I have a 16 week old Boston Terrier who is just now going out and meeting other dogs this week. She is great at leash walking, pulling very little, and the only obvious aggression/dominance she showed was a few weeks ago starting to show some nervousness around her food bowl by immediatley putting her head back at our hand when petting her or her paw up on my hand when it was in the bowl, which she no longer does...we can all put our hands in and out of it, take it away, etc, and she ALWAYS sits before she gets it even with the kids. We do not let her just jump on us and right away tell her off and put her into a sit which she willingly does, and we make her wait before coming in the house (ie-she lets us go in first). She is not allowed up on furniture or our beds. She also is willing to do things like wait for a piece of her food on the floor when we place it there and tell her too. She is doing great with all this and we practice this stuff daily and she complies with it..
My concern is in the past two days when she has met two dogs (one pomeranian, one daschund) who came within her personal space. Previously on walks all dogs have been across the street. She stops, and has lunged, but not growled and barked. I have immediately put her into a sit, but I could tell it was a very "tense" sit for her. Today, she met the Pom at a playground. She was in a sit and I thought she appeared calm, and I told the girls they could let their dog approach. Immediately when the dog made nose contact, mine lunged and growled, I got her attention with a shush/"pinching" at her side above her front leg (kind of like Cesar Milan does) and pulling her back, and put her in a sit. The other dog was upset/lunging as well. The girls picked their dog up and left, we tried about 5 min later, same thing. With the dashund, it was at a vet, and she jumped up and put her front legs over the dog's shoulders, and I did the same correction.
Any advice about this? I am wondering if it is fear because normally she is pretty compliant, although she wasn't submissive looking with ears back and such...she was more showing a heightened interest with ears up (don't know about tail...she doesn't have one, LOL!) We are trying to take her for walks so she can be around the moving vehicles, people on bikes and walking (which she is doing better at being calmer around and immediately sitting and letting them go by). I am worried about exposing her to enough dogs...no dog parks are around here at all, and we have one friend with a lab, otherwise, the only dogs she will meet are the ones we see on walks.
Anyone have any suggestions about what to do????
My concern is in the past two days when she has met two dogs (one pomeranian, one daschund) who came within her personal space. Previously on walks all dogs have been across the street. She stops, and has lunged, but not growled and barked. I have immediately put her into a sit, but I could tell it was a very "tense" sit for her. Today, she met the Pom at a playground. She was in a sit and I thought she appeared calm, and I told the girls they could let their dog approach. Immediately when the dog made nose contact, mine lunged and growled, I got her attention with a shush/"pinching" at her side above her front leg (kind of like Cesar Milan does) and pulling her back, and put her in a sit. The other dog was upset/lunging as well. The girls picked their dog up and left, we tried about 5 min later, same thing. With the dashund, it was at a vet, and she jumped up and put her front legs over the dog's shoulders, and I did the same correction.
Any advice about this? I am wondering if it is fear because normally she is pretty compliant, although she wasn't submissive looking with ears back and such...she was more showing a heightened interest with ears up (don't know about tail...she doesn't have one, LOL!) We are trying to take her for walks so she can be around the moving vehicles, people on bikes and walking (which she is doing better at being calmer around and immediately sitting and letting them go by). I am worried about exposing her to enough dogs...no dog parks are around here at all, and we have one friend with a lab, otherwise, the only dogs she will meet are the ones we see on walks.
Anyone have any suggestions about what to do????
