Ok, gotta know this about dogs...

[Cirith Ungol]

So often when you see on TV a massive gathering of dogs and their owners the dogs are often pretty calm?

But when only two dogs meet it might just end up in a fight, or a sniffing orgie or wild playing...

Do dogs that suddenly gather in large numbers (with their owners of course) get some kind of overload where they just ignore every other dog and only mind their owner or... or... what? :?

 

[wicked]

I think most people who take their dogs out with other dogs have spent the time or money to train their dogs. Good manners are important if your dog is out in public. For that matter good manners are important at home too.


For a more graphic example, here is my Inga after our camping trip this summer. She was attacked by three dogs. It was not a fight, Inga is trained to behave around other dogs. The dogs that attacked her had no training and were more or less abondoned. I was surprised Inga survived.

View attachment 56232

 

[xgrafcorex]

ouch!! poor dog! glad its doing alright though.

yea i agree..people who go out to parks with their dogs generally have a trained, or otherwise good dog. when i was in italy i noticed a lot of people walking their dogs. i think the dogs are just so used to people, it didn't phase them. they wouldn't even look at you..just keep on walking. here in the states peoples dogs usually get excited to see people walking by and the owner will either have to hold the dog back as they pass, or they might let you stop and say hi for a second.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Man, that's... like the worst I've seen! I hope your dog copes well now!

By trained, do you mean trained at home by their responsible owners, or trained at a dog school?

The incident that made me ask the question at this time was that I saw a show with Penn&Teller where they busted ESP and especially a woman who "talked to all sorts of animals". She held a large gathering for people with dogs and all dogs were pretty calm. So it wasn't like a dog show where you could expect all dogs to be well trained, but just a lose bunch of people who didn't understand their pets (...ok.. I add this: ...well enough in their own oppinion).

 

[Ewok]

Wow, thst is sad she lost her leg,How were you able to get the other dogs off of your dog, without being attcked yourself?

 

[wicked]

By trained, do you mean trained at home by their responsible owners, or trained at a dog school?

Trained is a rather broad term I guess. It could be as simple as socializing them and teaching them to sit, to the really advanced stuff like they do at dog shows. But generally dogs who are socialized and have some very basic obedience training are well behaved and confident.

Kalingrad- I did not witness the attack. Somehow she got away from the dogs and hid. The dogs may have let her go when they heard us coming, they were very leary of people. Her leg was broken so bad, the vet tech that looked at the X rays thought she had been hit by a car.

She has done really well considering she will be 11 years old this fall. A week after the surgery she jumped in the truck by herself hoping we were going for a ride.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Trained is a rather broad term I guess. It could be as simple as socializing them and teaching them to sit, to the really advanced stuff like they do at dog shows. But generally dogs who are socialized and have some very basic obedience training are well behaved and confident.

Kalingrad- I did not witness the attack. Somehow she got away from the dogs and hid. The dogs may have let her go when they heard us coming, they were very leary of people. Her leg was broken so bad, the vet tech that looked at the X rays thought she had been hit by a car.

She has done really well considering she will be 11 years old this fall. A week after the surgery she jumped in the truck by herself hoping we were going for a ride.

Nice! That must have felt good seeing her do that

Re. trained again: Many times I get the impression that people, especially many young people, don't have the slightest idea of how to care for and how to train a dog. Dogs are so popular that many people seem to think that they are easy to care for. I guess in some way they are, as long as you go out with it, socialize with it at least somewhat, and feed it, you can have a dog for up to 12-15 years. But I think dogs are inherently difficult animals because if properly kept (within the family circle) they are always arround. Many dogs constantly test the boundaries and they do it 'til you drop and if they get a foot in they get "cocky".

I've at one point met a girl who didn't want children yet but she got herself a young dog which would eventually grow very large and she was annoyed that the dog was destroying half the stuff in the living room because it was bored or just wanting to play. When she got the dog she didn't see at all that there was a lot more responsibility than for some average caged animal (she should have gotten a snake instead ). That annoyed me somewhat, because she expected the dog to just naturally fit into her lifestyle, to respect all her stuff and guidelines and that she wouldn't need to actually (there we are!) *train* the dog in any big way.

Comming form that extreme, I have the impression many (or at least too many) dog owners think along these lines or similar lines so I wouldn't expect so many dogs to be so socialized that they wouldn't let everything out at some dog meeting.

I'm not a dog owner, but have previously contemplated the issue very much, read up on dogs in regard to their training, advanced training and even psychology. I simply decided that when I get a dog I wanna do the best I can and teach it as much as can be reasonably expected for a normal person (and normal dog), both for its stimulation, for bonding and so it fits well into a human household. Today I don't remember much of what I read , since I've not thought about getting a dog for very many years and I've let the issue slip.

 

[Gesticulator]

Wow, Wicked. How is the little lady doing in her recovery? At 11 years, she is no youngster. Poor thing.

Cirith, "trained" is indeed a broad term. As an example, I'll use my German Shepherd, Pepper. Pepper is now three years old, and I have had her since she was eight weeks old. She will "sit" and "stay" on command only if she is not distracted, and that is a big if. For some reason, although I walked her as a pup, and introduced her to many other dogs, she never became properly "socialized". I am by no means an obedience training expert, but it seems logical that by letting her experience the outdoors on a leash and having her around other dogs she would have become accustomed to it. Not at all.

Although she gets along fine with my other dog (a Bichon-Frise 6 months her senior), Pepper will automatically bark, bare her teeth and raise her shackles at the sight of another dog. She is a nervous wreck on a leash and seemingly afraid of everything. She was never trained as a guard dog, but will instinctively guard my gate and warn anyone who dares walk by or rings my bell. Once the person is inside, however, she accepts them as part of the "pack".

I commend you in your decision to not get a dog on impulse. I wish more people would follow your example.

 

[thisgal]

I agree that "trained" is indeed a broad term, and its definition largely depends on the dog owner's level of experience. For example, a current trend seems to be people buying cute little puppies and expecting them to come already trained, or with some kind of instruction manual.

We have four dogs in the house, and until last year, only the oldest (an eleven year old smooth coat collie mix) had been to obedience school. We simply used her as an example to train the other three. The fourth and youngest, a five year old weimar mix, went last year because, well, he's a moron. It's actually rather easy to train dogs using another older and dominant one as the example. We've taught the other three just about everything she knows, as well as expanded their list of obeyed commands (the usual: come, sit, stay, down, no, heel, stand, speak.....and our own: go lay down, get out of the kitchen, go home, no bark, get the kitty , and if you ask our lab "where's so-and-so," she'll go find them! Also, the two older dogs know hand signs for the first few basic commands).

Oh, and....all our pets were gotten on impulse (and, coincidentally...when my dad was out of town!)!!!


Regarding the original question, I think when just two dogs meet there's more of a dominance issue to resolve between them then there is amongst a group. The group tends to just go along with some kind of unspoken understanding about who's boss, without actually showing it. I know that when I walk one of my dogs, and we pass another on the steet, mine won't even glance in the other's direction unless the other dog starts freaking out. Then, sometimes, we have some behavioural correction to undergo.

 

[CID143ti]

Its actually mutual territory...Our dogs are not trained at all and they will fight with dogs that come over or if they go to another house with a dog but as soon as they get to the dog park they are just fine. As long as its not invading anothers territory and one is having to prove dominance it actualy goes quite well.