23.08.26 Dog behaviour. Dog training. Treat every experience for your dog as unique ...

Treat every experience for your dog as unique ... For example, if your dog has in any realm of the past (very recently or quite a while ago) ‘had quite a nasty encounter with…’ then owners can form the impression from that encounter (sometimes with the very next dog and owner combo they meet) that interacting with dogs (or dogs that look similar to that ‘nasty one’) too close has got to be ‘negative’ and avoided.

From this, the owner then is in a heightened state, tense and on the defensive. This energy and judgement is unwittingly communicated through your behavioural cues to your dog (tightened grip on the lead or maybe even immediately crossing over the road from that dog).

We had an encounter with our two Border Terriers when they were younger, where they were quite dramatically lunged for on the lead but I made a firm decision (I had been quite shaken too) at that encounter, to be as calm as possible for the next dog we saw. Well guess what, the next woman was very stressed out, she was actually yelling “Oh no our dog will go for yours!” I stayed calm and our dogs just watched while this woman and her dog walked by. We then though, had a wonderful interaction and play with the third dog we met.

It’s important to 'act' calm (this may indeed be a show/acting but it's the first step) and don’t give up, for the potential marvellous encounters that could be in your dogs future (and aversions you don't want to layer upon), Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant & Dog Trainer, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural & training tips, advice and suggestions, including around dogs pulling on their leads, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you 🐾 09.08.26 Dog Behaviour. Dog to dog interactions. A sign of the antisocial dog. A sign that a dog is antisocial about other dogs, is that he or she is uncomfortable about being sniffed at their rear end. Think of the refusal of the rear sniff as the equivalent of the snub of the hand shake in human interaction - it’s quite a big deal! Two dogs might go round and round too, until one has had enough! Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant & Dog Trainer, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural and training advice, tips and suggestions, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins, 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you 🐾 06.06.26 Dog Behaviour. Dog Parks and Off Lead Areas for Dogs. Dog Parks and Off Lead Area’s —

Importantly, the dog park is not the place to socialize puppies (from the perspective of intensity and a potential disease risk for your pup). Senior dogs too, may find dog parks overwhelming. Pay attention to your dog’s cues about this experience.

It has been found that new dogs coming into a dog park provide information about themselves when they first enter, by urinating a short distance from the entrance. This is an important process as part of successful social communication and managing group dynamics, so should not be discouraged.

The treats you take to the dog park should not be the bees knees/of absolutely fabulous variety. You don’t want to gather a crowd with this tasty food, instigating a fight. Dry biscuits should be fine and never feed other people’s dogs.

Once you have entered, avoid standing in a crowd which can cause dogs to hang around and play in a smaller area, this can lead to heightened exchanges.

Try to stop your dog tailgating other dogs. Having a dog glued to your butt, sniffing profusely, is not comfortable at all and the other dog is likely to retaliate with a snap. If your dog is being told to move away by another dog and your dog is not listening, either undertake the 'recall' or go over and move your dog away. The reverse should happen too, help your dog get away from a harasser. Don’t discipline somebody else’s dog, just move along to another area of the park.

Be aware of the potential for a play fight to accidentally escalate into a real fight. If one dog is just a wee bit too rough with an action this can cause upset.

Even if the dogs are racing around full ball, they should have many normal pauses in their play. The dogs should be relaxed at these points, if not, this is a good indicator things could be getting out of hand, at the least, this ends up being good practice for the dog to be overly stimulated and uncontrolled in other situations.

With this, be on the lookout for unsupervised children, pushchairs, bikes and skateboards in the dog park. These can be triggers for chasing or dog aggression.

It may be obvious but do not take dogs who are in season to the dog park and you should have great control of an entire male if you venture here.

Keep walking around the park and working on your recall. This ensures the dog’s frolicking doesn’t get too heated. If a problem starts to manifest, move off or walk faster to maintain your dogs focus.

Trust your instincts. If you see any dog or person that makes you uncomfortable move away or head out of this area, Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant and Dog Trainer, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural and training advice, tips and suggestions, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins, 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you 🐾 30.05.26 Dog Behaviour. Dog Training. Dog Appeasement Signals. Appeasement signals given by dogs - Appeasement communication helps decrease the potentially negative intent of another animal or human …

Appeasement signals -

The dog

• Lowering their head or moving it up up and down

• Turning their head away

• Averting their eyes

• Licking their lips

• Licking the other animal (including human)

• Holding their ears back or flattening them against their head

• Having a low tail area - perhaps their tail is tucked between their legs and their back end is curved with this.

• Having a submissive grin – the dog pulls their lips back and shows the front part of their teeth in what looks like a smile, and shows other signals such as squinting eyes. There is not usually a lot of tension in this dogs body.

