Mind Your (Trail) Manners

Last week I was walking two of my clients’ dogs at a local park to practice their trail manners. When I saw people coming, I would call the dogs to whichever side was further from the approaching people and cue them to walk there. Many people smiled and commented on how well behaved these two dogs were, despite the fact that the younger one often made at least one attempt to sneak around to greet the people or dogs that were passing by. Compared to the behavior that most people are used to seeing from dogs these days, I think that these two looked like saints.

However, my training efforts resulted in quite a different response from one woman. As she allowed her dog to pull across the trail towards us, she said to me: “Well, you don’t have to drag your dogs away, its not like my dog is going to bite them!” Wow. The only dragging I saw was her dog dragging her towards us. I simply took a couple of steps further away while happily calling the dogs to me in an effort to give them some personal space away from the oncoming dog. When did expecting my dogs to walk politely past other dogs become an act of rudeness? When did allowing passing dogs a chance to greet each other change from a privilege granted to well behaved dogs into a requirement?

Although this was the only person that actually made a rude comment to me, she was far from the only dog owner that was allowing her dog to pull towards mine. My experience lately has been that most dog owners in my area not only allow their dogs to pull to the end of the leash towards other dogs, but actually veer their own path to intercept ours. I have tried casually changing my path to compensate for the oncoming person’s veering, and have found that most people continue to change their path so that their dog is coming head-on towards mine! I have discovered that even if I loudly say to my dogs “Let’s give them room to pass!” and then move off to the side of the trail and cue my dogs to sit and stay, most people will still veer towards my dogs and try to let their dog walk right into my dogs’ faces.

Please, no matter how friendly your dog is, do not allow them to greet every dog that passes by! At the very least, you need to ask the other dog owner if your dog can greet their dog (from a respectable distance please, NOT as your dog rushes into the other dog’s face!). I don’t want to sound like a grumpy spoil sport. I LOVE letting my dogs meet and play with other dogs. My dogs are all very social and love to make new friends, but I only allow them to do so in safe situations. If you have fallen into the habit of allowing your dog to pull towards and “greet” every dog she sees, here are a few things to consider:

Your dog may be the friendliest dog in the world, but how are other people supposed to know that? Am I supposed to assume that your dog is friendly because you are allowing her to drag you towards me? Please, if any of you think that this is a guarantee of friendliness, let me assure you that you are wrong. Plenty of people allow their dogs to drag them over to other dogs and then apologize profusely to the other owner when their dog acts aggressively. I work with owners of aggressive dogs on a regular basis, and I actually have to repeatedly tell many of them to stop allowing their dogs to approach other dogs. I have also worked with many owners of dogs that used to be friendly until they got attacked by one or two unfriendly dogs. Now their once-friendly dog has joined the ranks of dogs that lunge and snarl at approaching dogs and they can finally understand how their dog’s previously “friendly” behavior was making life unpleasant for other dog owners.

I am careful about who my dogs meet because I have seen this happen too many times and it is my job to protect my dogs from bad experiences. My dogs are only allowed to meet and greet dogs that are clearly under their owner’s control, and only after both owners have agreed to allow the introductions. I have actually had people literally being dragged towards me by their rather large dogs that are staring straight at my dogs and barking rather imposingly, with the person calling out breathlessly, “its OK, he’s friendly”. No, that is not OK. Their dog may (or may not) have friendly intentions, but even in dog society, that dog’s behavior is completely rude.

Please do not let people guilt you into allowing their socially incompetent dog to rush into your dog’s personal space. Do not put your dog in the position of needing to protect herself from these types of dogs. Assertively tell the owner that your dog does not want to say hi, and move decisively out of the area. And please do not allow your dog to be one of these social baboons. Even very friendly dogs can be taught to greet politely, and you will be doing both yourself and your dog a huge favor if you take the time to teach him some self control. If you don’t know how to change your dog’s behavior, then get help from a Certified Pet Dog Trainer in your area!

How do you know that the dogs you are allowing your dog to approach are friendly? A couple of weeks ago, I was heading back to the parking lot from a long hike with my dogs. I heard a woman frantically yelling “Get over here, move her away!” and looked to see a dog pulling a young teenager in my direction. I stopped where I was and the mother got the dog moved away from our path, but what if I had kept walking, or the kid just couldn’t hold the dog back?

Here is a person that clearly knows that her dog has issues, and yet she allowed her child to hold onto the dog and wander quite a distance away from her. This park has narrow trails, and every person I had passed that day had allowed their dog to pull across the trail into my dog’s path. So, I decided I better warn this person that it wouldn’t be safe to walk her dog there today. I called out, “If your dog isn’t good with other dogs, this isn’t a good time to walk her here. We were charged by several off-leash dogs, and the leashed dogs were all being allowed to run into my dog’s faces even when I asked the owners to keep them away.” The lady thanked me for telling her, told me that her dog will attack other dogs, and told her son they weren’t going to stay. As the kid started to argue with his mom about leaving, the dog slipped out of her collar! I was close to my car, so opened it and told my dogs to jump in. I turned back and the woman had caught her dog and was slipping the collar back over her dog’s head. A few minutes later as I pulled out of the parking lot, I was shocked to see this woman heading out on the trail with her dog!! All I could do was hope that she didn’t run into any dogs along the way, and that if she did see a dog and turn to go the other way that her dog wouldn’t slip out of its ill-fitting collar and go after the other dog. This woman sounded absolutely panicked when she saw me approaching with my dogs, and even more panicked when her dog slipped its collar, and yet here she was choosing to put her dog into an even more precarious situation.

I promise you; someday you will meet a dog like this while out on a walk with your dogs. Teaching your dog to walk politely past other dogs could save her from being attacked by a dog like this. Many dogs only act aggressively when other dogs get into their personal space. The owners of these “space invader” dogs generally go through life blaming other dogs and owners when their dog gets snarked at, but in reality it is their dog’s rude behavior that is causing the problems.

Sometimes on-leash greetings just aren’t safe or practical. I often walk all 3 of my dogs at the same time. Although this presents some logistical challenges, the alternative of taking multiple walks just doesn’t work for me… I actually walk briskly enough and far enough to wear out my terriers, and I don’t have the energy to do that for each of them separately! Anyway, one of the big challenges is simply that a person with 3 dogs takes up a lot of space on the trail. It isn’t realistic for me to have my dogs all heeling by my side while we pass people and dogs because we would be taking up the entire sidewalk or trail. So, I have my dogs line up and sit at the side of the trail when I see someone approaching to give them plenty of room to pass by. It is really common for other people with dogs to comment on how well behaved my dogs are and then start approaching us instead of walking by on all of the trail space that I have left open for them! If you see someone going to the trouble of moving their dog off the trail, or otherwise giving their dog obedience cues as you approach, please assume that they DO NOT want you or your dog to approach them. In my experience, the best behaved dogs on the trail are often ones with behavior issues that are being well managed by a dedicated owner. Moving towards these dogs may cause a reaction that could have been avoided by respecting the dog and owner’s personal space.

In my case, it isn’t that my dogs are aggressive. I actually have very social dogs, but my 3 very social dogs trying to greet your very social dog while they are all on leashes is not a safe situation. Appropriate dog greeting rituals involve lots of circling and butt sniffing, which would result in some very tangled pooches! Not allowing dogs to follow this proper greeting ritual could lead to doggie miscommunication and is often the cause of spats between dogs passing on leashes. I recently even passed a man that was holding back his snarling Chihuahua while trying to let his friendly but rude Boxer dive across the trail into the faces of my 3 dogs. Come on, people, let’s use just a little common sense when walking our dogs! What makes this guy think that my 20 pound dogs would enjoy being jumped on by his 60 pound dog while another dog is lunging and snarling at them from a few feet away?! I don’t expect dogs to be perfect- I can accept the behavior from the Chihuahua as well as the Boxer. What I can’t understand is why the owner wasn’t doing anything to improve the situation, and why he put his dogs in that situation in the first place!

Perhaps this lack of trail manners is an isolated problem in my area, but I’m afraid it is more widespread. I have seen the same things (plus a whole lot of unscooped poop) when I venture into neighboring counties.

Please, everyone, lets reintroduce some pet etiquette on the trails. Teach your dogs some basic social skills, and choose who you are going to let your dogs interact with just as carefully as you choose who you and your children associate with!! You wouldn’t just rush up to a stranger and give them a big hug, and you sure wouldn’t be comfortable with a stranger doing that to you or your child, so why are you allowing your dog to act that way or allowing others to do it to your dog? NO, that is NOT just how dogs act. Rushing head on towards an unknown dog is considered a potential threat and at the very least a rude behavior in dog society. And not every person you pass by wants to be sniffed by your dog. So, stop making excuses and start training your dog!