Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Nooooo, I'm not going to talk badly about other breeds. I'm just curious about how your dogs react to other breeds they encounter.

Athena & I see A LOT of different types of dogs on our walks. There are some schnauzers, some hounds, a lot of labs & goldens...and the adorable mixed breeds. But today took an interesting twist. We came upon a white dog. Don't know the breed because it was on the other side of the road.

Athena was sniffing along, when she spotted this other dog. She stood absolutely still until the other could come closer. Her vision is not the best. She promptly lost interest after a good look...and went back to reading all the smells along the grass. Didn't pull on her lead to go "visit," or anything. She doesn't ever seem really "interested" in other dogs until she has seen them a few times, and generally waits for an invitation to meet/greet.

I wonder if she was originally interested b/c from a distance the shape of the dog & the white made her think "Another one like me," then a good look told her "no spots" and she lost interest.

Do your dogs seem extra-specially interested in others of their breed/type?

Do your dogs have a bias against certain breeds? Athena is a bit wary of terriers.

I don't want to stir up a "My breed is better" war...just wondering how dogs might react.

PHAthena

>>Nooooo, I'm not going to talk badly about other breeds. I'm just curious about how your dogs react to other breeds they encounter.
>>
>>Athena & I see A LOT of different types of dogs on our walks. There are some schnauzers, some hounds, a lot of labs & goldens...and the adorable mixed breeds. But today took an interesting twist. We came upon a white dog. Don't know the breed because it was on the other side of the road.
>>
>>Athena was sniffing along, when she spotted this other dog. She stood absolutely still until the other could come closer. Her vision is not the best. She promptly lost interest after a good look...and went back to reading all the smells along the grass. Didn't pull on her lead to go "visit," or anything. She doesn't ever seem really "interested" in other dogs until she has seen them a few times, and generally waits for an invitation to meet/greet.
>>
>>I wonder if she was originally interested b/c from a distance the shape of the dog & the white made her think "Another one like me," then a good look told her "no spots" and she lost interest.
>>
>>Do your dogs seem extra-specially interested in others of their breed/type?
>>
>>Do your dogs have a bias against certain breeds? Athena is a bit wary of terriers.
>>
>>I don't want to stir up a "My breed is better" war...just wondering how dogs might react.
>>
>>PHAthena

>>>>>>>>>>>>

They certainly do make associations, and one of my dogs was the victim of other dogs who had been jumped by dogs who looked like him! He got attacked a lot. He was a steady dog and I was careful about what situations I put him in. Twice a class instructor had to dive in and grab someone's dog who had gotten away from the owner to come after him. In both cases, the handlers were not ready to be in a class situation handling those particular large, aggressive dogs. I just kept him steady so he would not fight, and let the other people get control of the other dog.

Once he was attacked by a neighbor's black Chow mix running loose. A couple of people intervened to get the other dog back into his own yard. Shortly after that, my dog was at a class and saw a female Newfoundland pup, the same size as that Chow. He got worried, so I carefully arranged for him to get a whiff of her scent. That made it all better!

Another dog of mine was attacked by a German Shorthaired Pointer when out walking with me on leash on the street. The owner pulled the dog off--he had his teeth clamped around her eye socket. Later I took her to a class and she spotted a Dalmation and went ballistic. She was very clever, and I just gave her a minute. Taking another look at that dog, she saw the difference between the Dalmation and the dog who had hurt her, and relaxed.

Oh yes, they absolutely do react to the sight of other dogs. If your dog has had a nice relationship with a dog of a particular breed, he or she will be inclined to like every dog of that breed you encounter. One of my dogs felt that way about Golden Retrievers, because she had lived with one when young. My Belgian Tervuren have all liked their own breed, because of course they had a mother and littermates who looked like that.
-----
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

WELL...my dal Belle was attacked by a cattle dog in one of her first agility classes, that was nearly 8 years ago. To this day, when she sees an ACD she tenses up and gets ready to attack...of course there are plenty of ACD's at trials so it's quite a challenge! She knows better than to actually do anything...but her body language is loud and clear!

My dog likes beagles and rotties. I think, for her, it's about past experiences: my brother has a beagle and a neighbor has a rottie. But she also has a dacshund friend whom she loves to play with but hates a dacshund that was in one of our classes, so you never know. . . .

