Avoiding confrontation

This is a mistake I see dog owners make very often, so it’s the first thing I want to address in this series.

When you encounter another dog and its owner on a walk and you stop before them that signals to your dog that you’re taking part in this confrontation. Whether it be positive or negative, you’ve now decided to engage this new dog and its owner.

If you want to avoid aggressive confrontations you simply need to keep walking for a little bit so you’re standing on the far end of the encounter, instead of at the beginning. This signals to your dog that you’re ready to move on from this encounter.

So even if I want my dogs to say hi I still use this technique and position myself at the end of the encounter. This has worked very well at de-escalating any possible negative confrontations that might have occurred otherwise.

Noticing hunting position and fixation

You as the human should know well in advance when you’re about to meet another dog. At this point you must keep an eye on your dog and notice if they go into a hunting position. They might lower their head, body, and become very fixated on the other dog.

This is seconde before the dog lunges at the other dog, this is when you must already correct your dog’s behavior. Give it a little pinch or poke with your hand or foot until it wakes up. In the beginning it might take a complete stop, so you wait until it sits back down in a calm state.