Reading Antonia Z talk about dog park drama reminds me of a problem I've been having in my dog research.
I don't know much about inter-dog interaction, and I'm not finding much information about it.
Most of the information I am finding has to do with integrating a new dog into the household. That's not what I'm looking to do. I'm looking for what I need to know when I'm walking a dog and he meets another dog. Should I make my guy sit? Should I let them just walk up and sniff each other? Should I get the other dog's human's permission first? How much slack do I give my guy on the leash? What behaviour is normal? What behaviour requires human intervention? How is this different on-leash vs. off-leash vs. if one dog is leashed and the other isn't? (I've heard there are differences, I don't know what they are.) How do I protect my dog if the other dog gets nasty? How can I tell when he's getting nasty vs. just playing vs. attempting to mate? (Should I let them mate if they want to? It seems rude to stop them, but it seems like other humans would frown on me if I didn't intervene. And it seems vaguely inappropriate to ask the other dog's human's permission on behalf of my own dog.)
Ms. Z's article mentioned that puppies upset the balance in a pack. How? What should I do with this information if I have a puppy? What should I do with this information if I have an adult dog? What if my dog is little and there are big dogs around? What if my dog is big and there are little dogs around?
The information I have found googling dog park etiquette is either not about behaviour (e.g. make sure your dog is immunized and comes when you call him) or seems to assume that you can already read dog behaviour and know where the boundaries are. I don't know where the boundaries are and I'm not confident in my ability to read dog behaviour.
I've looked for this information and have not found it. If I had lower standards, I would totally assume it's all completely obvious when you see it happen and no further research and education are required. And if I had lower standards, I could totally walk over to the pet store and buy a puppy, who would then proceed to encounter another dog, and I'd be there with no idea what to do or expect.
This information needs to not only be available but obvious. It needs to fall into people's laps like the basics of crate training and sit-stay do, like the importance of spaying and neutering. I will get a shelter or rescue dog, and because of that I'll be able to ask his foster humans for tips on how he, personally, interacts with other dogs. But people who would buy from a pet store are also the people who are less likely to do as extensive research. So if information about inter-dog interaction is not made easy to stumble upon, these people with their store-bought puppies are going to be disturbing your dog park.
3 comments:
It's a shame you haven't been able to find good info on that online. There are lots of helpful books about inter-dog behaviour and how you can help or hurt. There should be more of it online.
Also, TONS of dog owners don't know the first thing about dog-dog interactions, and cause a lot of problems for themselves and others by misinterpreting cues. So you're right to want to know this.
I learned from a trainer, from reading, and also from just observing and making a few mistakes.
I can recommend some excellent books when you're ready.
Also, it's not that complicated. You might be imaginging it's much more complicated than it is.
I'd really appreciate the book recommendations now if you have them. I'm trying to educate myself in advance, but the more I learn the more I discover I don't know. A year ago it wouldn't even have occurred to me to think about inter-dog interaction.
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