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.
I am desperate. My 18 month old boxer has started attacking my 5 year old terrier mix. ALL OF A SUDDEN! I do not know why it started or how to stop it. It’s awful and scary and if it weren’t for my husband being able to muscle the boxer off the terrier I fear she would’ve killed the little one. Please help me!!!
My Labradoodle is 18 months and ever since we got him at 10 weeks, the neighbor dogs have barked at him, a lot. Maybe the neighbor dogs didn’t like the new dog on the block? Sometimes their dogs would be on the loose and ran straight over to me and my dog while we played ball in backyard, and attacked him, this happened several times before the neighbors got the message to keep their dog in its own yard. Now, when I walk my dog or take him to dog classes, he is fine with strange dogs, plays nicely, but if we ever run into our neighbors walking their dogs, or see them when we are driving the car, my dog really gets unhinged. Am I just doomed to have my dog always hating these certain dogs that barked at him, and attacked him, while he was younger? Sometimes I think maybe I should find a new home for my dog, where he doesn’t have to be so close to those mean dogs who attacked him.
Hello,
I’m about to adopt a 2-3year old female pitbull. The foster parent told me that she don’t like other female dogs. She is staying in a home with 4 male and a female dog, the female dog had to get stitches after an altercation that they had. Other then that she is a very sweet calm dog and did great with my daughters. How do I begin working on that problem? I though I would get her a muzzle and move forward from there…. I’m a fairly new pet owner and I don’t have tons of experience.
Please please don’t adopt that dog. It is not a dog for an inexperienced owner- she requires some who knows how to work with a dog who has sims behavior issues. This would not be a good situation for you or the dog.
I just adopted a 3 year old female Pit yesterday, and the adoption agency just called us to make sure we didn’t have any other dogs in the house because the paperwork stated that she wasn’t good with other dogs. Thankfully we don’t have any other dogs, but I don’t want her to be aggressive with other dogs, and I don’t want to excuse her from having a “doggie social life.” So we are going to work on getting her used to seeing other dogs and such. I know it’s easier said than done.
Best of luck to you.
Have an interesting situation brewing… I have 6 dogs 15yrs, 4yrs, 2 x 20mths (brother/sister) and 2 x 14 mths (Brothers)…. so 3 boys and 3 girls…all of hem have been sterilized – the brothers were done last week.
The 4 years old bitch is dominant in the pack….
They all get on together, until a month ago when the brothers started dominance aggression towards each other… so we had them sterilized and the only in physical contact with each other at the moment is when they are on a lead with us… they like each other, love to see each other 99.9% of the time..but something kicks in and they are at one another! Although only 14 mths old, they weigh 50+ kg … a lot of dog!
They have been socialized and attended puppy training ( some success)…
Today we took them to the vets to have their stitches out… both on leads and muzzles. One of the dogs was quite unsettled in the waiting area ( no other animals there), when in walked a man all buoyant and went straight up to my dogs…. the unsettled dog was sitting in front of me, when the man came in and he bent down to offer his face to be licked…. my dog (even with a muzzle) took exception to this and managed to get enough space in the muzzle and nipped his ear ( drew blood )
He has done this before – exact same location/same situation ie a stranger sticking their face next to his
At first I thought this was the start of some aggressive protection behavior or maybe this stranger encroaching on his space as he was stuck between him and me….. or is this just stupidity on the men’s part?
It is partially the man’s fault bc you don’t put yourself r face UpTo an unknown dog but also partially your fault as you should have told that man to back off. It is your job to protect your dog. My shiba is sometimes questionable on a leash with new people I tell them not to pet her. I refuse to put her in danger of hurting herself. Ultimately she will pay the price if she bites. Not the person. They sell no pet harnesses if you feel uncomfortable correcting adults.
You don’t put your face in front of a dogs face. Especially one you don’t know. That’s like the man who lost fingers when he put his hand in my dads car the pet my dads pit. No he wasn’t trained to guard the vehicle. No he wasn’t trained to guard anything in the vehicle. But I’m sorry you just don’t stick your hand in another vehicle. You just don’t stick your hand in a vehicle with a dog in it. Of any breed. Especially if the dog does not know you. It’s common sense. The guy tried to sue my dad and lost.
