When I got my first dog, a Shiba Inu, I thought he was the most difficult, most terrible dog in the world.
He was extremely mouthy, and would constantly bite at my hands and arms. He humped my leg, did extreme leash biting, and was very hyper around the house.
Then, I had a brainstorm; I could just hire a pet sitter/dog walker. In this way, I won’t have to deal with my devil dog all of the time, and someone else can train some manners into him.
I researched the dog walkers in my area, and picked one with seven years of dog walking, and dog training experience.
It took about a month and a half before Sephy got kicked out of his dog walking group. I also explored several different dog daycare centers, that declined to accept my money after meeting him.
But I do not think that Sephy, or even Shiba Inus are unique in this regard.
Many people probably believe that they have the most difficult dog or dog breed.
The most difficult dog breeds are simply the ones that do not fit our expectations, temperament, or lifestyle.
One man’s favorite dog breed is another man’s dog breed from hell. Some dog breeds, become more notorious for their “difficulties” because of popular movies or other media coverage. Dalmatians, for example, became very popular with the release of Disney’s 101 Dalmatians, and many owners were unprepared for the Dalmatian’s energetic nature.
While breed characteristics may predispose a dog towards certain behaviors, each dog is an individual, and each dog-owner pair is unique.
A difficult dog can come from any breed, when paired with an inappropriate owner, an inappropriate environment, or an inappropriate lifestyle.
Here we examine some of the key characteristics that make up the most difficult dog breeds.
Most Difficult Dog Breed 1 – Energy
All young dogs are energetic, but some dog breeds are more energetic than others.
Just like us, dogs need both mental and physical exercise in order to stay healthy and happy. When we are away at work, it is easy to forget that our dogs are at home alone; getting bored and anxious. Bored dogs easily become frustrated dogs; and frustrated dogs, may become aggressive and destructive.
How to calm an energetic dog –
- Walk our dog every day. At least one 30 minute walk per day. Some dogs may require two walks (mornings and evenings).
- Train our dog every day. This could be as simple as asking our dog for an obedience command before we give him anything, including food, toys, backyard access, and walks.
- Play with our dog every day. The flirt-pole is a favorite with my dogs. Soccer, fetch, catch, and tug can also be fun. Structured play sessions can help to make our dog more obedient, and enhance our overall relationship.
- Make our dog work for all of his food; either through training, grooming, or dog toys.
- Provide our dog with safe chew toys and food toys when he is home alone.
One of the most popular, energetic dog breed is the Jack Russell Terrier. Terriers are energetic as a group, but the JRT easily tops that list. JRTs are extremely intelligent, easily bored, and very independent, which make them a high maintenance dog breed.
Only get a JRT if we have a lot of time to spend with our dog, and if we have a very active lifestyle. JRTs require not only a lot of physical exercise, but also a lot of mental stimulation.
Most Difficult Dog Breed 2 – Size
Some dog breeds are more difficult because they are large and powerful.
The American Pit Bull Terrier always comes to mind when we think of a powerful dog breed. Sadly, this breed has received a lot of negative publicity due to their use in dog fighting operations. However, as with any other dog breed, Pit Bulls who are properly trained, and managed by their owners, are loyal, friendly, and well-behaved.
Nevertheless, it also true that larger and more powerful dogs can do more damage than their smaller Chihuahua or Pomeranian cousins.
Owners of larger dogs must be more vigilant and more careful with their training, because large dogs can inadvertently hurt people just from jumping or playing.
Most dog attacks that occur, are directed at children, so it is important to always supervise our dog when there are children around. Supervision is a must for all dogs, even for small dogs. To prevent dog attacks, teach our children the proper way to meet a dog, and how to avoid loose dogs in the neighborhood.
In a dog attack, it does not matter who is right or who is wrong; our dog will always be the one to pay the price. If we love our dog, properly train and manage him so that he is not exposed to stressful situations that may cause him to resort to aggression.
All dogs are capable of aggression, and making excuses for bad dog behavior, especially people biting or nipping, will only endanger our own dog.
Most Difficult Dog Breed 3 – Dominance
Some of the most difficult dog breeds are the ones that are naturally dominant.
What is a dominant dog?
- A dominant dog challenges us more frequently and is constantly testing his boundaries.
- A dominant dog is more likely to fight when challenged.
