Dog interaction question

837 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by NalaBaby, May 31, 2009

NalaBaby

Discussion Starter · May 27, 2009

My BF's mom has a PitbullxMastiff who is about 1.5 years old. The dog is generally a sweet dog, she just gets over excited around other dogs. She has also had almost no training. She plays well with Elvis, and they get along great. However, as soon as Nala sees her, Nala's hackles go up and she barks at her alot. Lucy, (the other dog) doesn't act differently towards Nala as she does Elvis. If Lucy is tied up, Nala will eventually go over and investigate, but she seems to avoid playing with her, and every other dog she's met she wants to play with.

Is there some underlying cause to this behavior? Or is it just because Lucy has so much energy that it puts Nala off from interacting with her? Lucy definitely plays rough, but she's never hurt Elvis, or another dog. She is very energetic though, and wants to play very badly.

I know that the owner should definitely work on training her, and it's frustrating for me to see them with a dog like that and not train her at all. I work hard with Nala for socialization, and I'm worried that being around this dog may make her have aprehensions about other dogs. Feel free to ask for more info, and I very much appreciate any advice.

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TooneyDogs

· #2 · May 28, 2009

It's normal for dogs to discriminate about who they want to play/interact with. It can even change from day to day depending on how they feel. Some days, they may not tolerate puppy brash behavior and the next they're playing with them like puppies themselves.
Trust your dog. If she doesn't want to interact....so be it. Trying to force it can make it worse.

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NalaBaby

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 29, 2009

TooneyDogs said:
It's normal for dogs to discriminate about who they want to play/interact with. It can even change from day to day depending on how they feel. Some days, they may not tolerate puppy brash behavior and the next they're playing with them like puppies themselves.
Trust your dog. If she doesn't want to interact....so be it. Trying to force it can make it worse.

Thanks for the reply. I was worried that no one had any idea about it. I'm glad to know it's normal. I will definitely trust Nala when she doesn't want to play with Lucy. They tend to keep Lucy tied up alot

so I can let Nala make that decision. I won't force her at all. I actually am more inclined to keep her away when she reacts that way, because Lucy is alot bigger and stronger, and I wouldn't want her to get hurt.

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prairiemommy

· #4 · May 29, 2009

At obedience class recently, the teacher said that sometimes dogs don't like certain other dogs - just like there are some people we just don't get along with. She said not to expect all dogs to get along all the time.

I'd give it time and give Nala her space around the other dog. Good luck!

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NalaBaby

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 31, 2009

prairiemommy said:
At obedience class recently, the teacher said that sometimes dogs don't like certain other dogs - just like there are some people we just don't get along with. She said not to expect all dogs to get along all the time.

I'd give it time and give Nala her space around the other dog. Good luck!

Thanks

We actually had a breakthrough today; we made sure that Lucy was calm, and then brought Nala in. Nala didn't react quite the same this time. She was a little slow to approach her, but after the initial sniffing, they played great

When they clipped a leash to Lucy, Nala was trying to walk her lol.

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