On, various, social media outlets you will find, many, tales of ‘bad’ meetings between dogs, usually accompanied by, the angry and indignant rambling of, outraged owners. More often, than not, other outraged owners will comment. Of course, some of these experiences are bad but, most aren’t. I will give you a recent example.
Clint (my current charge, a rescued Lurcher) has learnt to socialise with other dogs and, loves nothing more than a play, if the opportunity presents itself.
Now, because Clint is a rescued Lurcher, he has had to learn how to meet and interact with other dogs. This is something I work on every day. Consequently, he is a very sociable and friendly pup. He can get a little over-excited, on occasion and will need calming down, a simple thing to do. As a rule of thumb, I do what I recommend all responsible dog owners do. When out on a walk, if I see a stranger and their dog approaching, I will always put clint on the lead. If the meeting goes well and everyone is happy, Clint is let off to interact with the other dog/s.
Of course, there are always exceptions; we don’t live in a perfect world. Recently, while walking in a wooded area, we met, with no warning a spaniel who bounded, enthusiastically up to Clint, who took this, not surprisingly, as an invitation to play. The spaniel found this too much and yelped, taking evasive action. I got Clint, quickly, back on the lead. The other owner did not, instead choosing to demand I get my dog under control (it takes two to tango). She then stomped of, muttering under her breath. Much ado about nothing…
Yesterday, I met the same lady with her dog and husband at the same location. This time her dog was on the lead. I saw them at distance, so I put Clint on the lead. As we met, I said good morning. She was still not happy and shielded her dog from Clint, stating how nervous he was of Clint. With such a bizarre, and common attitude, this owner is only going to make her dog fearful of other dogs. Indeed, her dog was now showing fear, directly because of her actions.
A different approach would help this lady’s dog to become a lot more relaxed with Clint (or dogs like him). Her overreaction to a simple, natural, dog interaction now means that her dog is, likely to become nervous around more dogs…