I am a 16 year old with a 3 year old male roetwiller/ lab mix named Kuzco. He lives behind the garage in his own little section because we have a gate that connects to the back yard, so we can’t let him loose. He is a very aggressive towards other dogs and killed one of our neighbors yorkie dogs. he has also killed a bird and a opossum before. When I walk him and he sees another dog he is relatively calm. Until when they run up on him. You see tonight when I walked him a medium sized dog came running at us and my first thought was to run as quick as possible but of course the dog caught up. And in front of my dog was biting and grabbing the dog (very small compared to him) and then the dog went running home. I’m very afraid that this might happen again and each time I walk him I’m so paranoid if there will be another loose dog around the corner. I’m trying to train him but I’m only 16 and have school so if anyone has any home excersizes to train and calm young dogs please let me know.
Though I have not tried these techniques with my new dog, I have heard elsewhere that they work. Google “training a dog to settle or relax westwood animal hospital” and the first link is a PDF with several strategies for various situations. I would also recommend trying to get an approaching dog to leave before your dog acts aggressively. You could do this using a very loud stern voice and shout “back off”. While you are trying to retrain your dog, if your dog’s aggression is truly that serious, you could always carry pepper spray in case your dog gets its mouth on another dog and won’t let go – though it would truly suck to pepper spray your own dog, you may have to in order to get it to release the animal it is attacking.
Sounds like your dog is out of control. Don’t let it around other dogs if it attacks. People shouldn’t have dangerous dogs around people or pets.
Hello, I badly need your help with a unpleasant situation. I have a Dalmatian 10 years old (male) he killed a bichon puppy(male 3months old) in front of my eyes. I trusted him and he seemed ready to mingle with the bichon but he grabbed him and never let go. We told him to put it down he did do so then he looked at us and cracked the neck for the bichon. he then took the body and we never found it.
I have 2 other dogs (female) with which he is just fine with. 1 dachshund and 1 mix terrier.
In the past he did killed cats, pigeons and rodents but never in front of us. It usually happens overnight or during our absence.
We once saw a dead body of a dog in our garden but we weren’t certain that he is the one who killed. (i wasnt here when that happen)
I never feed him raw meat.
I went to see the vet and he told me that he needs to be put down because training him at this stage may be pointless.
should i listen to the vet?
For 4-5 years of his life i wasn’t present due to the fact that I undertook further studies overseas. But my parents were continuously here.
To be honest i’m very scared of him since this incident i’m enable to looked at him, my mum is feeding him.
Please give me your advise on this. Im unable to sleep i keep picturing him killing and killing.
I live in a neighbourhood where there are loads of kids playing outside.
he is usually keep in his kennel which is found at the rear of the house
may be i was at fault doing that…but i really really trusted that my dalmatian would be calm and willing to bond
Maybe because it was a male dog and he felt the bichon was a threat to his home, since he is used only to female dogs and he is the only male. If your dog won’t listen to you then you need to re-train him old dogs can learn new tricks. Your dog should be submissive towards you when you give him a command, sounds like he is a little confused on who is in charge. My 6 year old chiweenie used to growl at me and sometimes tried to snap at me when he was younger because other family members would sneak him food or not allow me to take control of the situation, now I have corrected his behavior and he is completely submissive to the point he will not chase a squirrel if I say uh-uh no. I don’t know much about bigger dogs or Dalmatians , but I know that my 6 year old has changed his behavior and even my 2 year old chiweenie mix although he is submissive can be sneaky and instigate fights but it is important to show that you are the pack leader. Voice tone also plays a big part in discipline , like in the article do not just give your dog anything make him realize he needs to be submissive and listen by rewarding with treats when he responds well and just spending extra time and extra love will make a stronger bond and gain more trust between you two. I’m not an expert , I’m basing this off of things I have read and my own experiences. If you are willing to put in time to retrain your dog and give him extra attention I would keep him that’s just me. My grandparents had a Dalmatian max when I was young and he was very sweet , do not give up on your Dalmatian . I may also suggest taking him for walks alone in big open parks or somewhere out in nature , I do not imagine keeping him locked up in the cage is helping his aggression or restlessness but rather is exacerbating it. When I put my dogs in the cage it is when they are acting bad , he could just be acting out like a child would. I know the puppy incident is a big deal take it seriously and put time into him and he will respond to you in a better way.
