We’ve lived in our current house for almost five years.
About two years ago the neighbor’s daughter moved home with two kids and a dog. Their yard is not fenced in and Gunner (their dog) is tied out when he needs to do his business.
He is not a chained dog, he is very much part of their family. Whenever they are outside Gunner is out there with him, secured of course with a lead.
Sampson and Delilah know Gunner through the fence, Hubby did say a few weeks back Sampson and Gunner met on the street, but other than that one encounter, the dogs have had no real interaction.
A couple of months ago I ran into my neighbor in the woods at the top of the street. She, the boys and Gunner were sitting on top of a large boulder enjoying the day and a late afternoon snack.
The dogs were all eager to greet each other, but with Delilah’s snarkiness I was a bit leery, and I told her so. She said Gunner was very chill, but the only time she had ever seem him aggressive was when other dogs were around the children. I said I’d rather wait until Hubby was there thank you very much.
Yesterday as Sampson and Delilah were having our walk we heard voices. The dogs were going nuts and kept trying to figure out exactly where the voices were coming from.
I could tell they were in the field and there were children, so I decided the best approach was to bring the dogs down to the field and ask if they could greet everyone so we could enjoy the rest of our walk.
I leashed up both dogs and we headed into the field.
As we entered the field I saw our neighbor and she said, I just let Gunner loose.
I asked if he would be okay and she said yes, so I dropped both leashes.
Accompanying my neighbor was her sister and her sister’s dog, a 4 month old yellow lab named Sadie.
Sampson and Delilah rush forward, as did Gunner and Sadie. The dogs all sniffed each other and then kind of did their own thing.
Now, this type of greeting might be great for when dogs are off-leash or meeting each other in the woods or field, but what is the proper way for dogs to greet when they are in a public place, a place like let’s just say…..Blogpaws?
I’m really considering bringing Sampson to Blogpaws next May, but his greeting skills are a concern to me. He has a tendency to rush up to other dogs. Besides not wanting to be pulled across the floor on my face, I’d like to make sure he is properly behaved.
The probability is that if Sampson goes, Hubby will as well. Hubby of course will not be attending the seminars and conferences, his job at this conference will be to handle Sampson, and Sampson does listen well to Hubby.
None-the-less I would still like Sampson and Delilah to learn proper greetings.
What are your thoughts on this?
I am of no help because we don’t often allow greetings between our dogs and other dogs. They must remain at heel. Just the way it is. 🙂
I bet you are excited about blogpaws. It will be great if you can bring Sampson.
So when you go to hunt tests, do other dogs want to greet your dogs? How do you handle the situation when you are in an obedience class, do you just not allow them to interact with other dogs?
I hope he can go, it will all depend on Hubby.
On-leash greetings are dicey and I don’t usually like to let Shiva greet other dogs while on a leash unless we know them. Mostly because she can be very rude. Many dogs who are perfectly friendly off-leash can be more reactive while on – like mine – and it can be tricky to read body language in such a contrived context.
I guess if you know your dog would be fine and you suspect the other dog would be as well, it’s best to ask the dog’s handler if it would be okay if your dog says hello. If they are receptive, try to approach from the side or an angle, that way the dogs wouldn’t be meeting head-on, which can be taken as a confrontation. It’s hard to teach a dog how to be polite, though, when there are so many intricate ways they have of communicating with each other. The only reason Shiva’s manners have gotten a lot better than they were is because she has learned from other dogs what is acceptable and what isn’t. I didn’t teach her that. Perhaps you can practice with people in your obedience classes?
That’s a good idea, to practice with others. Sampson is such a social dog, he just runs strait up to other dogs. Delilah can be like Shiva, depending on her mood, she could get really ugly.
I think we should have worked on this a long time ago. 🙁 But you are right, the other dog owner should know their dog. For instance if I was taking Delilah I would be warning others, please keep away, she can be snarky.
I’m on the same train with 2 brown dogs, I rarely allow Doggy to go and greet other dogs and to be honest even when he is off leash he’s not interested on other dogs, dogs come and he stays put, that’s not, he’ll soon enter the teens and that’ll be a different story.
Hmm, I hope it doesn’t change too much as he ages, it seems you’ve got him well-trained. 🙂 I wish I’d worked more on this with Sampson.
Yep I agree with 2 brown dawgs also. I usually don’t let them greet other dogs especially on lead, I can’t say mine are always at heel (bad owner) but I just am not at ease with other dogs greeting, it only takes a split second for someone to decide “you looked at me funny” and an undesirable incident to happen. Even when people tell me “oh my dog is okay” I still hold to my saying of “they are dogs and they do not think or react like people”. Yes it is true you need to be in tune with body language but I try not to put them in an unnecessary situation. They have been around other dogs and get along just fine but most of the time these are dogs they know very well and a lot of times they are off lead. Kristine makes a good point, try practicing it at training. Sorry I am no help 🙁
Sounds like a great adventure for you and Sampson, oh and lets not forget hubby 🙂
I totally get where you all are coming from. We socialized him very well, so he is always anxious to greet new people and new dogs. A little too well Hubby always says. 🙂
On leash greetings are so tricky because it’s not just about you, it’s about how well other owners know their dogs, how carefully these owners are watching their dogs for warning signs of an outburst and how well these owners understand canine body language. While I hate to be anything but positivie, I don’t trust other owners (at least in Manhattan!) in this regard.
