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OUCH - You Stepped on My Foot - EASE UP A BIT!

By Jacqueline Bunn HNC ACFBA (S017)

Exercising a fully-grown, 13 stone Neapolitan Mastiff isn't without its problems,

but some could easily be avoided.

On a recent walk, Gus - my six-year old neutered, rescued Neapolitan Mastiff

- and I were ambling through the woods as we frequently do and we saw a
Labrador in the distance on a 5m flexi-lead.

As we approached each other on the path, the Labrador was reeled in

tighter and tighter until, when we were only a few metres apart, the owner
had the poor dog strung up to the point of strangulation.

The behaviour of the Labrador up to this point had been very open and
sociable; wide, open mouth with tongue bouncing, tail wagging in a fast,
wide arc, head upright and ears forward with a very loose gait.

By the time he was within spitting distance of Gus and me, his body had
become stiff, his ears were held tightly back and his tail was almost between
his legs. His facial expression had become much tighter and noticeably less
open and relaxed.

It is at this point that I normally ask the owner if their dog is friendly, explain
that mine is, although a little clumsy, and ask if they can say hello. It is the
polite and courteous thing to do these days when meeting an on-lead dog.

The owner, by now struggling to reel his Labrador in any tighter, grimaced
'he's a bit funny with other dogs actually...' not taking his eyes off the
imposing blue elephant that is Gus jumping up and down on the lead,
straining to go introduce himself.

'Well mine's a bit clumsy but he's on a lead, don't worry. Let them say hello...'
The other owner smiled and nodded weakly as if I'd asked him for his wallet...

By this time, 13 stone Gus had decided that he would very much like to say
hello and started his usual clumsy but infinitely sociable charge towards the
Labrador.

Perhaps controversially, I believe in on-lead first contact between unfamiliar

dogs. Perhaps more understandably, the lead is as long and loose as
possible. Gus has a 2.5m lead which allows me to have the option of control -
well as much as one can when the dog weighs the same as the average
small pony - but allows me to keep my distance while he makes his clumsy

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introductions so that I do not interfere with the greeting ritual between

unfamiliar dogs.

At the sight of Gus bouncing towards his dog like an elephant on a

trampoline, the expression of the Labrador's owner was sheer horror, and the
Labrador was subsequently held by the collar so rigidly that its eyes were
bulging. Not surprisingly, when Gus got to within sniffing distance, the
Labrador attempted to lunge, eyes rolling and growling.

The owner responded with a sharp jerk of the collar and a shouted 'SIT DOWN
NOW. Very bad dog... SIT!' and forced down with a hard hand pressed down
on the Labrador's hips until they hit the floor.

'No, no, that's okay; he's allowed to tell Gus off if he's not happy. Gus is
approaching too fast but he will back off if your dog tells him to...'

As if to demonstrate this point, the Labrador then lunged and snapped at Gus
again and Gus immediately took a step back and dropped his head.

The other owner then released his vice-like grip and allowed the Labrador a
whole 10cms extra on the lead... Immediately the dog's body relaxed a little
and its tail rose for a wag, albeit a reserved one.

The two dogs proceeded to make their introductions in the normal way,
sniffing rears, pacing around each other, until Gus accidentally stepped on
the Labrador's foot, to which the Labrador jumped and snapped at Gus.
There was no contact (merely an 'air snap'), no uncontrolled aggression on
the part of the Labrador; it merely expressed its displeasure at Gus' clumsy fat
foot and Gus again responded wholly appropriately by jumping back and
hitting the deck immediately.

However, the other owner jerked the lead back at this so forcefully that the
dog tumbled backwards and when it found his feet again, proceeded to
snarl at Gus, displaying lots of very nice dentition...

I tried to explain that it was perfectly fine for his dog to complain at Gus'
clumsiness, and pointed out that Gus had immediately assumed the 'Oops,
sorry' position, but the owner merely shook his head and told his dog off again
for growling. Of course, this only worked for a nanosecond and the dog
resumed its aggression with more vigour.

The dog was then dragged off on a lead-length so short that the dog's front
legs were suspended off the ground, still snarling and snapping at Gus, who
appeared to receive these parting comments with a strange mixture of
bewilderment and contempt, as is my anthropomorphic interpretation of
every introduction that ends like this!

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This incident is sadly very common today in public dog-walking areas.

Owners, for a variety of reasons including lack of confidence in their own
handling abilities, worry about litigation, lack of familiarity with canine
communication etc, are restricting their dog's natural ability to communicate,
and very often inadvertently creating the aggression that they are afraid of in
the first place.

When dogs meet, it is as ritualised a process as shaking hands and

exchanging pleasantries is for us. When we learn to trust that dogs will make
their introductions in their own way and communicate their intentions / status
far more effectively when we do not interfere, the chances are that our dogs
will gain confidence in their ability to handle their interactions with other dogs
and subsequently engage in play or other pleasantly sociable activities.

