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Writer's pictureKendra Mackinnon

Is your dog social, tolerant, selective or aggressive?

I am often writing about how dogs do not have to like every dog they meet, it seems

fair to me as we ourselves to do not like everyone we meet. We can teach our dogs to be "polite" and how to feel emotionally relaxed when having to encounter another dog, be it walking by another dog on a walk or relaxing in a crate at a Rally-Obedience trial while other dogs are around. Just like we can wave and smile to a neighbour we may not actually like ;) Your dog may go through different tolerances through his life, just like us! Think back to preschool, to high school, then co-workers, and family reunions and how you felt meeting new people then or old friends. Think of how you may feel hanging out with other people when you are older and less mobile or perhaps a time in your life when you were in pain. In other words, you may have been excited to meet and play with others as a child but as you aged were less interested and more solitary or perhaps just the opposite, maybe you were anxious meeting new people as a child but outgrew it and gained confidence and now you are a social butterfly! Dogs can feel this way too. A dog can be DOG SOCIAL, DOG TOLERANT, DOG SELECTIVE or DOG AGGRESSIVE. This can change as they grow and have experiences. It is our job to listen to our dogs and help them. Your social dog would enjoy if you could provide safe and fun playtimes with other appropriate dogs, your dog tolerant dog is most likely well socialized and can be relaxed in the presence of dogs and has decent tolerance for rude behaviour but may not love dogs he doesn't know and often does well with a housemate, your selective dog may dislike certain types of dogs and may be offended by rude behaviour, can still do well with a housemate with supervision, and your dog aggressive dog may have a limited number of dog friends, may be leash reactive, but can live a happy life with safety management and training.

have fun training!

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