24 replies to this topic

[hheldorfer]

Buffy is often the target of unwelcome advances (if you know what I mean )from male dogs at the dog park. DH always warns the owners not to allow their dogs to try to mount Buffy because she'll go ballistic on them. The owners usually chuckle and say they're not worried about Buffy hurting their big male boxer or shepherd or whatever. Then it happens - the dog tries to mount Buffy; Buffy whips around and nails the offender in the snout, usually followed by more punishment/chasing until the male is thoroughly corrected.

When the male dog's owner makes a snide comment about Buffy's Behavior, DH tells them "Hey, I warned you!" They just don't get it . . .

[cairnrescueleague]

Yes - "Don't worry, my dog won't hurt your (little fru-fru) dog." They think it's funny. I always think - "You don't understand." Not that my dogs would go out of their way to attack another dog, but if another dog, especially one that's bigger than they are, got in their face, they'd try to do what they felt they needed to do (not that I would let them, I get them out of the situation).

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

I think the article was a really good one! I have never like it when people allow their dogs to jump all over others (dog or person) and either make weak attempts to stop it + excuses or laugh it off altogether. I always thought it was rude. We only had one dog to dog experience and strangely it was with a puppy too. This puppy followed Tuk around the dog park the whole time we were there. We were there with his buddies so he was playing with them and perhaps this puppy was annoying him. Anyway, Tuk got tired and sat next to me and the puppy was near us again but playing with my sister's dogs. And that's when Tuk just shot after it and sent it back to its mom in a snarl and loud fuss. I didn't like Tuk's posture, chest forward ears up, but everyone else said he was just playing. The pup's mom didn't seem to think much of it saying the play thing too. After this repeated 3 times and the pup started to whine and they had to be seperated by my bil, I leashed Tuk. No one said anymore about play. Now, I don't think the puppy was being rude necessarily. I think Tuk was tired and annoyed. I also think he was the aggressor. In our particular situation I cannot say who 'caused' the Behavior. When another dog hangs around your dog and your dog clearly does not want to play with it but the other dog just won't go away but its not doing anything overty wrong, I think there may be grey (because people do not understand all dog signals). I think Tuk and I were in a grey area that day. There may have been dog signals that I didn't see. Tuk tolerated ALOT off alot of dogs pup and adult, he was an easy going spirit. So for him to react that way was very out of character. I should not have listened to anyone else though and leashed him from the get go. I knew he was behaving strangely.

As an interesting side note, Tuk had tired out faster at the dog park than usual. This was end of Nov '09. We all know that illness affects our pets. I have often wonder at this...his tumor would have been large already by then. Did it affect his reaction? Is that part of the reason he acted out toward the puppy when he would not have in the past? Was he too tired, in pain?

Cairnrescueleague, I think the pup mom thought my little dog couldn't hurt her pit bull puppy too. I remember saying to my sister if Tuk got out of hand he would rip that pup to shreds. I specifically referenced how big his teeth are and how strong he is. He always played with her dogs (huskies) but I still don't think she quite believed me either. It is interesting how so many people don't fully understand the power that is under the scruffy and funny persona these little guys have.

Edited by DawnandTuk-tuk, 05 September 2010 - 09:29 AM.

[eastofeden]

I still remember my sisters shock when she finally realized that the cairns teeth were indeed that HUGE for the size of the dog.

[kjwarnold]

Cairns don't think they're small dogs and they certainly don't act like it. So it takes people and other dogs by surprise by what they'll take on, and accomplish!

[cairnrescueleague]

I once got a call from a woman whose cairn had her trapped in the bath tub. She said she had owned pit bulls, but had never been afraid of a dog before the cairn.

[hheldorfer]

cairnrescueleague, on 04 September 2010 - 05:42 PM, said:

Yes - "Don't worry, my dog won't hurt your (little fru-fru) dog." They think it's funny. I always think - "You don't understand." Not that my dogs would go out of their way to attack another dog, but if another dog, especially one that's bigger than they are, got in their face, they'd try to do what they felt they needed to do (not that I would let them, I get them out of the situation).

I should clarify by saying that we do try to keep Buffy out of these situations. The problem is that, despite the fact that Buffy has been spayed, some male dogs will follow her around the park and pester her incessantly. She usually tries to show them that she's not interested by running ahead, snapping her jaws or other forms of canine communication . . . and yet they pursue her and the owners just think it's cute. As a matter of fact, a dog named Romeo just learned today that Buffy is not his Juliet.

[Idaho Cairns]

It is interesting to note the different reactions that our Cairns have to other dogs. Ours are interacting on a regular basis with both the neighborhood dogs and strange dogs on our walks and don't seem to pay much attention to what is going on around them. After a quick sniff, my two get back to whatever was foremost in their minds at the time. They just go about their business like there was nothing around them. On rare occasions they will give a quick growl or a snarl at a particularly irritating dog.
I have found that we have to be particularly careful when we meet other dogs and all are on leashes--the worst situations have come when multiple dogs get their leashes tangled--there is something fearful to our dogs when they feel they are "locked" into another dog.

[MegsMom]

I've had a coy of this article for years and reread it regularly as a reminder to watch both dogs--yours and theirs. For me, the-immediately-useful-tip on first reading the article, was about 'stepping in front of your dog', I tried that and it definitely made a good difference in some of that 'on leash cairn bravado'.

Another dog communication article, and how a human can communicate in dog 'language', is Turid Rugaas's article: http://www.canis.no/...cle.php?artid=1

Has anyone realized you can click on the 'articles' link at the top of the posted one, and after accepting the simple reprint agreement, look at 33 other articles by Suzanne Clothier? {I think her coined phrase 'puppy permit expiration' in "It Takes a Pack To Raise a Puppy" is great.}

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

Ooo! Another good one! I think it is interesting that the language is universal for all dogs. I would love to see the research on how they determined all the calming signals--cause I'm a geek and that kind of stuff is cool to me, plus I'm always skeptical of what I read till I see the research to back it up. However, I have found domestic animals, namely cats and dogs cause I haven't had a horse but I imagine the same would apply, all talk to me aplenty all I have to do is listen! I am trying to teach this to my kids telling them 'listen to Tuk-tuk's words', or now our cats. They still sometimes say 'but they can't speak'! Tsk tsk! I think I had posted on here before about how much of Tuk-tuk and my own communication was non-verbal. We just had a language-I talked to him all the time, but he wasn't a particularly verbal cairn-and it was unique. We had nods, facial expressions, I would click my tongue, make kissy noises, his ears and posture-all of it told each other something about what we were talking about and feeling. When we have another dog I will for sure be looking for the calming signals. And I will definately remember the curve for meeting new dogs! After I read that I thought back to interactions at the dog park (our only off leash meeting place) and boy they do do a curve when they walk up to each other! How cool!

All in all, two fascinating articles! Thanks for sharing!