• Rolling onto their back/showing their belly – this dog flips over quickly, ‘tapping out,’ showing their stomach, with their ears back and tail tucked between their legs or hugging their body. These dogs are not asking for a tummy rub, but are signalling that they're wanting to ‘wave the white flag here’ and are nervous about the interaction, Selina McIntyre, Dog Behaviourist, Trainer & Author, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural & training tips, advice and suggestions, including around dogs pulling on their leads, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you 🐾 23.05.26 Dog Behaviour. Signs of overstimulated play in dogs Signs of overstimulated play (and when it’s time to calmly intervene) –

• If dog vocalisations continuously increase

• One dog is giving appeasement signals and trying to get away

• If one dog targets another dog by chasing, stalking, or always playing roughly, is pushy and the interaction is one-sided, this dog should leave. This type of interaction isn’t usually fun for the dog on the receiving end.

Dogs that tend to play rudely, body slamming, mouthing too hard, mounting, and generally creating havoc can cause negative responses - potentially fights and injuries.

You are instead wanting - a ‘loose’/relaxed body with both dogs. Tails loosely wagging or held loosely mid-way down the backs, a lack of rigidity in the bodies and neither dog trying to stand taller, as well as eyes relaxed, not intensely staring. It’s also great to see symmetry in behaviour between the dogs, mimicking the same relaxed behavioural cues of the other dog, Selina McIntyre, Dog Behaviourist & Dog Trainer, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural & training tips, advice and suggestions, including around dogs pulling on their leads, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you 🐾 16.05.26 Dog Behaviour. Dog Training. Who is in your dog pack? Your pack includes all dogs residing and interacting on your property (for example, a flatting situation and dogs are interacting this way).

There is the potential for problems here if there are different rules and boundaries for one dog, to another - they may be allowed inside for example and the other is not, or one on the bed or couch with you, the other not. You can have a real impact on the social dynamics of the entire pack, with how you are interacting with all individually, Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant, Dog Trainer & Author, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural & training tips, advice and suggestions, including around dogs pulling on their leads, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you 🐾 07.02.26

Dog Behaviour. A dogs interactions. Don't just ask for a sit. Set your dog up to be more comfortable in an interaction with another dog or even a human ...

It's best you not ask your dog for a 'Sit' or a 'Down' when they are part of a dog to dog interaction (or even some interactions with humans), especially if they are naturally more cautious/wary, or even reactive, as these positions go against the flight, of 'Flight or fight' and can make your dog feel vulnerable here.

Instead, you could actively engage your dog with you, with more fluid commands - use the 'Watch'/'Look' (to gain their attention if you need - this is to look at your eyes), 'mini' recalls into hand 'Touch's' etc. Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant and Dog Trainer, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural and training advice, tips and suggestions, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins, 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you 🐾 15.02.25

Dog Behaviour. Dog Training. The effect of the lead on dog-to-dog interactions

The dynamic of a dog-to-dog social interaction is perceived differently, if your dog is on the lead and other dogs are off (or vice-versa) – so the off-lead dogs are accessing freedom. I have witnessed many an instance, where the slightly under confident dog that is off lead, encounters one that is on lead and then becomes a different individual altogether. The resulting situation may be one of hostility unless you and your dog are acting relaxed (yes you may very well be acting). From this, my advice would be to aim for your dog to be off lead, in a dog off-lead area with all the other dogs present (rather than contained on-lead, hence you should work up to going to dog-parks if you wish to use these) all provided you have a great recall in these environments, Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant & Dog Trainer, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural & training tips, advice and suggestions, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you. 12.07.24

Dog Behaviour. Dog Training. What are you inadvertently telling your dog? Cuing your dog.

Watch out for cuing/signalling for a negative response in your dog …

Try not to tighten your grip on your dogs lead and with this, your body tense up, when you spot another dog in the distance (this also applies to spotting other animals or people) or make an abrupt 90 degree crossing of the road (we would instead look at other actions like a few steps forward first, then crossing on a 'casual' angle for example). The former actions described only perpetuate the signals to your dog, that yes indeed, there must be something 'off with that thing' if we're reacting this way.

Another, slightly different way to prevent a negative cuing event is -

When you put your dog back on their lead after a recall, try if you can, to leave the lead long enough for slack. If you have the lead too short and tight each time after you get your dog back on, a negative association can form with coming back to you and being put on the lead - your dog has lost all that freedom,

Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant & Dog Trainer, Dogs Best Friend. For more dog behavioural & training tips, advice and suggestions, including around dogs pulling on their leads, why not check out my book in association with HarperCollins 'Big Dog, Small Dog - Make your dog happier by being understood,' thank you 🐾