Recently I've noticed a change in Journey's behaviour with other dogs. I am not that concerned about it as it is only in very specific situations and are situations I can keep her out of, but I just find it strange and would like to know if I am dealing with it properly.
Normally she is very good with other dogs. She's happy to make new friends and loves playing. However, there have been a couple of times where she's become very insecure and fearful looking and just kind of freezes while another dog sniffs her over. And now, if she's in an enclosed space (like a gated area), her first reaction is to snarl and snark at a dog who gets near. She gets very still, stares hard and then her lips curl and she'll air snap lightly. No noise. It looks to me like she's being posessive (of me? of her space?), but also like it comes out of worry/insecurity.
I know Aussies and many herding breeds aren't known to always be super friendly with other dogs, especially if the dog is invading their space. And I don't have a problem with a dog telling a rude dog off. But I do have a bit of a problem with a dog's first reaction being to snark at another dog, even from a reasonable distance, for no real reason other than she's decided that she doesn't want them near her/me/her space/whatever it is (haven't quite figured it out). She has no real reason to be worried.
A couple of scenarios:
A couple of weeks ago, sitting in my friend's camper, Journey was on the couch inside sitting with me and my friend when one of my friend's dogs came by. Journey was happy and relaxed and then I could just feel her whole body stiffen, saw her face get hard and knew she was going to react the next second. The signs aren't that glaringly obvious, but they're definitely there. I redirected her and then she was fine.
What would you do in this situation? Could it just be an insecure age thing? Could I have accidentally caused her to become this way somehow?
What I currently do is try redirecting her and giving her treats, to help her associate dogs coming near her space with positive things. So far it seems to be working, and she'll get over it pretty quickly and resume her regular happy self, but then she'll do it again another day like she never really learned that what she's doing is inappropriate. Will what I've been doing work in the long run? Is it the right or wrong thing to be doing? Anything else I could be doing?
It doesn't happen constantly, but I'd say I've seen this behaviour about 5 times now in the last 6 weeks and just don't want it to escalate. She's fine meeting dogs out and about, on leash, in parks. It's just if she feels no escape it seems. Like on the couch in the squishy camper and gated behind my desk at work or when I took her to my Dobe breeder's and a couple of dogs tried getting her to play (that's the one where she just froze but didn't snark and then she left slinking away and stayed away from the other dogs and didn't want to interact at all). She used to walk into the Doberman house like she lived there. Super happy, confident, played with everyone.
She's just acting kind of mildly insecure in general, so it's not just dog specific. And it's not anything major yet, as like I said, I've only seen it a handful of times. But it's something I want to start working on now so that it doesn't continue or get any worse at least. She's such a good, easy going, go with the flow dog. So to see these new behaviours is just odd to me and I'm really hoping it's just a stage. Most of the time she's her regular self and I'd like to help keep her that way.
Normally she is very good with other dogs. She's happy to make new friends and loves playing. However, there have been a couple of times where she's become very insecure and fearful looking and just kind of freezes while another dog sniffs her over. And now, if she's in an enclosed space (like a gated area), her first reaction is to snarl and snark at a dog who gets near. She gets very still, stares hard and then her lips curl and she'll air snap lightly. No noise. It looks to me like she's being posessive (of me? of her space?), but also like it comes out of worry/insecurity.
I know Aussies and many herding breeds aren't known to always be super friendly with other dogs, especially if the dog is invading their space. And I don't have a problem with a dog telling a rude dog off. But I do have a bit of a problem with a dog's first reaction being to snark at another dog, even from a reasonable distance, for no real reason other than she's decided that she doesn't want them near her/me/her space/whatever it is (haven't quite figured it out). She has no real reason to be worried.
A couple of scenarios:
A couple of weeks ago, sitting in my friend's camper, Journey was on the couch inside sitting with me and my friend when one of my friend's dogs came by. Journey was happy and relaxed and then I could just feel her whole body stiffen, saw her face get hard and knew she was going to react the next second. The signs aren't that glaringly obvious, but they're definitely there. I redirected her and then she was fine.
What would you do in this situation? Could it just be an insecure age thing? Could I have accidentally caused her to become this way somehow?
What I currently do is try redirecting her and giving her treats, to help her associate dogs coming near her space with positive things. So far it seems to be working, and she'll get over it pretty quickly and resume her regular happy self, but then she'll do it again another day like she never really learned that what she's doing is inappropriate. Will what I've been doing work in the long run? Is it the right or wrong thing to be doing? Anything else I could be doing?
It doesn't happen constantly, but I'd say I've seen this behaviour about 5 times now in the last 6 weeks and just don't want it to escalate. She's fine meeting dogs out and about, on leash, in parks. It's just if she feels no escape it seems. Like on the couch in the squishy camper and gated behind my desk at work or when I took her to my Dobe breeder's and a couple of dogs tried getting her to play (that's the one where she just froze but didn't snark and then she left slinking away and stayed away from the other dogs and didn't want to interact at all). She used to walk into the Doberman house like she lived there. Super happy, confident, played with everyone.
She's just acting kind of mildly insecure in general, so it's not just dog specific. And it's not anything major yet, as like I said, I've only seen it a handful of times. But it's something I want to start working on now so that it doesn't continue or get any worse at least. She's such a good, easy going, go with the flow dog. So to see these new behaviours is just odd to me and I'm really hoping it's just a stage. Most of the time she's her regular self and I'd like to help keep her that way.