Straddling the line between DOES YOUR DOG WANT TO SAY HI and U-TURN

[elizabeda777]

My boy has been doing really well with his leash frustration. He has the hardest time when other dogs clearly want to greet him. I don’t want to overstep anyone’s training or create a dumb situation by being dumb. I also don’t like people in general.

But it would be really cool if he could just say hi and make some friends.

 

[richard1970]

@elizabeda777 I struggled making that call until learning more about dog greetings from my new behavioral team.

Here’s what I learned: Two dogs aren’t ready to greet each other unless both dogs are calmly, almost neutrally interested, not worked up about seeing one another. If either dog is displaying ANY anxiety signs (intense staring, lip licking, whimpering, high tail, low tail, rigidity, leash pulling, difficult to distract, etc.), they’re not in the right headspace to greet.

If the headspace is wrong, always U-turn or move far enough back to quietly work on your redirection games with your dog.

Good luck!!

 

[elizabeda777]

@richard1970 I hate that you’re right about this lol.

My dog is pretty OK being neutral but interested but if I give him the OK to go ahead, he does get very excited. Do you think that counts as over excited per your behavior team?

 

[celtish]

@elizabeda777 Yes. The fact that you're describing him as "very excited" means that he shouldn't be greeting other dogs. By allowing him to greet other dogs when he's excited, you're telling him that being excited is appropriate behavior and then you're rewarding that by allowing the greeting to happen. This isn't the proper way for your dog to make friends.

 

[zakknight]

@elizabeda777 You’re not overstepping anything if you’re respecting their personal space and ask politely, that’s exactly what we have language for!

As a reactive dog owner, even if you come too close for my dog’s comfort and he starts barking, as long as you’re not rude about it, I’m still gonna feel great that you asked.

 

[elizabeda777]

@zakknight Thank you! My dog is just so big and intimidating I love when other dogs want to say hi lol.

Gonna have to brush up on my language skills