Viewing Single Post From: Dominant or protective?

Viewing Single Post From: Dominant or protective?
Laura	Apr 14 2009, 04:00 PM
One of the regulars Posts: 190 Group: Full Members Member #730 Joined: October 14, 2008	Thanks for your replies. Yes. I'm pretty sure Sally's dislike of other dogs comes from fear (again, plenty of the information I found said a dog will always favour 'flight' and if it shows aggression it is dominance not fear) I had her at a very young age of 5 weeks as her mum got bored of the pups just after 3 weeks and became aggressive so the pups were separated and sold as soon as possible. Obviously this is why she was so nervous of other dogs from the beginning. She is a bit worse when she's with me which is why I thought it was protectiveness, but she still gives other dogs a 'warning' if she is at a distance, this happens less frequently because I call her away if I see a dog coming up to her and get her to sit or give a paw of something (I do this randomly throughout walks with both dogs anyway to keep them on their toes and so it's not just linked with the sight of another dog) She will protect Meg, but only if the other dog (or Meg) growls or something, she isn't on guard all the time. Meg is really friendly and she just gets on with saying hello to every other dog whilst Sally stays out of the way. piwoodhouse. no it's not just an outside problem, she hates dogs everywhere! The dogs that come round, or whose houses we go to, are ones we have known a while. Sally doen't really like them so much as put up with them because they have learned to stay out of her way. With mum's dogs and my sisters' Sally was walked with them before they came into the house so they could get themselves sorted. She doesn't play with any dogs except Meg and the 2 mini poodles who live next door to dad (don't ask, she has just loved them from the beginning!) We do go to an agility class and she is fine being around a lot of loud, lively dogs as long as they don't get in her face. She leaves them alone, concentrates on her course, doesnt snap if they walk past. It's only if a dog tries to say hello. Eco Warrier - I enjoy reading about you and Fred, it sounds like you have achieved so much together. The advice you were getting is the sort of stuff I was being told, but I don't think it's what I need for Sally because she's so good in all other areas, it's just meeting dogs which is the problem. When I said I felt stressed I meant when the problem first started, and you're right it probably did make her worse, when I eventually did just decide to cope with her behavior rather than focusing on trying to 'fix' my broken dog is when she started making progress.


Dominant or protective? · Training & Behaviour