Jäger's (almost 2 y/o GSD) problem is the other dog. Even as a small puppy (8 months) other adult dogs wanted to bite/warn off Jäger. Dogs twice his size have peed while Jäger was sniffing them. My dog wants desperately to meet and greet, very non-threatening behavior, ears up, tail wagging, big dopey grin wanna play behavior. With one exception the other dog freezes up, growls, or, snaps at Jäger. My dog backs up for a second, looks at me and then tries to sniff the other dog all over again.

My dog doesn't need another pack he's got us. But, he's going to be around other dogs here and there it just happens. My thoughts right now are to just start telling my dog the others are no good and redirecting him to ignore them. We wanted to socialize him for when we went to people's house or were just out and about. I'm afraid these other dogs that are always described as sweet will make my dog a fear biter.

I probably just answered my own question, just start telling people he doesn't work and play well with others and leave it at that.

Red - read the article I wrote on DOG PARKS. As far as we are concerned there is no need for our dogs to MEET OTHER DOGS. Those that allow their dogs to socialize with strange dogs are making a mistke and will often have to learn to deal with the resulting dog fights.

There is pleanty of information on my web site about this - read whats written on dominace

The problem with dog parks is that you are likely to encounter dogs that are both figuratively and literally out of control. If your dog has issues with other dogs then he should only be around dogs that are balanced and indifferent to your dog. You're not going to get that at a dog park. Good luck!

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Jäger's (almost 2 y/o GSD) problem is the other dog. Even as a small puppy (8 months) other adult dogs wanted to bite/warn off Jäger. Dogs twice his size have peed while Jäger was sniffing them. My dog wants desperately to meet and greet, very non-threatening behavior, ears up, tail wagging, big dopey grin wanna play behavior. With one exception the other dog freezes up, growls, or, snaps at Jäger. My dog backs up for a second, looks at me and then tries to sniff the other dog all over again.

I know exactly what you mean. I have the same problem with my dog. It leaves me very confused, as do most of the posts on this website regarding this subject.

On one hand I understand what Ed Frawley means when he says strange dogs don't need to meet your dog. But on the other hand when he suggests proper dog on dog socialization, how is that to be accomplished when all the dogs in my area are STRANGE dogs. I have no family or friends who own dogs. I have tried several times to socizalize my dog with other dogs - puppies, adult dogs, calm and relaxed dogs. But I'm still having problems with my dog, and it seems to be getting worse.

Example: She wants to meet other dogs. She immediately becomes submissive around them. I'm no dog expect, but it seems like they pick up on it and they start to dominate her, growl, even bark, and then she just goes into avoidance. A couple of times I allowed her to try to solve the problem on her own, and that didn't help. My puppy just decided to get angry and start going into fight mode.

Reading about my breed did say that they tend to be very bossy around other dogs, and they are not great with other dogs, and I think I'm starting to see that now. I can't avoid meeting other dogs. It's just impossible in this area. Alot of people here don't leash their dogs. So at least once a week I have a dog in my face trying to get to my dog. She goes into total avoidance and dogs trying to get to her, but if the dog is calm and just standing there doing nothing, then she is the one who is trying to get to them.

People will write, oh just make sure your dog is around calm dogs, but that is very difficult to do. All the calm ones are old dogs, and the owners don't want my bossy, hyper puppy annoying their old dogs who are on the verge of having a heart attack.

I can't put my dog in that position anymore. She'll grow up to be a fear biter for sure. I just wish there was some way for me to build more confidence in her around other dogs.

Solution: Buy a giant acquirium, and some diving equipment. Instead of a dog you now have a fish. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I felt your pain. I found a trainer that helped my dog be more sociable with other dogs. I will list some of his methods (a good trainer will have a calm, non-reactive dog to interact with yours).

Walking dogs in a circle so that they can't have alot of eye contact will reduce tension between them. The distance between the dogs can be reduced if they are both calm. Then, the dogs can walk side by side.

Enrolling the dog in a class with a trainer like this will allow the dog to get to know the other dog before they interact and uses some pack behavior to help with the problem. This takes a good trainer and alot of patience.

Red, this thread starts out sounding like I missed some part of it. I have not been on the board for a number of days and, therefore, might have missed something so forgive me if that's the case.

Anyway, I have the same problem. My almost 15 month old has always been growled at from Day One. Don't know why. He's very non-threatening. He has never growled back. He just takes a step back and looks at them like, "What did I do?" and then goes in for another sniff. It's like he can't figure out they don't seem to like him or something.

I have never been to a dog park with him. It's dogs that I pass while on my walk in the town near where I live. Every dog is on a leash and it is impossible to avoid other dogs completely. But when there is another dog passing, they growl at my dog. He's an intact male and not submissive so maybe that's why. I don't know. There have been one or two occassions where I let him interact with a dog that I didn't know and with those dogs, he tried to dominate them by putting his head over their shoulders, etc. Someone told me dogs might be growling at him because he's dominate.

So, if someone answers your thread with suggestions as to why dogs behave in a mean sort of way to seemingly sweet, dogs passing by, I for one would love to know!

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On one hand I understand what Ed Frawley means when he says strange dogs don't need to meet your dog. But on the other hand when he suggests proper dog on dog socialization, how is that to be accomplished when all the dogs in my area are STRANGE dogs. I have no family or friends who own dogs. I have tried several times to socizalize my dog with other dogs - puppies, adult dogs, calm and relaxed dogs. But I'm still having problems with my dog, and it seems to be getting worse.

To clarify my last posting, I was responding to the quote above. I do not allow interaction with strange dogs. If he wants his dog to interact with other dogs, I was suggesting a safer, controlled environment where the dogs are not strangers. IMO calm, non-reactive dogs can teach "dog to dog manners" better than we can.

Sorry for the tardy reply, I've been decisively engaged of late.

I read Ed's bark park article back before Jäger was born as well as his aggression/dominance information. We haven't even driven past a bark park. My trepidation is founded on Ed's fear bighting/aggression writings to begin with. I want to believe it's easier to train him out of being a two year old (as of today) goober who wants to be everyone's buddy than to correct a fear aggression issue.

He's passed basic obedience/temperament testing and has begun his protection training (two lessons so far). He did well in class and didn't seem all that interested in the other dogs even when the instructor's cat and dogs were led by him.

Jager is to be my service dog. I hadn't anticipated him in that role, but he's demonstrated several ways he can mitigate my disability, so, we go everywhere together now. I frequently wind up in business' and about town where other people say their dog is a real sweetheart, very dog friendly, and even though I highly control the meeting it's invariably the same. Big dogs, tiny dogs, you name it and they all go after Jäger who can't figure out why the other dog doesn't want to be friends.

So, long story short I don't seek out strange dog encounters, I frequently find myself in one and in a confined area the other dog believes is his. At this point I'm left with teaching him other dogs are schlecht (bad) and give him a redirect in hopes the other dog won't pursue the issue (a failed course of action once already). I returned my wheel chair and crutch to the VA last year and I really don't want to go back to carrying a cane just so I can have something to break over the other dog's head.