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Firstly, does picking up your dog when there are other unruly dogs around cause it to fear dogs? 

Is this the same as if your dog is stressed verses calm when picked up?

 

And secondly assuming your dog is “dog social” which mine is, should I let her play with dogs much bigger than her who are also dog social, but boisterous, I’m afraid that she will get injured or trampled, she has been stepped on a couple of times by bigger dogs and I don’t want her to fear them. 

I have been carefully vetting the dogs she plays with so they are similar in size, age, good temperament or compatible (bigger dogs that play gently with little ones) and speaking to the owner before letting them meet. I also recall her from situations if I feel dogs are getting too hyped up. 

 

As a little bit of background, Mowgli is very chill, gentle and she will ignore barking lunging dogs and just lay down calmly watching me...normally i just position myself between her and dogs I don't want her to meet, but if i feel that the owner does not have control of their dog and could let go and I cant move away (e.g. If i'm taking to them). I will pick her up so she's out of harms way, she's pretty happy both on the ground and also being picked. However at the a training club i went to they said that this will cause her to fear other dogs, which is not what I want!

 

Should i be letting her "sort it out" and get used to being approached by less obedient crazier dogs...or stick to preventing it? I am happy to be wrong! 

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This floated by my FB feed today - even tho it's almost a year old.

 

http://blog.k9pro.com.au/dog-etiquette-hes-friendly/

 

There's another one "He just wants to say Hi"

http://suzanneclothier.com/he-just-wants-to-say-hi

 

the point being - you do not need to let your dog say hello to every dog you meet - it's in both your best interests to be selective.  Some big dogs play nice with smaller dogs but some are clutzes and will injure your dog accidentally. 

 

I don't think protecting your dog will cause it to be fearful...  I used to think that people who picked their dogs up when they saw other dogs were silly but I've had a bit more (bad) experience now and I can't blame them.   Sometimes I have a chat about it.   And I might talk them through what a loose lead 2 second greeting might be like... cos my dog will helpfully pretend she has no legs (crawl) - which calms a little dog down usually even if they never get close enough to touch.

And I'm fine with people picking up their (fear?) aggressive little dogs before they can attack mine - you know the ones that charge up to big dogs yelling their heads off and sometimes biting.  Stopping that is a really good idea.   However lots of owners just laugh. 

 

It's important that you do what you can to protect your dog, and that often means ignoring what other people say when it comes to forcing your dog to interact with other dogs friendly or not.  You don't need to do that.

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2 hours ago, Mrs Rusty Bucket said:

It's important that you do what you can to protect your dog, and that often means ignoring what other people say when it comes to forcing your dog to interact with other dogs friendly or not.  You don't need to do that.

Thank you MrsRB :) 

I think i'll continue to keep her quite protected as I have been doing...just didn't expect that at a training organisation I would have so many unruly dogs and that I would have to!

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just didn't expect that at a training organisation I would have so many unruly dogs

Lol - I think that's why some people go to training - cos their dogs are out of control...

Personally I don't like my dog to greet another dog when they're both on lead unless they can both keep their leads loose.   A dog on a tight lead forgets it has the retreat/flight option out of fight / flight /f reeze...  A lot of fights or slanging matches (lots of growling) start this way.

A dog that is too excited - doesn't matter why - can't keep its lead loose and is best avoided.   The training club instructors ought to know about these things... but for years - letting dogs sort themselves out was considered ok.   It's about as ok as letting my dog decide how much food she gets to eat (and what).  Dogs are not always best at making decisions in their own best interests and with the rise of puppy farms and puppies being removed from their mums and litter mates at 6 weeks - they don't always learn dog body language and ettiquette before they are rehomed to people who also don't know about any of that stuff (or they would not have bought from a pet shop / puppy farm).

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That is true but I was talking to two of the dog club instructors so I thought they would have known better! Or at the very least had control over their dogs...

 

We are going just for distraction practice as Mowgli aces obedience/tricks pretty much everywhere Ive taken her but there are few environments where lots of dogs are on lead to practise in. 

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Or at the very least had control over their dogs

You think that would be right.

