doggie behaved "agressive" to two other dogs

Hey all,



got a question. I think our lovely staff had a day off, but still. We were at the dunes near and she was on the leash when two dogs entered. She put up her back hair, raised her tail, so we decided to walk a different path. When we got back to the watering spot, she was off the leash at that moment and playing with a ball, two dogs approached, one with his head down. Our dog listened when we called her, but the two dogs came towards her and started sniffing and stuff. She growled, so my husband pulled her away from the dogs. The other dogs were not called away, one left by itself but the other tried comming to her.

Is this agression from her side, is it because those two dogs came to her in a certain way she didnt approve?

Yes, but I wouldn't worry overly about it. It sounds like she just didn't like the attitude of these dogs. If she was being truly aggressive she'd have done more than just growled.

Shes just warning them to leave her alone. Its not aggression just normal dog behaviour. She might have been feeling possessive about her ball.

Growling is normal, that's how they communicate. She was telling them to back off. She wasn't being aggressive. Trust me, my dog is fearful/aggressive.

Dogs have their own language. Simple, direct and physical.
If you get the chance to study a mother dog disciplining her puppies, especially when they are getting bigger and more playful, you'll see the whole range of signals that a dog uses to communicate displeasure to another dog.
The look that warns, the body language, the lifted lip, the growl, the snap and if the damn kid won't listen, the delicately controlled grab and release with her mouth. Which in the adult dog, is a bite.
And you can watch all this without any fear, because you know that the mother is not going to hurt her pups.
Adult dogs use the same signals and not all dogs are friends at first sight.
A growl or a lifted lip when a dog is moving into your dog's intimate space does not always mean a fight is imminent, it means 'come no closer, I'm not comfortable with you yet' and If the other dog has good dog social skills he will heed the warning and back off.
That's a signal to your dog that the newcomer means no harm and he should relax.
This is not a good time to get the dogs to 'be friends'. I've witnessed one or two nasty fights where misguided owners have thought this was a good idea and overridden the signals that the dogs have just exchanged.
If one of the dogs snaps at the other then you have to step in, quite literally if you can, because the next step will be a bite if neither backs down.
Remember, dogs are not naturally aggressive with each other.
They are a pack animal, a social animal.
Whatever you do, don't anticipate a fight. If you do, you will become tense, the lead will become tight, your dog will mirror your tension and you will create just what you didn't want. The other danger is tensing up the next time you see an off-lead dog. If you do that, very soon he will become very wary of all off-lead dogs.

sounds liek she was telling them to back off and go away cos she was busy playing with her ball. like caryll said if it was true agression there would ahve been more than a growl

Yeah, I thought she was, but it just made me a bit insecure, because they say their attitude changes when they are almost one year... So that is why I asked.

It kind of stunned me because she is playful to many dogs, she always wants to, most of the time she is being the opposite of dominant.

She plays with boxers, tattra´s, the smaller doggies, labrador´s etc.



thank you all for reflecting on the subject

Nice reply Oclasticon. Some good points there.