KEITH WHITTER

Roxy has been improving every day. We go through the basic obedience commands before every meal. A minimum of 45 minutes in the morning of leash training. She mostly ignores other dogs while we are out now. Occasionally an aggressive dog (usually a Chihuahua 😃) leaps and barks at Roxy. She will want to head the way but recovers her heel quickly. Very proud of her!

My Roxy at about 16 weeks!

Thank you Adrienne! You have provided me with excellent actions I can take. I believe she is watching and waiting in most cases. She has nearly tripled in size over the last 8 weeks, and she is becoming more confident with other dogs. She still likes to watch them. 🙂 Her body language is tail curled up or wagging when standing, her ears are up and possibly tilted forward a bit, her mouth is closed and she simply looks directly at whatever it is: dog, cat, rabbit and even a duck once. I appreciate all of your input and am looking forward to continuing our journey toward the Einstein level!

She completed her vaccines a week ago. Vet said wait two weeks before dog contact. She has been socialized with many different people and she loves meeting new people. She has never been interested in other pets; dogs, cats or even rabbits. We are enrolled in our first obedience class at the end of the month. Future plans are to continue obedience and eventually into agility.

Hello Adrienne, Thank you for the course and the reply. Roxy exhibits various behaviors when confronting other dogs. On walks she stops walking and just sits and waits for the other dog to pass by. She doesn’t bark or whine, just watches the other dog. If the other dog is aggressive she shifts herself up against my leg. Sometimes she barks back and starts pulling on the leash. She is a Belgian Malinois, and probably the smartest, sweetest dog I’ve ever been owned by. 🙂

My 17 week Mal exhibits unusual behavior around every other dog. When we are tooling around the yard she comes to my side and sits to watch the other dog. She does not bark or make any noise whatsoever. On walks when she sees another dog; even across the street from us, she drops into a sit and stares at the other dog. Again, not making a sound. Invariably, the other dog begins to pull on his/her leash and bark. Roxy simply stays in her sit and stares. What am I dealing with here? Is it fear? Natural aloofness? Beyond my knowledge to determine. My goal would be for Roxy to simply ignore the other dog and continue to walk without distraction.