Guesty
Member
My Briard was pretty well socialised as a pup (I thought), she loved to play nicely with other dogs. She has always been a bit nervous about big groups of dogs and those bigger than her after a few scary experiences, but nothing bad.
More recently (she's 7 now) she has started to ignore other dogs especially big ones, which is fine. However, occasionally (always with small dogs) she will lock onto them when first spotting them in the distance, in that sheep doggy way. She stares at them, super focussed, and slowly edges closer in an almost belly crawl, then when she's a few metres away she rushes over at full speed, snarling and wagging her tail, bumps them with her nose, then bounces away. After this she often ignores them or might play a little if they're still interested after being completely terrified! If she does play she's often a little too rough. She NEVER has hurt a dog but obviously it's traumatic for the dog and their owner.
Also, if a dog she's not interested in keeps bothering her and trying to play with her, she sometimes properly launches herself at it and knocks it to the ground. Again no teeth involved but I know the difference between telling a boisterous puppy where the line is and going overboard, and what she does isn't acceptable.
I feel this is caused by a lack of confidence - she thinks she can 'get in there first' and intimidate small dogs but is too nervous of larger dogs to try it. Any thoughts regarding how to correct this in an older dog? Am I going to have to teach her to completely ignore other dogs or can she still learn to play nicely?
Biscuits and cake if you got this far! Many thanks
More recently (she's 7 now) she has started to ignore other dogs especially big ones, which is fine. However, occasionally (always with small dogs) she will lock onto them when first spotting them in the distance, in that sheep doggy way. She stares at them, super focussed, and slowly edges closer in an almost belly crawl, then when she's a few metres away she rushes over at full speed, snarling and wagging her tail, bumps them with her nose, then bounces away. After this she often ignores them or might play a little if they're still interested after being completely terrified! If she does play she's often a little too rough. She NEVER has hurt a dog but obviously it's traumatic for the dog and their owner.
Also, if a dog she's not interested in keeps bothering her and trying to play with her, she sometimes properly launches herself at it and knocks it to the ground. Again no teeth involved but I know the difference between telling a boisterous puppy where the line is and going overboard, and what she does isn't acceptable.
I feel this is caused by a lack of confidence - she thinks she can 'get in there first' and intimidate small dogs but is too nervous of larger dogs to try it. Any thoughts regarding how to correct this in an older dog? Am I going to have to teach her to completely ignore other dogs or can she still learn to play nicely?
Biscuits and cake if you got this far! Many thanks