Meeting Other Dogs?

[AgilityPup]

How do you handle your dog meeting new dogs? Are they allowed to rush right over to a friendly looking dog? Do you ask first? Not allow it at all?

I, honestly, find I treat Psyche a lot like a reactive dog, which she isn't, at all. When I see another dog, I'll ask for her full attention on me, even if the other dog's coming at her excitedly, and she's rewarded for deciding to keep her focus on me, and if she looks at the other dog, then looks back, she's rewarded for deciding to look back at me. She's allowed to play with some strange dogs, but only if I decide that it's okay. And that doesn't happen very often. I usually have to know the dog for a while before I'll let her play with it, simply because I want her to learn first that she needs to pay attention to me around that dog.

I sometimes wonder if this is a bad thing, but she's not hostile towards other dogs. I don't tense up like some people handling a reactive dog would, so there's no bad vibes about other dogs - I'm just like a mom who doesn't want her kid playing with the other germ infested kids.

So thoughts? How do you allow your dog(s) to meet new dogs, or are they allowed at all?

 

[MandyPug]

If we come across a dog outside we walk about 6ft off the path and i make her sit and wait and let the other person ask if they can come see her. Most don't bother though, they see me call her off the path and put her in a sit as we watch the other dog go past and i guess think she isn't friendly.. oh well. She meets dogs at work though, i usually make her wait on the chair at the front until the other dog settles down then release her to go see.

 

[JacksonsMom]

If we're on a walk or something, I usually don't stop just because I don't wanna stop since I'm on the walk for my exercise benefits too. I'm probably too trusting of other dogs, honestly. If we're in Petsmart or something, I always allow him to go up to other dogs. It's not like he bomb rushes them and I either will ask owner, or kind of get an approval look, or if they're allowing their dog to come up to mine, I generally assume they're friendly (or I'll look at their body language). If I see a spaztic dog just tugging and pulling at the leash towards my dog, I generally just walk past them.

Oh, and I do a lot of dog events (like our state park has the Halloween Barkin' Bash) where there are tons of dogs and I always let him go up and greet/sniff. We go to the dog park every weekend so Jackson plays with a lot of strange dogs. He absolutely adores other dogs but he's not crazy about it, he's fine with walking past a dog that is barking, lunging, whatever at him, he just walks by them like they don't even exist, lol.

 

[mrose_s]

If the other dogs looks uninterested than we just keep walking, if its desperate to say hello but otherwise acting pretty polite than I let her say hi and then we generally move on.
I generally try to just let her meet dogs of her size or smaller, she so, so submissive that if a bigger dog gets over excited and jumps on her she'll just take it.
Its still so weird having a dog I can let meet other dogs that I havn't really worked out where the etiquette sits, I like the way you work with Psyche, my biggest worry with Quinn's agility is that she can't handle watching other dogs work and she needs to be trustworthy offleash around other dogs tugging or running or chasing a ball and not have to dive into the middle of it.

 

[RD]

I don't, honestly. If another dog is approaching, tugging at the leash and desperate to say hello, chances are Eve will just bite it on the nose. I tell her to leave it and politely tell the owner that my dog is unfriendly.

If we're on the beach and someone else has a standoffish dog like Eve, we'll walk together and the dogs will run alongside each other.

 

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

I don't let Violet greet other dogs in public. We've been to petsmart twice since we've gotten her, and she'll pretty much ignore them if I just walk right past them. Otherwise, she just kinda looks at them like "wtf o.o" especially if they're pulling towards her.

However, if it's someone we know (like our neighbor) I let THEM ask if it's okay to greet my dog (I'm not a very forward person, so I don't really ask) and then I say "sure" and keep an eye on them. Violet met our neighbors malamute and husky, and growled at them at first, and the was fine. Then she met our other neighbors maltese, and was SO SCARED of her (ran away) at first, but then she started to play with her and got too rough really quickly, so I called Violet back over to me, and the owner of the other dog picked her dog up.

ETA: Chloe loves all other dogs, so I don't usually worry about it, but I tend to carry her in public anyway.

 

[Maxy24]

Half the reason I go on walks and take him places is for him to meet other dogs(and for me to meet other dogs). I have no idea why but it excites me like nothing else. Sometimes I'll extend the walk for 15-20 minutes in hopes that we'll bump into another owner.

I always ask the owner of course, unless it's one of the dogs we meet on nearly all walks (like my neighbors pit mix Zelda or the two Chihuahua mixes Peyton and Spike) because it is understood that they like each other and want to say hi.

As far as making him not pull or something, he's taken care of that himself. He stalks, walks real slow like and then lies flat on his stomach like a cat about to pounce until he sees me walking ahead so he jets up, slinks a few more feet and does it again until he gets real close and then he stands like a normal dog and greets.

