GOOD DOG: Don't let ill-behaved canines spoil the party

DEAR JIM: My Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Alexa, graduated from your class in the spring of 2005.  She learned a lot, and now she has me quite well trained!

However, my reason for writing is to suggest something you might want to mention in one of your columns.

Upon seeing another dog approaching, Alexa will sit by my side until the other dog has passed. She will do this both on and off leash. Often the other dog is aggressive, straining at its leash to get to Alexa. Many times the owner will allow their dog to come up to Alexa, which causes Alexa to stand and prepare for a possibly aggressive meeting. I have begun to ask the owners not to allow their dog to approach Alexa while she is sitting next to me.

But why should I have to ask them to stay away when they can see my dog sitting quietly, making no move toward their dog? I want to say, ‘Please respect the training my dog has learned by keeping your untrained dog away from mine!’
Just a suggestion about something that irritates me — and Alexa.

­­­— Corat Moran, Colorado Springs

• I completely agree with you, and have experienced similar situations more times than I can recall. They usually go something like this:

We’re out training in a park. In the distance, we see a Golden Retriever (or fill in any breed) rocketing toward us, his handler many yards away.

I yell “Call your dog!” The response is almost always “It’s OK, he’s friendly!” To which I respond, “Mine isn’t! CALL YOUR DOG!!!”  So the handler calls, in vain, to his dog, which by this time is upon us.

Not only does this disrupt a fun and productive training session, but it also puts all parties into crisis mode. I’m now frantically trying to keep the other dog away from mine (who is now totally defensive after being charged by the other dog, and ready to fight), while yelling both at the intruder to go away, and at my own dog to lie down.

This is completely unacceptable! If you own a dog that’s one of the hyper, happy, barrel-up-to-anyone types, get some training for him. Self-control and the recall (“come”) command are two of the most important exercises that every dog should know. This doesn’t mean he is a bad dog – far from it. He just needs some work in these areas.

His behavior, however, is very unsafe.

If you were to observe a leashed dog straining to get to his favorite human, and compare that to a leashed dog straining to get to something that it wants to attack, you will notice that most of the body language, posture, and behaviors are the same. What this means for the recipient of said behaviors is that they have milliseconds to decide if this stranger is friend or foe. Hardwired survival instinct dictates that one err on the side of caution, and assume that the stranger means to do harm. As a result, even normally friendly and playful dogs can react with aggression in such situations.

Corat’s actions are perfectly justifiable and appropriate. We emphasize to all of our clients that they have the right to tell anyone exactly what to do, and what not to do, around their own dog. After all, if your dog gets attacked or is traumatized by another dog, YOU are left trying to fix these new behavior problems. No one deserves that.

In the event that the dog and/or its handler become aggressive, try to follow them back to their car and get a description and a license plate number, and report the incident to the authorities. Our parks and trails are for enjoyment, not fear and terror.
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Jim Beinlich is the owner of Cool K9’s Dog Training in Colorado Springs and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Reach him at www.coolk9s.com.