Dog question. One of my Labs has recently developed the bad habit of

[KurtNYC]

barking when another dog is approaching on the sidewalk. It is excitement, not aggression but it seems aggressive to others and to some other dog owners. Her back end is wiggling, tail wagging, she does a play bow with it but many people just see it as aggression.

It is also usually way too excited and high energy for the other dog. She loves to meet other dogs but she doesn't back off when they growl, pull up a lip or give other warnings. I keep the leash tight or pull her back if the other dog doesn't have room to move back from her but many other owners just let their dog do whatever and it doesn't always go well.

This morning she saw another dog approaching and she sat and smiled in the middle of the sidewalk. The other dog didn't look all that secure and friendly to me so I tried to move her but she then went into a down position. When the other dog was 5 feet away she got up and barked. It barked back. I grabbed her muzzle and closed it and corrected her with "no bark!" and "sit". The other dog owner had passed but stopped and turned back and let her dog come right into my dog's face. They were nose to nose and the other dog was showing teeth and growling. Before I could pull my dog back again, this other dog bit her in the face twice and drew blood. At which point the other owner said "I guess they are both too aggressive for this."

I brought her home and cleaned out the wounds and tried not to cry. She is a sweet and mostly submissive dog with almost no issues. I am now looking for a trainer to help me. I think the issues are 1) I need to find a method to stop her excited barking in all situations and 2) I need to be able to move her from a lay down position or stop her from going down in the first place. Also, for the time being, I need to be more clear with other owners that I don't want my dog meeting theirs after she has barked -- it rewards a bad behavior and makes barking part of the greeting. Any barking should be corrected and should be the end of the greeting.

She is not quite 2 years old and only started this barking during greeting thing about 6 weeks ago. Any advice?

[WillParkinson]

1. I'm sorry, I don't have an answer...

But that is an adorable face! Best of luck to you.

[Arugula Latte]

2. Oh, jeez. Dumbass other dog owner!

I don't have a dog but I'm constantly amazed by how clueless some, SOME, dog owners are about controlling their dogs. You'd think s/he would have known to not to let his/her dog get in your dog's face, especially when it was growling.

[KurtNYC]

5. I have been bitten defending my dogs from other dogs

because my dogs are pretty clueless about aggression as you can see in the story. They have never been in a real dog fight and, to the best of my ability to prevent it, never will be. The physical heals but dogs can develop fear aggression pretty easily and that is much harder to deal with.

Definitely I need to be more on point in a situation like this morning and step between them or just be more vocal about declining a greeting. Just didn't expect the other owner to turn back like that and I didn't react in time.

A more common mistake is when dog owners push their dog forward to a greeting or leave them no room to move back -- if they can't "flight" they "fight." But the ones that really get me are the owners who coddle and sweet talk, or pick up and pet their dog after it is aggressive.

[Duer 157099]

3. No advice but

damn she's adorable!

[KurtNYC]

7. Thanks. Here she is turning on the cute...

I have had her since she was 8 weeks old. Loves everyone and every dog (even ones she should give some distance to).

[Baitball Blogger]

4. You're on the right track.

a trainer will help you find a good and quick solution. It will probably involve more social interaction with other dogs, like visiting dog parks.

[KurtNYC]

6. They are fine off leash and in dog parks

and she lives with another dog 24/7 and has 4 or more regular dog friends.

It is on leash and on the sidewalk that is a problem and I think part of the bark is her frustration at not being able to get to the other dog to start playing.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. A trainer will certainly help.

You might not like the methods they use, but, if your dog is smart he will learn fast. You, need to pay attention too, in order to make sure you don't do anything to unlearn the new behavior.

[KurtNYC]

9. my take on dog training is everything you do is training

whether you want it to be or not. You have to be very aware of what you are rewarding and what the dog is learning.

So I absolutely agree the training is at least as much for me as for her.

[hlthe2b]

10. I think it is the excitement level that needs to be addressed....

Training a dog to remain calm on walks--no matter what, takes time. If they are always just at that point of expressing major excitement, then the appearance of another dog is just enough to "tip them"... Other dogs see that excitement first and do not always discern non-aggressive intent. For dogs there seems to be a spectrum of excitement that ranges from curiosity to happiness to full on aggressiveness and the fine tuned body language signs do differ a bit from breed to breed, dog to dog. The problem really comes from other dogs that are not well socialized and who may totally misread the "cues"....

A trainer should be able to help you temper the excitement level and likely decrease or contain this behavior.

[KurtNYC]

12. Thanks

The excitement thing makes sense. She sits because I have taught her that position but inside she is getting cranked up until she can't sit anymore and then she bursts out with too much energy. She is very intent on meeting almost every dog and she tends to be very excited during the greeting. Submissive, as she will get on her back, but excited.

And she is not good about reading warning signs from other dogs. Once the reactions and counter reactions start between the dogs, it goes very quickly.