 

But dogs are dogs and instructors are humans (ok my number 1 dog training instructor is my dog).   I find with my dog she might chill out on lead when I'm talking to someone, but she may also decide to try to leave or greet someone over there (eg the lady who feeds her lots of chicken is irresistable or a level 11 out of 10 distraction) and when I'm talking to someone - it's hard to have focus enough to make sure my dog ignores the bigger distractions.  

 

It's very hard to train my dog to ignore a school child on the footpath on a speeding bike that goes by at speed close enough run over her tail.   Fortunately my dog on lead so her interaction was limited to scolding the child.  Child's parent - also on a bike but further away - said nothing but sheesh... should I expect my dog to sit quietly while some idiot runs over her tail or is it ok to bite the tyres.
 

Some instructors would not see what their dogs are doing as a problem and some "pick their battles"...  I've seen some good dog trainers let their dogs pull like freight trains on lead because it's not important to them that their dog has any self control on lead.  But then they can go blast around an agility course and get a clear and fast round.

I've had to look at some of the crap my dog does and pay attention to all the places she does it - not just the places where it's a problem... and then look at what I do that lets her think it's an ok behaviour.   Some of it is left over from when I didn't know how to train this dog (nothing that had worked on previous dogs that I learnt at dog training clubs - worked with her) and I pick my battles...

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I don't think picking dogs up makes them fearful of other dogs, unless it often results in other dogs coming over and investigating intensely, which actually can be the case. My little one still seems to prefer to be in my arms even though she sits there and snarls at a dog that comes close to us. We have had some big dogs try to jump up and grab at her while I've been holding her. Scary for her (and me), but still better than her being on the ground I guess, where she will almost certainly get skittled or trodden on or pushed around.

 

I let my little dog mix with bigger dogs if she wants to. She can judge from their behaviour if she thinks she wants to interact or not, so I just help her. If she doesn't want to, I let her jump into my arms. If she does want to, I get her to be sensible about it and not too intense. 

I wish I could vet all dogs she interacts with, but I can't! We meet them on walks and we don't always have much choice. I am very conscious that she is little and can be easily hurt. I don't want to leave her to handle a dog on her own that she is frightened of. If the dog is friendly and she doesn't seem worried, I'm happy for her to handle an incoming dog on her own, but she's still young and kind of conflicted about dogs. I think given her size and temperament, it's sensible to err on the side of caution with her, because many unplanned interactions with bigger dogs can end up not very pleasant for her. But by the same token, every time it works out fine, she learns to be more relaxed about it. So, that's the balance we are always weighing up. 

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I've never had a dog small enough to really pick up in a situation like that. So I'm not sure if it's bad or not, but I think you'd have to watch out for springy big dogs jumping up near your face level to get to her... 

It probably is a good idea to pick her up if the dog seems super rowdy and could squish her, but also at the same time you don't want a dog to bounce up and snap at her or your face. 

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56 minutes ago, Scrappi&Monty said:

I've never had a dog small enough to really pick up in a situation like that. So I'm not sure if it's bad or not, but I think you'd have to watch out for springy big dogs jumping up near your face level to get to her... 

It probably is a good idea to pick her up if the dog seems super rowdy and could squish her, but also at the same time you don't want a dog to bounce up and snap at her or your face. 

I've picked my dogs up (and held them) in 2 situations where they were in danger - and yes - it puts you in more danger - but I'd rather a doctors bill than a vets bill LOL. The last time it happened - about 18 months-2 years ago it was a dog attack and I held him up as high as I could (he was 10 kilos) while I kicked the attacking labrador and yelled for help.  

I have also picked up and physically moved my dogs out of the way or picked them up  (well scottie) and turned my back / blocked sight to an oncoming dog to help avoid aggro in a confined space. It might not be the most amazing pet ownership but it works. 

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Well I'm glad it wont make her fearful - that was my biggest concern! :) I'd rather I get hurt than she does

 

Think I'll continue my vetting and picking up in such situations!

even if i look like a bit of an overprotective dog mum but she's my baby! :grouphug:

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