- A dominant dog will likely respond with aggression when frustrated; and will frequently redirect that aggression onto us if we try and stop him.
Ancient dog breeds such as the Shiba Inu, Akita, and Chow Chow, have a greater tendency to be confident, independent, and stubborn. These traits make them more dominant, as they are more likely to do what they want, rather than what we want.
Protection breeds such as the German Shepherd, and Rottweiler, are bred to be loyal, self-assured, and strong willed, so that they may better protect their owners. These same traits also make them more dominant.
Dominant, confident, and independent dogs can be more difficult to handle, but with proper training, and a relationship of mutual respect, they can become our most trusted and loyal companions.
Indeed many German Shepherds and Rottweilers are used in law enforcement work where they must be focused and alert, take independent action when necessary, while remaining calm and responsive to their handler.
While my Shiba Inu is not as calm, nor is he greatly responsive to my requests, he is a most trusted and loyal companion.
Most Difficult Dog Breed 4 – Maintenance
All dogs require a minimum amount of basic maintenance including:
- Yearly vet visits for immunity shots, teeth cleaning, and a general examination.
- Regular nail clipping (about once every month). Overgrown nails can easily break below the quick and cause our dog extreme pain and discomfort.
- Regular hair brushing (about once every week). Regular brushing helps to remove loose dirt and hair from our dog.
While all dogs require some basic grooming, some dog breeds may require more grooming than others.
Long haired dogs, like the Afghan Hound, require more frequent brushing to keep their hair from matting. Matting or tangled hair can become uncomfortable and ultimately painful for the dog.
It may also take more time to bathe, shampoo, and dry long haired dogs. More frequent baths may also be necessary to keep their long coats clean, especially for light or white coated dog breeds like the Samoyed.
It is best not to bathe our dog more than once a month. Overly frequent baths may wash away essential oils from the dog’s fur and cause dry skin, skin irritation, and an unhealthy coat. Use shampoo that is specially formulated for dogs and not human shampoo.
Health is also a very important part of dog maintenance. Larger dog breeds tend to have more health issues including bloating, and joint disease (e.g. hip dysplasia). Dogs with shortened muzzles such as the Pug may have trouble regulating their temperature, and are more susceptible to reverse sneezing.
Regardless of dog breed, however, all dogs may fall sick, and become more vulnerable to cancer, and athritis as they age. To ensure good health and a long dog life, I keep up with yearly vet visits, provide daily mental and physical exercise, and feed my dog a balanced and healthy diet.
Most Difficult Dog Breed 5 – Noise Level
The barking dog is the bane of neighbors everywhere. Forget the crazy kid parties, and the motorcycles without a muffler, it is the barking dog that causes the most number of neighborhood arguments, and noise complaints.
Dogs bark for a variety of reasons, including stress, boredom, excitement, and frustration.
Some dog breeds, however, have a propensity to be more noisy than others. Certain hunting breeds, tend to bark more because they are bred to find game, and then bark or howl when they find an intriguing scent. The Beagle is a popular dog breed that may do this.
To stop dog barking, I provide my dog with interesting physical and mental activity every day.
Scent hounds, like Beagles, will enjoy a Find-It game where we hide items around our house or yard, and get our dog to find them. Initially, I make the game easy by only hiding the item a short distance away from my dog, and letting him see where I put it.
I make sure to reward my dog with dog treats, dog play, and praise when he finds the hidden item. If my dog needs more motivation, I may also add scent or some peanut butter onto the Find-it toy.
How Difficult is Your Dog?
If we want a dog, consider our temperament, lifestyle, and environment, and get a dog that suits us. Getting an inappropriate dog breed will result in:
- An unhappy, and stressed out owner and family.
- Property damage.
- Loss of money.
- An unhappy, and stressed out dog.
Dogs can be a real blessing, but they can also cause a lot of bad dog problems, emotional stress, and arguments within the family.
Think carefully before taking on the responsibility of caring for man’s best friend.
