Hi All,

Just after a little bit of advice please.

I took my 7 month old Boxer pup out for his usual afternoon walk and we met all his canine buddies in the park as usual. He was playing happily when he was 'attacked' by a English Cocker Spaniel. When I say attacked, it wasn't too bad.. all mouth and no trousers really. I think he was just being warned to stay away from the Spaniel's ball. Anyway I pulled the Spaniel off and 'shooed' him away to his owner who then gave him a telling off. Everything was OK afterwards, we stayed with the other dogs for a while and my little man was OK, just a tiny stratch on his leg. Nothing to worry about.

The problem is that now when ever we see this Spanial he get scared and sits between my legs. He'll go up to the Spanial's owner for some fuss and sniff the other dogs when they come close to him, but that's all. He won't go off and play like he used to. He seems ok when the Spaniel isn't around and is his usual playful self, but is still a little clingy at times.

My question really is, how can I get him to not be afraid of this Spaniel as we bump into him nearly every morning. I don't want to avoid him, but obviously I don't want to make my little man afraid by forcing him to go over and play. I think what is worrying me a little bit is that he'll become aggressive back... just to make sure this Spaniel never attacks him again. He's never shown signs of aggression ever, but I don't want him to think this is the way to communicate!

Any suggestions on how I can make them become friends again, or if not, then how I can reassure him so he's not scared anymore?

Is 7 months another fear stage?

Thanks

They can go through a second fear stage at that age, but i would simply respond by not making a big deal out of it. He doesn't have to go off and play with other  dogs if he doesn't want to just continue to walk as you always have done and he will most likely just get over it. If you make a big thing about it when he is acting scared you will just make him think that there is something to be afraid of. Maybe if he doesn't go and hide you could reward him by bringing out a treat or favourite toy when the spaniel is around but give the spaniel his space, as he has already hown he's not too happy in that situation either.

> but I don't want him to think this is the way to communicate!

How would you like him to communicate if he felt he needed to tell another dog off?

> then how I can reassure him so he's not scared anymore?
>

Reassuring him and making any sort of attention will be like praising him for being scared.  While I agree that you shouldn't force him into an uncomfortable situation.

Different situation, but as an example.  When I got my first Bearded Collie, she had been socialised with horses etc but had never seen heavy traffic.  Once I tried to walk her down my busy road, lorry going past, she was petrified.  I will never forget someone telling me to pick her up and reassure her.  But I wouldn't because I felt the problem would worsen.

I always made sure that I was between her and a lorry, and I stood still while it went out of sight.  It's no good trying to drag a frigtened dog that doesn't want to move.  Once the lorry had disappeared I continued the walk.  But I never said a word. It was the best thing to do because she eventually caught on that I wasn't uptight about it, so it couldn't be a problem. 

The first time that she continued walking as a lorry went past, she got huge amounts of praise, and a treat.

i agree with the other post, just ignore the situation and carry on walking. if your pup tries to hide between your legs say nothing and continue on your way in a light hearted manner then if he's still being nervous just throw a ball and just play as if no one else is there.
your boy is looking to you for what to do by hiding between your legs, rather than deciding himself what to do so all you need to do for now is show no sigh of being nervous for him and carry on as usual. he will soon get over this when he sees that you never react to this dog. just let the other dog have his walk and go off and enjoy yours, not all other dogs like sharing their toys.

> How would you like him to communicate if he felt he needed to tell another dog off?

Sorry, perhaps I should have said that I don't want him to attack first just in case.

Thanks for all your replies. I have been kind of doing what you've all advised. We saw the Spaniel this morning, it was towards the end of our walk so my lad was happily bumbling along beside me. He was a little cautious when he first spotted them, but I just carried on walking. Once we got a little closer he got a bit inquisitive and went over to say hello to the owner and the other dogs and owners that were standing in the group. The Spaniel ignored him and carried on playing which gave my pup the chance to say hello to everyone without feeling threatened. He didn't go off and play, but he was quite happy to sit and watch and that was just fine. I gave him loads of praise and he got quite a few treats from everyone (all the other dogs walkers adore him) so he was a happy lad and off we went home.

All was well and I'll just carry on like this and see what happens. I won't force him to do anything, but I'll allow to him to go off and play if he wants to. He's not ball orientated at all, he doesn't fetch his own ball let alone anyone elses so hopefully the Spaniel has realised that now and they'll leave each other alone.

We'll see.

Thanks all.