# My new herding dog is being rude and dominant with other dogs



## Bowie Valentine (Apr 22, 2010)

Bowie likes to challenge other dogs and assert dominance. This is my first time owning a herding breed, so I don't know how to solve this problem. By "challenge" and "assert dominance" I mean she will go nose to nose with dogs, which puts the other dogs in a position of either being submissive and getting away from her, or "posturing" that they are the dominant one. She is a very playful dog and it is my opinion that she loves other dogs more than she loves me, and not that she wants to hurt other dogs or actually piss them off because she likes playing. She doesn't put dogs on their backs to assert dominance or hurt them. Although she does tend to knock over clumsy dogs usually under a year old. I have heard that herding dogs in general can be very confident and challenging dogs, but I've never heard what to do about it.

How do i train my dog to not make other dogs feel like they need to defend themselves against her? Again, she doesn't bite other dogs or show aggression, but she does show dominance and I don't want it to get her into trouble. 

I can answer any questions since I don't know what the important details are to mention in this case. She is part english setter and part border collie or australian shepherd (or Mongolian Leopard Dog, as I like to call her since I'm tired of telling people she isn't an australian cattle dog). 

Thank you!


----------



## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

It may be that you and the other dogs are confusing typical herding behavior with aggression/dominance/challenge postures. My neighbor's Berner male always gets on the wrong side of my Golden male by trying to jump on his back. It's all in play, but my guy doesn't take it that way. And the Berner is not one to take a subtle hint.


----------



## Bowie Valentine (Apr 22, 2010)

Marsh Muppet said:


> It may be that you and the other dogs are confusing typical herding behavior with aggression/dominance/challenge postures. My neighbor's Berner male always gets on the wrong side of my Golden male by trying to jump on his back. It's all in play, but my guy doesn't take it that way. And the Berner is not one to take a subtle hint.


Actually it's been my opinion that she loves playing with other dogs and that she's been okay in her play, while the owners of other dogs were getting worrisome over her behavior. So that made me feel that maybe she is doing something wrong in the way that she plays.

Though I should mention that at dog parks on 3 different occasions 3 different dogs have got in her face and barked at her and nipped at her without hurting her, and I think it's because she's not reading their signs that she's possibly annoying them? I am new to the dog park world and actually stopped taking her because I can't figure out what she's doing wrong to make dogs react to her in this way. Although i believe it might be due to resource guarding their tennis balls because she enjoys joining in games of chasing tennis balls. But overall I see her enjoying the company of dogs, even though some have gotten pretty pissed at her. 

If she is crossing boundaries by joining in games of chasing tennis balls with the wrong dogs, what can i do? I don't want to teach her to not chase tennis balls or that playing fetch is only a one dog game.

I've noticed that the more comfortable she's gotten with the neighbor dog the more she tends to herd him in their play. The other dog doesn't seem to mind, but it's a pretty fierce game of chase that they get into with "air nipping" and ferocious teeth. But in general her hackles are up when she's in distress, which isn't present when playing with the neighbor dog. My question would be is it okay for my dog to herd other dogs if they don't seem to mind?


----------



## ecodogboutique (Apr 22, 2010)

You must protect the other dogs from psychological dominance over them. Bowie may like to challenge other dogs but do not allow her to freely interact with the other dogs without your CLOSE supervision. Be sure to put a leash on her when she interacts with other dogs at the park. If she starts to demonstrate any pushy behavior, interrupt it with a loud clap of your hands or other sound. Make sure not to startle her or the other dogs when you do this. Remove Bowie from the other dogs with her leash. 

I would also check with a professional, a certified applied animal behaviorist. Bowie can be trained to behave. Contact your vet to find a animal behaviorist, make sure they are a bona fide expert, not some obedience trainer hiding behind make believe credentials. 

You can also educate yourself in dog psychology, check out John Fisher's "Think Dog" and Patricia McConnell's "For The Love of A Dog".


----------



## BradA1878 (Nov 28, 2009)

I agree with "Marsh Muppet", some of this just sounds like typical herding dog behavior.

To me, it sounds like there are 3 "issues" you are asking about:
1) Your dog's growling/showing teeth at other dogs while at the dog park.
2) Your dog's manners while playing.
3) Your dog's general social skills and ability to read other dog's "signs".