Hi. I have a 6 1/2 month old male husky. I got him when he was 2 months old and he is the love of my life!!! I’m 29 but have alway been an animal person and have rescued many animals like dogs/cats/birds and even a tree squirrel. I was finally able to get a dog of the breed I wanted and I read a lot about huskies and how difficult they can be which is kinda why I wanted one. It sounded like a challenge but a fun one. And one I definatley have time for. My husky’s name is Sterling and he is the perfect dog. I found this website Shibashake and It really did help me understand what to expect so thanks so much. Sterling is well manored but kinda bossy. (He knows im the boss but he also knows I love to spoil him.) Like he will follow me around bumping into me and wining when he wants me to take him out for a walk or run which he gets every day. He loves tug of war and playing catch in the yard. He’s does so good on a leash. He is so smart and friendly. He is friends with our cats too. I trained him myself with help from Shibashake. I have trained dogs but never a husky. He use to play bite a lot but I would give him a toy to redirect his biting and now he goes and gets a toy if he wants to play with me. He walks next to me when I tell him to and I make sure he gets some freedom to sniff around on our walks by using a long retractable leash. He can sit/lay down/crawl/weave through my legs/ catch what I throw in the air/and lots of other fun tricks. He is with me 100% of every day and I tried kennel training him when I first got him but I realized he just wasn’t a kennel dog. He liked to hang out on top of things so he sleeps on a really big Ottoman at the end of my bed next to the open window. He has cooling mats which I learned from Shibashake also! He loves them and I use the fan when he needs it and always keep ice bottled waters in the freezer. One thing I’m still working on with him is his jumping. He doesn’t do it much but when someone pets him and talks baby talk to him he gets excited and jumps on them. He also jumps on other dogs trying to play with them when I’m just trying to let him meet them first. He is a big puppy. He weighs 58 pounds. I feed him Blue Wilderness large breed puppy dry food and wet food. And I always keep some good treats in my pocket on our walks. I Dont know if its because I got one of “the good ones” that no matter what is just a good dog or if its all the good attention and praise I give him for listening and lots of good husky tricks I learned here. I dunno but in my opinion these guys are the best. I took him camping a few times at a place near my house and the ranger there said he has spent so much money on trying to train his husky and it doesn’t work. He said the only reason he keeps the dog is because of his wife. I think they are very loyal and loving dogs as long as they just get the attention they crave and the leadership and patience they sometimes need. When my boy does something wrong I ignore him or stop playing and he hates it. And when I have to say “nooooooooo” in a low disappointed voice he puts his ears down and stays where he is for a quick moment and then slowly makes his way over to me to smother me in kisses and hugs to say sorry. I love it. He doesn’t howl too much. He barks sometimes but not often and every once in a while he will howl. I love the howling so I howl to try to get him to and sometimes he will. I think he may just be a bit young still so hopefully he will be more vocal. I want him to sing all the time. Thank you so much for all the information you have written about! It has really helped both me and Sterling so much. I Dont think he would be as happy as he is if I never knew all these things about the breed that you wrote about. It has made things so much easier because I understand why he does things and how to teach him in ways he understands. He really is my best bud and wherever i go he goes.We understand each other so good now and I can only imagine how he will be in another year or so. Thanks again for all the help.
Thank you Rose.
I love hearing happy dog stories and your comment put a big smile on my face. Thank you very much and very big hugs to Sterling! 😀
I have been excessively reading your blog. Two weeks ago we rescued a one year old Siberian Husky; we named Nala. She definitely has some puppy baggage about the crate, absolute fear and terror. We’ve been leaving the crate door open and throwing treats in it to try and associate it with a good thing. She’s potty trained and over all very well behaved when we’re around. When we leave the house it’s a different story. We have 2 roommates at our house who were around when we first got her. But, this last week was her first week alone. We have a sun room that’s 18′ x 12′ that we thought would be a very nice room to dog proof and set it up for her. (pretty much the only room in the house we have that option) Her kennel is in there with the door open and all of her toys and bones. We give her, her kong only when we leave which she seemed to enjoy. On Monday while we were at work, I got a call that she’d been found. Apparently she had ripped the screen off, used her teeth to pull the metal grate off the door, gotten into the backyard, and jumped or unlatched the back gate. So with no back door we had to bring her to work for three days, which she was SO WELL BEHAVED. But, we can’t take our dog to work everyday. And, we have to have some sort of alone time – we can’t haul her in the car every time we need to go somewhere. I am at my wits end. We installed a new door yesterday and left her alone while going to a friends party for two hours. When we got home she hadn’t touched any of her toys and was going ballistic. I’m sure she tried taking down the new door. We tried again this morning and she whined, howled-ish, and dug at the hard wood floor for twenty minutes before we let her out. She won’t touch her toys. She won’t take any distraction. We got her a thunder vest, which we don’t know if it’s doing any good or not. We take her on three walks a day morning, noon, and night. We try taking her to the dog park almost every day. I don’t know what she wants to make her calm? I am so frustrated and exhausted. Any sort of help would be so appreciated.
