed position, and is not focused on Sephy (i.e., no eye-contact). Both dogs are on-leash.
I take Sephy a far distance away, far enough away that he is still calm and able to listen to me. Then, I get his attention by calling his name. If he looks at me, I praise, and treat him for behaving well. Sometimes, I also ask him to do very simple commands, e.g. Sit.
I let Sephy sit and watch the other dog as long as he is calm, and willing to give me his attention when I ask for it. Once we are both comfortable with this, I move one step toward the other dog and repeat the Focus and Sit exercises above.
Do not move too close to the other dog, too quickly. If we move forward too fast, our dog may become reactive, and will no longer be able to give us his attention. At this point, I no-mark Sephy (uh-oh) and move back a few steps. Once we are far enough away, I try to get his attention again. When he gives it to me, I stop, praise, and treat.
Note – for desensitization to be successful, we want to keep our dog below his instinct threshold as much as possible.
I always try to make sessions short, fun, and rewarding. This helps our dog associate other dogs with being calm, and with positive experiences. I make sure to stop before my dog shows any obsessive behavior, and long before he becomes aggressive. Once a dog becomes reactive or aggressive, it is usually best to end the session soon after.
As we make progress, we can slowly increase the strength of the problem stimulus. For example, we may allow the target dog to start moving around, or we may allow him to play with his handler.
The desensitization process can be long and difficult. Dogs with lower instinct thresholds (the point at which they lose control and switch to instinct) will be harder to desensitize. However, consistent practice will also help to raise this threshold.
What to Expect from Dog-to-Dog Aggression Training
Do not expect too much, too quickly, from our dog. Make sure to treat and praise him very well, if he voluntarily engages in avoidance maneuvers, when there are other dogs around. This includes looking away from the direction of the other dog, smelling and exploring the environment, or looking at us for direction.
Initially, treat and praise even small avoidance moves, for example looking away for just 1 second. If a dog will not accept treats from us, then he is too far gone and it is best to lead him away. Treats are only effective for shaping behavior when our dog is still thinking, and not operating on instinct.
If we keep practicing desensitization exercises, and teach our dog how to behave with other dogs, he will improve. As he matures, he will become more confident, be less dog aggressive, and be more comfortable around new experiences.
For aggression issues between two family dogs, here is more on how I help my dogs get along.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate the article! I have a 205 pound Euro Great Dane. He is so good with strangers, kids, sharing resources with my other pups, etc. But when it comes to strange dogs I never know what to expect. Sometimes he plays, sometimes he ignore them, but more and more often he postures himself strongly as dominant. He has never bitten another dog but its only a matter of time before this behavior causes a situation to escalate.
What I was looking for was a good method of conditioning him to correctly behave in these situations. Negative reinforcement was the only thing I could think of and I know it is counter productive in these situations. Both me and Moose would be so sad if I had to start leaving him at home on our trips to the Dog Park.
Yeah, I also had issues with my Shiba Inu (Sephy) in dog parks. Dog parks are often a big challenge because there are all types of dogs that appear there. Some of them do not want to play at all, some of them only want to play with their family and start guarding family members, some people bring kids there (even though they are not supposed to because of the risks), etc.
Sephy plays well with other playful dogs, but if another dog postures or challenges him, he will not back down. He is bold in that way, and that is part of his personality. We went to all the ones that were in our area, but soon realized that the environment was too unstructured for him. He was also starting to learn a lot of bad habits there. Here is more on our dog park experiences.
In terms of conditioning, dog-to-dog desensitization exercises were helpful in getting Sephy to be more calm around other dogs, in more structured situations. For example, during walks and in smaller, more structured, play-groups. I talk more about our desensitization experiences at the end of the article above.
I enjoy reading these articles and have tried many of the methods with my male GSD/Ridgie mix and am still stumped! I have also watched both Victoria Stillwell and Ceasar Milan and think both are excellent, although I prefer Ceasar’s more direct approach in most cases.