>>Nooooo, I'm not going to talk badly about other breeds. I'm just curious about how your dogs react to other breeds they encounter.
>>
>>Athena & I see A LOT of different types of dogs on our walks. There are some schnauzers, some hounds, a lot of labs & goldens...and the adorable mixed breeds. But today took an interesting twist. We came upon a white dog. Don't know the breed because it was on the other side of the road.
>>
>>Athena was sniffing along, when she spotted this other dog. She stood absolutely still until the other could come closer. Her vision is not the best. She promptly lost interest after a good look...and went back to reading all the smells along the grass. Didn't pull on her lead to go "visit," or anything. She doesn't ever seem really "interested" in other dogs until she has seen them a few times, and generally waits for an invitation to meet/greet.
>>
>>I wonder if she was originally interested b/c from a distance the shape of the dog & the white made her think "Another one like me," then a good look told her "no spots" and she lost interest.
>>
>>Do your dogs seem extra-specially interested in others of their breed/type?
>>
>>Do your dogs have a bias against certain breeds? Athena is a bit wary of terriers.
>>
>>I don't want to stir up a "My breed is better" war...just wondering how dogs might react.
>>
>>PHAthena

Excellent topic, Athena. When my Shih Tzu, Katie was a pup, I wanted to expose her to as many situations and other dogs as possible. We don't have any dog parks in my town and I'm not sure I would have taken her to one had we had one but I did take her to the regular park where many dogs are walked on leashes. Fortunately, she met only friendly ones and we met one woman who had a very young Basset pup. She was a regular at the park so we met quite frequently and let them run together in the paved tennis courts....not the clay ones. They had a ball. Soon there were others who joined us and we had our own little play group while the adults talked. LOL I really think this helped her since she is very good about meeting the many dogs that are walked by the house. Here's a picture of Katie with her best buddy, Benji. I never know when he'll show up...sometimes in the middle of my kitchen floor. LOL

-----
Mary Lou & Katie

It's so awesome that you went the extra mile to make sure to expose your dog to a lot of different breeds & get quality play time!

I think I did Athena a great disservice by not doing that w/her. But it is really hard to take a dalmatian out in public...esp when the movies were just released. No matter where we went, people forgot their dog manners & HAD to see her. I had a lot of folks dragging their dogs over...w/o a introduction & many spent more time untangling leashes than letting the dogs meet/greet properly. I make a habit before any dog/owner combination gets close to say "She's friendly," but most folks come scampering up w/o a care in the world.

Now that Athena is older, and pretty oblivious to her surroundings when there's a great smell on the grass...she can appear aloof w/other dogs. I hear the gears in her brain squeaking out "AND YOU ARE?" like your Great-Aunt Myrtle would say! LOL!

It was pretty funny to see her get sort of hopeful that she was going to see her "soul mate" the other day...alas, maybe one day!

PHAthena

Athena, I wasn't working when I got Katie so I had the time to spend doing that. Most folks don't and I didn't do it with my beagle. Fortunately, my dad retired when I had the beagle and he loved to take him to the park where he met his friends and one of them also had a dog so they all walked together. The funny thing is my beagle wasn't a pup when he started this and sometimes he didn't want to go so when he heard him coming up the stairs to get him in the morning, he would jump off the bed and hide under it. LOL He usually persuaded him to come out though.

Katie also has to read what I refer to as pee-mail in the grass. LOL Some of these messages must be very important since we spend what seems to me like several minutes reading them and then of course, she has to leave a message also. There is one rather big rock on our route which I refer to as the Summit Rock. I think every dog passing by leaves a message on it. I swear that she would spend ten minutes there if I let her. LOL

-----
Mary Lou & Katie

It was pretty funny to see her get sort of hopeful that she was going to see her "soul mate" the other day...alas, maybe one day!

PHAthena

Well, I just may have to take a road trip out there and bring along Athena's west coast twin...and her "brother" Jiggs of course too

Both of my dogs tend to have preferences towards certain breeds or colors of dogs and also dislikes towards certain breeds and colors of dogs.

Taiko tends to not trust tiny yappy breeds- chihuahuas, papillions, yokies, etc. Yet, he's not overly fond of puppies so he may just associate the size with puppies. He also doesn't like Great Danes- he had a bad encounter with one and has generalized it to all Danes. He also seems to like white dogs. They may remind him of his American Eskimo friend Nissa. GSDs are also good, but white ones are better.

Kita HATES shelties with a passion, labs and golden retrievers really don't thrill her either. Actually, Kita would prefer all those breeds to drop off the face of the earth. Yet, she's pretty good around poodles and cocker spaniels.
-----
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