# Greeting On-leash



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Watching how dogs greet each other when off-leash in a dog park may help you understand why it’s so much harder for 

them to interact on-leash. Unrestrained, sociable dogs usually approach each another in an arc, coming together 

gradually, wagging, soft-eyed and displaying other signs of friendly interest. They circle and sniff each other’s 

faces and then hindquarters before deciding whether to move on or play together. You’ll also notice that the dog 

who forgoes this greeting ritual and instead barges straight up to other dogs is the one who tends to get into 

arguments or fights.
Contrast this scenario with two dogs meeting on a sidewalk. These dogs are forced to approach head-on, so they’re 

more likely to make direct eye contact with each other. These are very threatening gestures in dog body language. 

Both dogs are probably pulling hard toward one another, with leashes tight. The strangling sensation of tightening 

collars adds to the dogs’ tension. As the people walking the dogs become more apprehensive, they may start jerking 

the leashes and muttering things like “Be NICE!” This likely confirms to the dogs that a threatening situation is 

at hand. Is it any wonder that there’s often an explosion when these two frustrated dogs finally meet?
Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT

You’re out on a relaxing walk with your dog when you see another owner walking towards you with their dog. The 

owner says to you, “can our dogs say hello”? How do you decide whether allowing your dog to greet a strange dog on 

leash is a good idea? After all, some of these greetings go beautifully with both dogs and owners parting company 

with a smile. Other greetings with dogs on leash go horribly wrong with both dogs and owners leaving the scene 

upset with pulses racing. What went wrong?
If you’re not sure how your dog will react to an unfamiliar dog on leash, my advice is simply don’t do it. You owe 

it to your dog to be their advocate and enough scary encounters with other dogs can result in your dog developing 

negative associations with other dogs. That’s something none of us wants to happen.

But what if your dog loves other dogs? How do you decide if that unknown dog will enjoy meeting your dog? After 

all, how many times have we said “yes” to the “can our dogs meet?” question and had the encounter go wrong? Here 

are some tips for making this dog/dog greeting decision and some tips on keeping the encounter a pleasant one.

How is the other dog looking at your dog? Is the other dog staring at your dog silently without looking away? Just 

say “no”. Polite dogs look and then look away, look and look away, they don’t stare. Is the other dog avoiding 

looking at your dog completely? Just say “no.” Some dogs won’t look away from your dog because they are anxious or 

fearful and there could be other reasons they can’t look away. Regardless, it’s still a “just say no” response to a 

dog/dog greeting.

Do you feel comfortable reading the other dog’s body language? I won’t go into a full blown description of dog body 

language here, but if the other dog seems uncertain (tail tucked, ears back, won’t look at your dog) then that 

other dog is afraid and regardless of whether that owner is trying to “socialize” their dog on leash, for your 

dog’s and the other dog’s sake, just say “no.”

Is your dog, the other dog, or both dogs dragging their humans toward one another? Some owners think this is a sign 

that their dogs will love meeting one another. This is a circumstance in which I always say “no.” Dogs are 

sensitive to barrier frustration (seeing another dog but not being able to get to them) and that combined with 

their oxygen supply being choked off if they’re on neck collars can cause the initial contact between the dogs to 

be too heated. Even if both dogs love other dogs, the level of excitement when they first meet can cause a scuffle 

between the dogs.

So, you see a dog on a loose leash coming towards you with relaxed body language, looking at your dog and looking 

away, ears up and rotated out. You decide to go for it and let your dog meet another dog on leash, now what?

Keep it brief. All most dogs want by way of a greeting is a a quick butt sniff. (Isn’t talking about dog behavior 

fun?) If both dogs go nose to nose (how rude!) one should veer off for the butt sniff. If one dog’s head goes above 

the other dog’s head, either play will break out or a scuffle will break out. If you’re lucky and play breaks out, 

drop the dogs’ leashes (if it’s safe to do so.) When dogs get tangled up and feel their escape route cut off, they 

can get afraid and play can tip to a scuffle. Again, keep it brief, thank your playmate’s owner and enjoy the 

remainder of your walk! If you want to talk with the owner of the other dog, separate the dogs after their initial 

greeting and put them on a sit next to you.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Thank you Dave. Very interesting!!!!


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Dave you always have such good stuff to read!


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## Lilly'sMom (Jan 28, 2010)

Very interesting.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

HavaneseSoon said:


> Dave you always have such good stuff to read!


Yeah Linda, there's a lot of good stuff out there to read. And probably more bad stuff.