The problem I have is that my male shep/ridgie mix gives no indication before he bites. Sometimes, he tries to be dominate at the dog park and most dogs just ignore him-although a Great Dane has put him in his place! LOL! No injuries -just seemed to embarrass my brat dog! But he has attacked 2 collies- the first one was an old dog coming to greet all of us. I felt at the time that my dog -Brudder -was being protective of my friend -a quadriplegic who was with us at the time. The second time Brudder attacked a collie was at a dog park, and the only thing I could figure was that it was too close to Brudder’s “sister”. But there were other dogs around at that time, so maybe he has a fixation about collies.
There are several collies in my apartment building and he has met them all and he has shown no sign of aggression to them-until today. We were returning from our morning walk, and there was the old collie just sniffing away at a post so I allowed Brudder to go sniff his butt. They’d met several times before, and Brudder had even tried to play with him. Today, we were all relaxed and yet suddenly Brudder nipped the dog in the side! No warning, no upraised or stiff tail- just bit him! I immediately pulled him away and made him lay down, while the other dog was pulled away. Brudder obediently laid there focused on me until I let him up. We then came home and I put him in the bathroom (his replacement crate) while I fed the other animals, then when they were done, I let him out and fed him. They’ve just gotten over Kennel Cough and started interacting with other dogs again, and I have been sick for several days so Brudder could have been stressed, but he appeared relaxed as this was after a run through the woods.
I can’t afford to have an unpredictable dog! This is not the first time he’s just bitten a dog out of they blue-and he doesn’t seem to do any physical damage. But he has been in 2 serious fights which occurred when he ran up to greet 2 other dogs- a female ex fighter Pitt, and an unaltered male spaniel type dog. He’s much more obedient than my little female chow/border collie mix, and he loves people! He is fearful of thunder, fireworks, etc and he indicates that he’s ready to go in to avoid the things he’s afraid of. He’s also fixed. He follows my female when running through the woods, but he does a role reversal and dominates her in play, at the dog park and here at home over his chew bones (although she couldn’t care less about the rawhides!) I think that he is a dominant/agressive/insecure dog and I don’t know how to deal with his nipping other dogs when he show no signs!
Yeah, dog park situations can be very iffy. Often there is a lot of over-excitement, in an unstructured environment (no rules), with little supervision, and a high number of dogs. Here is a bit more on my dog park experiences.
As for reading a dog’s body language/signals, that can often be a challenge. Sometimes the signals go by quickly, sometimes it is subtle, sometimes it is difficult to interpret. When I have having reactivity issues with my Shiba, we visited with several professional trainers and that was helpful. They observed Sephy is various situations, temperament tested him, and helped me with reading some of his body signals.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
In terms of being pack leader, I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs. I also set up a fixed routine and a consistent set of rules.
Here are a couple of articles on dominance and aggression-
http://behavior.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/local-assets/pdfs/The_Truth_About_Aggression__Dominance_dogs.pdf
http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/handling_dominance_aggression_in_dogs
Great article. I am having so many problems with my reactive rover. I am hoping to use all your tips. Thank you.
Hi. I wonder if you could help me. We have an 8yrs old pom-spitz dog that suddenly starting to attack our 1yr old daschund. It’s the only dog the he attacks. He doesn’t attack the other dogs and he doesn’t attack any other dogs before. But, when our golden retiever died he started attacking the daschund. Do you have any advice on how we can tame him? Currently he’s on the leash or inside the cage just to prevent him attacking again. Thank you.
What were the dogs doing right before the attack? Were there any food or toys nearby? What are the dogs’ routine like? What other dogs are there? Are there any other changes in behavior with the dogs? Is the Pom showing stress, changes in energy level, changes in eating behavior, or anything else? Do the attacks usually happen at a particular time or place? What things are there in common?
When there are aggression issues between my dogs, I first try to identify what is triggering the aggression – for example is it over resources, from stress, physical issues, or something else? Once I identify the source of the aggression, then I can work at managing it and helping my dog overcome it.
