Recent discussion of SSA, I thought I'd share this.
I was just talking about SSA with our neighbor who I take care of their dog quite often. A Pit-mix, she is pretty soft with humans & training & is shy & easily intimidated, but with dogs she is bold and stands her ground, and pretty defensive acting when meeting another dog. This is the kind of dog that would set Asha off because she's the same way. A dog that doesn't look or stare or stiffen up she will totally ignore, but she's not the type to ignore a challenge. Both dogs get along fine off leash with other dogs once they are part of their group.
Recently we've taken a few hikes together, meeting up between our properties on the road so territory is neutral. First day, they see each other they lock eyes quickly and hair up and bark. We both use e-collars, correct that with a "leave it" and get to walking the same direction as quickly as we can. In less than a minute both dogs are neutral and my friend lets his dog off leash, she totally ignores Asha and just walks as if we weren't there. After another few minutes I let Asha off leash and she does the same. Runs, sniffs, ignores the other dog and we do a nice hike together. We did it again today, with about 1/2 the meetup grumbling, so hopefully that will soon pass. These dogs have both learned that their human is most important and the dog along for the walk is not a threat. Today Asha was rolling in the grass and almost hinted at getting the zoomies with the other dog, but the other dog kinda gave her space, like, "I'm not so sure I want to", and Asha just forgot about inviting her to zoom and ignored her once again.
The point I was going to make is that when meeting up on neutral ground, both of these dogs delivers a strong challenge to the other within seconds: Stare, lock eyes, hair up and bark. If I had had Reckless with me rather than Asha, Reckless would not stare back, wouldn't stiffen up or bark, she would ignore the "challenge" and so likely the dominate dog would just relax and forget about it. It's when the two girls are very much the same wanting to spar a bit is when you really have to watch them. With the added insurance of me knowing this dog for longer than I've had Asha, and that I know her owner has control on leash and off leash, AND that both dogs consider their owner more important than another dog, we were off leash together quickly and zero animosity.
I was just talking about SSA with our neighbor who I take care of their dog quite often. A Pit-mix, she is pretty soft with humans & training & is shy & easily intimidated, but with dogs she is bold and stands her ground, and pretty defensive acting when meeting another dog. This is the kind of dog that would set Asha off because she's the same way. A dog that doesn't look or stare or stiffen up she will totally ignore, but she's not the type to ignore a challenge. Both dogs get along fine off leash with other dogs once they are part of their group.
Recently we've taken a few hikes together, meeting up between our properties on the road so territory is neutral. First day, they see each other they lock eyes quickly and hair up and bark. We both use e-collars, correct that with a "leave it" and get to walking the same direction as quickly as we can. In less than a minute both dogs are neutral and my friend lets his dog off leash, she totally ignores Asha and just walks as if we weren't there. After another few minutes I let Asha off leash and she does the same. Runs, sniffs, ignores the other dog and we do a nice hike together. We did it again today, with about 1/2 the meetup grumbling, so hopefully that will soon pass. These dogs have both learned that their human is most important and the dog along for the walk is not a threat. Today Asha was rolling in the grass and almost hinted at getting the zoomies with the other dog, but the other dog kinda gave her space, like, "I'm not so sure I want to", and Asha just forgot about inviting her to zoom and ignored her once again.
The point I was going to make is that when meeting up on neutral ground, both of these dogs delivers a strong challenge to the other within seconds: Stare, lock eyes, hair up and bark. If I had had Reckless with me rather than Asha, Reckless would not stare back, wouldn't stiffen up or bark, she would ignore the "challenge" and so likely the dominate dog would just relax and forget about it. It's when the two girls are very much the same wanting to spar a bit is when you really have to watch them. With the added insurance of me knowing this dog for longer than I've had Asha, and that I know her owner has control on leash and off leash, AND that both dogs consider their owner more important than another dog, we were off leash together quickly and zero animosity.