It sounds like it could be separation anxiety. Dogs who suffer from separation anxiety may panic and experience extreme stress when left alone. I help my dog cope with separation anxiety, by starting small, with extremely short periods of alone time, and then slowly build up from there.
More on how I deal with separation anxiety.
Article from the ASPCA with a lot of good information on separation anxiety.
Hi!
I have been reading a lot of your articles and they have been really helpful. My boyfriend and I recently got a shiba inu after doing research on them. He will be turning 3 months in a few days. We had him for about a week now and I’m worried that he has picked up some bad habits, unfortunately, do to my lack of knowledge on him. We are currently crate training him and so far he’s been doing pretty well. He sleeps in his crate at night in our room (he doesn’t cry or whine anymore, he actually goes to bed too), we give him treats when he does good things to condition him, and we constantly play with him since he is a very active dog. I’m having a few concerns or questions about him and hoping you could help. In regards to his potty training. How long does it take a shiba inu to be potty train when you don’t have constant supervision over them? Oscar, my puppy name, doesn’t seem to use the pee pad, he just pees on the carpet. We currently put a bell on the door for when he needs to use the potty. He has been ringing the bell lately to use the bathroom however, certain times, he’ll ring the bell just to play outside, especially at night when its almost bed time, which is a habit we are also trying to break. He also has a tendency to eat his poop after pottying and I constant pull him away. How can I stop this trend? Oscar will also once in a while just nip at me while I’m walking. I don’t know if he just wants to play or if its a dominant thing. He doesn’t normally get aggressive with my bf and I unless we’re playing with him using his toy and we do feed him off of our hands with no biting. He has also been biting and chewing everything in site such as card board boxes, sometimes shoes until we tell him no, plastic hangers, bottom of the dresser, etc… We have bought him multiple chew toys and the only one he’ll chew/eat are the edible flavored kind. Please let me know what I can do to break his habits and any pointers on shiba’s. THANK YOU!
In terms of potty training, I find that consistency and supervision are both very important. I didn’t have to potty train my Shiba (he was already trained when we got him), but I did have to potty train both my Huskies.
During puppyhood, I supervised my Husky closely every time she is roaming about. If I cannot supervise, I put her in her enclosure with puppy pads. With potty training, I find that it is important not only to maximize successes, but also to minimize unsupervised mistakes in the house.
More on how I potty trained my puppy.
When Sephy was a puppy, I took him out on-leash at night when he needed to potty. I don’t let him roam around or play, I just take him to a good potty spot and ask him to go. I wait for a bit for him to go, but if he doesn’t then we come back in and he goes back into his crate. Since he doesn’t get the opportunity to explore around or play, he learned to only alert me when he needed to go potty.
A leash is also very helpful for controlling my dog and preventing him from eating poop.
More on what I do to stop my dog from eating poop.
In terms of biting on various objects, in the beginning, Sephy also wanted to bite on everything. My Huskies were also like that. It is a puppy curiosity thing. Therefore, I try to teach each puppy what things are ok to bite on (her toys) and what things are not. When she bites on something bad, I no-mark, and offer her something good to bite on. As soon as she redirects, I mark the behavior and then reward her with a fun game, affection, food and more. In this way, she learns that some things are very rewarding to bite on, and some things are not. As with other training tasks, timing, consistency and repetition are key.
I make my dog’s toys more fun to interact with by adding food to it, getting safe interactive food toys, adding smell to it, etc. Dogs like chewing on our shoes or socks because they smell a lot like us and are more interesting. Therefore, I try to make their toys interesting and fun – but in a safe way.
Congratulations on your Shiba pup! Big hugs to Oscar. 😀
Hello, I have a 8 month old french bulldog. She’s s the cutest thing but can be terror. We got her when she was 3 months old and within a week, she needed surgery for cherry eye. We are new to owning a dog and wound up spoiling her. Now she wants to show dominance and like to bit me at night, especially my hands. We tried different methods, saying ouch or no but it doesn’t work. She bits the leash as when we are walking and tugging everywhere. What do you suggest?