Dog behavior is very context dependent and there are many things that can trigger aggressive behavior. For complex situations like the one you describe, it may be best to consult with a professional trainer who can visit with the dogs, and see their behavior first-hand within the context of the surrounding environment and routine.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hello, I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I’m having.
I just got a 14 week old Shiba Inu puppy and am having some trouble with her and my other dogs, a Mini Schnauzer and Bichon Frise. The first day she just ignored them, probably because she was scared, but the second day she started barking and nipping at their legs and tails. I tried to intervene by standing between them and saying “NO” in a firm voice, but that doesn’t seem to do anything. So the next thing I tried was “timeout”. When she started nipping at them I would pick her up and take her to a crate in our basement, leaving her in there for 5 minutes at first, and then after the third time, 10 minutes. But that isn’t helping either.
I’ve done research and read that instead of a discipline system, you should try a reward system by giving your dog treats for good interactions with other dogs. I thought this sounded good for my Shiba since she reacts better to rewards than discipline but the problem is that there is NEVER a good interaction between her and my other dogs. As soon as she sees them she goes after them.
I’ve had her for 4 days now and my other dogs are just so afraid of her that they hide from her, and stay in our basement all day, trying to avoid her. It’s really disappointing because she is such a great dog. She’s very smart, and I love her so much. She is already potty trained, after only one accident, I have taught her “sit” and “lie down”, and she walks great on a leash. She is a wonderful little thing, but a nightmare to my other dogs.
I would very much appreciate any advice you can give me! Thank you!
1. Crate
I train my dogs to associate their crate with calmness and positive experiences. Crates are very useful for transportation and other training tasks, so I want them to like going into their crates and to enjoy their time there. This is how I do timeouts.
2. Reward Training and Aversive Training
Here is more on how dogs learn.
More on operant conditioning.
More on how I train my puppy.
More puppy training stuff.
3. Helping my dogs get along.
To help my dogs get along-
a) I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules and teach them what the rules are. In this way, my dogs know what to expect from each other and what to expect from me. If there are any issues, I step in and resolve them. I try to be very consistent about consequences and I try to be very fair. Timing, repetition, and consistency are all very important in training my dogs. It takes time to change behavior.
b) I minimize bad encounters. I supervise my new dog closely and make sure that he follows the rules and does not bother my existing dogs when they do not want to be bothered.
c) I try to create as many positive learning experiences as I can. For example, I will start training my new puppy by using very high priority rewards. This will usually attract my other dogs over, at which point I will do obedience commands with all of them. I make sure to reward them *very very well* for being calm together and doing work for me.
Here is more on how I help my dogs get along.
My Shiba does well when there is a fixed routine, a consistent set of rules, and structure to his daily life. I also follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs.
Hi
Your article was really helpful and I’ve read through the comments and although some are similar to the issues I’m having – I wondered if you could help?
I have 2 JRT, (14yr and 3yrs) both rescue. I’ve had the 3yr old – Kato a Parsons since he was 6months, he is also a tripod (his rear leg was amputated before I adopted him due to hip dysplatia)
He’s fine at home and with people, tho still territorial towards strangers in the home during the first meeting. We moved to the city from the quiet countryside and now with all the city noises and as soon as he hears or smells people/dogs outside he barks.
My dogs get on great together and the older one, cleans Kato daily – tho the favour isn’t returned!
He is a nervous dog – which I’m working on. The main issues is walks, he has got to the point where as soon as he sees another dog he lunges, barks and growls. I can only let him off the lead if there are no other dogs around, or once he has got to know them but he’s still very weary and growls if he feels invaded.
He can’t stand other dogs around my older dog and gets really stress and barks/growls – my other dog just ignores him.
I use to be able to let him off around our local parks, but I can’t risk it now, he had never bitten a dog just barking and growling.