The above incident highlights with sinister clarity the way that a dog perfectly
adequately equipped with the skills to interact with other dogs learns that any
communication perceived as negative by its owner is responded to with
positive punishment (the lead jerk & verbal reprimand) and negative
punishment (being dragged away from social interaction).

If the owner had understood that it was perfectly acceptable for his dog to
show its displeasure at having one of his metatarsals crumpled by a pseudo-
elephant and not reacted negatively to the Labrador's 'air snap', he would
have given his dog a message that he had confidence in its own ability to
interact with another dog, and also not incited the subsequent aggressive
reaction by vicariously associating the unpleasantness of positive punishment
with the close proximity of another dog.

The next time the Labrador met another dog, it probably took one less step
before using an aggressive display to communicate with another dog.

That is how fear aggression towards other dogs can escalate. Doesn't take
much, does it?

However, there are things you can do to ease the tension that you feel and
subsequently, your dog feels, when meeting a strange dog on a walk:

 Ensure that you can hold your dog steady. If your dog has the ability to
physically pull you about, investigate methods of control that aren't
affected by power to weight ratio such as headcollars and anti-pull
harnesses. If your dog has punctured skin by biting / snapping in the past,
then a humane muzzle will be necessary to prevent the risk of injury to
another dog, and will also make you feel a little more relaxed when in the
proximity of another dog. It cannot be overstated how much difference
this can make in your reactions to canine interaction.

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 Invest in a lead at least 2m long, preferably 2.5m. Practice the art of

keeping the lead slack but being able to take the slack to take control at
a moment's notice.

 Try to set up your dog to succeed. Before getting close to the other dog,
ask if it is friendly, and that your dog is a little clumsy, which is why it is
muzzled / on a headcollar, but would like to say hello. Reassure the other
owner that you have your dog on a lead and will be in control. If the other
owner responds that their dog isn't friendly or 'a bit funny with other dogs',
thank them for the info and calmly lead your dog past without interaction.
Only allow your dog to meet friendly, sociable dogs who are confident in
their ability to communicate with others.

 BEFORE THE DOGS MEET, start 'Happy Talk', i.e. lots of light-hearted, happy,
smiley talk and keep babbling inanely throughout the interaction. It helps
disperse any tension and gives your dog some confidence that you are
happy and relaxed, so he can be - even if you aren't!

 Allow the dogs to approach, preferably as 'side-on' as possible or even

better, rear-to-rear. This is less confrontational to a dog than a nose-to-
nose approach. Encourage your dog to sniff the other dog's rear if they will
allow, praising your dog verbally if they do this.

 Keep as far away from the interacting dogs as possible. Don't be tempted
into thinking that you need to be right next to your dog to prevent a fight -
you have control via a long lead if necessary - STAND BACK! Let them get
on with it. This may involve some 'maypole dancing' in order to keep the
leads free of tangling!

 Watch the dogs communicating avidly. Look for signs of escalating

tension. If the two dogs do not decide to either play or go their separate
ways and neither dog displays submissive gestures such as play bowing,
rolling on their back, lowering their head etc after a short amount of time,
i.e. 10 seconds, then call your dog away happily and enthusiastically,
perhaps with a slight twitch on the lead, and start walking away. When
they come to you, praise lavishly, play a game, give a treat, etc.

Learn to be confident in your ability to read how dogs communicate and trust
your instincts about when to call your dog away. Try and get hold of some
videos on canine behaviour (NOT wolf behaviour!) and learn to recognise
certain physical signals that will tell you whether the dogs have
communicated adequately, i.e. Play bowing, walking away from each other
(and possibly immediately urinating).

Trust in your ability to be able to calmly control your dog at the end of its lead

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if tension escalates. A couple of large steps back from each owner should be
sufficient to get the dogs apart. This is an entirely safer and more efficient
option than wading in with arms and legs that will undoubtedly get
punctured.

It's perfectly natural for dogs to have a little grumble or snap at each other or
put a paw over the other dog's shoulder, etc to establish status. Don't over-
react to this - this is canine communication! It is important to watch the
reaction in the other dog; if they display immediate submission (i.e. Gus
lowering his head and hitting the deck), then be assured that these dogs are
communicating perfectly fine without your help and continue to just observe.

Our pet dogs look to us for all manner of things, food, shelter, affection,
exercise, etc. One of the lesser known elements of canine care is the
freedom to communicate with other dogs without our prejudices. Our dogs
are not children and do not require our 'protection', although they can
benefit from our guidance. They possess a highly ritualised process of
communication that we must not interfere with if at all possible.

If their confidence in their natural rituals has been muted, then that's where
our guidance comes in, to gently guide them as to appropriate behaviour
when meeting other dogs so that they can 'rediscover' the rituals they will
have learned as littermates and subsequently develop the confidence to
accept a snap from another dog as nothing more than 'Ouch, you stepped
on my foot - be a bit more careful you big oaf - then I might play with you!'

©Jacqueline Bunn - 2005

©Copyright Jacqueline Bunn - 2005