Dog Manners

[aussielover]

I am just getting to the stage where I am taking Mindy to the park and on slightly longer walks.

When walking on the lead I encourage her NOT to interact with other dogs and just try to walk straight past them.

I'm not really sure about what to do at the park or at a friends place while the dogs are off lead etc.

I used to really dislike dogs that came running up to my old dogs face and jumping all over her and would hate for Mindy to start doing this.

At the moment, I keep her on lead initially and ask her to sit and wait for the other dog to approach. She is quite good and will be reserved and cautious initally and then if the dog is ok, I let her off the lead. She will then attempt to enagage the other dog in play. The problem is that even if the dog is not receptive to play, she will keep trying, I usually put her back on leash and end the interaction at this time when I can see the other dog getting pissed off.

So far I have only let her play with other puppies or dogs I know.

What do you think is appropriate behaviour for dogs greeting each other?

What can I do to ensure she wont annoy the crap out of other dogs?

[corvus]

Perhaps my view will be unpopular, but to be honest I think my dogs know better than I do what is appropriate for each dog. If it's a dog they don't know they usually approach it slowly and pause before they go into the dog's space, sometimes waiting for the other dog to give them a sign, I guess. Dogs they know they run right up to. Occasionally they meet a new dog and run up to them instead of being polite. The dog in question is usually some confident Lab or Staffy that thinks all dogs should be joyfully greeted at a dead run. Sometimes they get a bit over-excited and I call them back because it looks like they are intimidating a dog with all the butt sniffing.

I haven't found inappropriate greetings to be much of a problem. People told me dog parks would teach my dogs to charge up to any dog they see, but I haven't seen that in either of mine. I was totally paranoid about it, but even when they were puppies they didn't do it much. The occasional puppy brain moment. If I had a more exuberant breed I'd be working on whiplash turns and rock solid recalls, maybe a solid distance down. I haven't found any to be necessary with my guys, though. They have good recalls and that seems to serve us well.

[kendall]

What have the guide dog people recommended?

[persephone]

What have the guide dog people recommended?

X2 - after all, she is their puppy , and I guess they have guidelines for socialisation .

[aussielover]

What have the guide dog people recommended?

To walk past dogs while lead walking (we're working on that)

They said they can play with other dogs at the park. They don't seem to mind how they greet each other while off the lead (not working). But while on the lead, definitely no interactions.

I met a failed one (medical reasons) recently that was quite "in your face" at the park with other dogs.

We are encouraged to take the dogs to the park for a run around with other dogs, they are after all, just puppies, not working dogs yet. They haven't given us any rules or guidelines for socialization off leash.

So I as far as I can tell, as long as they are under control, they can play however they want.

I am asking more in general, as I will apply the same rules/training with any future dogs I might own.

Edited July 7, 2010 by aussielover

[Nekhbet]

We are encouraged to take the dogs to the park for a run around with other dogs, they are after all, just puppies, not working dogs yet

I would have thought that you encourage a guide dog to see other dogs as neutral - not too exciting or scary just part of the scenery of life. If you are unsure you should be asking guide dogs to help you before us, as they should have hard and fast expectations of how their dogs are too behave when they start training them