(let me know if I missed something)

First, I think its a good idea to not worry so much about "dominance". Even tho you see and hear a lot about "dominance" on TV and on forums, its really questionable as to if "dominance" plays a real role in canine social order or communication. I wouldn't spend so much time worry about "dominance" and if dogs are being "dominant", it will only cloud your judgment and understanding. 

*1) Your dog's growling/showing teeth at other dogs while at the dog park.*
Dog have to learn each other's social rules, they are not set in stone and each dog is an individual. When you take your dog to a dog park and allow him to meet new dogs you cannot expect him to like every dog he meets and you can't assume they automatically know each dog's personal likes and dislikes.

So, dogs "display" when they first meet, sometimes the displays are more friendly (play bow, lip lick, ground sniff) and sometimes they seem more combative (growl, show teeth, stiff posture). These displays tell each other how they like to be communicated with and it helps set personal rules. They may be saying "hey, I don't like you being in my face" or "I prefer you to approach me from the side" - things like this. The posturing you see doesn't mean either one is doing anything wrong, its part of normal canine communication and, trust me, dogs can ready each other's "signs" better than we can read their "signs".

If you take your dog to a dog park a lot, and the posturing never escalates into an argument, or worse (a fight), then I would say your dog knows what he is doing and is being a reasonably social canine citizen.

If you don't like the way 2 dogs are communicating, then redirect your dog away with a toy, treat, or game. You do get to choose who your dog interacts with.

I'd take some time to familiarize yourself with the "ladder of aggression"...









*2) Your dog's manners while playing.*
I am very lenient with our dog's play, I allow them to play rough, I am comfortable with it - but you don't have to be. If you don't like the way your dog is playing, ask them to stop. Call them to you and give them a treat. This breaks the play up and doesn't allow it to "tip" into an altercation - it also helps to teach your dog some of YOUR boundaries. Perhaps they can play rougher than they are and be ok, but if YOU don't want them to then YOU can ask them to stop.

Dr. Patricia McConnell has some really GREAT videos on dog play, she has a lot of great info on it. Here are a few of her blog posts that may help (tho her video is worth every penny and I highly recommend it for anyone that wants to go to dog parks):
http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/interesting-play-styles/
http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/more-on-play-styles-dealing-with-problem-players/
http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/play-styles-status-seeking-correlated/

Also, here is a post on DF that you may enjoy: http://www.dogforums.com/2-general-dog-forum/69106-how-tell-if-s.html

*3) Your dog's general social skills and ability to read other dog's "signs".*
I wouldn't worry about this. Your dog can read and understand dog language WAY BETTER than any person can.

I hope this helped.

----


----------



## That'llDo (Apr 13, 2010)

I have been learning a lot about shaping how my dogs play since I started working with Rigel. Pixel is not great at playing (he was a stray before I got him, and pretty poorly socialized, so he doesn't really have normal play) but he really wants to wrestle, and sometimes goes way overboard. He's also a bit nervous at the dog park, so I go in with a plan to help him out.

So, here are the steps I have worked on to help my particular dogs play better: First, I have taught/been teaching "easy," which basically means "back off a bit, that's too much and if you don't take it down a bit I'm pulling you out of the game." Then, if they don't modify it a bit, they get a time out to settle for awhile. They started getting it really fast. "Leave it" also needs to be very strong--if a dog is responding badly to your dog, or the owners are getting agitated, you need to get your dog out of there, and this helps a lot. Pay a lot of attention to both your dog and the other dog. My experience has sometimes been that other dogs think herding dogs are a little nuts, with the way they chase. So look for stress signals, and call your dog off at the first sign of it from the other dog. 

I don't know that you need to teach anything about the resource guarding, as long as you can call your dog's attention away from a dog that's doing it. I basically let my dogs play with whomever they want, until I see a dog that is not liking how they play, and then I call them off and we move along. If you pull her back, and the other dog approaches her to play more, you know she wasn't bothering it. If it runs off, she might have been, but you've avoided a problem.


----------



## Bowie Valentine (Apr 22, 2010)

Thank you everyone for your responses. 

I want to try taking Bowie back to the dog park and my game plan is to first wear her out for a couple hours at home (which never actually wears her out) hoping that this will put her in a calmer, less excitable mood when we get there (though i know this is just wishful thinking). But I don't have a game plan for when she growls at another dog because she's on leash. She has developed some kind of insecurity meeting dogs while she's on leash, and she growls. It might have something to do with leashes getting tangled with the other dog's... It might be easily solved by me saying "Bowie, who's that? Who's that, Bowie? Oh, that's a good girl" because she's never had a negative response to dogs when i use that voice with her. 

