Situation I Need Help With...

[sas]

I wouldn't be letting either of my dogs near it, infact I'd put the boot in if it lunged at my dog.

[Aziah]

NO - it's an easy word

[poochmad]

I'd say no too. It's not your responsibility to socialise that dogn or should you put your dogs in a risky situation where they could be bitten or mentally scarred for life.

[Loving my Oldies]

CW, what you do it up to you, they are your dogs, and they need to be safe.

It is possible, however, that the Shih Tzu is ok. He is with a strange person, in a strange place. He is on lead. Shih Tzus are a guarding breed, and he is on lead, which makes his instincts kick in more than usual.

The only way to have any sort of interaction with this dog is with him off lead, and I would suggest that he will not behave his best in a strange place, with strange people. But it is doomed to disaster if he is on lead.

I have no idea what his body language is saying - maybe he is ok, maybe not, and if you can't tell for sure, make sure your kids are safe. Shih Tzu might be barking his head off, but it's all talk.

If you do want some interaction, sit down, hold your dogs on your lap and let the Shih Tzu run free to see what happens. Shih Tzu's are not particularly aggressive, but I am sure you can push him off if he proves me wrong and wants to rip out the throat of one of your dogs. But I think he wants to be friends. Being on a lead when meeting other dogs has a whole lot of connotations to a dog - and laugh though you may, Shih Tzu's ARE guard dogs, so they would resent it more than a toy breed, or a retriever.

But it is your call - you have to do what you are comfortable with.

I agree with Jed.

Frankly, if you met my dogs out on a walk with your two, you wouldn't be too impressed either. They just go full on as if they did want to tear the other dog/s throat out ...... and then they settle down. I know it is annoying, but when I encounter people who know them and we know them, we just rein all the dogs in and in about 20-30 seconds all if normal with dogs happily sniffing.

However, if you brought your two dogs into my back yard, there wouldn't be any of the barking, just excitement of the new, who the hell are these dogs, bit of sniffing, bit of that "jumping teasing" action dogs have and then back to the status quo of ignoring others - LOL.

I used to be able to walk for about an hour in an off leash area in Leichhardt with all the dogs off the lead, but several years later and many foster dogs later, this is no longer possible.

However, as the dog next door is not permanent, I would first of check how long he is going to be there and if for any length of time, try the introductions as per Jed's advice.

[Karelea Aussies]

My rescue girl in my sig did this, and what I took as DA was nothing more than tantrum throwing (at me) because she could not get her own way, and get to the other dog immediately. I am not trained in animal behaviour so I think most would have thought the same thing had they seen it. Scary yes, but all talk and noise.

Once I had some guidence on how to handle the tantrums, things became much more civilised. She will still whine if she sees another dog but compared to how she was, I can live with that for now.

I am not saying this is necessarily what is going on with the neighbours dog, but just another perspective.

[Staranais]

I haven't read all the posts, so possibly someone has already suggested this. But if you want to help the neighbour, I would offer that you and the neighbour could take the dogs for onleash walks together. Keep your dogs far enough away that your dogs look comfortable and the other dog doesn't do his nut at them.

Benefits of this - your dogs are safe as the other dog is under physical control. Leash walking the dogs together will let the dogs get used to each other without the pressure of having to actually interact. & most aggressive dogs are far less likely to be aggressive to a dog when being leash walked beside it off the property (even when my previous, very very DA boy was at his worst, he was generally quite OK when being leash walked next to other dogs in a strange place).

Or, you could just say no, that you don't want your dog having anything to do with their dog. That's a fair enough response.

I certainly would not let them play together, or interact off leash. The risks are too great.

[W Sibs]

Some of you have made me really think...

Right now, I'm not going to do anything till i feel comfortable with the situation. Charlie has came across dogs like that before, and because he doesn't react, other dogs calms down when they realise he isn't a threat. But, it's not often when dogs bark at him... he is too calm and neutral for a normal dog to react to him like that. And, the fact that this dog lunge towards him the second time makes me hesitate. Also, on the walk when Charlie (who loves his walks) didn't want to go with them makes me rethink too.

There is no chance that I will let Emmy near this dog. I don't like the vibe between the 2.

The Shih Tzu will be around for a few months... it all depends how long the dog's owner personal situation gets sorted.

[poodlefan]

Some of you have made me really think...

Right now, I'm not going to do anything till i feel comfortable with the situation. Charlie has came across dogs like that before, and because he doesn't react, other dogs calms down when they realise he isn't a threat. But, it's not often when dogs bark at him... he is too calm and neutral for a normal dog to react to him like that. And, the fact that this dog lunge towards him the second time makes me hesitate. Also, on the walk when Charlie (who loves his walks) didn't want to go with them makes me rethink too.

There is no chance that I will let Emmy near this dog. I don't like the vibe between the 2.

The Shih Tzu will be around for a few months... it all depends how long the dog's owner personal situation gets sorted.

There's an easy out here CW. Say you're not willing to do it if the owner's not with the dog and you're not sure even then.

[quickbrownfox]

Don't feel obligated to help socialise the Shih Tzu. It's not your problem.

There's an easy out here CW. Say you're not willing to do it if the owner's not with the dog and you're not sure even then.

This is a legit excuse, as so much can go wrong if the owner doesn't know what's happening with their dog.

[corvus]

Kivi tends to be a calming presence as well, but there's a threshold. If the dog is really going nuts he really doesn't like it. Sometimes the only signal he will give that he's unsettled is drifting in closer to me or tipping his ears out and back slightly. If he actively tries to engage with the dog, then I'd consider him comfortable with the situation. He may be comfortable and not be trying to engage, but I err on the side of caution. I guess that Charlie's default is not to try to engage, but is there something he normally does when he's relaxed with another dog you can use as a rule of thumb?