Here are some things that I do with my dog for biting-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-i-trained-my-husky-puppy#bite-training
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions
I also do bite inhibition training to teach my dog to control the force of her bites.
What I do for leash biting.
I used to think our rescue, Marvin, was super high maintenance and difficult to manage. A year later I think that had much more to do with my inexperience with his peculiarities. Now that we’ve settled into a routine that involves morning and afternoon walks, with puzzle toys during the day, he’s an angel. I feel really lucky. I also sympathize with new dog owners who are initially overwhelmed. Especially if their dog’s behavior is impacting others around them (like condo neighbors).
We just adopted an Australian shepherd mix two days ago. He’s 4 years old and was let to be a little hellion in his previous life – very little socialization, only knows very basic commands (“sit” and “NO” are the only two semi-reliable ones), does NOT walk well on a leash, and he’s our first dog. He’s getting better with every hour (we’ve already eliminated counter-surfing, stealing my breakfast, inhaling HIS breakfast, a lot of barking, leash-biting, peeing on the couch, jumping on the bed, eating out of the dishwasher. . . ) and I’m exhausted! New dogs are really, really hard, and I’m definitely a little overwhelmed – but I also know how rewarding it is to see all the work pay off!
I’m thinking about getting a Shiba for a long time but did also get a lot of warnings as this breed being labeled as “pain in the ass”. My parents used to have a Shiba mix, named Kuro, but they gave it away after a year because it became too violent. I simply think it’s because they don’t know how to train/raise a dog at all. They got that dog from a friend during the time when I was in the boarding school. The first time I went home for weekend, Kuro thought I was just a guest. I like him a lot though I didn’t spend much time with him. I felt so sorry for him that every time my mom beat it when he bite the furniture. After he was given away to a friend of theirs, I’ve heard he run away from that family after three months. I wish he could have a loving family. Now I have my own family, and wanting my own dog. But I don’t see Shiba Inu popular in this region. I mean, I couldn’t find it in the pet store around here(I’m living in Kansas). I’m curious how did you adopt your Shiba? like search through craigslist or some kind of Shiba-lover’s club? I have no clue where to start.
For adopting, I find petfinder.com to be a really great resource. It lets me search of rescue dogs based on breed and location, and as far as I can tell, most of the rescue places in my area have lists on there. There are also a bunch of Shiba Inu rescues –
Here is a list of Shiba Inu rescues.
For finding breeders and general Shiba information, the national breed club website is a great resource. Here is a list of club registered breeders-
http://www.shibas.org/breeders.html
They also have an article on things to look out for while finding a breeder-
http://www.shibas.org/newstand/how_to_choose_breeder.html
In general, I would *not* recommend getting a puppy from a pet store. Most puppies offered for sale from pet stores are from puppy mills.
More of my experiences in getting a new puppy.
Thank you so much!
We have a year old Shiba Inu and we adore her! I think she was bred for temperament. She’s challenging and can be a bit aloof, but she is intelligent, entertaining, and loving in her own way.
