RE: Heel Nipping
Hi Radha, If the dog's body is relaxed and facial expression friendly then the wagging tail and desire for contact is good, the bowing down of the the front end with ears relaxed and tail wagging is an invitation for play. I would interpret Smokey's attempt at heel nipping in this instance as a friendly over familiarity, sounds like he liked this man and wanted more contact. You should have laughed, praised and offered a happy distraction. Dog body language is very powerful and if the body is rigid and the ears and expression alert with the mouth closed only opening to emit gruff noises and the tail waving in short abrupt stiff motions then you have a guardy dog (this will escalate if unchecked) and you need to block the eye contact or change direction or command to settle (latter only works if you are a true leader) If you know your dog is unhappy in certain situations then it is best to avoid them where possible or pick up the attention focus on yourself and do some about turns and changes of pace and keep things positive. If you are cautious about someone's approach either on their own or with another dog it is perfectly okay to call out and warn them. If you are not comfortable with a stranger your dog will pick that up immediately and if confident will move to protect you or if lacking in confidence will want to bolt. Just remember that while eye contact and big toothy smiles are human social they are not so to a dog and strangers looking like this can be misinterpreted as threatening, couple that with the stranger leaning over to pet the dog and the dog has got some very strong signals of dog-interpreted aggression and will likely react according to his strength of character. Socialisation continues to be important throughout a dog's life and they learn to accept our weird behaviour:-) Young dogs will go through stages where they are not quite sure what their job is so it is important you continue with your obedience classes so he learns that you make the decisions in his life and he doesn't need too. He will gain confidence as he ages just take things nice and steady:-) Play-bowing is good, find Smokey some dog friends and a safe place to interact and you'll see this familiarity and invitation to play happen more often the next few times they meet. Sounds to me like he liked this man. Rose
Heel Nipping
Dear L'ers, I am having a bit of an issue with my dog Smokey. Background: Smokey is an 18mo old neutered male. I have had him since he was 8 weeks and got him from a breeder. He has done basic training and has passed the Canine Good Citizen test. Problem: Smokey tends to be nervous around new people. Usually this is not a problem as he just keeps to himself, occasionally stopping to smell people. But he does sometimes, on walks, bark at people who come too close and sometimes tries to chase runners. A quick correction usually does the trick. Yesterday a man stopped to say hello. Smokey had his tail up and was wagging and sniffed the man and let him scratch his chin. Then as the man turned to go, Smokey crouched down in the front (but and tail in the air), tail still up and wagging but ears down and started to bark. Then he sort of hopped/jumped forward to try to nip the man's heel. I had him on a leash and quickly returned him to a sit position but the whole thing had me startled. He has never done anything like this and I am not sure if he was playing or what. Does anyone have any thoughts about what this means? Suggestions on how to make sure this doesn't happen again? Thanks a lot for any help, Radha and Smokey __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
