Best way to prevent Haley from reacting aggressively to alpha and aggressive dogs?

[tesster]

Ya the article really opened my eyes to understanding situations i see all the time.

Tesster when u say end the play do u mean have them in a sit stay or complete removal from the situation.

like If it needs to be done at the dog park do i have him lay next to me for a "breather" (which is what i do when he is just annoying a dog so he can calm down) Or play is over and donewith we leave the dog park??

It really depends. You can start with a "time out" as a breather and see if that works, but watch your dog. If she is still fixating on the other dog, then it's time to go home. With my dog, once she got honed in on a specific dog that was being "snarky" to her, she would not let it go so we'd have to go home.

However, if that's the case, I highly recommend some kind of behavior modification by a professional. If you cannot end the behavior through distraction and then a time out, you probably need some help.

THanx for the clarification that what makes this site so great everyones willing to provide alternatives to every training method of lack there of LOL

You're welcome. That is what is great about this site. Most people who are here are trying to do the right things for their dogs and learn alternatives to misinformed training methods. I know I have been very misinformed in the beginning and needed this site to set me straight.

The first trainer I had for Tess also recommended the alpha roll. When I said earlier that a trainer who would recommend an alpha roll will likely recommend other questionable methods came from that experience. When Tess was having trouble with recall, she suggested something so horrible that I can't even write it on this site without getting banned. We promptly found a new trainer.

That's why it's very important to be careful and informed when evaluating potential trainers. We tend to subscribe to whatever it is that any particular trainer off the street is selling. It's actually an interesting social study. People are so defensive when others try to correct the advice that their trainer gave them as if they're questioning gospel truth. It's odd.

 

[tesster]

I could 'train' my poochie to get along and fend nicely with all dogs in this city - or I could relish in her uniqueness to like and dislike dogs at her liesure.

That is certainly fine IF you have a dog who is controlled enough to back down at your command and you are confident that you can control your dog in any situation no matter how escalated.

However, you do have to realize that boxers are very powerful dogs and can cause a severe amount of damage if they are allowed to get nasty with other dogs, regardless of who started it. And guess who gets the blame when cute little Fluffy Flufferson, the most aggressive dog in the park, standing half a foot high and weighing 10 lbs, starts a fight he can't win with your big, mean boxer? Nobody sees Fluffy as the culprit because he's small. I promise you that is how it would be perceived.

The other thing to realize is that dog owners who allow their little dogs to get nasty with big dogs and just laugh it off as if it's not a big deal are also stupid enough to get in the middle of a fight and pick up their dog to try to protect them. That's an injury to a human and a potentially life ending result for your dog just waiting to happen. I'm, personally, not willing to take that chance.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't enjoy your dog's uniqueness, but you should be 100% sure that you can control it too. It doesn't sound like the original poster has that confidence and therefore I wouldn't recommend just letting it go and writing it off as a unique behavior of a unique dog.

 

[yobdlog]

I'm not saying that you shouldn't enjoy your dog's uniqueness, but you should be 100% sure that you can control it too. It doesn't sound like the original poster has that confidence and therefore I wouldn't recommend just letting it go and writing it off as a unique behavior of a unique dog.

Very much understood and yes I do have complete control of my poochie at all times. I was more trying to give advice on the idea that though you do have control over your poochie - others - do not, and that is what should also be understood.

There are more dog owners (of any breed) out there now in the city (chicago) that it seems to have bred this 'my dog gets along with EVERY dog' principle that is so unbelievably haywire that they insist that 'your' dog must get along with theirs even when its out of their control (i.e. dogs not on leashes cuz fluffy wouldn't hurt a fly - nevermind that my dog hates your dog and given the opportunity will get a hold of fluffy and decimate the poor thing).

I'd say just have control over your own pooch and watch out that others do the same - they're not always intuitive enough to see that your dog is really nice much the same as theirs just not always socially fit to want to wrastle with your dog - much like you're not socially fit to want to wrastle with your neighbor.