When I was a little younger my parents got a dog and named him Rex (I know it’s generic but he was one of a kind). We found him dropped off as an adult by a neglectful owner. It had been wild for so long that its skin had grown around its collar. I wish I could show a picture of him because he was the most beautiful dog I have ever seen in my life. He was like a Siberian Husky but with long white hair and bright blue eyes. He had a black patch on his back and was so nice. My parents never had enough time for anything so he didn’t get much training but my sister and I as small children would play with this huge wild dog and he would jump on us until we became too scared to play with him. After a while he just quit though. He knew it scared us and it hurt him so he no longer jumped on us and instead he would just run up to you and flop his big body over so you could rub his stomach. He still was a wild dog and I spent alot of time with him trying to teach him tricks, feeding, watering and cutting his hair in the summer time. When my sister and I got off from school my mom and dad were never home and they would keep the door locked so we were locked outside but we would play with our dog when we were bored and keep close to him in the winter for warmth. He had a problem with running and checking out new places though but he would never go far and would always come back when I yelled for him. My parents stopped liking him because he would always wander off and never come back to them when they called only when I did so they bought a chocolate lab we named Mocha. Mocha was mean. Mocha would always eat all of her food and then Rex’s and then dump over his water bowl so he couldn’t have any and Rex wouldn’t do anything to her so I told my mom that Mocha needed to go and she didn’t belong there. She didn’t though and Mocha kept on bullying Rex even though she was much much smaller Rex would never hurt her but Mocha hated Rex for no reason. Eventually my mom sold Mocha after she saw what I was talking about and she got a Boston Terrier named Annie to live inside. I loved Annie and we would run around the house and play different games. Sometimes when she had to use the restroom I would take her outside and Annie and Rex would run around as fast as they could and I would try to keep up but couldn’t and Rex would always slow down and let me catch up while Annie would bug the shit out of him by nipping at his fur around his face lol. Well one night my neighbor shot him because he said he thought Rex was a wolf and he was going to eat his goats but I know it isn’t true. I thought he was going to die but we took him to the vet to get him checked out and he survived. He was shot in the arm and from that day forward he couldn’t run with Annie anymore he just walked around me. He eventually went deaf and got very old around the time I was fourteen where he would just lay there and wait for me to sit with him outside under the tree. He didn’t feel like running away anymore and he didn’t even howl anymore 🙁 He was the best dog ever and I still cry to this day when I think about him.
Thanks for sharing Rex’s story with us. It was very touching.
He sounds like a truly awesome friend and a very loyal companion.
I don’t think people should be allowed to have aggressive dogs. Not saying that they should take the dog away, I just think you should be forced to get your dog into training. They should evaluate people’s dogs every couple of years or so, and after the training evaluate them again. I’ve seen so many little dogs that have emence problems, sometimes even dangerous. I mean think, if a little dog who’s aggressive runs up to a dog much bigger than them and starts a fight, and the bigger dog seriously hurts the little dog, who gets the blame? The big dog/owner, of course, because “oh, fluffy can’t defend herself, that big dog is just evil.” But if a big dog is aggressive, they can be put down for just for acting aggressive, especially if it’s a pit bull/ rottweiler/ german shepherd, etc.
People just want to blame one breed for all dog aggerssion, like they are the only “bad” ones. Like getting rid of those few breeds will somehow cure injuries sustained by dogs. People will just keep banning more and more breeds, and before long there will only be a few breeds you can pick from, and hundreds of loving pets will be destroyed. People are too ignorant to see that the humans are the problem.
I believe in “all dogs go to heaven.” Whether it’s a pit, a rottie, a cane corso, a german shepherd, blood hound, shi tzu, or the aggressive mutt down the street. The breed and the dog is not at fault, but the people that are in contact with said dogs.
I’m sorry, but this strikes a raw nerve with me. My uncle thinks that pit bulls and rottweilers (basically any big, tough-looking dog, though) are the bad dogs. He thinks that they somehow have conscious thought, like they choose to harm or kill a human or another animal. (He also believes the myth of the locking jaw, if that tells you anything.) And when I bring up a story of a police officer going into somebody’s fenced yard, unannounced, and shot their pit because she was greeting him (the neighbor even yelled [when he took out his gun] ‘no! don’t shoot! she’s nice!’) he looked at the neighbor, and shot her anyway. The cop then gave them a ticket for an expired sticker on a car parked in their property and a ticket for having a uncontained animal(in their yard!). When I brought this up, he twisted the story and said “Well, cops need access to your property, what if the house was on fire and there was a pit on the lawn raging around?” So I guess he was saying that it’s okay that he shot that pit bull because there might be a fire sometime? He’s completely deluded. But anyway, I just wanted to add this to my comment earlier.
Hey Alex, Yeah I agree with you. To me it is really simple – if we do not have time to spend training and bonding with a dog, then it is best not to get a dog. If the owner never taught the dog how to behave based on our human rules – how should the dog know?!
As you say – nothing to do with breed.
Exactly. Humans not only bring out behavior we don’t find appropriate, we also bring out behavior that isn’t appropriate for dogs, like dog aggression! Dogs are naturally social, so for them to just try and hurt another of their kind before they even smell them or greet them is very, very bad. Just think, what if another human started a fight with every other human they came across without any provokation? You would naturally think there was something really wrong with that person, because there is. Same with very fearfull dogs.
