I was walking Glindy through San
Francisco the other day, and crossed paths with a woman with a
poodle. I put Glindy in a sit, which often lessens the likelihood
of leash aggression on either side, but the woman was a bit
relentless about her dog being so friendly and wanting to say
hello.
I knew this was a bad idea, but I really wanted an opportunity to
observe Glindy's problem interactions
in situ. So, I
warned this woman. I told her that Glindy was a status-seeking dog,
and often got other dogs going. She didn't believe me, of course,
and brought Fluffykins (I don't remember the dog's real name) over
for a sniff.
The next thing this lady knew, her Fluffykins was barking and
snapping at Glindy, who barked and lunged right back. "But she
never does that!" said the lady, who seemed to think her
dog had started it for no reason at all--although in fairness, her
dog didn't offer any calming signals to defuse it, either.
I thought it was a good exercise for all involved. The lady learned
that Fluffykins wasn't a powder puff, I got to watch Glindy's
status-seeking behaviors in action, and nobody got hurt--not that
I'd have allowed the exchange if I'd even thought that was a
possibility.
Watching the whole thing in slow motion, this is what happened:
- Glindy and the dog sniffed each other.
- Glindy did a very rude "proctology exam" instead of a more
typical butt-sniff.
- Glindy put her head over Fluffykins' withers.
- Fluffykins didn't like the dominant display, especially since
Glindy projects excited energy, rather than the calm-assertive
energy of a true alpha.
- Fluffykins snapped at Glindy to back her off.
- Glindy responded in kind.
So, really, Glindy starts the whole chain of events more often than
not. In canine terms, she's rude and pushy. Glindy
wants
to be top dog, but doesn't have the right energy for it; she tries
to appoint herself to the role, but other dogs just don't feel it.
That's the real crux of her social problems.
Of course, as an adult with Asperger's Syndrome, I have much the
same problem: I have a lot of strong leadership skills, but don't
project the right social signals to ever make the sort of leader
that people instinctively follow.
I guess Glindy and I have something we can work on together.