questions re: dominance/agression/submission - Page 1

Hi all, I recieve the following email from a friend of a friend and decided to post it up here to get more knowledgable advice that I can offer. I have never met this woman, or her dog, but she seems genuinely concerned and I would like to offer her some advice if possible. Don't worry, I've already told her to avoid dog parks and not to let her dog play off leash with dogs she does not know. Any thoughts I could pass on to her would be appreciated. Thanks, Karen

I own a Lab-Shepherd mix named Ella. Well, Ella is a rescue dog. I adopted her at 7 months and she had absolutely no training. She just turned two and after a lot of dedicated work, a lot of exercise, and a lot of “no’s”, she has come a long way. Although still not perfect, I am adamant she will learn how to behave in a socially acceptable way with both humans and other dogs.

#1 Ella is extremely friendly and will actually urinate a bit when meeting another male dog. The problem arises when she meets certain females. For some reason when meeting certain females, the other dog (and I promise it’s the other dog) will snap. The dogs will make initial contact with tails waging and out of nowhere, the other female with snap at Ella. I have tried to pick up on a negative signal that Ella may be giving but to no avail. I do know that Ella was attacked by a female at about a year but that is the only thing I can think of that could relate. When this does happen I have Ella sit beside me and she is not allowed to react to the other dog’s barking. I am concerned this is a social skill she has not learned yet and was curious to know if you have ever come across this with your Shepherds. I have even had her sit before she meets another dog to show submission but this has not worked either.

#2 When off-leash Ella barks when chasing other dogs. It is always in a playful manor but it is to show her dominance and I am concerned one day she will do it to the wrong dog and it will result in an altercation. Not only that, I think it is a result of being a rescue and once again, not knowing the proper social signals to use with other dogs. At this point I continue to let her off-leash because I believe she does need the socialization but it is always after a good run when she’s tired. I find this has helped. I also have a friend with a dominant female and they play very well together and if Ella barks my friend’s dog will stop playing and walk away because she refuses to be dominated. I have found after a weekend together Ella is much better with her playful behaviour.  I am hoping this is just a phase and after continuous successes at the park, she will be conditioned to understand good vs. bad behaviour.

You want to turn this into a science and it is not.

Your friend of a friend should not be putting strange dog's together and especially off leash.   There are no set rule's I don't care what anyone tell's you.  

Avoid dog parks and find place's to share with the dog without all this drama.   It's healthier more than anything else.

The dog is a pet,  love it and protect it from harm.  

Hey Karen,I dont know enough about the dog but let me just ask ,Could this female be posturing when around another female?Even suttle posturing could result in provocing that behaviour,Is this dog spayed?Is the owner-handler experianced?Could she be sending negative energy down the leash?These are all things that could trigger that sort of behaviour.As I said before ,it could be alot of different things that can be triggers.By the way,Im still waiting for your response to my e-mail to you a couple weeks ago and I still wanted to speak to you about that diet question I had left you a message about.Talk to you later.