Hmmm that is interesting. I am not sure – if we consider wolves for example, they are very territorial and will usually fight with and chase out other wolves that are not from their pack. Very rarely do they accept an outsider into their pack.
The wolf that is chasing them away is probably the pack leader, and if the leader determines that this dog isn’t good for the pack, the rest of the pack will join in. Most of the time they’ll at least check the wolf out before running them off. But with balanced follower dogs, they do want to meet the other dogs, or at least give a curious sniff it they’re timid. They can’t determine whether the dog is friend or foe without meeting them, but most dogs I see while walking wont even want to meet, they just want to fight.
Now that’s not right.
Actually wolves are highly territorial and they do not socialize with wolves from other packs. They tend to mark their territories well and that is an indication to other packs not to enter. If caught, there will usually be a fight. Wolves must protect their territory because their livelihood depends on it – no poaching allowed 🙂
Domestic dogs are less that way because they have been domesticated by us. However, I think it is a fallacy to expect all dogs to like or even tolerate all other dogs. Sure we want to socialize our dogs and have them be friendly, but if we consider their wolf ancestry, that is against their nature.
There is a great article called “He Just Wants to Say Hi” by Suzanne Clothier. Check it out when you have the time and let me know what you think.
I don’t really know all the legistics of it because I’m no expert, but almost everytime I see a dog practically trying to kill another dog on the street it’s not on their territory. It’s on the street. (unless you’re considering humans territory, then yes) I’ve walked many dog-agressive dogs with Lupin and had no fights once the human was removed. Humans are the problem in every situation, not the dogs themselves. I don’t think that all dogs have to tolerate all other dogs, just don’t be violent and agressive about it. Dogs have varying energy levels and temperments that might or might not compete, so we can’t expect them all to love each other. That doesn’t mean they have to start a fight with every dog they “don’t like”, though. There are much better ways to not interact with that dog than agression, which is still an interaction. If a dog has a strong pack leader that it feels comfortable and safe with, there shouldn’t be any reason for it to feel the need to protect it’s territory or itself. The dogs can learn to just ignore an energy level or temperment they don’t like.
I’ll look into it. 🙂
I just read a few pages of the post you told me about and have a pretty good idea of what she’s getting at. This lady seems very knowledgable about dog posture and behavior. The only thing I have to comment on is the part where the lady said her golden has been attacked by dogs many times before. While I’m not actually there to witness these attacks, and it may just be a coincidence, it seems odd that that one dog has been attacked a number of times. This may be because of that dog’s energy/body language/state at those moments. Other dogs will sometimes hone in on weak or unstable energy. This is why agressive dogs and very insecure and fearfull dogs are more likely to be attacked than stable dogs. Not saying that the other dog/owner wasn’t at fault, just that there are other factors that come into play. With the puppy thing, though, she is right. Older dogs just don’t want to be with puppies, because older dogs arn’t supposed to take care of puppies. Young adults and adolecents take care of them. Their energies are just too different. I think that in the situation with the puppies, the owner should show the golden that they will be the ones to fend off the pups, so that she doesn’t have to.
I’ll continue reading later and add if needed. 🙂
Yeah I definitely agree with you. Some people expect their dogs to be friendly with everyone and everything which I think is really very unrealistic.
That is true, we definitely want to teach our dog not resort to violence. But I think that we should also protect our dogs from rude, intrusive dogs, not punish our dog for telling the rude dogs to back-off. Many people think it is cute when their little dogs go up and harass a big dog – I think it is just plain irresponsible. And frequently it is the big dog that gets punished for really not doing anything wrong at all.
Ultimately, if a little pint sized guy keeps harassing me and I keep getting punished for it – even I would be driven to violence.
I believe that every dog is a good dog. No matter their breed, size, or temperment, they are still the same species. Only when, like you said, the human doesn’t make the correct choice in a dog or doesn’t have the time or knowledge to train it correctly do problems occur. I’ve seen Goldens that run around terrorising neighbors, and I’ve also seen Pitbulls that show you the utmost respect, and who are very, very sweet.
People should inform themselves before they go to adopt a dog. They should be ready and willing to make the right choice, because the dog will have to suffer for it if they don’t.
Hello Alex,
What you say is exactly true. All too often, people get dogs based on looks rather than temperament and how well the dog will fit into their lifestyle.
I feel that there needs to be more control at the point of sale.