I think what i really need is tips on recall. She is such an incredibly fast dog with so much energy, it's been too much of a struggle to get her attention when i need it. Even if she's just leading all of the dogs into a giant mud puddle, i nearly have to go in to get her out, because she'll just lay in it and laugh at me while she cools off. Not funny. 

Thank you guys again. Any ideas on how to train a ball motivated dog perfect recall?


----------



## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Bowie Valentine said:


> I want to try taking Bowie back to the dog park and my game plan is to first wear her out for a couple hours at home (which never actually wears her out) hoping that this will put her in a calmer, less excitable mood when we get there (though i know this is just wishful thinking).


Wild screwing around doesn't really make a dog calmer. Physically exhausting an English Setter X Border Collie X Australian Shepherd is going to take more time than you have available most days. You'll get tired of watching her zoom around before she gets tired of doing it. Structuring play as work is what she really needs.

The first thing is to be able to get control of her attention and behavior. Do lots of "look at me" drills so you can command her attention at a distance. Herding dogs--especially BCs--do their work with body posture and hard stares. A sheep will respond to that by vacating the precinct. Another dog may react to that by digging in and spoiling for a fight. Some will offer submissive behavior to assuage the "aggressor". Either way, it will be the end of play, and that may be frustrating your girl and causing her to amp up her behavior. Having the ability to break her gaze can defuse a situation before it gets the other dog feeling snappish. Being able to call her to your side (when off-leash) is an important way to teach her appropriate behavior. It can be an important safety valve to be able to stop her play when her behavior is getting other dogs riled. It can also be viewed as a very gentle form of correction.

Drilling in the basic obedience commands (come, sit, down, heel) will help instill in your dog the mindset that she's not out there purely to entertain herself. Exercise combined with the requirement that she attend to your voice/whistle, will do more to calm her than all the free-play in the world. You really want to keep her out of the dog park while you work on this stuff. 

Just my 2¢.


----------



## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

My friend (dogwalker and trainer, like me) walks and trains a young BC male, Jack. When they come to the dogpark he is a very intense young man and he sometimes gets himself into overexcited mode and this can cause problems. He especially has issues with GSDs who don't like his intense "eye". Jack has been well trained and responds to leave it and is rewarded with a stick toss, which gets his focus off the other dogs and back into "working" the stick.
All Etsuko has to do is say his name and pick up a stick and he breaks off from WHATEVER he is doing and goes into a crouch waiting for the toss. 
You can do a similar thing with the tennis ball. Reward the leaving of the other dogs with a toss of the ball in the OTHER direction. 
Herding dogs herd and herding dogs STARE. This can be very disconcerting behaviour to other dogs (and therefore their owners) but can be managed. The training advice you have been given here (working on recall, leave it etc) will be very helpful to you.

For a great recall program, check out Leslie Neilson's "Really Reliable Recall".


----------



## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Cracker said:


> Jack has been well trained and responds to leave it and is rewarded with a stick toss, which gets his focus off the other dogs and back into "working" the stick.
> 
> All Etsuko has to do is say his name and pick up a stick and he breaks off from WHATEVER he is doing and goes into a crouch waiting for the toss.
> You can do a similar thing with the tennis ball.


I had a similar signal with my Golden. I used to take him out for off-leash runs long before he was reliably (by my standards) trained to recall. However, he was always mad for fetching. I always blew my whistle 2 times as a signal to put eyes on me, and swung a cylindrical retrieving dummy over my head. The retrieving dummy functioned as a leash for my dog. It wasn't an actual recall, but it was 100% effective in getting his attention off what I wanted it off of, and heading back to me at flank speed.


----------



## Bowie Valentine (Apr 22, 2010)

My dog isn't exactly ball motivated enough to get her attention off of other dogs, and at a dog park most people have balls, so my specific ball isn't much when there are so many others to run after. She even seems to get more interested in other dog's balls than the one i bring. 

Overall, I've had dog park experiences with her where she did listen to me when i called her every time, and it seemed like something that she was more willing to do the more we went to the parks. How do you practice perfect recall without distractions (not suggesting that a dog park is a training field) at home?

I have her pretty worked with tennis balls at home in the yard. It's only when the neighbor dog goes next door for his daily neighbor treat that she runs off with him to also get a treat. But i want to be able to stop her from doing so if i need to for whatever reason. I've trained her in a lot of ways on my own just from reading things online and talking to people, so is there anyone out there that has advice on recall so i don't have to buy a book on it? I lost my job and i'm trying to be resourceful instead of spending money on things i might not even need. 

