(Copied from Google Groups)

On Jun 24, 12:18 am, "Paul E. Schoen" wrote:

My own experience is limited to Muttley, and for a short time, Lucky. I
have tried to analyze what has caused Muttley on some occasions to have a
go at other dogs, and some recent experiences have helped me perhaps to
get closer to finding the answer.

Which one was Muttley? Was the German Shepard or the black (Lab?).

Muttley is a GSD cross, maybe part Mastiff. Muttley's first "victim" was a
black Lab named Bernie. Lucky was another (female) rescue I fostered for
several weeks and finally rehomed. Here are Muttley and Lucky:
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/Mutt...ures/MHL10.jpg
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/Mutt...es_9160034.JPG


happy to see him interact very well with all of them, and the main thing I
noticed was his general independence and aloofness. ... My feeling is that
Muttley is just not very playful and would rather be left alone by other
dogs, so if they encroach on his comfort zone he may issue a correction in
the form of a quick bite and release. Also I think he has a tendency to
challenge a new dog with a stare, and if the other dog reacts aggressively
he will go on the offensive. So, in a sense, he does induce other dogs to
get aggressive as the OP asserts.

I think your dog is different than mine. In my case, I think my dog's
behavior is a mixture of curiosity and a bit of fear/wariness. But in
any case, what do you do? Try to avoid these types of situations
(which is difficult to do), lead him away before things get bad, or
try to have him be able to politely get by the encounter without
things getting out of hand?

I believe it's important to work with a dog so that common occurances such
as meeting other reasonably well-behaved dogs does not result in problems,
but this involves to some extent setting up the dog for possible failure so
as to be able to issue a correction. Avoiding trigger situations severely
limits opportunities for healthy socialization.

BTW, for some reason I'm not getting your posts in my newsreader (Windows
Mail), using Teranews. Anybody else have such problems? I don't have any
filters set up..

Paul and Muttley