hello all. i'm a newbie here and looking for advice. i adopted a dog a few weeks ago (*the lily pup*), mid january, from a rescue org. we're BFF now of course. she's a chihuahua / fox terrier / corgi mix - not tiny, but pretty small. 1-2 years of age.
ok, so she's very interested in making doggie friends, but she's also cautious and wary. she'll snap at other dogs if they've got a lot of nervous / hyper energy and scramble to get in her face. we've started training and that's going well enough, but here's the thing: when we go out on walks, i don't really know what to do about roaming unleashed dogs who come bounding up to her.
i tell my dog no for snapping, and she's been learning to sit and be calm in these situations. but for example, today i blocked a pitbull. he was friendly, but he just kept coming at her. his owners' had trouble calling him back. should i have expected her to make friends? should i have not blocked the pitbull? how should she handle a dog that's twice her size and won't quit? i mean, i could see her answer was going to be to snap.
my boyfriend thought we should go up to the pitbull's owners and ask for a retry at making friends. i didn't feel good about that.
ok. thanks for listening! :dogwub:
ok, so she's very interested in making doggie friends, but she's also cautious and wary. she'll snap at other dogs if they've got a lot of nervous / hyper energy and scramble to get in her face. we've started training and that's going well enough, but here's the thing: when we go out on walks, i don't really know what to do about roaming unleashed dogs who come bounding up to her.
i tell my dog no for snapping, and she's been learning to sit and be calm in these situations. but for example, today i blocked a pitbull. he was friendly, but he just kept coming at her. his owners' had trouble calling him back. should i have expected her to make friends? should i have not blocked the pitbull? how should she handle a dog that's twice her size and won't quit? i mean, i could see her answer was going to be to snap.
my boyfriend thought we should go up to the pitbull's owners and ask for a retry at making friends. i didn't feel good about that.
ok. thanks for listening! :dogwub: