He's Not Friendly: Managing & Respecting Dog Aggression

Most people who look to add a canine member to the family want a dog social companion, one who can go to playdates with friends' dogs or visit the dog park. This can make finding homes for dogs who don't appreciate the companionship of another dog difficult; however, they're still out there and are just as deserving.

Dogs who are not dog friendly can be phenomenal dogs. Just because they do not like other dogs, does not mean they deserve to stay cooped up in the house or muzzled every time they leave, they just require a bit more management. If your dog absolutely cannot be around other dogs, learn the pattern in your neighborhood and plan your walks accordingly. Time should be spent working on maintaining their composure around other dogs, preferably one who is friendly and confident. It is important your dog still has recall and can maintain a 'heel' command by another dog. This can be achieved by working at your dog's threshold distance around a dog who you know. Then gradually get closer until you can walk right past without any issues. Your dog may need muzzled until this is reliable.

Eventually, if your dog's aggression is on the minor side and you're comfortable, you can attempt proper introductions with another friendly and calm dog. This is not in attempt to "cure" your dog, but to teach them to make better decisions to reduce the risk of future incident.

One of the biggest issues of having a dog aggressive dog isn't actually your dog - it's other owners. Too often, we hear "He's friendly" while a well-meaning owner let's their dog charge toward us. I usually just say "He's not friendly" and turn to walk away. When the other dog is off-leash and the owner doesn't leash them up to pass you, you want to give them ample warning and make sure your own dog is leashed in case of incident. Your work on being able to pass another dog closely at a heel will help should that off-leash dog get to you, depending on your dog's aggression level, as it will often delay your dog's response. This should give you at least a few seconds to start walking away and the owner a few more seconds to retrieve their dog.

Out of our 47 personal foster dogs, five of them do not like other dogs. Only one of those five immediately showed that she did not like other dogs, where she couldn't even tolerate our own on day one. The others took a few weeks to decide living with people was all they wanted, and no dogs. They all seemed to be all right with our dogs for a little while, then begin picking them off - generally starting with our two dominant males. This means we can sometimes walk a dog who isn't friendly with one of our personal dogs, which causes people to assume they are both dog-friendly. Just because someone has more than one dog, doesn't mean they will all appreciate a new dog.

Even if you have a friendly dog, it is important to keep in mind that not all dogs are friendly. Leash up your dog before passing another dog, and always ask before saying hello.