Advice Needed

[Eva1]

Hi,

So my BC is 9 months old now and she’s going very good, give or take some bad days which is normal.

I have a couple matters I would really appreciate advice on.

The first is, when drying her after a walk with a towel, she hates it. Especially her back paws, she jumps around wanting to get away. At first I thought maybe she was in pain there but I’ve felt all over her back legs/paws and she doesn’t whine of anything plus she’s still very active and energetic not reluctant to run and have fun. Maybe she just hates it? Sometimes she’ll let us do it no problem but certain times she just so reluctant.

Also (which I’ve mentioned on here before) she’s quite short with some dogs. For example she hates them all over face in her personal place. Only tolerates it with her friends she knows. I’m fine with that as some dogs can be very rude. However she’s been quite snappy with female dogs which I’m thinking maybe due to her hormones or something, perhaps coming into heat. I’ve never owned a female dog so I’m unsure if her snappy almost aggressive times with dogs is due to that maybe.

Any advice would be helpful. Unsure if she’s just being stroppy and slightly aggressive due to her being the age she is or maybe another issue. Most days she’s fine no problems but recently I’ve noticed it more.

 

[JoanneF]

Please don't think of this as being aggressive.

If rude space-invader dogs get into her face, its perfectly reasonable for her to be annoyed.

But.

Having re-read your last post about this, I'd now be looking at prevention. You are your dog's advocate and representative, I'd far rather see you shooing off the other dogs than allowing them to get so close that your dog feels she needs to.

There are several ways of doing this, depending on the situation.

You can call out to the other owners that your dog needs space, can they recall theirs. If their dog doesn't recall, it should be on a lead because by definition that makes it ”out of control”.

You can throw some treats on the ground and walk away while the other dog gets them. If anyone objects because they don't know what Precious is eating, they shouldn't have let Precious become a pest.

You can carry a hiking stick - not to hit another dog but to help you body block it.

I also have taught my dog a ”place” between my feet which we actually use when someone on a bike is approaching, but it would work well for this too.

For towelling her feet, I'd take it slower. Remember a dog's instinct is loss of foot = loss of food.

I'd have the towel on the floor and encourage her to just stand on it. Then, very gently (with lots of reward) just lift one foot at a time. Then progress to stroking one foot with the towel. You probably will find standing on a towel is enough to absorb quite a lot of moisture though. If her feet are dirty, get a shallow tray (like a seed tray) filled with water and keep it at the back door.

 

[Eva1]

Please don't think of this as being aggressive.

If rude space-invader dogs get into her face, its perfectly reasonable for her to be annoyed.

But.

Having re-read your last post about this, I'd now be looking at prevention. You are your dog's advocate and representative, I'd far rather see you shooing off the other dogs than allowing them to get so close that your dog feels she needs to.

There are several ways of doing this, depending on the situation.

You can call out to the other owners that your dog needs space, can they recall theirs. If their dog doesn't recall, it should be on a lead because by definition that makes it ”out of control”.

You can throw some treats on the ground and walk away while the other dog gets them. If anyone objects because they don't know what Precious is eating, they shouldn't have let Precious become a pest.

You can carry a hiking stick - not to hit another dog but to help you body block it.

I also have taught my dog a ”place” between my feet which we actually use when someone on a bike is approaching, but it would work well for this too.

For towelling her feet, I'd take it slower. Remember a dog's instinct is loss of foot = loss of food.

I'd have the towel on the floor and encourage her to just stand on it. Then, very gently (with lots of reward) just lift one foot at a time. Then progress to stroking one foot with the towel. You probably will find standing on a towel is enough to absorb quite a lot of moisture though. If her feet are dirty, get a shallow tray (like a seed tray) filled with water and keep it at the back door.

Thank you for the response. I’ll take everything on board try advocate for her more, I do pop her behind me at times when I know the other dog is in the wrong and she’s just reacting based of the other dog being rude by running over.

As much as there’s time she’s well within her right to tell other dogs off she does so it when there’s no need to like unproved.

The other night, we had her off lead in a quote secluded area and her recall was brilliant and she was very focused on us, however out of the blue two dogs came round the corner and she got caught out as she started to come back to me when recalled but got to tempted and ran over (which I know is very bad) she initially had a sniff then just got her growling and was frankly in the wrong, thankfully the owner was fine as we got her back and he said his dog can act like that at times, I just feel sometimes she is wrong for the way she acts as some dogs do nothing to warrant that response.

I know all of her signs when she’s uncomfortable so I always put her behind me and create distance to which she is calm and avoids a reaction to a dog and tbh then ends up happily sniffing the dog and it’s a more positive interaction.

 

[JudyN]

I just feel sometimes she is wrong for the way she acts as some dogs do nothing to warrant that response.

A dog is never 'wrong' - what they're doing is perfectly reasonable to them, even if we see it as undesirable. And we can't manage to see everything that goes n in an interaction. Think of a man politely offering you their hand to shake, and then them doing the same with a lecherous look on their face - the difference is very subtle if you don't understand human body language. And if you've had really bad experiences with strange men before, you might even react to the first, polite man.

So accept her opinion of other dogs and, as said above, avoid interactions where she may react.

 

[Eva1]

A dog is never 'wrong' - what they're doing is perfectly reasonable to them, even if we see it as undesirable. And we can't manage to see everything that goes n in an interaction. Think of a man politely offering you their hand to shake, and then them doing the same with a lecherous look on their face - the difference is very subtle if you don't understand human body language. And if you've had really bad experiences with strange men before, you might even react to the first, polite man.

So accept her opinion of other dogs and, as said above, avoid interactions where she may react.

Yeah I for sure will! She’s a really good dog and picks things up fast she’s just still so excitable and distracted outside when dogs or people are about so I’ve been focusing on getting her more focused on on walks and today she brilliant actually and even met some dogs and was perfectly fine. I guess she maybe senses things of different dogs etc, I’m going to start training her with that place marker between my legs that way (once she’s ready and I trust her to stay) off lead I will have control if she’s there to put her lead on or wait until dogs pass etc.

She has her small group of dog friends she’s happy playing with and that’s that.

 

[Tinytom]

My bitch can be touchy (totally different to my dogs )ive had her from 6 weeks ...she is coming up 12 this year ....she has always hated having her feet washed /dried ....i had to try and swap for a treat ...