What about the growling when on leash? This is a new habit that has occurred 3 times in the past on leash, but since then she has met dogs off-leash and has been fine. How can i curb her fear so that she knows it's okay to meet other dogs while on leash?

In the past when i've taken her to dog parks she will dive right into the middle of the action, running around with her hackles up and her ears back, though she just seems nervous more than anything, not looking for a fight, and then within a couple minutes she's completely relaxed and has made a new friend. Out of the approximately 10 times we've gone to dog parks, every time she's come in with this body language. What other ways are there to read this body language? I do not believe it is an aggressive sign because she's not growling, she's just running around being part of the other dogs running around, though she also seems to be avoiding for a couple minutes sniffing butts. Could this just be her typical way of acclimating herself to the situation and it's fine?


----------



## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Teaching recall is a process. You start close, on a leash, in an area with as few distractions as possible, and reinforce the proper response. In the beginning (I call it pre-training training), you call the dog to you when you already know she's going to do it. Like when you walk in the door upon arriving home from work. You call her name and "COME" as you walk in the door, and have something good in your pocket to reward her with. When outside, you keep a leash on her and work on it in small stages. You gradually increase the distance and add distractions as she improves.



Bowie Valentine said:


> What about the growling when on leash? This is a new habit that has occurred 3 times in the past on leash, but since then she has met dogs off-leash and has been fine. How can i curb her fear so that she knows it's okay to meet other dogs while on leash?
> 
> In the past when i've taken her to dog parks she will dive right into the middle of the action, running around with her hackles up and her ears back, though she just seems nervous more than anything, not looking for a fight, and then within a couple minutes she's completely relaxed and has made a new friend.


It sounds very much like she lacks confidence. She's already learned that her behavior can provoke other dogs, but she doesn't understand why. So she goes into new social situations overexcited and a bit defensive. You need to teach her a new way to be. You first need to teach her how to look to you for her cues.

Disclaimer: all the preceding advice is premised on my understanding of the situation, which has been gleaned from reading text on a computer screen. I could be all wrong.

Disclaimer-disclaimer: even if I'm wrong, nothing will be damaged by obedience training your dog.


----------



## TxRider (Apr 22, 2009)

Marsh Muppet said:


> Having the ability to break her gaze can defuse a situation before it gets the other dog feeling snappish. Being able to call her to your side (when off-leash) is an important way to teach her appropriate behavior. It can be an important safety valve to be able to stop her play when her behavior is getting other dogs riled. It can also be viewed as a very gentle form of correction.


This is the key IMO. I have the same issue with Hope. She has a lot of drive and gets over the top with other dogs and very pushy and demanding and ignores the dogs signs that it is uncomfortable. No aggression she just applies tons of pressure, physically. She sends other dogs into fight or flight that way, even Kaya.

Being able to snap her attention away and recall her is the only way I can have any control and interrupt her behavior, and have any hope to teach her when she's going too far.


----------



## Bowie Valentine (Apr 22, 2010)

Yesterday I took Bowie to the dog park and her recall was near perfect. I had her attention on me most of the time except when she made friends with a boxer and i allowed her to just enjoy herself. The only thing that i'm concerned about is her herding of other dogs. The owners of the boxer told me bluntly that it was fine that she was herding their dog, even though she was "nipping" at its neck area and running very close to its side to try to control the direction of the dog. When i see this i'm thinking the other dog seems okay with it, it just looks bad. She seems to only try to herd some dogs, as though she has a preference, so i thought that maybe she herds the dogs she thinks that she can control, only? She also herded a giant great dane which was more like a clumsy horse. If owners of other dogs are fine with this behavior then is it okay for her to be herding other dogs, or is there some reason that i'm unaware of why she shouldn't be allowed to herd other dogs? 

Also, whenever she was on a herding rampage and overly excited i broke her attention from the other dogs to come to me, and then had her sit and rewarded her with a chuck-it ball throw. I heard that curbing a dog's natural herding instinct might not be a good idea, but i didn't get a response as to whether it's okay for herding dogs to herd other dogs.


