Hi

we have a 3 yr old lab cross bloodhound who we rescued 18 months ago.

She is excited around other dogs and doesn't know how to socialise or read other dogs behaviour/body language. as a result we dont like letting her off as her usuall result is "if you dont play with me i will bark and then be nasty". this has happened since she was spayed and can be a problem with smaller dogs. we have been to see Katie Peckett for other issues that she has had and she is now a very happy and well mannered dog now apart from this...

any advice???? we were thinking of dog classes that focus on this issue, is there any??

Hi,

Wagmore Barn do Lifeskills workshops which focus on helping dogs understand each other and how to be polite to each other! They're a good journey from Sheffield though - have a look at www.learningaboutdogs.co.uk

They are a team of highly qualified professionals and know what they're doing with cases like this.

I wouldn't suggest a basic training class like most of the local ones because she is likely to upset herself and other dogs in the class and possibly make her behaviour worse IF the trainers allow you to attend the class with a reactive dog anyway.

I'd love to be able to help out but my rescue would be no good and my youngest is a big wuss when it comes to dogs larger than her wanting to play let alone telling her off for not doing!

I'd really suggest having a look at the sessions at Wagmore Barn - I contacted them a while back about my dog who was reactive (thankfully getting much better now) and they said she'd be fine on the Lifeskills workshop. :)

also - do you know much about the breed characteristics for each of those breeds? Knowing how your dog views the world is always the first step to helping them alter their behaviour to something more suitable ;)

for instance, we have a beagle - he lives for sniffing! As a breed they are renowned for being virtually impossible to persuade to do something different if they already have something to sniff! All of our training of him has taken this into account - so we have to be far more vigilant and pre-emptive than if we had another breed

You'll probably find your dog's less sociable attitudes are part of her genetic make up, but knowing what those are and how to deal with them will make the task much easier :)