# Tense moment in class last night...



## exile (Dec 15, 2013)

Seems like anywhere a group of dogs gather there's always at least one who spoils it for a few. That's the reason Gina and I don't do dog parks anymore. There's nothing aggressive about Gina and there's frequently a dog that will run her down and pin her. I had thought dog parks were going to be great>>>no more. A dog that shows aggression at a class or dog park ought to be banned from returning IMHO.....Tom


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I agree about aggressive dogs at dog parks, but in a class one should consider that the person is trying to work on their dog's behavior and give a bit of leeway. Certainly if there is a dog that seems generally sketchy you should give it wide berth. I would only stay away from a class with a "bad dog" if the teacher didn't seem to know how to manage it. A good instructor will help the person with the reactive dog how to handle the dog effectively.

Axeldog it is also to your advantage to have your dog know how to deal with mishaps and dogs with bad manners. For example, Lily is now really good at giving the cold shoulder to dogs whose vibe she doesn't like. We were at a class with a woman who had a rottie that kept giving Lily the evil eye (actually stared at Lily repeatedly). When we were winding things down at the end of the class the rottie was staring and looked like she was going to make a move at us, but Lily sat with her back turned and it really defused the situation very quickly. 

The exercise where you call front while heeling is called a recall at my club.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Axeldog said:


> In our beginning obedience class last night we were practicing a “come” exercise where during heeling you stop/back up and call your dog to front. (I am not sure of the official name for that).


Pretty close. It's called a Call Front.


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## Axeldog (Aug 29, 2014)

lily cd re said:


> Axeldog it is also to your advantage to have your dog know how to deal with mishaps and dogs with bad manners.



Thanks! Yes, that makes sense.

We take him to a lot of puppy socials where he interacts with playful pups and has a ball! He loves it. But he doesn't get hardly any exposure to the more grouchy types. He needs to learn that not all dogs want to play with him.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

It's so refreshing to read about a training class where the instructor takes responsibility and works to do right by_ all _the dogs!_ Woohoo_ to that! Catherine, your post reminded me of the photo you shared once with lovely Lily in the lake surrounded by a pack of GSDs, looking as chillaxed as can be! Such a bonus to have a poodle with great doggy communication skills.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Axeldog, yes you need to make sure your dog needs to know how to read and respond to aggressive dogs and dogs that just lack manners and end up playing too hard, being too in the face, etc.

Dog training, especially a group class, is not all fun and games. The instructors/trainers have to be very observant of all interactions and be very quick to manage problems before they get out of hand. In the case of the rottie I mentioned above I saw those problems coming before either the handler or the instructor. I had been telling the handler to break her dog's stare at Lily for at least 30 seconds before the dog jumped up and grazed her in the face with bared teeth. She wasn't hurt but very upset that it happened. If she had been quicker to act I think it would have been less of a tense episode.

Instructors and handlers should have very frank discussions about how to have reactive dogs approach classes. It sounds like this instructor did that. 

Chagall's Mom Lily loves playing with German Shepherd dogs. Remember that was Peeves' extended family. They are all really well mannered and well trained. She gives then quite a run for their money. They are all fast, but she is a much better broken field runner and she frustrates the heck out of them because she can't be herded. I've never worried about her with that group for even a millisecond!


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

I deal with sketchy dogs regularly at the dog park. But I will NOT deal with dogs on leashes. Dunno how y'all do it with all dogs restrained. Kudos to all that it doesn't turn into a madhouse! :afraid: lol


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Frank either everybody has to be off leash or everybody has to be on leash! Any mixture is distinctly unfair to the on leash dogs. I used to walk Lily and Peeves on a coupled leash, but decided to go to two separate leashes after a dog charged at Peeves while BF was with us. I realized that being able to drop the leashes was going to be a better way to deal with a third dog that was loose.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Dropping the leash is always the better way. Too counter intuitive for most tho. The tendency is to pull your dog back toward you so that you can protect it. In most cases, you can't.


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## Axeldog (Aug 29, 2014)

Countryboy said:


> Dropping the leash is always the better way. Too counter intuitive for most tho. The tendency is to pull your dog back toward you so that you can protect it. In most cases, you can't.


Dropping the leash.... hm. Maybe not if a cat is the aggressor? 

Maggie, my previous spoo, and I were walking in our neighborhood, and a crazy cat started coming after her, all puffed up and yowling. 

I was so shocked I dropped the leash (stupid me). Maggie took off running from the cat. I ran after her but of course couldn't keep up. A nice stranger gave me a ride to go looking for her. Luckily we found her at home by the front door. Her paw pads were bloody(!) from running on the asphalt and she had someone's fingernail on her back. Someone must have tried to grab her as she tore past them.

Needless to say, this was a horrible, terrifying moment for both of us. This was several years ago, and I still feel so bad and guilty about letting it happen. I admonish myself for not kicking the cat away from her, instead of dropping her leash. (sorry to all cat lovers out there, but that would have been the better choice)


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Oh dear, Lily got swatted on the nose by a nasty cat once. She was pretty upset by it. 

It must have been pretty awful to have your dog take off on you pursued by a cat! If you do ever have a loose dog situation again you should never chase them. You need to make the dog chase you. They think chasing is a fun game but since four legs will always beat two, you should make them come towards you.

I think I told this story here a while ago, but it is worth resurrecting. One morning while I was walking Lily I saw a woman chasing her dog around down at the far end of a long block. The dog was having a blast playing keep away and the woman was obviously getting more and more frustrated. By the time I caught up to where they were the dog was running around in the back yard of a none too pleased older couple who were trying to leave their house to go for a stroll. I told the woman to stop chasing and found that her dog had bolted the front door. She had no treats to lure the dog, nor did she have a leash. I asked her where she lived and she was down the other side of the long block that we were at the corner of. I told her to just call her dog as nicely as she could, say come and start running towards her house. When she did her dog went right after her. When she got in front of her house she made the mistake of trying to grab the dog's collar. She should have just run up to the door and opened it and the dog probably would have gone in. The dog ran past the house when she tried for the collar. I was right behind her and I had food so I gave her some and had her call the dog back. She came and I played games with her for treats while the owner went and got a leash. By that point the dog was way more interested in my treats than running away and the owner got the leash on.


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## Axeldog (Aug 29, 2014)

lily cd re said:


> Oh dear, Lily got swatted on the nose by a nasty cat once. She was pretty upset by it.
> 
> It must have been pretty awful to have your dog take off on you pursued by a cat! If you do ever have a loose dog situation again you should never chase them. You need to make the dog chase you. They think chasing is a fun game but since four legs will always beat two, you should make them come towards you.


Thank you!! Nowadays I am a little more aware of how our body movements can affect dogs and how they perceive us. 

Before we got Axel I was determined to be a better dog owner. I read a couple books by Patricia McConnell and wow, were my eyes opened. Among other things I have successfully used the chase game to get Axel to do things I want him to do.


Sadly, back when I had my Maggie, I wasn't as informed and all I knew was to desperately chase after her. It was really awful.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Axeldog said:


> ... Nowadays I am a little more aware of how our body movements can affect dogs and how they perceive us.
> 
> Before we got Axel I was determined to be a better dog owner. I read a couple books by Patricia McConnell and wow, were my eyes opened....
> 
> Sadly, back when I had my Maggie, I wasn't as informed ....


This is something I think_ many_ of us serial dog owners can relate to! I cringe when I think back to my previous dogs, and some of the training techniques that were then in vogue and I used. Like choke chains. Now I choke up just thinking about them! The upside is when we know better, we do better.


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