It seems that I need to follow advice by some of our blog friends that I should tell other dog owners a lie that my dogs have a skin disease or something.
Today, when I was walking with Cinnamon on a narrow footpath, I found a woman and her Labrador coming. Because the road was busy with traffic, there was not an option to cross the road to the other side. I looked for a driveway where we could walk in and stay until the other dog was gone, but there was none. So, I decided to turn around, go to the nearest corner, and wait there. But, when I did so, pulling Cinnamon who didn't want to move, the other dog owner quickly followed us, saying "He is a friendly dog!" Apparently the woman thought that we were running away from a dog that we thought might be aggressive.
Also, I might need to start carrying a bottle of water again when I walk Cinnamon. When I was intensively training Cinnamon not to bark at other dogs before the CGC assessment, I always carried a bottle of water and gave a splay over Cinnamon to distract her whenever she barked, which seemed to be working. Those who advocate 100% positive training might disapprove of the use of water in that way, but I think it is far more humane than pulling her lead to stop her pulling.
Sigh, momma has taken to telling other humans lies about me to keep them from approaching, especially when they have their doggies with them. It breaks her heart, but it seems that a yell of, "My dog is NOT friendly, STAY BACK" is sometimes the only thing that gets through their wee brains fast enough to avoid trouble.
ReplyDeleteSlobbers,
Mango
Oh we so understand Cinnamon. We thought we were the only ones that had to do all of that. I think people with big doggies just don't get that some of us small doggies are just really scared, it doesn't matter how friendly their doggies are. And even some big doggies are really scared as well. People don't understand that even more, they think Big Means Fearless. If we've got nowhere to run we find that turning our back on people and getting interested in the treats that Mum always carries gets our attention and we hope that our turned back might get rid of the humans. It seems rude but sometimes its just too much bother to tell a big story.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it is worth taking them to a beginners obedience class, just for the social side of things - not the training.
ReplyDeleteAnd go for walks where you know you will meet other dogs more often, exposure will help her. Have you tried giving her rescue rememdy before you go out for a walk, to take the edge off? Also, if you don't react to the other dogs, Cinnamon will be far less likely to react - they can sense when we are nervous/worried and are far more likely to play up.
Both our dogs have learned to behave and walk together, or separately. The first time we walked them together, we were a bit nervous so they played up. We made sure after that, that we were relaxed and acted like normal - and they are now great, and totally relaxed when out walking together.
I hope that makes sense, and helps.
- Helen :) (my first time commenting on your blog)
I have had similar problems with Bella – not so much with other dogs (although when we walk towards them she always tries to do the army crawl), but more so with people, especially runners. I’ve always thought that it was because our morning walks are in the dark and she is trying to be protective of me. I try to avoid the situation by walking onto the grass and trying to distract them with sniffing a power pole or something. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It was something that she did a lot as a pup and has recently started to get quite bad again. Like 4-legged Wiums mentioned, they can sense how you are feeling. I always try to not think about it when people walk towards us, but I know when I see people all I can think is ”Oh no she’s going to bark at them”!
ReplyDeleteBarry on the other hand just thinks that we need to stop and talk to anyone that we meet so they can pat him, and hopefully give him treats (wishful thinking)!
Pepper very occassionally does the "DANGER" bark at random strangers (usually men) - all heckles up and woo-woo-wooing really loudly at them. I always say to the person "its ok, she's just worried but she's really friendly" and if they seem happy and not nervous then I take her up to them so she t least sniff them or they often give her a pat or I give them a treat to give her or her ball to throw (if we're at the park) so she can realise there's nothing to be worried or scared about. It's working as we used to have a "DANGER" episode once every a walk and now we only get about 1 a fortnight if that.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you need a T-Shirt that says, I'm undergoing training, so leave me alone!!
ReplyDeleteBarking and pulling at other dogs is a very common problem! And there can be many different reasons why they do it and many different situations that cause them to do it.
The main reasons are...
-the dog either wants to play but can't so it gets frustrated and vents through barking and pulling... Or
-the dog feels the other dog is a threat to their pack and feels that they have to deal with the incoming dog becasue they don't think their owner(pack leader) can.
Maybe you need to figure out the reason Cinnamon barks and pulls, it may help fix it if you understand fully why she is doing it.
I would love to tell you why she is doing it, but I would have to see the behaviour to give you a true reading.
I hope this helps, it can be fixed and very successfully. I can walk six dogs(all at once) down Mission Bay past other dogs and not one of them will react to the dogs. So if I can do that you will definately be able to do that with Cinnamon and Mint :)
~Laura
Hi Cinnamon, thank you for your post on our blog :) We don't compete in obedience, we only adopted Arrow from Greyhounds as Pets at Easter time this year, and Snoopy came from the SPCA in October last year. We are waiting for them to be more consistent before we move onto competing or anything. we are aiming to do agility with Snoopy later on, as she loves a challenge! Going to a social obedience class with your two will definately help I think, we go to All Breeds in Onehunga on Monday nights.
ReplyDelete- Helen, Snoopy & Arrow
It's a tricky situation. Have you figured out why Cinammon gets barky with other dogs? I think that it's ok to just tell other walkers that your dog isn't friendly. Kess generally loves to meet other dogs but we do understand when other dog owners tell us that their dogs don't get along with other dogs. So if we do end up bumping into these dogs, we respect the situation and take a diff route or move aside till they pass.
ReplyDeleteI've al
I've also come across advice from the Cesar, the Dog Whisperer that dogs can sense their human's feelings. So if you inadvertently tense up when you meet other dogs, Cinnamon may sense that and it may make the situation worse. Perhaps you can try remaining calm so that your calmness can influence Cinammon. Don't give up!
ReplyDeleteHello....I just found your blog via Schnauzer and Schnauzer and I am so glad to meet you...finally! I love your layout and your cheerful colors of your blog! I am a new RSS Feed Subscriber and I hope you will visit my blog sometime...I think your pooch would love to meet my coonhound, Daisy!
ReplyDeleteI am a professional pet sitter and I run into the "my dog isn't friendly" warning all of the time while out walking dogs. Instinctively, I want to meet every dog on my walks because I can't bring myself to ignore them because I'm crazy about dogs; however, I heed the owner's warnings because when I don't listen I end up with a lot of grief! I never heard of spraying a dog with water as a warning but I say that if it works for you then I'm all for it. I feel the same way about tugging at the leash and I avoid it whenever possible!
It looks like you've got a lot of good advice from everybody else and especially Lexi & Jasper's owner! I'm looking forward to reading about how she helped you in your next post.
ReplyDeleteI think you shouldn't feel bad about telling "lies" - some people are just too stupid to listen to direct warnings - even if you say "My dog is not friendly" or "my dog is worried" - they will still walk towards you with their out-of-control dog, saying "Oh, don't worry - mine is very friendly" - but that's not the point, the idiots! And sometimes it's just not worth trying to explain dog behaviour to stupid people like this. (This has happened to us A LOT) So it's easier just to tell a simplier lie like your dog having a skin disease...it solves the whole problem very quickly and anyway, you will never meet these people again so what do you care what they think? :-) The important thing is to protect your dog and to prevent her from engaging in a bad behaviour.
Hsin-Yi