He has been attacked by other larger dogs on several occassions, some occassions he has barked at them other times he has only gone to say hi a which had undoubtly nerved him and made his behaviour towards other dogs worse. staffy type dogs especially set him off – yes he has been attacked by two.
If I walk him in the countryside or on visits to my mums I can walk him off lead around other dogs and he is absolutely fine, he’ll go and sniff them then carry on with his walk – different dog!
He responds well to his ball and I praise him for good behaviour around other dogs when he doesn’t growl. I’m following your advice and also that of my dog walker who cares for them when I’m at work. Who says its nervous aggression. My vet also thinks that because he only has 3 legs he knows he is more vulnerable which could explain his behaviour and also why he has been attacked by other dogs.
I am trying to stay calm when walking him but I know I’m tensing as soon as I see a dog approaching, I change our daily walks but he’s still not improving and I’d love him to be more friendly and social with other dogs, he’s fine with my friends westie when he does see her, tho he’s even getting aggressive towards dogs we normally meet on walks that previously he’s been fine with.
How can I stop his jealousy (?) when my other dog is with/greeting other dogs and his reaction in general to other dogs an the causes?
Thank you
Initially, I leash train my dogs separately. They get a lot more excitable when they are together, so I leash train them singly first. I start small, in a quiet, low stimulus environment, for example my backyard. This allows me to get my dog comfortable with walking on leash and paying attention to me. After my dog is totally comfortable, then I *very slowly* increase the environmental challenge.
In this way, I maximize successful walks, and this helps us both to enjoy our time together and to build confidence. The more successes we have, the more improvement I see in my dog’s behavior. The opposite is also true. Therefore, in addition to maximizing successes, I also do my best to minimize bad encounters where my dog starts to show reactive behavior. The more reactive behavior he practices when he sees other dogs, the more likely he is to repeat those same behaviors in the future.
I also did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with my Shiba Inu, which I talk more about at the end of the article above. We practiced a lot at our local SPCA, in a structured environment, with certain chosen dogs, and under the direction of one of their trainers. Visiting with a good professional trainer was helpful for Sephy, and for me as well.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hi:
Any tips on how to reduce/avoid aggression when my dog is at the dog park? She is fine at home with the cat and two other dogs and 99 times out of 100, she’s fine at the park too. But once in a while she just worked up and pins another down and won’t release. Thanks.
With my dogs the key is to manage their excitement level so that they don’t get into that over-excited state. That can be difficult to do at the dog park, especially if there are many highly excitable dogs around, with no rules, and very little supervision. My dogs do better in smaller, more structured playgroups, where I can properly supervise, have breaks, and manage their level of excitement.
A bit more on my dog park experiences.
Hi there, I adopted a 7 year old German Shepard, female, from my local shelter at the end of July this past year. She is extremely laid back, great with kids and cats. When we first got her, for about a month, she paid no attention to other dogs. Would sniff them and keep walking. But after that month she started barking aggressively, and even tries to attack them. She is an only dog here, but it’s gotten bad to the point where I can only walk her at night (my complex has a lot of dogs that are walked during the day) out of fear that something bad may happen to her or another dog. I do one day want to add another dog to my family, but I want her to not be afraid of whatever it is that’s bothering her. I tried an introduction with my friend’s dog and even that didn’t go well. Please help!
Did anything happen with other dogs during that month? During that month, is she the one who approaches the other dogs or is it the other dogs who get into her space? Does she bark at all dogs or just some dogs? How near are the dogs before she starts to react?
Each dog has different tolerances when it comes to other dogs. I think dog-to-dog tolerance, in large part, is based on temperament, past experiences, and surrounding context. For example, Sephy, my Shiba Inu was very reactive towards other dogs when he was young. He would get over-excited, and then frustrated when he was restrained by his leash. He then released his frustration through barking, jumping, and leash biting. This is very different from Shania, my Husky, who is wary of big dogs because we have gotten charged by large dogs before, and it was not a pleasant experience for either of us.
