May 6th, 2011
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Avoid crowds when walking a dog that is fearful or can be aggressive. If your dog gets stressed when walking in crowded areas, then avoid putting him or her in those situations. Choose quieter environments to enjoy the outside world for dogs whose buttons get pushed by too much sensory input.
Radio show host and pet expert Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible. Click here to follow her on Twitter and be sure to check out her website. |
While avoidance may be a temporary solution to shyness and aggression, proper training can solve the problem so you and your dog can enjoy walks anywhere and in any situation.
That’s not real life and too restrictive.
Common sense: when walking my dogs in a crowd,
I hold my Chihuahua & I walk while holding leash
behind me with my dog. If a friend is with me,
I have friend walk behind dog. I’m in front, dog, friend.
That sound like it would be fun for the owner and the dog I thouht about that I say owner lightly they make up there own mind one just holds the papers
It really depends on situation. A process called Habituation – learning to ignore parts of the environment (some behaviourists call it socialisation – learning to interact with the environment).
I live just outside London, lots of fields, with 2 rescued sheepdogs, one hypersensitive, the other “damaged”. I could let them hang around in the field, but I wanted to stretch their experience. But we worked at it slowly, now I can take them to London on crowded subway trains, they enjoy being fussed in a pub. They now enjoy participating in Flyball and agility practice with lots of other dogs and people.
Avoidance should be used really as a last resort, and especially in hazardous situations such as chasing and biting joggers.
I am not sure if I completely agree with Tracie’s theory. This seems to me like avoiding the dog’s fear all together. What about slowly introducing the dog to crowds of people with a muzzle and highly rewarding treats?