A female dog is peacefully walking alongside her handler in a public location. The handler stops and the female sits. Another handler and her male dog approach them. The female dog does nothing whatsoever. As the male dog approaches he is being restrained by his handler. In spite of this the male dog lunges toward the female, who is motionless and passive, and snaps at her. It appears that the male just tried to bite the female.

Is this dog on dog aggression?
Ed made a statement in one of his articles that dog training is not rocket science but rather common sense stuff. In keeping with that philosophy the above described scenario would seem to me to to be dog on dog aggression. Yet I had a supposed dog trainer tell me that that was not the case and the dog just wanted to play. Isn't it funny how two people can be looking at the same thing and see it very differently? I've seen how dogs act when they want to play. That dog looked and acted pretty serious to me. And in case I didn't properly interpret the male dog's intentions, let me just say that the female dog apparently shared my interpretation as she wanted to retreat.

Did I see what I thought I saw or was the dog "trainer" correct?

Patrick are you talking about yourself and your JRT.Didn't you read the dogs body language before it came toward you.Sometimes its hard to tell. My dog stalks approaching another dog and I'm sure it scares other owners. I'll usually ask is your dog friendly.In your case it sounds like the dog was aggessive. Usually they go through sniffing before they do the playfull snapping or the up on their hind legs thing.I'll correct myself young dogs play that way.I know your dog is under a year.

milt

Patrick,

If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it is a duck. Many people, even those that should know better, excuse this type of behavior as play. In the described situation this is at best poor training and most likely dog aggression. If you have the feeling that it is dog aggression it probably is.

Milt, no it wasn't me. I agree with Ed about socializing strange dogs. What's the point in doing that?

Richard, my thoughts exactly.

I don't care if it's play or aggression, whichever, it's invading my and my dog's space and I see fit just to get the hell away! I used to try to allow strange dogs to "socialize" with my dogs, but I've found it's not worth it, because most other dog owners are ignorant to their own dog's behaviors much less able to control them. They may say, "Oh, it's ok, he's friendly" as their dog is charging towards us. Well, my reply is, "My dog sees it differently, so get him away please!" I now only socialize with strange dogs that I know, even though my dog may have never met them. Because like Richard put it, those others are most likely ducks!
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Oh the dog just wanted to play. Hmmmm....I suppose this guys next move was to hand you a clicker and a haltie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />