I think it’s going to be hard to stop all leash to leash encounters, but I will minimize moving forward. But I always feel like I m a b*tch (excuse the pun ) if I deny him his butt sniffing pleasure. I’ll have to work on that.

Again thanks for your insight and your online presence!

I do have to admit I am abit confused about this statement ” Is your dog, the other dog, or both dogs dragging their humans toward one another? Some owners think this is a sign that their dogs will love meeting one another. This is a circumstance in which I always say “no.” Please help me to understand why.

As a background: Gordy loves being around other dogs but because he’s on a leash most times, he will try to drag me or perhaps its better to say he will tug me towards another dog and once he’s engaged in butt sniffing he moves on. If I say NO, and don’t move towards the other dog especially if its across the street or not organically crossing Gordy’s path — then Gordy will move on..he doesn’t put up a fight 9 out of 10 times, but sometimes he get stubborn & just SITS himself down and won’t budge until the other dog has crossed this path and then he gets up to butt sniff. He just loves being around other dogs and he walks once a day with a dogwalker in a fabulous park off leash with other dogs – so he’s socialized. I always figured If he was not on a leash he would just walk up to the dog and sniff and only tugs/drags because he’s on a leash.
Clearly.. my thinking seems a bit off in light of what you’ve said.

Thanks in advance for

First timer to your blog and I am thrilled to have found it! I came to it because I want to understand why my wonderful dog who is totally socialized has such a visceral reaction to a certain dog in my building. Gordy is a Yorkie but a BIG Yorkie. He’s 25 lbs – if you put 2 standard yorkies side by side – thats how big Gordy is width wise – likewise if you put 2 stardard yorkies head to toe – that how long Gordy is. While his birth certificate says Yorkie – I suspect he’s probably an Australian Silky from the photos I ‘ve seen. Anyway.. there is one dog, BIG almost the size of a sheepdog but he’s totally black. Actually he looks like big black sheepdog. He’s so gentle and sweet but he brings out the beast in Gordy. The 2 Paragraphs I’ve quoted below seem to answer the question as to why Gordy who NEVER reacts like this to any other dog suddenly freaks out when he sees Matty. I mean HYSTERICAL barking, and mildly aggessive.

Is the other dog staring at your dog silently without looking away? YES!!
Matty just stares at Gordy dead on. He never turns away. The stare is intense – even I feel its intense so perhaps thats what triggers Gordy. You go on to say that “Some dogs won’t look away from your dog because they are anxious or fearful and there could be other reasons they can’t look away” YES! That describes Matty. Matty’s owner also steps in front of Matty when he sees Gordy because he knows Matty is fearful and he sees Gordy’s reaction which is to bark aggressively, and to want to get close to Matty. He would never hurt Matty, its not in his nature but I sense that Gordy was frustrated because he just can’t get close to Matty. It’s very strange for me because I never witness this behavior from Gordy under any other circumstances. My most Gordy/Matty encounter happened in our apt elevator. Matty’s owner came in with Matty who was on a leash and Gordy ( also on a leash) and I were already in the elevator… well Gordy got excited in a friendly way but this seemed to scare both Matty and Matty’s owner. So the owner stepped in front of Matty to put distance between Matty & GOrdy, but Matty’s face was clearly visible and my lord the dog would NOT stop staring but I could tell Matty was fearful also, especially since Gordy started barking I guess the Stare just scared Gordy. Out of instinct I pulled tighter on Gordy’s leash and eventually kneeled down and held Gordy’s collar and tried to calm him abit but he got more excited started jumping and pulling away from me so I grabbed his collar which as I know realize from what you wrote, this only added to the barrier frustration that Gordy was feeling. I have never heard of Barrier Frustration but when I read” “Dogs are sensitive to barrier frustration (seeing another dog but not being able to get to them) and that combined with their oxygen supply being choked off if they’re on neck collars can cause the initial contact between the dogs to be too heated” WELL DING DING DING! I knew what had happened. Between the staring and the barrier frustration Gordy went crazy! One Lesson Learned: Never let Gordy and Matty ride in an elevator together EVER. Matty’s owner will have to take the next elevator when I m on in with Gordy. But I have to wonder even if Gordy had not been on the leash, how much that might have minimized some of Gordy’s reaction?

Is your dog, the other dog, or both dogs dragging their humans toward one another?
GORDY always drags me to other dogs. He LOVES to sniff them and wants to play with them. But unless we are in an area that is enclosed like a real Off Leash park I can’t let Gordy off leash. He will simply chase after a leaf across a street if he sees another dog. That is partially his character and partially the lack of training he had when he was first bought by nephew –who lived in another city while attending university. When my nephew took the summer off to travel Gordy came to stay with my sister – and she invested in a dog trainer. But even she said he cannot be taken off leash during walks in the city.

Sorry for the LONG post but thank you for being accessible online. This has been most helpful. I will have to keep Gordy away from Matty because the dynamics won’t change between them –but at least I now understand whats caused Gordy’s behavior.
I think?? *smiles*