[KurtNYC]

11. an update -- hopefully this is not related

but wow it has been a day...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002699473

[crunch60]

13. Check out this site, "The Dog Wisper" Cesar is great, and can help you nip

your problem in the bud. He has saved and rehabilitate many dogs. Your dog is beautiful.

http://www.cesarsway.com/

He also has DVDs you can purchase to help with dog training, especially important thing to do when the dog is young.

http://www.cesarsway.com/training/thewalk/How-to-Walk-16-Dogs-or-Just-One

Edited to add information

[XemaSab]

14. Be honest with yourself if your dog is starting to show signs of aggression

I have an aggressive dog and it sucks.

[KurtNYC]

16. I think post 10 is very on the mark

and will work more on her excitement level. I had a rescue who had fear aggression and would react to about 15% of other dogs so you always had to be ready for that. The present dogs are not rescues but also not from a breeder. I have had them since they were pups and neither shows any sign of real aggression. I want to avoid encounters like the one in the OP because any dog can develop fear aggression and it is very difficult to un-do. There were 2 dogs and 2 dog owners in the encounter of the OP and I take blame for my part and my dog's part. I will absolutely make changes.

[Major Nikon]

19. Another aspect to fixing the problem is teaching obedience

You're already walking your dog, which is extremely important to teaching obedience, but how you walk your dog makes a big difference too. We think of dog walking as a physical exercise, but for the dog it's really much more about mental exercise. If you ever see someone walking a dog that has gone through a lot of obedience training, the dog will be constantly looking at the owner trying to figure out what they need to do next. This keeps the dog's mind occupied and keeps them out of a lot of trouble.

[mvd]

15. What a beautiful dog you have!

I think the biting incident was totally the other owner's fault. Going down sounds like a play position. Maybe she needs more energy out. There are far worse problems, and I wouldn't worry too much. Your dog is still young. Would recommend a trainer if exercise and commands don't work.

[KurtNYC]

17. Thanks.

The sitting and the down are part of the training I have given her. We mostly follow the Bonnie Bergin method which is used to train service dogs (and is NOT based on physical domination, intimidation or alpha wolf theories). It is based in part on Zen philosophy(!) -- with the basic idea being that dogs live the present and do best when they are near the calm center of the emotional range. We use hand signals because they don't convey the emotions that voice does. It is also really handy when you are on the phone. Also dogs' hearing is not all that precise and many words sound the same. They are wired more toward reading body language, smells and energy while humans are visual and vocal.

My dogs never get any treat, greeting or meal without sitting first. The dogs expanded on this and will sit and look at something if they want it; we say "the dogs who sit are the dogs who get." I have 2 dogs (siblings) so whichever one sits first, gets first. It has been a great way for us to communicate -- if they sit and look at the door they need to go out, if the look at the water bowl it may be empty, if they look at a person they want to meet them. In the OP she really wanted to meet the other dog.

This is the Bergin book:
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Dog-Mind-Bergins-Bringing/dp/0316091243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337343970&sr=8-1

[mvd]

20. You are welcome

Thanks for the link. I have a Goldendoodle, and while he's a great dog, I'd like to get him less play mouthy. I heard retrieving breeds are prone to this.

[pipi_k]

18. One of the things

I learned from doggy obedience training is that tightening up on the leash will give your doggy the signal that you are tense, and then she will tense up also and get more excited, leading to more barking.

I'll tell you this...if I had my dog on a leash and someone else allowed their dog to come up to mine and bite her (causing injury) I would not just let it go. Something similar happened at the vet's office one time with one of my Shepherds, except it was the other dog that almost got bitten. Both our dogs were on leashes but this lady allowed her small dog (Schnauzer, I think) to come over to where my dog was sitting with us in the office. She was tense and nervous and lunged for the other dog, but didn't bite, thank goodness.

I think out of basic safety and consideration, dog owners should ask permission of another dog owner before allowing their dog to interact. As well, people should ask permission before petting a strange dog.

Anyway, basic training is a great idea, and I'm glad you're going in that direction. It really does make a difference.

PS...your fur-girl is beautiful

[Bertha Venation]

21. What a lovely, beautiful, sweet pup.

But I'm sorry, I have no answers.

[SwissTony]

22. Barking is a natural behaviour. it's an inter-dog form of communication.

If the dog is receiving sufficient attention, care and exercise/stimulation at home, she's not barking out of frustration/boredom. Some dogs are just barkier than others. She's young and enthousiastic and hasn't learnt signs from other dogs. She will.

I'm a dober freak. My current boof is a huge dobe, but he's very socialised both with people and dogs. But he made mistakes when he was young. And he learned. But he still likes to bark. Most of it is what I call what "happy woog".

Your baby is beautiful.

The owner who said "I guess they are both too aggressive for this" is an idiot. And a denialist.