Last week a GSD that was snarling and barking at my dog broke free from it's owner and rushed at my dog barking - but did not attack.  As a general rule my dog is scared of anything that resembles a GSD and makes a horrible squealing noise like a pig when one is near.  After I had shouted at the man who let the dog go and made no effort to get it back, we went on our way and the rest of the walk was uneventful and my dog was ok - but we didn't meet any other dogs.

Since then my dog has been little miss attitude and has been ready to have a go with any dog that runs up to her.  She has had a previous run in with a wiry coated terrier (a long time ago) and today a greyhound and 2 cairn/border type crosses rushed at her on the beach.  I always put her on the lead when we see other dogs and say to owners that she doesn't like getting growled at, attempted humpings or her face licked and she is liable to snap which is why she is on the lead.  On the beach today she would have gone after the terrier crosses given a chance but I took her off in the other direction as their owner was quite far away and didn't seem concerned that 3 dogs were rushing up to other dogs.

Anyway, after all that I'm now concerned that my dog is radiating a come and have a go attitude as she has been growled at more in the last week than ever before in her life.  She doesn't care about other dogs and would happily swim in the sea all day without playing with another dog so she doesn't ever approach dogs to play or fight.

What I'm wondering is how to stop her giving off negative non-verbals (which I can't see or maybe the dogs are picking it up from me?) and whether clicker training would work to reinforce when she is good and doesn't retaliate.  I'm just concerned that she is turning into a sterotypical staffy who hates other dogs and may become a chore rather than a pleasure to take on walks.  thanks

Are you OK with your own body language and so on, as you don't want to be tensing up and confirming to her that other dogs are not safe :)

What usually works best in these cases is a mix of getting your dog to associate other dogs approaching with really nice things, and also training - if you train to a very high standard (which means perfecting a behaviour, then taking that behaviour, often from scratch, and perfecting it to many other places such as park, beach, forest, busy dog show, training class etc etc) you can control how your dog behaves.

If the dog is very scared the use of using special toys, very tasty special food etc works exceptionally well to show the dog that in fact other dogs are OK - however one practical problem is that ideally you want to avoid other dogs which may bark running up to your dog  as that will set the training back.

If you are quite into training, I'd suggest "The Cautious Canine" by Pat McConnell, a booklet available in this country from www.canineconcepts.co.uk and also possibly "Click to Calm" by Emma Parsons which includes clicker exercises to help you and your dog. I'd use some caution with this book - having spoken to a very experienced trainer here who knows other folk who have used the methods, she said the one exercise she'd NOT teach is clicking for looking at another dog.

Just a few thoughts. Hth! :)

Lindsay
x

Thanks Lindsay, I really appreciate your input.  I'd consider her to be fairly well trained and she is extremely food orientated.  If I see another dog I'll call her to me (either a whistle or 'come get your lead on' and she is across immediately and even comes to me when she sees another dog.  but I suppose the majority of people think their dog is well trained :rolleyes:

It may be me tensing up that she is reacting to as she has never gone for another dog when she is out with the dog walker and she is always around loads of dogs with her as they meet lots of pals up the park.  The only thing I'm not sure about is how the other dogs would pick up on my vibes and then go for my dog.  I also worry because she is a staffy and unlike a less powerful dog, if I don't have full control over her she could do some serious damage which is probably why I'm so quick to put her on the lead when a percieved danger is around.

thanks for the book recommendations Lindsay although they are very difficult to get hold of.  I tracked down a seller on american ebay who has 100 copies and a book about calming signals too. thanks again

You should be able to get both in the UK - Crosskeysbooks sells Click to Calm (although you can get it cheaper) and The Cautious Canine is available from here:

<a class='url' href='http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/cat--Books-to-Help-With-Behaviour-Problems--behavebook'>http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/cat--Books-to-Help-With-Behaviour-Problems--behavebook</a>

http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/item--Cautious-Canine-Patricia-McConnell-30-pages--cautious

although it does read out of stock at the moment!

I bought the book lindsay recommended and it arrived today so haven't had a chance to read it yet and also bought a book by Turid Rugaas.  What do people think of her theories?  I've only had a skim through but have been really surprised by some of the things she says about behaviour e.g. many dogs lick their noses when they have a camera pointed at them (I've got loads of photos of my dog licking her nose).  Are her theories about calming signals considered current and valid and is it worth implementing her ideas or is she another dog whisperer?

I have personally only read good reports on her theories and have just been looking at a link to her article on calming signals which I found fascinating - just my opinion though as I am definitely no expert. :)

Are her theories about calming signals considered current and valid and is it worth implementing her ideas or is she another dog whisperer?

No, she's someone worth listening to. I use her views on body language a lot :)
Hope you find the books helpful.