----------



## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Bowie Valentine said:


> The owners of the boxer told me bluntly that it was fine that she was herding their dog, even though she was "nipping" at its neck area and running very close to its side to try to control the direction of the dog. When i see this i'm thinking the other dog seems okay with it, it just looks bad....
> 
> If owners of other dogs are fine with this behavior then is it okay for her to be herding other dogs, or is there some reason that i'm unaware of why she shouldn't be allowed to herd other dogs?


My opinion (which you implicitly asked for when you posted here) is that you are moving too fast. You haven't had enough time to have trained the solid control you need. Allowing her to herd other dogs is okay as long as you can stop it at will. Any dog can change his mind about tolerating that behavior. If she catches the boxer on a bad day there could be a nasty reaction. If she starts doing it to a dog who's new to the park, it could get really ugly.



Bowie Valentine said:


> I heard that curbing a dog's natural herding instinct might not be a good idea, but i didn't get a response as to whether it's okay for herding dogs to herd other dogs.


Curbing a dog's natural instincts is not the same thing as controlling them. Having the ability to control their instincts is what makes it possible to get a dog to do useful work. And that is the reason the majority of breeds even exist. A self-directed herding dog would be a pure nuisance on a farm.


----------



## MegaMuttMom (Sep 15, 2007)

Bowie Valentine said:


> Yesterday I took Bowie to the dog park and her recall was near perfect. I had her attention on me most of the time except when she made friends with a boxer and i allowed her to just enjoy herself. The only thing that i'm concerned about is her herding of other dogs. The owners of the boxer told me bluntly that it was fine that she was herding their dog, even though she was "nipping" at its neck area and running very close to its side to try to control the direction of the dog. When i see this i'm thinking the other dog seems okay with it, it just looks bad. She seems to only try to herd some dogs, as though she has a preference, so i thought that maybe she herds the dogs she thinks that she can control, only? She also herded a giant great dane which was more like a clumsy horse. If owners of other dogs are fine with this behavior then is it okay for her to be herding other dogs, or is there some reason that i'm unaware of why she shouldn't be allowed to herd other dogs?
> 
> Also, whenever she was on a herding rampage and overly excited i broke her attention from the other dogs to come to me, and then had her sit and rewarded her with a chuck-it ball throw. I heard that curbing a dog's natural herding instinct might not be a good idea, but i didn't get a response as to whether it's okay for herding dogs to herd other dogs.


My dog loves being chased but he doesn't like being "herded" by some dogs who don't respond to his calming signals when he needs a break. He'll stop to chew grass and some dogs will continue to bark and poke at him (barking in his face he finds particularly annoying). He tolerates the barking and nipping with most dogs but, some get a pretty pointed correction. As long as you are OK with other dogs telling yours to back off, and you can ask your dog to back off, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to let your dog be who it is. That's the point here, does your dog listen to you and does he listen to other dogs?


----------



## That'llDo (Apr 13, 2010)

Bowie Valentine said:


> If owners of other dogs are fine with this behavior then is it okay for her to be herding other dogs, or is there some reason that i'm unaware of why she shouldn't be allowed to herd other dogs?


I think it is ok if the _other dog_ is fine with the behavior. Obviously, you should call her off if the other owner doesn't like her behavior, but remember that some (a lot) of dog owners at the park don't know much about dog behavior, and may not recognize their own dog's calming signals. (The other day, Rigel was getting a little overly enthusiastic with a smaller dog, who was clearly not enjoying his attention. The little dog's owners were telling me "It's fine, she loves bigger dogs, she doesn't mind," but the poor little dog's lip-licking and tucked tail said something else entirely, so I called him off.) So, pay particular attention to the body language of the dog Bowie is chasing, as well as Bowie's. If you see their dog needing a break, and call her off before she stresses the other dog out, I don't see a problem.

My dogs are herders, and it's part of what makes them the dogs I love, so I don't think I need to stop what's in their nature. BUT, I also think that means I have a greater responsibility to make sure they respect the needs of the other dogs.


----------



## Bowie Valentine (Apr 22, 2010)

I appreciate everyone responding again.

Marsh Muppet, I've been practicing calling Bowie when she's already coming to me over the past 9 days and it's really strengthened her recall. Great suggestion. 

I take her outside for 2 plus hours every day, rain or shine, and i incorporate her training in playing fetch since she's ball motivated. I relocated our place to play fetch to another side of the lake where there's an empty lot on the lake, and before she would just jump in the lake whenever she felt like it to cool off instead of coming to me when i called her. But since i've been practicing "come here" when she's already bringing me the ball back, now I'm able to stop her when she's running off to the lake to jump in and instead she comes to me and waits for me to release her with an "okay!". 