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## iluvhavs (Jul 21, 2008)

Great bit of advice, Dave. I had a situatin like this a few weeks ago at the vet's office. Rico loves other dogs when they meet off-leash. But put him on a leash in a strange place and it's not good!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

:biggrin1:


iluvhavs said:


> Great bit of advice, Dave. I had a situatin like this a few weeks ago at the vet's office. Rico loves other dogs when they meet off-leash. But put him on a leash in a strange place and it's not good!


Yeah Rory, it is a catch 22 . Lots of dogs are that way. It's a form of barrier frustration and a fear that they can't escape if need be. Leashes are like women , "can't live with em ,can't live without em.". :biggrin1:


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

[email protected]
I hate walking all three, or even two, at a time because they seem to get that pack mentality and become aggressive on leash. When I walk one alone all in fine. I've been paying attention to what you said when I only have one but if it's more than that I don't even get a chance to watch where they look........they just lunge for an approaching dog. It's getting terrible! arghhhhhhh


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

I have the same problem, Carole.

Now that we have 3 , I don't even attempt to walk them all together.
When I walk one, it seems to be fine.

It does take a lot of time to walk everyone.
How the heck does Cesar Milan do it with several dogs???

Can we ever expect to be able to walk 3 w/o having them go crazy on the leash? What do you think, Dave?


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## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

This is great advice and pretty much exactly what we learned in Roscoe's training class. Also part of what you and dog are required to do to earn their CGC


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Nan and Carol. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I was camping for a few days. You two sound like you have the same sort of problem. Leash aggression is a common problem with dogs and it can escalate with with more than one dog ,when one of them sets the others off like you mentioned. It is quite treatable but takes a bit of what is known as desensitization and counter conditioning. 
There can be a number of different reasons for this type of behavior . They can be fearful of strange dogs in general , they could have had a bad previous experience with greeting a strange dog, or they could be under socialized in general. Some dogs that react are not even fearful of other dogs. They simply react out of frustration of not being able to interact when the owner pulls them away. For some dogs ,it can be a case of learned association between seeing other dogs and getting choked by the collar. From the trainers that belong to IPDTA the preferred method to deal with this is like I mentioned D and CC. There are other methods like BAT and CAT. but for your purposes I would recommend D and CC. 
You could work with the dog that reacts first if indeed one is constantly starting the others off.,but chances are each one needs to be worked with individually. Here is how you do this LOL. You get out your wallet , LOL and buy FEISTY FIDO , by Patricia. McConnell at Dogwise (google it) . This is a mini booklet ,and very inexpensive. It is a highly recommended read by some of the best dog trainers anywhere. When your dogs learn WATCH they will be much better mannered and you will be able to walk the three of them together. Yes it's sounds like some work , but you can't change them overnight. They have learned that barking and lunging makes the other scary dogs go away. So you have to work on their manners when on leash. Give it a try. It would be nice to walk them all together. You can do it. Here's the link http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=dtb766


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Dave, thanks so much. You won't believe it but I did download that booklet to my kindle, lol, now the big job is to actually read it. 
I think Vinny is also my problem. He over-protects my girls! I am going to add two short video's here for you to review. It is of us visiting my son and his family. His dog, Hope is the golden one that Vinny is herding around. Vinny just keeps other dogs away from me and my girl dogs. He's never aggressive or mean, but as you will see, he makes his point. HELP!!!






and another shorter one


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

I wouldn't worry too much about your son's dog. His body language is calm enough and so is Vinny's. Have the girls met your son's dog alone.? Looks like your son's dog just wants to check them out. ? If ever in doubt, supervise. Great videos. A picture IS worth a thousand words.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Thanks Dave. No, Hope had not met the "girls" alone. I just wish Vinny would not be so protective.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

mellowbo said:


> Dave, the havanese doing the herding is my boy Vinny. He is protecting my 2 female havanese. He won't let my son's dog near them and it is at my son's house.
> Sorry if I didn't state it clearly. Is it OK for Vinny to keep other dogs away from "his" girls?? I think this is why he is so bad on a leash too.
> 
> On edit I guess you did get what I was saying, lol. I just reread what you said.
> No, my son's dog hasn't met the girls without Vinny there.


Yeah I hear you. I was just commenting on the videos alone. It is a form of resource guarding . But once your son's dog has met the girls he will probably give up trying to get near them. See if you can do this. Without getting onto another topic, that is the sort of thing that will help with his protective nature. Try to introduce them to other dogs that you know are friendly, and once Vinny sees that there is no danger he will not feel the need to protect as much . I will get back to you on this. But MINE ,by Jean Donaldson is the best book on resource guarding.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Dave, thank you so much. I know how busy you must be. You're right, this is another topic.


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