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I have a 3 y.o. lab-beagle mix. She is wonderful with people, but fearful of other dogs. She was bitten by a German Shepherd when she was about 4 months old. She has been to puppy school and did not socialize well with other dogs there. She was very fearful and basically sat under other dog owners' chairs when given the chance to socialize with other dogs. She was not coddled during these experiences. She seems to tolerate older dogs- as long as they don't bother her. However, my sister just got a puppy and our dog wants nothing to do with her. We took them to the beach and my dog just barked and growled anytime the puppy came near her. She is getting increasingly aggressive in these situations. I have read about making the situation more comfortable by giving rewards for tolerating the another dog at a distance, but she won't take any "treats" or toys when another dog is anywhere in the vicinity. Any advice? I'd love for her to be able to interact with other dogs- but I want to go about this in the right way...

>>I have a 3 y.o. lab-beagle mix. She is wonderful with people, but fearful of other dogs. She was bitten by a German Shepherd when she was about 4 months old. She has been to puppy school and did not socialize well with other dogs there. She was very fearful and basically sat under other dog owners' chairs when given the chance to socialize with other dogs. She was not coddled during these experiences. She seems to tolerate older dogs- as long as they don't bother her. However, my sister just got a puppy and our dog wants nothing to do with her. We took them to the beach and my dog just barked and growled anytime the puppy came near her. She is getting increasingly aggressive in these situations. I have read about making the situation more comfortable by giving rewards for tolerating the another dog at a distance, but she won't take any "treats" or toys when another dog is anywhere in the vicinity. Any advice? I'd love for her to be able to interact with other dogs- but I want to go about this in the right way...

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She's telling you that she does not want to interact with other dogs. Continuing to push her to do so is traumatizing her more. Why must she go through this?
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Your best way of dealing with this is to stop forcing the issue with your dog. Your dog is making it abundently clear she doesn't like other dogs around her- she has every right because she had a really bad experience.

You can work on an extensive desensitizing program with your dog, but it will take months if not years to work. Your first step in that is to find the distance at which your dog can see another dog and take a treat from you. That may be 100s of yards away. You can slowly work on increasing the distance towards otehr dogs. When I say slowly I mean increase that distance by 10 to 20' every few days.

With my fearful dog what helped for us was to stop all dog/dog interactions with her for over a year. Even to this day no dog is allowed in her personal space unless she shows me clear signs that she wants the dog to come near. If "accidents" happen she's not nearly as touchy as she used to be and actually defaults to me to handle the situation because she knows I control the dogs around her and I protect her from other dogs.

Quite honetly it took me a lot of time to realize that this was the best method to manage my dog. I had wanted her to play with other dogs and be around other dogs. That was my goal and not hers. She was quite content to live in a world without dogs. As far as she was concerned all dogs- especially rude dogs- could drop off the face of the Earth and never come back. Not all dogs want to be social with other dogs. If your dog has a wonderful relationship with you, that isn't necessary for them to be happy.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

Thank you for your input. Our dog is never forced into interaction with other dogs. The opportunity has just been provided to her. Others made us feel that it was very unnatural for her not to like other dogs (including the trainer at the puppy school). Thanks for your reassurance that this is okay...Any ideas on boarding her when we are out of town? Typically we just manipulate a crazy schedule that includes 5 or 6 people feeding, walking, and letting her out. It makes me happy to have family and friends do this, but it can also be quite a strain to ask all of these other people. Thanks

>>Thank you for your input. Our dog is never forced into interaction with other dogs. The opportunity has just been provided to her. Others made us feel that it was very unnatural for her not to like other dogs (including the trainer at the puppy school). Thanks for your reassurance that this is okay...Any ideas on boarding her when we are out of town? Typically we just manipulate a crazy schedule that includes 5 or 6 people feeding, walking, and letting her out. It makes me happy to have family and friends do this, but it can also be quite a strain to ask all of these other people. Thanks

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I would worry that in the confusion of 5 or 6 people involved, someone might think someone else was doing it and the dog get neglected. I hear very few horror stories from dogs going along on the trips, but from every method of leaving dogs home I do hear problems. As far as the dog remaining safe, boarding with your veterinarian is probably most secure. It can result in worry on the part of the dog, though, and could compromise housetraining as well as create a risk of separation anxiety in the future.

Pet sitters have created some bad results, too, including those who stayed at the house, so a solution that should be great can go badly. Perhaps your mixed up group of friends and family serves as a method of checks and balances. If so, it's worth the effort.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Typically if you tell a boarding facility that your dog does not like other dogs, they will accomidate the dog. I board my dog at my vet's clinic. It's not the best for tiring her out, but they know her and know her history so they respect that.

Really, don't let others get on your case about your dog being a bit anti-social. Some dogs are just that way. Like I said, yo ucan work on it extensively, and you probably should to a degree so when "accidents" happen she's not going to be as reactive.

There's this thing I do called 'body blocks.' I even do it with my more social guy. When a dog gets near him, I just put myself in front of him and make him look at me. I then treat him for paying attention to me. Kathy's article explains how to do this very well. I pivot and I don't let the "offending dog" into my dog's space. That typically gets the owner to take control of their dog and get them away from us. Some make comments on how I shoudl socialize my dogs better, but quite honestly, it's their dog being rude. My dogs are doign nothing but minding their own business. I have very good working relationships with my dogs now and that is due to trust. They know I don't intentionally put them in situtions where they have to manage the dogs around them. Granted, my breed is known to be a bit less than friendly to other dogs so people tend to give my dogs respect more than some other breeds, but I do it with any dog that I have next to me on leash. On leash time is my time with my dogs. Off leash- well- that's a different story and some dogs don't need that time with other dogs.

Stick up for your dog and become a team. I'll bet things will settle down.

There's an article if you search in Google called "My Dog Just Wanted to Say Hi" read that. It will be very enlightening to you.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles