01/08/2025
Have you experienced canine bullying?
What do you look for in interactions that your dog has with other dogs?
Or in that dog interacting with your dog? (Because you can bet that the other owner either isn't paying attention or doesn't understand what to look for).
I was recently in a situation where Tanzi & Jaffa were off lead (in an off-leash area) and several dogs were interacting with one another. The group had grown organically up to about 7 or 8 dogs (including mine) who were all interacting & playing pretty nicely, and I was happy with the situation.
Jaffa was just lounging around as Jaffa does, but Tanzi was enjoying the play, and I was keeping a really close eye on her.
I want her to have nothing but great experiences.
I want her to treat other dogs with respect.
And I don't want her to learn to bully others or be on the receiving end of bullying.
So I was keeping a careful eye on her, and she was doing really well.
Another lady arrived with a very young Golden Retriever. When I asked how old she said he was going to be 5 months in August. So under 5 months of age.
The largest dog in the group that had been playing together immediately bee-lined over to this puppy and began to grab him from the back of the neck quite forcefully, over and over. The puppy lay down and submitted and tried to move away, but was unable to get away from the larger dog, who proceeded to follow the pup everywhere and continued the behaviour.
Now, I didn't sense aggression from the larger dog, and the puppy was being too submissive, but I was really shocked that the owner of the puppy just stood by and urged her puppy to "get up, get up, don't be so silly".
I couldn't stand it.
I had to reach in and grab the big dog and haul him off the puppy. But every time I let go, the big dog launched back onto this puppy.
If that had been Tanzi doing that, she would have been in big trouble.
If that had been Tanzi being targeted, we would have been out of there. In a heartbeat.
The owner of the larger dog was busy chatting with his mate and never even noticed.
The owner of the puppy did not seem even slightly worried, even when I talked to her (as an average Joe, never mentioning I'm a trainer) about making sure her puppy has good experiences.
What do you think?
Should I have minded my own business?
After the big dog & owner left, the puppy seemed ok and ran around and played with the others, but I was still left with a sour taste in my mouth and a worry for what ongoing repercussions that type of experience might have on such a young puppy.
We left soon after.
What do you think? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?
What would you have done if your dog were the bully?
What would you have done if your dog were the target?
(No bullies in this pic, just good dogs!)
