Most weeks I encounter at least one person who appears unaware that the situation they are allowing their dog to get into may be putting them at risk of conflict with another dog.
If you want a deeper look at why these encounters happen and how to reduce them, I’ve written more on how to prevent dog to dog reactivity on walks.
Here’s the what and why.
Approaching a dog loading into or out of a car
A dog full of energy at the start of their walk, or tired and ready to go home at the end of it, may be less tolerant of an unfamiliar dog in their space, let alone one approaching what is effectively an extension of their territory.
Coming up behind or towards a dog at a gate or doorway
Enclosed spaces are not the places for dogs to meet for the first time. Consider how many exit points a dog has in a gateway. If you’re approaching head on or from behind, the other dog is likely to feel more trapped and may respond defensively.
Approaching a dog drinking from a communal water bowl
Only yesterday I had to ask someone to wait a second with their dog while my three dogs finished drinking.
Bowls are often associated with high value resources, and water is a resource, especially if a dog is very thirsty. Dogs often want to drink in peace, unless it’s alongside a well established dog friend. They need to drop their guard while drinking, which can make them more sensitive to an unfamiliar dog suddenly approaching.
Coming up behind a dog who doesn’t know you’re there
This happened to us yesterday, despite me looking up the path as I moved onto it. I briefly got lost in my own thoughts looking into the deer park, then heard my mostly deaf and semi blind geriatric dog growl. I turned around and there was an entire, young male Labrador metres away, with his owner close by.
The dog wasn’t being rude, but I was startled, and so were all my dogs. When startled, dogs have no time to assess the situation and will choose fight or flight. A group of dogs are more likely to work together, safety and strength in numbers, and move at speed towards a perceived threat to repel it. Fortunately, I have conditioned myself to rapidly deploy my emergency whistle in these situations, so the boys were quickly called away.
After this encounter, my heart rate was elevated. I’m not even a very flighty person, but I was so startled by the person and dog suddenly being there, when I was under the distinct impression it was just me and my dogs present. If this happens to you and your dog, it’s worth having a post-conflict protocol in place to help everyone settle afterwards.
Running directly towards or up behind another dog
For similar reasons to above, the less time dogs have to assess a threat, the more likely they’ll make a swift assumption that whoever is running into their space is on the offensive.
Even without a dog, this is how many runners get bitten. Running too quickly and closely past a dog, particularly if approaching from behind, can startle them into reacting. The best thing people can do is alert others to their presence in good time when approaching from behind, as I do myself as a runner, and slow down to pass or curve where space allows.
Letting your dog approach a dog who’s training or playing with toys
Quite simply, resources. But also, arousal spikes from higher intensity training can lower thresholds for tolerance and lead to rapid decision making, friend or foe, that generally sways towards foe.
Throwing a ball for your dog to chase towards another dog
Similar reasons apply here. Resources, high speed and unfamiliar dogs are not a winning combination.
Letting your dog rush at speed towards another dog from afar
Imagine you were walking along minding your own business and someone started making a high speed beeline for you. What might you think, and would you perceive it as an intrusion into your personal space?
Dogs bursting out of bushes or whizzing past on narrow paths
Again, think about threat assessment. The less time there is, in terms of distance and speed of approach, to assess a threat, the more likely flight or fight will take place.
In some instances, dogs just freeze or appear bemused and confused. Other times a dog whizzes out and past so quickly they’re gone before there’s time to respond. But if a dog is fast, and of a breed or personality with a strong chase grab drive, your dog may be in trouble.
I know I can recall my dogs off this, and did so when two dogs appeared metres away from them out of bushes and charged over a hundred metres across the meadow back to their owner, but not everyone can. We could argue their recall needs to be better (I’ve written before about striving for perfect recall), but we could also argue that you need to help your dog be more mindful of adjusting their behaviour within a social context.
Letting your dog approach another dog who’s toileting
Many dogs want privacy and space when defecating, as they are vulnerable while doing so.
Allowing an on lead dog to pull intensely towards another
Intense pulling elevates the heart rate, respiration and body language of a dog to something more associated with tension. This could promote a defensive response from the other dog. Even if that response were proportionate, such as tensing up or growling, a dog pulling intensely on lead is at greater risk of disproportionate emotional and behavioural responses, due to the physical stress and frustration caused by pulling.
Why this all matters
I could go on.
The mindset of “my dog is fine so what’s the problem” needs adjusting to one of understanding dogs for what they are. They’re animals. What they aren’t is completely immune to feeling threatened, and neither are we.
As mentioned throughout this post, speed, time and space all influence a dog’s threshold, and recognising this can help us see the world through their eyes. The less time and space a dog has to assess a situation, the greater the risk of a proactive assumption of threat, and escalation.
Even the most resilient dog has off days. I was uncharacteristically stressed by being startled yesterday. Maybe it was the heat, perhaps it was my hormones, or maybe my mind was simply focused on something else.
Pain, health, sensory loss, tiredness, heat, stress, individual social histories and traits, and speed, time and space, all influence how dog to dog interactions go. Just because your dog is consistently tolerant doesn’t mean other dogs are going to be at the same level of tolerance across the board.
The effort needed to reduce risk is normally briefly slowing down, pausing, or waiting for a matter of seconds, or saying something to alert others of your presence to avoid a startle. In some instances, it’s that people need to improve their dog’s recall and help them adjust their behaviour depending on context, rather than expecting everyone else to adjust to what you and your dog want to do right there and then.
We don’t expect that of people, so we shouldn’t expect it of dogs.
If these encounters have already become a recurring problem for you and your dog, it may be worth looking into dedicated support for reactive dogs.
