I too read the articles and more (because I need to). Lots of good stuff there. Thanks for the referral. I actually am dealing with these issues right now as I have a house guest…Apolo, a retriever mix!
HI, i take my basenji to the dog park where there are over 30 dogs in a fence in area and the only problem i have with him is pit bulls and dobermans!. but he does growl everytime i take him there but i just talk to him and change my attitude to thanking there will be no fightin and it's a nice day to play!! and it does help but , give the basenji 5 mins to introduce them to each other. and he always puts his hair up at the entrance.
Laika is a 6 year old resque. We use a martingale collar on her. She pulls all the time, specially when she sees a squirrel. She will try to get to other dogs as fast as she can. Then it is a sniff or growl. We never know if it will turn in to a fight. In the small dog park we go too, she loves to run with all the dogs. Most are small. Another thing she will try to follow any car and we have to be aware of it all the time. She loves people and likes to sit on our lap. We have tried all kinds of collars. The Easy Leader, the one that goes over the nose, works better, but she hates it. Still pulls to get to a dog.
Zumi, my 3 y/o red B boy is highly dog aggressive, to the point of being dangerous. (i nearly have to muzzle him just to go for a walk now, god forbid he see another dog)
Meeting dogs is very stressful for everyone involved. On-leash meetings are almost impossible. However, i have found a way around this for the most part.
we just have to Walk it Out. i will give a wonderful example from last month:
I had decided to spend the thanksgiving holiday with the family of a friend across the state. The only problem being, Zumi had to come with, and the family owned a Shar-pei. She is not a very active dog, and i had not met her before, but had heard she was very friendly and laid back.
We had a major whoopsie mistake as i was bringing in my bags into the house. The dogs met inside face to face. the pei was showing no aggression signals at all, but Zumi immediately lunged and attacked her neck. (thank the lord she has rolls of skin, she was not injured). We immediately separated them, dropped the bags, and i told my friend to put the dog on a leash. I met them across the street, to walk to the park. we kept the leashes loose, no tension on them to stress Zumi further.
We for the most part walked with us between the dogs, but did let them walk out front of us to sniff each other, if there was a growl or any hair-raising we would separate them and walk more briskly until they calmed down, then let them meet again, and have them walk side by side. We went maybe a mile, with lots of praise. by then the tension had ebbed, and the pei was starting to bow a bit to play, and Zumi would bounce at her and away, also to play. Our route back to the house was full of play, all tension gone. and we were all happily able to walk into the house together.
We have done this "Walk -it-Out" with quite a few dogs now, both male and female, spayed and unspayed.
I think the aggression here, and even with your girl is the way the dogs had first met. it was a head-on meeting, head on with both dogs straining on their leads is a challenge to our B's. What i suggest if you meet that girl again is if she would walk side by side with you for a bit to get the dogs acclimated to each other. have the leads loose but in your firm control should you need to separate them quickly. that way the dogs are meeting in a non-threatening way. you have to watch the dogs closely, and avoid any bad behaviors by seeing them coming, and separating the dogs without reprimand, just steer them apart maybe walk a little faster? talk to each other, and to the dogs in calm tones during the walk, create a calm and relaxed walk for them. praise them quietly. if they are walking near each other and behaving in a talking voice tell them they are being such good dogs. positive and CALM praise works wonders on my boy. no high pitched happy praise, that gets him riled.
Another thing that caught my attention was that you said you tightened the leash when approaching the dog. That is a signal to your dog that you are unsure, and makes her upset and as such will react in a more aggressive manner. If you are unsure, she is unsure. You have to remember that your dog feels and reacts to your feelings and body language too.
i hope this helps! I would hate to see your girl turn into an always defensive or aggressive dog. I know how horrible it can be.
~Char and Zumi
Very good suggestions, and yes, the tight leash can indicate to a dog that you are not in command of the situation, therefore they need to be.
Thank you, Char, for your reply. Except we have a lot of dogs walking by here, small and large. We have a large Patio door facing the street. When ever she sees another dog walking by, she goes crazy and jumps up the glass. Runs around the house trying to get to that dog. At the park she is fine with most dogs. I just came back walking her and we met 3 older ladies picking up their mail. Everyone petted her and she was such a good girl. But trying to get to other dogs puzzels me.
Thank you, Char, for your reply. Except we have a lot of dogs walking by here, small and large. We have a large Patio door facing the street. When ever she sees another dog walking by, she goes crazy and jumps up the glass. Runs around the house trying to get to that dog. At the park she is fine with most dogs. I just came back walking her and we met 3 older ladies picking up their mail. Everyone petted her and she was such a good girl. But trying to get to other dogs puzzels me.
Believe me.. that is totally a Basenji reaction to someone walking by the house. Our dog room is over the garage and has 4 almost floor to ceiling windows that the girls watch out over "their" world in the front of the house…. and they go nuts when another dogs walks by.... they "pound" the windows with their front feet.... at the dogs... and of course people have to stop to stare and point..gggg. But the girls are fine on lead, at shows, at lure trials...
And my kids that are now over the rainbow bridge did exactly the same thing... all 6 of them!
I think it is like protecting their domaine.... "Our house, you can't walk on the sidewalk"......
There are two articles that I highly recommend for this situation.
Thanks for these links, Robyn. I really like the way she gives examples from the human world…makes it much more understandable.
Thanks for these links, Robyn. I really like the way she gives examples from the human world…makes it much more understandable.
The pages in the links are no longer up 
The pages in the links are no longer up
Go to the "Articles" hyperlink, accept the terms, and you will find the referenced articles there.
Fran, I wasn't able to go to the articles directly from Robyn's links…probably because you have to accept the TERMS before viewing them.
However, if you go to http://flyingdogpress.com/, click on "Articles" at the top of the page, and agree to their Terms and Conditions, you'll be taken to the list of articles.
Thanks Linda and Nemo - got it! Lots of great info there.