I would seek a veterinary behaviorist to help you and also look into purchasing a basket muzzle and train him to wear it on a daily basis especially when outside.
Dont get rid of your dog, he most likely was protecting his pack and territory. Have you ever taught him not to, how is he suppose to know how to react when he put in a new situation (the puppy should have been in a carrier untill you know if he’ll be safe) . Dogs generally aim to please there owners or someone higher in the pack. Maybe when you scoled him for being aggressive and when he stopped and looked at you you should have kept yelling and came after him untill you retrieved the puppy from him even if it was to late to save it. But letting him take it away most like he took it as he did a good thing and the puppy was his prize. Locking him in a cage and haveing nothing to do with him or getting rid of him is not going to solve anything. You shouldnt be afraid of him he loves you and i am sure he is confused and misses you. Go see him i am sure he will be hopping around and over joyed to see you. In my opinion you need to spend more time with him so you can get to know him and teach him, maybe take a dog training course with him and give him one on one attention so you can better undetstand your pet. I might be wrong and your pet might be a serial killer but i serious dont think so. My dogs are kinda like my kids and its just my opinion i am not a professional trainer just a dog owner tryi g to help out.
Hi there
Perhaps you could help me here..
My dogs (Bruce and Polly) are really friendly and kind to each other all of the time except for when we make loud laughing noises. Any time someone laughs (especially high pitched and loud) Polly viciously attacks Bruce and we have to stop her attacking him.
I don’t know why though.. any idea to the reason why Polly does this?
My chiweenie will do this to my younger chiweenie mix if I am whooping and they are excited and we are playing or if they are playful, I know smaller dogs are more receptive to tone than big dogs . Perhaps try to hold Polly and rub and calm her next time you notice this . I will rub my chiweenie and massage his shoulders which calms him and he usually does not do anything put melt into a puddle. He could be confusing it with anger because of the pitch and loudness, and mimicking behavior he thinks is correct. Tell him no and rub him and calm him down and tell him to calm down talking in a soft tone will help the dog and he will know to calm down by sensing your energy,tone and pheromones . Dogs are very good at smelling and can small a lot of pheromones our bodies and all animals produce this is why they sniff butts this will tell them age,gender, and mood of other dog. If you are nervous and fearful the dog will pick up on this, like I said he could be confused that the laughter is anger because of the intensity of the sound and the excited need he is sensing in the house.
I own a Min Pin/Jack Russell mix and I’ve had him for almost 8 years. Just the other day I took him for a short walk. When we were on our way home from the walk a young guy was also walking a little long haired dog a bit smaller than him, anyway to make a long story short Dax was under the other dog checking him out and I was watching but obviously didn’t see any signs and Dax started attacking him or her and he had some of the other dog’s hair in his mouth. After that happened I was pretty scared and very very shocked because he had never ever done that before. I’m not sure if he was trying to be dominant or what it was. He’s always had good experiences w/ dogs except for one time,I think it was this year or last summer my neighbor a few houses down had her dog out w/ her, the dog was a little bigger than Dax,something like a Rat Terrier or something close to it and the dog snapped at my dog and I got him away from the situation quickly. I felt really really bad about the other dog though and kept asking the young man if he or she was alright and apologized 3 or 4 times,it was pretty embarrassing too knowing my dog did that. Any suggestions on what I can do ? I’m really afraid to tell my vet but I know I’ll have to because it’s the right thing to do. My husband didn’t want me to say anything but I said, “no,” ” the vet has to be told”! He said,”what if she says he has to be put down”? Hopefully she doesn’t say that bcse he had bitten me twice which she already knows about. Could it be his age and that he’s getting older, maybe he’s not feeling well ? I read on another site that if he Is not not feeling well or has hip displaysia that one of those could be the reason why. I noticed he has a lump on the back of his leg and he’s also been falling a lot when he’s going up the back porch stairs lately and that concerns me.