You can’t avoid on leash interactions in Manhattan and I can’t tell you how many times a dog has started to stare down Mazzie as he/she approached us, I see his/her hackles go up, he/she lunges at Mazzie and the owner then tells me that he/she just wants to play. And in fairness, Mazzie is hit or miss on leash (but has no issues at the dog park or daycare) and her reaction following an on leash greeting depends entirely upon the manner in which the other dog approaches her (FYI, full on puppy love directly in her face is not the way to go).
As a result, I’ve become very selective about which dogs Mazzie can great on leash and always keep the interactions brief. To be honest, for her safety and mine, I prefer to just put her on command (be it “heel” or “look at me”) as we walk past other dogs on leash. If I were to take her to a place like Blogpaws, I’m confident we’d get through it, but I don’t think I’d enjoy it fully because I would be far too busy keeping an eye on her and every other dog around us!!!! But that’s just me, and Mazzie and I are far more neurotic than most. If you are going to take the plunge and take Sampson, I think you should do a ton of on leash greeting work in your training class and on every walk you do, as well as try and entice every neighbor, friend and coworker you can to bring their dogs to a neutral place where you and Sampson can practice a ton of on leash greetings with a ton of different dogs. That way, both you and Sampson will be be confident every time a dog passes at Blogpaws because you’ve done so much work.
I am neurotic too! I would never take Delilah to Blogpaws because like Mazzie she is hit or miss on leash. Normally speaking off leash she is beautiful with other dogs, until/unless that dog does something inappropriate to Delilah’s way of thinking. She does not like other dogs lunging on the ends of their leashes and that gets her hackles up, once that happens I have no hope. 🙁
It sounds like we encounter a lot of the same people. 🙂
Hi Jodi,
I went to Blogpaws this year with my family (Mum did the conference with me and Dad and Cory went sight seeing).
I was on my lead the whole time and I had no problems with other Dogs. Whenever we meet another Dog Mum just always tells the other owner that I’m friendly and if they say their Dog is too we usually say Hi – sometimes I just sniff and I’m done other times I’ll want to play a little with the Dog, but I’m normally good with just a sniff and then just wait while Mum chats (that can be a while!) 🙂
I had a couple of little encounters at Blogpaws, but I just ignored them and everyone is very chilled there and understands that sometimes this happens with us Doggies…. It really was the most Dog Friendly place I’ve ever been, from the hotel and staff, to the attendees, it was awesome!!
Have fun,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
Snoopy, you are a very special dog, not all dogs are as good as you. 🙂 I’m sure if his dad is there Sampson will be fine, but it’s just something I think is good to know as a parent. I would prefer not to be dragged over to another dog, which is usually Sampson’s mo. 🙂
Oh, this is the kind of thing that sends me into a nervous tail spin. (Yes, my nervous dog and I reinforce each others’ anxiety. I’m working on it.) I’ve usually settled for either allowing no contact at all or, when we’re already in close quarters, a quick sniff before we move on. I particularly like the quick sniff because it doesn’t add any excitement to the situation, really. After just a second Silas is happy to move along without me having to pull or tug him to go, which I worry about causing reactivity.
I hear you. Once you have a dog that has reacted to another dog it is very hard to relax. I’m sure some of my tension is running down the leash to her. Keep at it, you will get there!
One of the tasks on the Canine Good Citizen test is for you to greet another person and their dog without your dog reacting at all. I’m still working on it with Honey. But it is considered good form and I’d start working on it with Sampson.
As for BlogPaws, I only allowed Honey to greet other dogs when I gave her the ok. But I didn’t always put her in a position to have to go against her friendly nature all day long. I did not take her to any of the workshops. She stayed in my room for the sessions. Luckily, things are planned so there’s plenty of time to return to your room between each session for exercise.
She came to all meals with me and did fine under the table. She got a little restless watching the Spooky Buddies movie but I couldn’t blame her too much. It stank. 🙂
BlogPaws also has a doggie play area set up. In VA last year, it was just a hotel ballroom and kinda small. When we checked it out the little dogs were kinda humpy so we didn’t use it much. But others I know found it fabulous so you just have to check out the vibe and see if it works for Sampson.
Most of the dogs (and cats and ferrets and guinea pigs) at BlogPaws are pretty chill and everyone laughs at a bark at an odd moment.
One downside to the Virginia location is that it doesn’t have places to go for nice long walks on the grounds. It’s a typical DC suburb surrounded by highways. But if your hubby is going along only to do dog patrol maybe he could drive somewhere for a nice exercise break. I’d ask AJ of I Still Want More Puppies for a suggestion. She lives in the area.
Does that help? I hope so. I’d love to meet Sampson too. I think I have to make some money though before my husband will OK another BlogPaws trip. 🙂
On leash greetings always make me nervous. Our rule is that Kol & Fe must sit as another dog approaches and passes. Felix is leash reactive and if another dog rushed up and got in his face, we’d have an incident on our hands. I prefer to curb them, make them sit and be the one in control of the situation. I am sure that if you work on it, you can perfect a good leash greeting between now and then.