Getting to know you

Ok, so last night at class was pretty stressful for Dieter's owners. During the puppy play time--envision a mosh pit with running, jumping, wriggling puppies of various sizes, colors, and breeds--we had a bit of a problem.

Swirling puppy mosh pit--the good-old days with nary a care.

There's a new puppy in our second-round of puppy-training classes--a retriever--who apparently needs some self-confidence building. He's always growled during class--at the other dogs as they and their owners arrived for class. Last night, during the mosh pit, Dieter was being his bouncy "Hey, let's play" self, which has always been just fine with the puppies he's been in class with from the beginning. But this was his first interaction with the retriever.

Everything was going at doggie warp speed, and Dieter's play attempts were evidently received as overwhelming and scary. The other puppy raised his hackles, growled, snapped, and lunged at Dieter. The teacher (and owners) moved in fast to separate the puppies. The trainers put up a barrier and blanket between Dieter and the other dog (who continued to bark and growl at Dieter) and then had to put up another barrier when it started carrying on with another dog.

At first, we misinterpreted the trainer's explanation of what had just transpired. We thought she was saying Dieter was being aggressive and dangerous. Not so. What she was saying was that Dieter evidently either misread the other dog's signals and thought "Hey, that was a fun reaction. Let's do that again" or didn't misread the signals, but decided it was still fun and wanted to keep playing. In fact, the other dog was totally stressing out and exhibiting fear, defensiveness, and dog aggression. The other pup's owners said their dog never was good at interacting with bigger puppies in another training class.

And, of course, we don't want to get Dieter into a bad situation that could cause him to become fearful. I've heard enough stories about "fear biters" to know I don't want to deal with that. We want a good citizen canine, after all.

On the plus side, this interaction lead to a valuable discussion on how dogs interact, and also segued into a discussion on what to look out for at dog parks. If you're not careful about taking your dog to a dog park--or at least carefully observing what goes on in said park--you can be part and party to the perfect dog storm. Often, people bring dogs who aren't good candidates for interacting with other pups to dog parks (there are things to look for; see below). Sadly, many of the humans tend to be more focused on their socializing, rather than on how their dog is interacting with other dogs. 

I did a bit of research today and found a good article (from: "Dog Park Body Language," available at http://www.apdt.com/petowners/park/body-language/) that gave some valuable pointers on what to watch for during dog play/interactions. It's good to keep this in mind not only at dog parks, but also any time your dog meets other dogs.

Playful actions:

• Back and forth play – dogs change position – role reversals
• Bouncy, exaggerated gestures
• Wiggly bodies
• Open relaxed mouth
• Play-bows
• Twisted leaps or jumps
• Pawing the air

Signs of Anxiety/Stress:

• Fast wagging low tail
• Whining or whimpering
• Ears may be back
• Hiding behind objects or people

 Red Flags that Require Intervention:

• Excessive mounting
• Pinning (holding another dog down and standing stiffly over them)
• Shadowing another dog (following) incessantly
• Bullying: repeatedly bothering another dog that does not want to interact
• Fast non-stop running with a group – high arousal situation
• Full-speed body slams
• Putting head repeatedly onto another dog’s neck or back
• Staring with a fixed gaze directly at another dog
• Snarling or raised lips
• Showing teeth
• Hackles up at the shoulders

 We conferred with the trainer after the class--we were mortified that Dieter had acted up, worried that now everyone in class would want to give him a wide berth, and afraid that Dieter could be exhibiting aggressive tendencies. The trainer reassured us that Dieter is really a mellow fellow and not aggressive at all.

We pledge, though, to make sure he's not forcing himself on to some unwitting bystander. It's all about training the trainer. I guess that's why the humans have to do the homework assignments and not the dog.