Referencing your Min pin mix having trouble going up stairs – we’ve rescued many older dogs that were having signs of arthritis and hip problems give them Dr fosters and Smith vitamins for seniors. Joint care extra strength soft chewables. You will be amazed. They absolutely work. You will see a major improvement in about 2 Weeks. Good luck
You mentioned your min pin mix has a lump on his back leg and he has been falling a lot …Hopefully he has been to the vet and had that biopsied because it could be cancer, especially adding the falling part. That would be my first concern as if he is sick that could also make him aggressive. Pain makes dogs aggressive. I would start there. Good luck
I’ve had my Shiba Inu, Aries for almost two years now and just recently he’s begun to be very aggressive towards other dogs. When we first noticed it we were at the dog park and he attacked another dog that got close to us. But I tried to distance myself from him and other dogs and realized that he would attack any dog that got close to him. It’s strange though because it seems to be at random, some dogs he is cool with and other dogs he full on tries to attack. I want to try your methods, but just not sure of how I should exactly go about. I have a friend who has dogs that he is familiar with and I’m wondering if I should try it with them in a controlled environment.
I have the SAME problem! My 2+ year pitbull/CATAHOULA began this behavior initially just after 1 year. We’ve had her since she was 10 weeks. Initially for that 1+ year she would roll over on her back in a submissive position to other dogs. We wondered at the time if she was going to be a fearful dog! Just after making 1 yr, she met a random dog on the beach. That increasingly began a series of random aggression on her part–it is always on the meet and greet, and it is typically dogs smaller than her, and all age groups. My husband and I grieve because we want this to stop. After several inconsistent forays of aggression at the dog park we just quit going. We also take her to doggie day care 1-2x/week where she does well (the dogs are not kept in runs).
This has been the best article I have found to date about dog to dog aggression and I like what the author has to say. We already do some things ie we are on a 360 degree watch (for other dogs) on our daily beach walk. We do avoidance unless I think she will play well w the other dog (I gauge it on what the other dog is doing – like fetching). I will call her and leash her and walk then past the other dog(s) w Lots of space between and then take her off leash when safe. So far (it’s been maybe one month) this has worked well.
My husband is much Much worse w handling her, lol…he tenses and pulls her tightly on the leash (instead of walking calmly, loose leash) as well as allowing her to lead him. So I prefer ME to be w the dogs.
Anyways, I hope this helps because all the other dog aggression articles seem to be on the dogs that have a problem w Every dog and not just random ones.
Thank you for this lovely write up!
I adopted my husky 3 months ago and the previous owner had warned about him being near other animals. While I believe it is not aggression, as he does not bark/growl at them, his attempt at trying to play or getting really excited about other animal can be frightening for the other owner. As such I was told best to avoid; pulled him away or changed directions during our walks.
Unfortunately, today a small dog came too close by him and I couldn’t react in time and he bit the small dog and held him in his mouth for probably 10secs or so until I finally got him to release.
My questions are:
1) With reference to your article about hitting a dog, I kept hitting his mouth area to make him release his hold. Is this ok? I was in shock and had never dealt with such a situation and my only thought at the moment was to get him to release cos the owner’s daughter was screaming too..
2) How should I punish him thereafter the incident? I’ve read a few sites and forums about correcting behaviors, the point is that he already has bitten the dog and all the rewarding/adverse training stuff that I keep coming across is not appropriate here.
I don’t know the extent of injuries yet as I am awaiting the vet report, but as far as I can tell there was no blood.
Storm has been very docile since I adopted him and does not lounge at humans in the same manner as toward animals or bite humans at all. Once, a lady wanted to pet him and he jump on her as a greeting, the same as how he jumps up to me when I return home, but that was all. Also, a guy came in to install cable internet and Storm did not even go up to him; just lay on the floor without batting and eye at him and we didn’t even have to leash or give him commands to stay put etc.
Sorry for the long post, I will definitely try your methods here on our next walks to get him to calm down in the presence of other animals. But for now, I am also concerned as to what I need to show him in order for him to know that it was wrong to bite the other dog cos that was actually my neighbour’s dog and definitely won’t be the last time we may cross paths again.
Thank you so much!