Do you like every person you meet? How would you feel if a stranger ran up to you right this moment and hugged you? Would you welcome that hug and hug them back? OR would that make you uncomfortable? Maybe you want to punch them in the face?
Dogs, like humans, are individuals and have individual likes and dislikes; for some, those dislikes are other dogs to various degrees.
Dog Sociability.
My 11-month Kelpie pup would be classified as dog social, with a side of rudeness at times as he matures through adolescence. He is managed around new dogs to minimise the possibility of a negative experience.
Cooper, at 10.5 years old, has many dog friends but won’t tolerate rude or unknown dogs in his face. He is dog tolerant.
Generally, as dogs mature, their tolerance can change, either through negative experiences, changes in maturity, etc. A social dog can move through the entire spectrum of tolerances without rhyme or reason. Our role as caregivers to these amazing creatures is to listen and ensure we meet their needs.
Knowing your dog and their sociability needs creates a relationship of trust between you and your dog, which helps your dog be the best version of itself.
What is in a phrase?
And that is where we come to the lovely phrase “my dog is friendly,” which makes many dog guardians cringe as they ask a second and third time for a guardian to call their dog away as it runs towards their dog at a million miles per hour.
“My dog is friendly” is one of the most inconsiderate phrases used in the dog world. At that moment, as that phrase exits a person’s mouth, they are only thinking about themselves and their dog. The other person’s and dog’s needs are not considered, making many scramble for an exit strategy and, in the future, avoid certain areas altogether.
"Dogs should be allowed as much liberty as they can responsibly handle.
The greatest gift of training is that it increases the dog’s ability to handle liberty."
- Chad Mackin
Client Stories
My last dog was a Heeler x Kelpie, who lived to the ripe old age of 16 years old. He used to enjoy his casual, daily strolls, which were great for his joints; however, walks became very difficult to manage with the number of off-lead dogs we started coming across.
It happened so often that he became anxious and did not enjoy them as much. So many people let their dogs rush up to him and could not recall them. I often heard “he’s friendly”! But he didn’t want to interact, just like we didn’t want to interact with everyone we met. I also stopped enjoying them because I had to look for off-lead dogs and fences that I could quickly duck behind if needed.
I recently got a new puppy – a tiny Chihuahua. He’s friendly, happy, loves dogs, and loves people, but I’ve put in a lot of work for him to be that way and to make sure he can live his best life! I, unfortunately, had to put in extra work to undo what was done by an off-lead dog!
I took him on his first walk just outside my house so that he could experience the outside world for the first time. We were having fun, and he was taking in all the new smells and getting lots of tasty treats to help make the experience as awesome as possible. After five minutes, an off-lead dog ran up to us near a corner. This particular dog was not overly friendly, and he was frightened when it suddenly appeared out of nowhere. This one incident, unfortunately, set the scene for our future walks, and it took quite some time to turn around and build his confidence again.
I have a 10-year-old niece who is petrified of dogs. Her fear is due to 2 separate instances of dogs rushing at her jumping up on her, and knocking her over. While she has gained some confidence with mine (very slowly), she is so scared that it takes quite some convincing to get her to join us on a walk in the nice weather.
Be the Change.
No person or dog should feel threatened because they are not considered in these situations. If your dog will not come when called when other people, dogs, or distractions are around – that is a sure sign that you do not have your dog under effective control.
Be aware of your local laws regarding dogs. Did you know that all roads, footpaths, nature strips, and shared paths in the Geelong region are classified as on-leash only? You can find out more here on the City of Greater Geelong’s website regarding local dog legislation.
We all want to enjoy our walks and the great outdoors, so please consider others when you are out with your dog. Please respect the local laws and help make it possible for dog guardians to avoid off-leash dogs. They need only avoid off-leash areas.
For dog obedience training and behaviour modification services in Geelong, the Bellarine,
Surf Coast and Golden Plains regions, contact King’s K9 Dog Training.