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I walk my dog Hairyit out on the road every day and she has interacted with people that stop to chat and even a few that have gotten out of their cars to pet her. There is a guy I know we've walked up on with his dog and she wags her tail when she sees them. In general she never growls or barks.
Today a new neighbor couple with a couple of tiny dogs were out walking and the minute Hairy saw them she started growling and barked a couple of times. Granted the little dogs also snarled and barked. It seems Hairy did it first but maybe I didn't hear the other dogs start up.
Any idea why my dog did this? She gets along with everyone usually but took an instant dislike to the situation.
Did either of the people in the couple have on a big hat, or a big bag/pack, or something like a walking stick -- anything that might create an unusual or off-putting silhouette when Hairyit first saw them? And how old is Hairyit?
Did either of the people in the couple have on a big hat, or a big bag/pack, or something like a walking stick -- anything that might create an unusual or off-putting silhouette when Hairyit first saw them? And how old is Hairyit?
She is about 18 months old. I forgot to add she started growling when these people were about 40 yards away. It is a rural road but she's never done this to anyone even another couple we came up on a few months back with their two dogs.
That's puzzling. I will mention (I feel like a broken record, since I "mention" this a lot on this forum) that there is a surprisingly late fear period in dogs -- as late as 18 months. So you might look into that. It's possible that she's going through a fear period, and something about them just happened to strike her funny during this impressionable time.
That's puzzling. I will mention (I feel like a broken record, since I "mention" this a lot on this forum) that there is a surprisingly late fear period in dogs -- as late as 18 months. So you might look into that. It's possible that she's going through a fear period, and something about them just happened to strike her funny during this impressionable time.
You may be on to something with the fear thing. I've been noticing when we start our walks she is always looking behind her for what I assume she fears - cars approaching. Whenever she hears a car she stops and moves off to the side of the road. Maybe she saw the people and knew it wasn't a car but wasn't sure what was happening so she decided to growl? Of course that doesn't explain why she hasn't growled at other people and dogs.
Dog's vision is much faster the ours so they pick up on visual clues we do not so sometimes it is difficult to figure out why they react a certain way. They also have a much better sense of smell so know things about people and animals we do not. If one of my dogs growls out of the blue at something I see it as a sign that something makes them uncomfortable and move them away. I never get upset or not allow them to growl as that is the best way they have to warn me about how they feel.
The little dogs could simply have stared too long as staring is a very aggressive move in a dogs world or made some other body posture that made Hairyit uncomfortable so he growled his warning.
It could be a leash thing. Our dogs never bark at other dogs in the park, when everybody is off leash, but once they're on a leash, and encounter other leashed dogs on our walks, they will typically bark and growl (they're both 7 years old). According to some dog trainers, it has something to do with the leash being a life line to us, their Humans, and they feel the need to defend us from approaching monsters...
I walk my dog Hairyit out on the road every day and she has interacted with people that stop to chat and even a few that have gotten out of their cars to pet her. There is a guy I know we've walked up on with his dog and she wags her tail when she sees them. In general she never growls or barks.
Today a new neighbor couple with a couple of tiny dogs were out walking and the minute Hairy saw them she started growling and barked a couple of times. Granted the little dogs also snarled and barked. It seems Hairy did it first but maybe I didn't hear the other dogs start up.
Any idea why my dog did this? She gets along with everyone usually but took an instant dislike to the situation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dashdog
. . . If one of my dogs growls out of the blue at something I see it as a sign that something makes them uncomfortable and move them away. I never get upset or not allow them to growl as that is the best way they have to warn me about how they feel.
The little dogs could simply have stared too long as staring is a very aggressive move in a dogs world or made some other body posture that made Hairyit uncomfortable so he growled his warning.
And tiny little dogs often get away with aggression that would never be tolerated in a larger dog. I can just hear it: "Oh, it's so cute!"
What Dash said reflected my 1st thots on this. For whatever reason, your Hairyit doesn't like or trust either those people or their dogs, one or the other or both. If you want her to be polite, regardless, that may require some situation-specific training. Or may not - but it does require you to be aware of her feelings about the situation.
And it could be something as innocuous as a big hat, or a stick, or a brand of deodorant, or something equally unimportant to our minds - but that triggered something in Hairyit's mind. It could easily have been the body language of the approaching little dogs. Dogs give silent body language signals to other dogs all the time.
The late fear period is also a possibility, but I would not generalize from the reaction to cars to a reaction to people. Not saying it couldn't happen, but I wouldn't think it likely. OTOH, I LIKE her reaction to cars. She SHOULD be a little afraid of them - for her they are killing machines - and worthy of a great deal of caution. At 18 months, it could also be Hairyit coming into adulthood, and taking on doggy adult responsibility on the walk. E.g. this might be the development of guarding behavior.
Personally, my first response, after recognizing Hairyit's response, would be to introduce myself to the people with the tiny dogs, and let them meet and greet in a situation where restraining each was possible. However, if Hairyit is really bent out of shape, that may not be possible, in which case I would do as Dash suggested, and move elsewhere. I would also work to redirect Hairyit's response. When she reacts, I would use treats or clickers to get her to refocus on me following that. Or to sit - or do something else - but using positive reinforcement. The idea would be to get Hairyit to think "Ok, I told everybody the little dogs are there, now if I sit I'll get a treat!" If you need to work on something like this, I would suggest doing some research on training for such situations. McConnell, Dunbar and others have good books covering such stuff.
Another thought to keep in mind is that body space is like a bubble. Let's say you're walking Hairyit, and TinyDogs are walking towards you. Let's just say Hairyit reacts at 20 yards. You grab a treat, and get her to sit and look at you - but TinyDogs are STILL walking towards you. This, in itself, is an aggressive move by TinyDogs. Why? Because they are not only inside Hairyit's bubble, they are continuing to push that bubble smaller, creating MORE pressure on Hairyit to respond. So your brand new training may get blown out of the water. Personally, I think this is situational ignorance on the part of TinyDogs, but many people are exactly that ignorant. So, RL, just gotta deal with it, but I mention this so you can be aware of it, and so be better able to deal with it.
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