Controlling Canine Connections or the Need to Stop Micromanaging Our Dogs

 

We currently have a puppy in the house, a Border Collie who at the time of writing is just coming up to 15 weeks old. Anyone who has raised a puppy knows how much work is involved, and the need for careful socialisation to allow them to feel comfortable in the world around them as they grow.

Pretty little girl on one of her first walks out in the world

Rogue is a gorgeous little puppy, very affectionate and playful with people she knows (and she is even teaching her dog reactive ‘big brother’ how to play with another dog). With people she doesn’t know and other dogs, she has shown a tendency to want to think things over. She’ll sit and watch quietly, sizing them up before deciding if she wants to move forward and say hi. She did it to me the day I went to see her and her littermates, before coming over to say hello and ensuring that she was the one to come home with us.

Double collie trouble! The toll to pass the gate involves treats

She has continued this thoughtful approach to life and meeting others as we have started going out into the world on walks. I am more than happy to let her take her time and decide she is fully comfortable before engaging, or moving on if she prefers. This is such a crucial time in a dog’s life that I am not willing to push her into anything and risk making her worried and potentially introducing fears that could last a long time, perhaps her entire life.

What is interesting is seeing the reactions of other people who we encounter, and how they are with their dogs while Rogue is making her quiet assessments. What is becoming apparent while doing this is the way in which some guardians micro-manage their dogs in an attempt to achieve a desired result, while others are far more likely to take a step back and watch, letting the dog navigate the situation unless for some reason the human needs to step in.

This micro-management is not uncommon and perhaps not particularly surprising. There are huge societal expectations surrounding the behaviour of dogs, including in their interactions with each other. The typical picture of a dog is one who is happy to meet, greet, and play with any dog that they come across. This means that dog guardians can often expect this of their dogs. The truth is that dog sociability is on a spectrum; some dogs are social butterflies who are absolutely prepared to say hi and play with every other dog in the park, while others may have a very few select friends, or even prefer to avoid other dogs altogether, for a variety of reasons. The majority of dogs will sit somewhere between those two extremes.

Rogue is very young, and we have not quite worked out exactly where she will sit on the ‘sociability scale’ as she grows into her full adult character. For now, her meetings with other dogs are managed carefully to avoid overwhelming and scaring her. This means keeping a close watch when we meet other dogs.

Examples of dogs we have seen recently include the elderly gentleman whose dog was wearing a muzzle. We were a little distance behind, but I could see him repeatedly looking back to see where we were. It was a warm morning, and his dog didn’t seem to really be enjoying the idea and so he turned back towards us and stopped. I had no idea if the dog didn’t like strange people, didn’t like other dogs, was perhaps a scavenger, so I picked Rogue up and found a space to get off the path so the man and dog could get past without any danger of scaring Rogue.

There was the absolutely boiling over and hysterical cockerpoo who started barking and yelping as soon as he saw us and was bouncing at the very end of his lead in our direction. Again, I picked Rogue up and we made our way past quickly and without incident.

There was another little poodle cross we encountered on another day who was lovely. Stood carefully looking off to one side as his human and I had a quick chat and Rogue thought about the situation, then very briefly they touched noses and off the little dog went.

The miniature Schnauzer, who very deliberately sniffed the ground every time Rogue looked the least bit uncomfortable and kept sniffing as she got closer before Rogue got brave enough for a quick hi and then they investigated a stick on the ground together for a minute before we went our separate ways.

All of these interactions were interesting in their way, but the most interesting was a Spaniel we met in the local woods. I saw the off-lead dog approaching and moved to an area where we had plenty of space so Rogue could just watch if she wanted to. The other dog went into a lovely pattern of sniffing the ground and Rogue mirrored her, the two dogs watching each other as they got closer but without putting any pressure on each other.

It was at this point that the other person started saying ‘Oh, she always lays down for puppies. Lay down like you did before!’ Repeatedly asking her dog for a down, even though they were in the middle of some beautiful communication and learning about each other in a relaxed fashion. The Spaniel clearly became confused, torn between the lovely and instinctive canine conversation and the cues coming from her person and started to get bouncy, which unsettled Rogue and so I cut the interaction short before either dog could become upset.

It started me thinking as we made our way home – how often do well-meaning guardians interrupt these natural conversations because they want or expect interactions to go a particular way? How much easier would it be for dogs to find the other dogs they are happy to interact with if people let their dogs be dogs and use all those natural communicative abilities they have to learn about and understand each other?

She's even persuaded Finn to share his bed, for a few seconds at least

A lot of people are beginning to talk about letting dogs be dogs, and this is another aspect of it – letting them have the opportunity to communicate with each other without humans stepping in to manage the conversation (unless necessary, of course). One of the best things we can do as dog guardians is to learn about canine communication and body language, as it can help us to understand our dogs so much better and live in closer harmony together.