SUMMER is usually the time for outdoor public events such as concerts, farmers markets, festivals and more and as local residents flock to these family oriented events they are also bringing their dogs along, because dogs are a part of the family.
Dogs who are accustomed to attending these usually highly visually stimulating events handle the situation with calm ease, but some dogs who are either young, insecure, lacking adequate leadership or not socialized to these events can act out due to the stress they are experiencing in that environment.
Acting out usually involves a dog displaying its two basic survival instincts, flight or fight and since it is required that dogs remain leashed in these public settings, many dogs who are over stimulated will express the fight response since they cannot flee. Having said that I am not encouraging people to allow their dogs off leash in these situations AT ALL! I am encouraging people to be proactive and aware of their dogs' behavior during a family outing and act responsibly.
The fight response does not mean a dog is actually looking to engage in fights with other dogs but displaying behaviours such as snapping, growling, lunging or even biting other dogs (or maybe people) in an attempt to release its stress.
The owners of the dogs displaying these behaviours are often caught off guard as the dog has never displayed them before.
They simply do not understand that the dog is over stimulated by the environment, and stressed by it at the same time.
So how do you deal with it?
First things first, as a dog owner you have to first admit there is a problem, not ignore it and try to find blame in the other dog involved. Dogs are never the problem, it is always the owner, as I said the dog is simply acting like a dog and unless it is given a command and told how to behave it will make the choice to behave as it wishes, rather than how we wish.
Secondly take control of the situation immediately. If your dog has already been allowed to lunge at another dog it means that you as a dog owner were unaware of your dog's anxiety from the moment you entered the situation and must now become a more vigilant leader.
This means insisting that the dog be given a job at all times to keep its mind busy and focused on you, not the over-stimulating environment. That job is to sit/stay while you stand and to be in a controlled heel while you walk around the dog.
Yes you are applying obedience commands that you learned in your training classes, that's why you took the class, remember?
To be even more proactive you could begin your leadership and focus exercises the moment you get out of the car by going for a walk to allow your dog to release some energy until it calms down into a passive relaxed state.
Once your dog is able to give you their attention by looking back at you for guidance instead of looking around at everything else or the other dogs you can enter the environment while your dog is in that relaxed state.
If it is relaxed it is far more likely to be able to handle situations like a strange dog coming too close within a crowd.
Praise is great but only when your dog is relaxed and in that neutral frame of mind. If you try to calm the dog by praising it while the animal is stressed, guess what the dog will do more of, remain stressed!
Ideally you would recognize your dog's needs and not push them too far in an attempt to include them for the entire duration of time that you are at this venue.
You want to keep it positive so end the training and leave the event when your dog does a great job and try a bit more the next time you include Fido