Honestly nothing bring me more joy than to see him playing with another dog.

 

[AgilityPup]

Honestly, the way I handle Psyche is because of Bella. I could never trust her near other dogs, so we'd take the long path around them, etc., and it just kind of stuck. That said, there are times I don't like it, because I worry it'll encourage her to be reactive, but so far that hasn't happened.

I will say though, before Psyche used to go INSANE when other dogs were doing agility and stuff. Now I can sit with her leash hanging while several other dogs are working and she will maintain eye contact with me.

 

[lizzybeth727]

I don't "let" Luna greet other dogs because she doesn't care, she'd prefer to just walk past without incident.

Keegan, though, loves other dogs, and since he's a puppy it's important to me to socialize him with other dogs. But equally important is teaching him how to behave on leash around another dog.... stay calm, give me attention, and wait until you have permission to say hello to the dog. And I always ask the owner first, it annoys me TO NO END when people just let their dog come right up to mine without asking first.

 

[mrose_s]

Maxy I do like trying to run into other dogs when out aswell, yesterday we went for a nice swim down at the dam and then walked halfway into town just in hopes to walk past a Husky pup that lives down that way.

 

[AgilityKrazii]

In general Rosco doesnt get to meet that many dogs, because I dont trust the owners or the other dog.

If we are on a walk and there is a loose dog, I either carry him away or we just walk away, unless its a small dog, then we walk by. Its super rare to actually run into someone else walking a dog but if they are I dont let Rosco say hi, I work on attention and keep busy so the other people keep walking by, seeing we are busy.

At trials, everyone keeps their dogs away from others, but with my friends at trials we will introduce our dogs to each other if they like other dogs and we just walk with them a bit and then let them casually go see the other dog. Rosco does best with this, generally he is fine with head on intro but if he is a bit stressed he will get annoyed.

I also never let Rosco meet dogs bigger then him, unless I know that dog is very submissive.

 

[SarahHound]

I know all the dogs in the village, so I know how they all react. My dogs are perfect with other dogs, and love meeting them, so most of the time, I allow them to greet. There's only one dog I don't let them meet, he's horribly dog aggressive, but always off lead (in fact, he doesn't even have a lead or collar). He's supposedly a Labrador...they say he's a pedigree...if that's a full Labrador then I'm a monkey. He's huge and ugly!

 

[HayleyMarie]

It really depends where I am and how the other dog is acting. When we are at the dog park Teagan is very polite when meeting new dogs. Dogs that are too excited she ignores. If a dog goes near Teagan that is not being polite I usually step infront of her because I know she does not appreciate it and she has not problem correcting the over hyper dog.

When she is onleash she is still very polite and will slowly go up to the other dog and do the sniff thing and then walk away.

Teagan pretty much ignores other dogs so its not an issue if I just keep on walking.

 

[JessLough]

I hope she does not go into the street trying to get away from them Usually I will walk between her and the other dog, and if she seems interested enough, and the other owner asks if they can meet, I will let them do a quick sniff and then carry on.

 

[Bailey08]

I usually follow Bailey's lead -- he understands "dog" better than I -- and he sometimes wants to "meet" other dogs but other times wants to continue on his walk. (He's not reactive at all, and is well socialized, but he sometimes doesn't care all that much about "new" dogs.)

I do ask if the dog is friendly before they actually greet, and in the rare occasion we come across an unleashed dog I keep him separated.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

We don't say hi to strangers. We're anti social. ;-)

 

[CharlieDog]

I don't "let" Luna greet other dogs because she doesn't care, she'd prefer to just walk past without incident.

Keegan, though, loves other dogs, and since he's a puppy it's important to me to socialize him with other dogs. But equally important is teaching him how to behave on leash around another dog.... stay calm, give me attention, and wait until you have permission to say hello to the dog. And I always ask the owner first, it annoys me TO NO END when people just let their dog come right up to mine without asking first.

:hail:

Ozzy doesn't get to meet other dogs. IF I have him out, it's because I'm working on his reactivity, so we RARELY get closer than 150' to another dog.

Enzo, I sit her, ask for eye contact, and then if the other dog appears to be friendly, and the owner says it's okay, (usually the other dog is pulling their arm out of socket) I let her greet for 10 to 15 seconds and then we move on.

It's rare that I meet a stranger and have something to talk about with them, but if I do, I ask Enzo to down while we talk. She's required to maintain her down, especially if it's a puppy that wants to jump on her face. She's very very very good with puppies, and can let most other dogs know with a look that she's had enough of them.