If you can read dog body language, you’ll know that this dog is feeling unsure (Photo: brown, terrier-mix lifts a front paw)
You’re walking down the sidewalk with your (on-leash) reactive rescue dog. There’s an off-leash dog up ahead. What do you do?
Just reading that may have caused your heart to leap into your throat. For many dog owners, it’s one of their biggest fears (right after: afraid my dog will bite someone and I’ll have to put her to sleep.)
Hop on any dog forum and you’ll see that there’s more and more people encountering off-leash dogs while walking their own dog on-leash. There’s pictures of the aftermath (I’ll spare you the bloody details) and stories about fights.
This is a much broader topic than I ever imagined when I sat down to summarize “what to do when you come across an off-leash dog while walking your dog on-leash.” It’s so vast, that I’m actually going to break it down over several weeks.
So, where to begin…
Straight from “The Sound of Music,” we’re going to “start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.”
Now that you have a happy tune in your head, let’s begin with prevention.
A dog who doesn’t listen to you inside your own home, will not listen to you outside the home (Weimaraner puppy gnawing on the corner of a bed,)
Prevention begins with your relationship with your dog in the home paired with your understanding of dog body language and dog psychology. Remember: if your own dog doesn’t listen to you inside your own home, it will be extremely difficult for her to listen to your direction when you’re faced with a perceived threat (like an off-leash dog coming toward you.)
Prevention also begins with you. Being calm requires daily practice. Being a leader to your dog, requires daily practice. There are no shortcuts to a relationship built on trust, respect, and love. If you don’t have all three components, you’re going to struggle when you see an off-leash dog.
As a dog owner, you must learn how to read dog body language. Your dog is fluent in human body language, so it’s the least you can to to understand hers. Your dog’s body language is going to tell you the intent of the off-leash dog, but don’t rely on that alone. Learn to read the body language of other breeds of dog. Some have hidden eyes, some have floppy ears, some have no tail. It’s a bigger job than you think, but when armed with how to read dog body language, you’ll figure out pretty quickly whether an off-leash dog means harm, or is simply curious.
Becoming fluent in dog body language is the least we can do for our dogs who give us so much (Photo: Off-leash beagle with erect tail)
The first tip I can give you when you come across an off-leash dog while walking your own dog on-leash, is that you need to remain calm and assess the situation. A lot of people immediately assume the worst: this dog is gonna kill us! That thought causes panic to ripple through you, down the leash, and tells your dog there’s a threat. Most of time, that off-leash dog is simply lost. Most of the time, that dog was bored being left alone in its yard all day, and it escaped to explore the world.
Not all dogs you come across who are off-leash want to cause harm.
Not all off-leash dogs mean any harm (Photo: A Malamute looking like a menacing wolf)
Over the years, I’ve helped lots of off-leash, wandering pups find their way back home while out with my own dog. If I’m close enough to home, I typically return my dog to safety first, and then head back to the off-leash dog to see if I can find its home/owner. Other times, the dog has simply followed me (and my dog) home. At that time, I put my own dog inside (calmly,) and hang out with the new friend outside while I locate her owners.
If you own a reactive dog, I’ve got you. I know what you’re thinking when I say: Not all dogs you come across who are off-leash want to cause harm.
You’re thinking: It doesn’t matter what kind of dog is coming at me and my reactive dog, MY DOG ATTACKS EVERY DOG, no questions asked.
The answer to this isn’t simple, because nothing about dog behaviour is simple and there are no quick fixes.
In some cases, teaching your dog to love wearing a basket muzzle can make you, the owner, feel safe because at least you know that your dog can’t cause any damage. Now you can feel more confident on your walks and you’ve at least removed ONE variable from the equation.
You can be proactive if you have a reactive dog and work to rehabilitate them slowly in areas where there are sure to be no off-leash dogs.
Where is this magical place? The first place is inside your home. Teach your dog how to follow you on-leash. Pulling you on-leash is a HUGE part of the reactivity you’re experiencing. The second dog-free place is your own backyard. The third place: empty parking lots. Stop setting your dog up for failure by taking her to places where you always see off-leash dogs (even if it’s not designated as off-leash, there’s always that one: “Don’t worry, she’s friendly” person.
If you have a dog who you KNOW will not react well to off-leash dogs approaching, work to rehabilitate them in areas with no dogs. (Photo: a Frenchie in a parking lot wearing…a black and gold jacket and a tag that reads: L’il Man)
Next week, we’ll talk more about prevention, but in the meantime, be sure to read this blogpost: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/news/timing
This post talks about scanning your environment and being aware of your surroundings as you’re out and about. Everything is connected, friends. Dog leadership is an enormous and beautiful mosaic made up of hundreds of little things that MATTER. Your relationship with your dog matters. Dogs crave balanced leadership. You CAN be the balanced leader that they need. When you rise to the occasion of being a calm and balanced leader for your dog, you will be AMAZED at how WONDERFUL you feel in your day-to-day life.
The ripple effect of adding more calmness and balance to your life is extraordinary.
Have an awesome weekend, Dog Leaders!
Alyssa
Photos by: Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum (brown, terrier-mix lifts a front paw,) Upsplash Image (Weimaraner puppy gnawing on the corner of a bed,) Adnan Puzić @adnanpuzic (Off-leash beagle with erect tail,) Upsplash Image (A Malamute looking like a menacing wolf), Karsten Winegeart @karsten116 (a Frenchie in a parking lot/loading dock wearing…a black and gold jacket and a tag that reads: L’il Man.)