Do dogs recognise each other?

[breadedchicken]

Do you think dogs of the same breed recognise each other and react accordingly? My Springer spaniel always seems extra delighted to meet another springer. He's thrilled to meet any friendly dog but seems to go particularly bananas when it's one of his own kind.

Definitely! My old girl was a black collie/spaniel cross who wasn't really fussed about playing with other dogs. We did agility and one evening a dog just like her but slightly bigger turned up - she was in 7th heaven! They always played when they met and we had to try and keep them apart all the time!

Yes absolutely, my dog has different reactions for different breeds!!

Our dachshund (long gone now!) used to recognise other daxie's but turn her nose up at them in a very snooty manner. I think she felt jealous that she wasn't quite as unique as she thought she was! She loved little white flat-faced fluffy dogs (opposite of her) maybe because she didn't see them as a threat to her superior beauty.
Current doggo, a lab goldie mix loves all dogs. Does not discriminate.

Ignore the rouge apostrophe!

Rouge? Rogue. I'll stop typing now!

Yes. My labs like other labs. My sire had ten pups and we visited them regularly when they were newborns pups up to 7 weeks and then we took 2 of the puppies to live with us. 6 months later - we had a puppy reunion and then all knew each other and mummy and daddy and then same yearly for the last 5 years.

My black lab loves all other dogs except really little ones, she adores labs but also specifically other black ones. No idea how she knows. Maybe their smell is different to other colours?

She also had a wolfhound friend she used to play with but not been on the field with him for ages. They drove past us recently and she went absolutely nuts before the car was anywhere near us! I was freaked out for a while as she just refused to move and was doing her wiggly excited shuffle then I suddenly recognised the vehicle as it approached, she must have caught the scent before they were in sight. Then I could hear the other dog barking to her even when they were far far past us, and mine was still sniffing the air and wiggling her bum excitedly for ages after they'd gone by.

Reminds me of the stripes movie when he doesn't know he is a zebra 🥺

Our dog is a Heinz 57 so not sure she will ever meet her kind 😢 (just realised how truly tragic that sounds!)

My cockapoo is a very friendly dog and will happily play with any dog who is willing - but he is especially happy to meet another cockapoo or spaniel. I do believe they recognise each other.

My cocker spaniel has favourite breeds. Spaniels are top but he loves Labradors too - possibly because they’re one of the few that can keep up with him 😆 he’s speedy beyond anything I’ve seen before even for a cocker and does temper his speed to his playmate. He dislikes husky and German Shepard type dogs but had a bad experience where he was pinned and a dog tried to bite him (dh intervened and got bitten instead).

I find lurchers, whippets and greyhounds are the least reactive of all breeds.
Daschunds are the most reactive!
Our mini poodle is afraid of lots of dogs, she got attacked by two French bulldogs recently but she is generally happy to meet dogs that are a similar size to her.

My labs loved other labs, especially golden ones like them.

Posh poodle turns into playful puppy when in the company of other poodles, especially larger ones. Even mixed poo breeds, as long as they have that prancing poodle way about them, he suddenly regresses into prancing poodle.

There have been studies that show that horses can learn and recognise human faces from pictures, match them to real faces and that's independent of things like hair style , colour etc
They can also recognise human emotion from photos and prefer people they have seen smiling in photos
I know it's horses not dogs but it's just an example of how clever animals are and how little credit they sometimes gets
Dogs as a species have evolved to interact more closely with humans and hence one would expect an even higher level of intelligence, plus they are pack animals so need to be able to recognise one another

I have 2 Lhasa Apso and there is another Lhasa Apso who lives at the top end of our cul des sac. We walk a little earlier than he often does. So we are often just about home and then he comes past. My girls love him to bits. They don't usually pull on lead but when he comes near they nearly pull my arm off between them.

My black lab goes bananas for other black labs, is pretty excited about other labs, delighted at spaniels (because there is a 90% chance they will do zoomies with her) and ambivalent about other dogs

my yellow lab enthusiastically runs up to Fox red labs in case they are her best mate (but backs off once she realises they aren’t) and is totally ambivalent about all other dogs

I never thought about that. My dog is quite interested in all other dogs, but cautious of much bigger dogs. Then he gets bored after a couple of seconds of sniffing. He's a fairly rare breed (Glen of Imaal) and as far as I know he hasn't met another Glen since he left his mum. I've seen a few when I've been driving around but not while I've had DDog with me. I don't know if he knows what he looks like enough to recognise another one like him.

Yes. FlamingoDog always recognises her pals from agility if we see them on a walk. And she gets very excited when she bumps into her best friend. She even tilts her head if I say their name

Sorry yes! Also she's a spaniel cross and she always says hello to other spaniels. Not keen on dachshund or German shepherds. Bad experiences in the past

My Welshie recognises small cotton bud dogs and HATES them, as one attacked him as a puppy. Otherwise, he's a typical Welshie and thinks he's a Bernese mountain dog, and acts accordingly. Will only act mannerly to dogs way bigger than him. It's unfortunate, as I live in Insta cotton bud territory but that's life.

My dog, a black staffie, loves black labs and other Staffies. He nearly always runs straight past spaniels. I think it’s to do with the fact labs play in the same way as Staffies, where as spaniels get quite affronted by his boisterousness. He’ll say a brief hello to collies and retrievers, ignore cocker poos, terrified of pointer types and a bit irritated by yappy small dogs.

We knew from his rescue that he had a sister re-homed to our local area. At a fun dog show when he was about 8 months old he saw her across the field and yanked his lead out of XH’s hand to get to her. If he picks up her scent in the woods we usually walk in he will run off to look for her. Only time he does ever disappear. We have met up with another of his litter mates and her people and the two dogs were relatively indifferent to each other.

Oh, you HAVE to have play dates with them, that's too cute and sad at the same time.His sister, I mean.

My schnauzer loves other schnauzers. They play in a similar way, taking turns to be chased. Adorable.

My lab always tops to say hello to another lab or a golden retriever. She's not particularly interested in any other breed but will always have a play with a lab if a play is on offer!

My poodle loathed ALL animals, except other poodles.

@puppygalore my springer meets an Irish Wolfhound about once a week and he's so funny around him. I think he's amazed at the size of it.

Loving all these stories of doggies being friends