Then surely you don't allow your dog to approach it without speaking to the owner? My rescue greyhound isn't friendly with other dogs, always wears a bright yellow muzzle when we're out and about. I've done a lot of work with him over the 4 years I've had him and he's so much less reactive than he used to be. If we see another dog when out walking I stand between myself and the other dog and tell him to 'leave'. We've got to the stage where he just ignores the passing dog most of the time, sometimes he'll have a little whine if we see two dogs in close succession.
Today a family approach us with two dogs on extender leads (stretched out nice and long). I heard them barking before I saw them. Did our usual routine of me stopping, taking my hound to one side and standing in between him and the other dogs, allowing as much space as possible for them to pass and speaking calmly to him. The owners of the other dog are laughing about and imitating their dog's barking and looking at my dog. They let their dog come right up to mine barking in his face and then the other starts jumping on his back. Obviously my dog goes into complete panic and starts jumping and barking and trying to defend himself. The other dog owners make no attempt to pick up their dogs or rein them in. With all the commotion, my dog slips his harness which has never happened before right next to a busy road.
Without thinking, I dive in trying to get hold of my dog to get his harness back on, bearing in mind my dog is muzzled and the other two aren't. Dopey other owners just all stand there. I quickly get a hold of my dog and the other owners are still stood there with their dogs. I had to actually ask them to walk their dogs on. Fortunately neither me nor my dog got injured, but it was still a frightning experience. I keep thinking I did something wrong and would never have forgiven myself if harm had come to my dog. He's also my first dog so it was scary to watch him jumping up and growling at the other two. I've never seen him behave like that before, so I'm assuming he must have felt very threatened.
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The doghouse
If you see a dog wearing a muzzle...
32 replies
Stefoscope · 18/08/2019 14:31
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