Actually, if it weren't for your (MarshMuppet) suggestion working so well I wouldn't have made the decision to take her to the dog park, but because I've been able to practice her recall when she's playing with the neighbor dog I was confident that I would be able to get her attention on me at the dog park when needed. Overall it was a great experience and I enjoyed having her want to interact with me more and looking for my direction. I've been learning new things about dog behavior on a daily basis and I would agree that it was ignorant of me to take her to the dog park a couple of months ago when we weren't ready. Unfortunately when you get online and look up "dog parks" you don't get a serious tutorial, and some people, like me, had to learn the hard way. Fortunately though, after visiting a few parks I found a dog park with a lot of regulars and they are true dog enthusiasts who literally tell people to get their dogs under control or get out of the park. Also once I joined this forum I realized that this place is such a great tool for learning how to train dogs. I feel like if I can ask the right questions I can get all the answers I need right here for training. I probably wouldn't be thinking the same if my bond with my new dog wasn't constantly growing and if she was dog aggressive or insanely afraid of other dogs, but she came to me pretty well adjusted and I think it just took me a while to "get it" when it comes to owning a working dog. Sure, I read about it, A LOT, and researched for 4 months before adopting one, but reading and doing are so different! 

It's such a unique experience having a dog stare at you looking for your direction when in another dog that could mean the stare down of death! Actually it was something That'llDo said I believe on another post about "the stare" that helped me understand Bowie better. I'm not a Cesar Milan fan, but I was under the impression that Bowie was "challenging" me in some way by staring me down, but now I realize it's the stare of her devotion to me and wanting me to give her direction. That simple little concept changed our whole training experience.

Just as an update, Bowie wasn't barking in any dog's faces at the park this time (awesome!) and she chose good playmates. Plus, when I called her away from playing to practice her recall she came without hesitation. So, the results of hard work at home payed off in the field (the dog park), and I'm confident that if i stay vigilant then we'll be able to enjoy the dog park. Right now I'm just trying to keep myself informed on what the distress signals of other dogs are. In the past, after two dogs had already given her some pretty strong warnings, I pretty much was able to look back at the situations and realize that i didn't read those dog's stress signals before they gave her the much stronger warnings. But after experiences like that I've been reading up on threads and other online material to better identify the stress signals of dogs. 

What still has me concerned though is that the owner of one dog (this was our first time at the park), she gave her dog a stick to chew on, and Bowie went over to the dog in a non-threatening, relaxed way and the dog immediately snapped at her and went crazy. By crazy I mean he lunged at her and was confronting her and biting at her neck. What I would call an attack out of resource guarding. So, i'm not exactly sure how this could have been prevented because i was paying attention the whole time and there was no warning, just instant craziness. Maybe this was because it was a 4 month puppy (husky)? Afterwards I found some blood on Bowie's fur and figured out that it was probably from the other dog biting at her neck and maybe cutting its mouth on her collar. Pretty intense. Also I should add that just minutes before the dog was given the stick, Bowie and this dog were playing together and appeared to be great playmates and not under any stress while interacting before the stick was introduced. Any insight here?


----------



## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

I've been accused of being overcautious in these matters. Results, however, speak louder than internet opinions. Bowie sounds like a really good dog, and your bond with her will only be improved by working together.

The other pup was just acting like a pup. Getting possessive over objects is just something that can occur "out of the blue" in pups that age. He may be teething and that's where the blood came from. Could be that teething contributed to his excitement/obsession/guarding of his stick.


----------



## Bowie Valentine (Apr 22, 2010)

Marsh Muppet, that could be the case that he was just young and teething which led him to be pretty possessive. Seemed like a pretty extreme warning. This is how the other 2 altercations resulted with the other dogs, though the other two older dogs were showing signs of being uncomfortable with her around their balls and THEN reacted with their extreme warnings. It wasn't until I joined the forum that i understood I can't just be taking other dogs' signals lightly and think that the situation isn't going to escalate, otherwise I have myself to blame if Bowie were to ever get hurt. 

Throughout my life I've only met nervous/insecure dogs or really well rounded dogs, but i had never witnessed such extreme object guarding before like i have at the dog parks. I feel that if i had an object guarding dog i would correct the behavior before taking them to the park knowing they could have a serious reaction to other dogs, but not living in a perfect world I guess that's a lot to expect from everyone.


----------

