If I have learned anything from having Sampson and then Delilah it’s this…no two dogs are alike.
Sampson is Mr. Friendly, when he sees another dog regardless of whether he is leashed or not, he wants to greet the dog. Once he ran out in the street to greet a pit bull; he was rewarded for his efforts by a nip on his ear.
Delilah on the other hand has become very unfriendly to other dogs when she is on leash. On Saturday our friends joined us on our walk; as we entered the park all the dogs were on leash. Amelia who Delilah knows from Thursday night obedience class came a little too close for Delilah’s comfort and Delilah growled at her.
Yesterday as we were leaving the park Delilah was on leash and I saw some dogs tentatively approaching us, I tried to maneuver Delilah so we would not be involved in a greeting, but quickly realized that the dogs were coming faster than I anticipated and a meeting was inevitable; I unleashed her.
I made the decision (as the person who knows my dog best) as to what was best for her; the dogs all met, and then we went on our way with no altercations of any kind.
Today when we got to the park, the lady with the little pit bull was leaving; she had her dog on the gentle leader and was trying her best to keep her dog from approaching mine. I had Delilah leashed and tried to distract her with meat, but she would have none of it; in the end I had to grab her collar and pull her away. She resisted. To an observer, it would have looked like I was DRAGGING a dog, who was trying desperately to get away from me, as she twisted, growling and snarling trying to get to the other dog.
I knew Delilah was not going to sit while the lady with the dog passed, so once again I made a decision about what I thought was right for my dog.
My point is this; there are many passionate, well-meaning dog lovers who will gladly share with you their thoughts on what is appropriate or inappropriate in training your dog (me being one of them.) I listen, I love to hear what other people think, I will consider anything (short of physically man-handling my dog) but in the end, I do what I think is right and what I feel comfortable with and you should too.
No one knows your dog better than you do and no one knows what is best for your dog, except for you.
She doesn’t look like she would hurt a fly.
When I was stressed about all the contradicting opinions/suggestions people were giving me about Gwynn, my mother told me the best advice she was given about parenting.
“Listen, nod and smile, thank them for their help, and then do what you are most comfortable with”… it works quite well with dog ownership as well, considering all the ‘line in the sand’ type issues – to crate or not to crate, what you should feed them, and how much, how to train, how to socialize, etc.
In an entirely non-judgemental kind of way, I also wanted to pass on a training thing I saw someone using for a dog that sounds kind of similar to Delilah, in terms of not liking to meet dogs when on leash. The trainer taught the dog that every time she looks at another dog (from a distance, even as far as the other side of the street), without barking or anything, she gets a treat. She was feeding her a special ‘only when you’re being nice around other dogs’ treat for that, so that it was extra-desireable to the dog to do this. So, instead of lunging and barking when she sees other dogs, she looks at them, then swings her head aroudn to look at the trainer, all happy that there’s a dog there. This dog has gotten a lot better, and has gotten to the point that she and Gwynn can sniff a bit, and she can stay on the same side of the street as us when we walk past.
hm… also, the ‘non judgemental’ thing isn’t really clear… what i meant was, “not trying to be the bossy neighbour person who tells you what you NEED to do with your dog… I have a few of those, they’re irritating. I just thought this training for leash fear/aggression was a good one, and wanted to pass it on”
Lexy,
I welcome your thoughts, comments or suggestions. They say it takes a village to raise a child, I think that saying holds true for dogs too! 🙂
If anyone can help in anyway by adding something they saw work, or something that worked for them I am all for it!