I did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with Sephy to help him stay more calm in the presence of another dog, and to help him re-associate other dogs with positive experiences. The key with Sephy is to start small (we start from a long distance away and in a very structured environment) and to go slowly. I make sure to go at a pace that he is comfortable with, and to manage things so that his other dog experiences are either positive, or at worst neutral. I talk more about desensitization at the end of the article above.
My energy is also very important. If I am stressed out, fearful, or frustrated, Sephy will pick up on that and get even more crazy with other dogs. Therefore, I always try to stay very calm.
I also pick Sephy’s friends very carefully, and we only do greetings that will be positive and successful. At other times, we create neutral experiences and ignore other dogs. It was very important with Sephy to minimize negative greetings, as they made his behavior worse. At the same time, I created opportunities for positive greetings in a structured environment, through desensitization exercises.
It is also important to note that introducing a dog in neutral territory will be different from introducing a dog in the house. Some dogs, especially guard dogs, may guard their property from new dogs and strangers.
In short, there are many variables involved, and each dog is different. For safety and accuracy, it is usually best to consult with a good professional trainer, especially in cases of aggression. We visited with several for Sephy, and did desensitization training at our local SPCA under the direction of a trainer there.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
I’ve adopted a (supposedly) two year old female Chihuahua in late May of ’13. She is a very laid back dog in most situations and I can bring her anywhere I go.
But recently she started to get aggressive when other dogs approach her. She will do the exact same thing as your Shiba Inu when the other dogs want to sniff her (and especially her butt).
What worsens the situations is, that she will get circled, almost run over by bigger dogs, sometimes two at a time. It had male (unfixed) dogs follow her obsessively though she was neutered in April. It’s not hard to see why she’s getting agitated. The other dog owners NEVER have called back their sometimes very boisterous dogs back to them. This is rude, right?
(With a Chihuahua most people seem to judge me – young woman + small dog = Paris Hilton. That’s why I feel bad about her doing that. I try be more relaxed, but so far I still have to work hard on my attitude. Currently I’m looking for a trainer/supervised play sessions.) After reading your posts I think my dog is not anti-social but is a bit overboard with her reactions. Did I get it right?
My issue is, that most dogs we meet are off leash, the paths were I walk are narrow with no escape. Even with leashed dogs, they are allowed to get closer, lunge forward or get in our way. I was hesitant and too ashamed to ask the dog owners to keep their dogs away or adress it in general as I thought my dog was behaving badly.
How should I handle the situations with the other dogs?
With my Shiba I tested out several different hiking trails, and we go to the ones that are more quiet, with less foot traffic, and has more space so that I can redirect him away and get him to do something else. I usually also go during off-hours. I like the quiet myself, so it works out well.
As for untrained off-leash dogs, that is a difficult issue because it is more of a people problem rather than a dog problem.
http://shibashake.com/dog/off-leash-neighborhood-dogs
So I have a 7 year old border collie and she acts like a puppy. She is great with other dogs. However we just rescued a 7 year old neglected malamute she growls at my other dog all the time. Doesn’t attack just growls. This dog was obese and unsocialized she is amazing with my cats and kids. My kids are 2 and 3 months. She let’s my 2 year old ride her and sleep with her but her and my other dog don’t get along. My border collie is submissive and will fight back but she just tries to walk from my room to the living room and gets growled at even though my border collie ignores the malamute. What can I do to encourage my malamute nakita to play or stop growling at my border collie. I am a stay at home mom and am willing to put work in
Here are some things that I do to help my dogs get along-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
I try to create and maximize positive and successful together time, while minimizing negative encounters. I make sure that each of my dogs has a quiet place to go to when they just want to rest. If a dog is resting or just wants some alone time, I make sure the other two does not go near to bother him.
I also set up a fixed schedule and a consistent set of interaction rules for my dogs. In this way, each dog knows what is expected of him, what to expect from the other dogs, and what to expect from me. When introducing a new dog, there is a lot of stress and uncertainty, so having some consistency really helps.
Big hugs to your two girls!