Speaking of the old swamp cat (RB).... Fara once got her foot stuck in the porch steps and starting yelping. As I tried to free her, RB attacked me believing I was hurting Fara. LOL

Cats can be so awesome.........

But Ann is the only one I know that has a protection trained cat..LOL

Gotta chime in on this one. Jim is doing GREAT with Fara!! He has really embraced setting constructive and safe social boundaries for Fara, he's studying his training tapes, and most of all he is getting out and exposing her to all kinds of learning situations.

His question is a really good one, and I think we've all been in similar situations whether in a training class, at a pet warehouse, or walking around the block. What are we supposed to do when our dog reacts to another dog's aggressive advance? I never saw Fara initiate aggression, only react to it. In my neighborhood, most people let their smaller dogs run loose, and they often charge me and Ammo. He reacts aggressively. What should our ideal response be? Should I put him in a platz, grab my bear mace, and blast the crap out of the provoking dog? What if there is a child around? What if the aggressing dog is a large dog? The only other responsible owner in my neighborhood has 5 pittes, and they are under control at all times. I have walked by his house with his dogs off leash and loose in the yard, they bark, I platz Ammo, his dogs stop, and peace ensues. Not so with the little dogs. I saw Betty get blasted for one of her dogs reacting to a Rottie's aggressive advance. The Rottie leapt in front of his handler, got in her dog's face, her dog barked and snapped back, and NOBODY said anything to the Rottie handler. Instead, they fussed at Betty, and I found that extremely unfair. She had control over her dog at all times.

What's the solution to aggressive advances from other people's dogs? What is a fair expectation of our own dogs?

Oh, and by the way, RB the Protection Trained Swamp Cat is no more. I hated to see him go. He was a good friend and mentor.

Do you teach the conformation class Ann?

No, Jim is my sweetheart, and he stayed with me over the summer and again in the fall, so we know each other's dogs pretty well. I have working line dogs, too ... Fara's littermate (Fatale) and another dog bred by Betty named Ammo. He's a Leerburg-line dog, too. I also have a working line Rottie named Anja, and a bunch of cats. I get so frustrated with the multitude of irresponsible owners who let their little dogs roam. Ammo's a great dog, but he is super high drive (really, I'm not just saying that). It kills me to walk him around the block and get blindsided by some aggressive little yappy dog, or dogs. I used to train in Schutzhund, but the distance was prohibitive. I trained with Betty when Will Rambeau was our training director. I'm an avid student of the the "Leerburg University." My dog is beautifully engaged with me when I have a tug, and fairly well engaged with food, but what to do when provoked by another dog is a question I've dealt with for some time. Jim knows how frustrated I get when I feel like I can't even walk my dog around the neighborhood without worrying about what little dog is gonna come out from behind a tree and ambush us. Sometimes I just want a relaxing walk as opposed to a higher-drive engaged walk, and I've thought long and hard about what to teach my dog to do when this happens. Then I hear stories like Jim's, and see what Betty had to deal with, when other people do the provoking then turn around and blame the newbie (or the pit bull owner, or the Rottie owner, or the GSD, etc.) It's so frustrating. I've wanted to come up with a solution to this. It sucks when it happens, and it's not fair. Obviously, it makes me pretty mad, too.

Not to give you a novel, Steve, but my greatest fear is that my dog will retaliate, and then be the one that's cited for the bite/aggression, or get quarantined, or DQ's, or worse, when it wasn't our fault in the first place. It's been THE reason I don't get out more often with my dogs. I only go where I know the other dogs are neutral, too, and that doesn't always leave us many options.

Ok, I'm only addressing this in the context of using a conformation handling class. I think its completely backwards from where you want to start with a dog like Fara. Being able to move her in what could seem to her like she's chasing one dog and at the same time being chased by another one, I bet isnt what she's ready for and if Jim isnt planning on entering AKC Dog shows, he'll never have a reason to be bothered with it.

I also think that all the anxiety you create in her with all the harsh corrections, makes her a target for some other dogs. She's not being corrected for breaking an obedience, like Betty pointed out, there's so much going on, she's just getting beat up for no reason she'll understand.

I've owned Rotts, I understand what your saying about your dog retaliating and then being blamed, but the training you need to do would be a lot better in a different environment.This really isnt setting constructive and safe social boundries, this is just hoping nothing happens.

Steve, I didn't know what to expect from this class before I went. It was described to me as a "handling" class. I didn't know we would be running around the room with the dogs. I completely see your point about Fara chasing and being chased. Also get the point now, that in this type of setting my dog will be expected to be "good" 100% of the time or corrected. That's a perspective I didn't have until you pointed it out.

Thx!

Hey Jim, I'm not saying you did anything wrong or knocking you at all. You didnt do anything I didn't do with my Rott. Thats why I said, I learned the hard way. I think this video explains what I would be telling you to do, and you can do most of it on your own:

http://leerburg.com/flix/videodesc.php?id=839

Loose dogs can be a real nightmare, but my Rott got to where he could calmly ignore everything and stay focused on me. None of that nervous avoidance you can get from just cranking on them.