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Also, as far as lead handling, I step in front of my dogs and this is a "cue" to them to stay behind me....lucky for me my dogs pretty much ignore other dogs unless they are attacked by them. I reach down and take up some of the slack, but do not put pressure on my dogs, if I were to put pressure on then they would sense that and may possibly act on what is "going down the lead" so to speak.....

This is the kind of stuff I am wondering about. So, Carol, how much slack would you leave in the leash? Enough to be loose for the dog, but not enough to get around your body, should the dog feel the need to ignore your cue of stepping in front, in order to defend himself?

I leave enough slack so that if my dogs were to step up, I could give a correction if I needed to.
It is so important to make sure that you do not give your dog any signs that there is a threat coming, they know this already, but they also know (with proper training and leadership) that you (the handler) will step up and defend the pack.

The biggest mistake people make is tightening the lead IMHO. Tightening and putting pressure on the lead is telling the dog that something is wrong and will make your dog tense up.

I apologize for misreading the first time......

Worst Case Scenerio I would drop the leash and let my dog have a "fighting" chance, as it were.

I am thankful for all the topics that we've had on this lately. Just yesterday I went out to our camp. When I was in high school and lived out there with my family, we were the only ones there year round and the closest neighbor was at least 1/2 mile away during the summer. So I could bike with my dog, and yes we let her run loose. She loved to chase the scent of a rabbit. LOL

Anyway, as with all things, people have moved in, and now there are neighbors all around us and apparently all with dogs, too.

So I was out there yesterday looking for some left-over lumber from our wood shop days. I had Buddy with me on leash and muzzle. He was being really really good, so after I took off his muzzle so that he could drink his water out of the cup that I had with us, I left the muzzle off.

While we were poking around the "garage", a neighbor came near with her child and dog on leash but just walked the other way. I was quite happy with that. Buddy was curious and looked, but didn't get excited or try to meet them (new collar?). So then as we walked to the other end of our property, another dog (black lab) who was loose came running down to meet us. Now he didn't look unfriendly but I don't know him, and I don't need the issues.

I told him to GO HOME as I headed back to the other end of our property. I tried to keep between my pup and him, but my pup wanted to meet him and did the submissive roll over onto his back. I kept thinking if trouble breaks out, I'll have to drop his leash, but I kept "re-treating" away from the dog, telling him to GO HOME, and trying to stay between the two dogs. The other dog finally, headed back to his home. Thank goodness nothing bad happened. But it makes you realize that another dog can show up anytime, when you least expect it.

So thank you all for sharing your ideas and experiences.

Carol, don't worry about the mis-read; there have been quite a few threads regarding how to fend off an advancing dog on the board lately. I found the input about handling the leash, specifically, to be what I was looking for.

Is there anyone else that may handle their own dog a little differently than Yuko or Carol? Any other experiences that were dealt with in a different manner (remeber, your own dogs now ).

Eric, I hear ya; if a loose dog wants to take on my pack it had better be prepared for a rumble.

I do pretty much what Yuko does. I put Carbs or Farley in a stay behind me while I deal with the threat. Luckily they both have a solid stay in these situations (or have so far, anyway) and even more luckily, I've always been able to ward off the new dog. If the dog really went after them and I was unable to prevent the attack, I'd let them defend themselves for sure, no leash.

Once, when Carbs was a small pup and didn't stay well (at all), I felt I needed my hands free to deal with this stray that came on us. I stepped closely on his leash to keep him from going forward to the dog. This did put tension on the leash, but it was my only option at that point and I was able to step away from Carbs with my other foot to keep him behind me while I dealt with the stray. Not a perfect solution, but it did work in that single incidence.

This is a good subject, Brad. Everyone talks about what they should do to the dog that's approaching but we rarely talk about how you should handle your own dog in that situation.

Edited by Amber Morgan (04/27/2007 03:06 PM)
Edit reason: mess up

I too like this post, and I hope that more suggestions are made.

I do have this problem. Quinn is dog aggressive and through lots of time and training, we are to the point that he will completely ignore non-aggressive dogs. When he is off leash Quinn will even lay down if approached by a friendly dog, then look over at me as if to say, "Is it over yet? Can we just move on now?"

I find that with this boy that my eyes are now always peeled for those aggressive, dominant, or overly enthusiastic dogs. His ob is what I would call above average but far from perfect. We have been lucky in that we have never been approached by an off leash dog that falls into those categories. Unchallenged by one would not be an issue, but challenged, I could not count on his stay; pack structure is a process that we work on daily.

So suggestions? Do I down him to confront the marauding dog? Fine, Quinn may or may not stay. Is this the time or place to be dealing with pack leadership? As stated the various ways to deal with the other dog has been dealt with, so take that aspect out of the equation. We always have an e-collar on, so... corrections here? We are talking about a very high drive dog, as many of you deal with and I genuinely would like opinions.

I would like to be prepared before it happens! Thanks!!

Jessica, it sounds like you're doing a great job with him!

If you're at the stage in your training where you've got the basics under control but are unsure of his reliability under extreme distractions (ie. approached by a dominant, aggressive or over-enthusiastic dog) you can try to set up a training situation.

Do you have any friends or fellow dog owners who'd be willing to help out?

A good way to do this is to tether your dog to a tree or post with a long line (20 or 30 feet long), and also have a leash attached to his prong collar (or whatever collar you use to correct him).

Draw or mark out the circumference of the circle that your dog can reach around the post/tree while tied with the long line.

Your helper can bring a crazy nutcase of a dog along (one of those doodle dogs come to mind - they're annoyingly jumpy and hyper) and approach you and your dog with his dog leashed (of course).

The helper should know where your dog's "reach" ends so that he can get as close as possible but still keep his dog out of the physical reach of your own dog.

By having your dog tethered (and the approaching dog on leash), it will free you up to deal with your own dog and correct for any infractions.

By setting him up to fail, so to speak, you can enforce your rank and training with him and show him that he MUST follow your lead no matter how distracting the situation.

Only you will know if he's ready to move to that level of distraction though...

(I recommend the long-line tied to the tree instead of a short leash because it won't make your dog feel "backed into a corner" and defensive when the other dog approaches. The long-line will give him the feel of having more freedom and he'll be more relaxed than if he's tied up on a short leash with nowhere to move. You should still have a short 6ft leash on him, but you would be holding that one, so that you can give him a leash correction if necessary).

Good luck.

Very nice. I like that!! Start with a doodle (enthusiastic with bad manners), move to a Spitz type (he always pays closer attention to Huskies and Malamutes, dominance maybe) and then move to an aggressive after some work...

But back to the original, what if it happens today?

If it were me I'd probably give him a warning pop on the leash along with the "down" or "stay" command. Maybe even growl at him a little to remind him who's boss in case he's thinking of blowing you off

Just as a reminder not to budge.

Of course, ideally you'd want to avoid such a situation where things could quickly get very nasty if you were to lose control...

In your dog's case you may want to hang on to the leash in case he breaks the stay and tries to engage the other dog.

Of course I don't know your dog at all so I can only give you ideas; the little "warning pop" on the leash is something that I occasionally use on my female shepherd when I see that she's getting her hackles up and growling (while doing the stay). I'm not worried about her breaking the stay, but I feel better giving her a physical reminder along with a growl as a warning to stay out of the way...

It sounds like you know what you're doing anyway, I'm sure you'll figure something out depending on the situation. Happy training - it's good to see that we're finally getting some use out of those doodle dogs! Haha.