2 dogs in a tense stand off

[Ari_RR]

Yesterday, on our long walk in the park, where it all looked quiet and peaceful and deserted enough for Ari to run around off leash, chasing smells and sounds..... we came across a GSD boy with whom Ari gets into staring/growling contests.

This time was no exception, and the 2 of them were standing stiff next to each other, rather tense, with their humans keeping a few feet of distance.. I didn't want to disturb the delicate balance by grabbing either one (and there was literally no daylight between them to squeeze into), but was close enough to jump in if the situation exploded. This stand off continued for about 3-4 min, with them occasionally snapping at each other, then retreating, and getting back into the stiff stand off...

But slowly, the intensity went down, and they were sniffing something together, then (as if remembered) back into snapping at each other, then sniffing each other... growling again... sniffing things again with their backs to each other... remembering again and staring stiff at each other, then getting relaxed again...

Somewhere in the middle of this unfolding drama I actually felt confident to relax myself and step away, as it was clear that neither one of them really wanted to fight, so we just chatted a bit with GSD's human, then I just moved on, called Ari and he simply disengaged from the GSD and followed me. Nice, eh?

In some cases (you have to have a good feel though! otherwise it's risky) it makes sense to let them work things out, if they are off leash and already close to each other.

But what also seems to help a little - when 2 dogs are locked into a stiff and tense stand off, it seems to help to keep talking to them in a soft calming tone ("it's ok, it's ok", that type of thing) and in general project calmness and confidence, I think they feel their humans even if locked and loaded on each other.

[Sarah83]

Most people where I live are all in favour of letting the dogs sort it out between themselves and it does work well in a lot of cases. It's definitely not appropriate in some situations or with some dogs though.

Glad things worked out between Ari and the GSD, perhaps next time they see each other things will be less tense.

[abbyneo]

I won't lie, I had some anxiety while I was reading that. Because of our previous awful experiences with Abby being attacked by Neo, I will never be comfortable having Abby off-leash around other off-leash dogs. Right or wrong, I just can't take it. Husband says he's ready to take her to the dog park at non-peak times, but if he does I know I will have to stay home. Perhaps when the memories are less fresh in my mind I will be comfortable with it, but for now I just can't imagine it. I'm glad that you were so cool and collected, as I know from personal experience that human anxiety only makes things worse. Hopefully next time between Ari and the GSD there will be less standing-off and more sniffing together!

[JudyN]

I wonder what they'll be like the next time they meet?

I'm glad it went well and think that a lot of the time, this would work for Jasper and other dogs he takes against. But I can't be sure which other dogs it would work with and if it went wrong, it could go horribly wrong - as you know from your experience with the shar pei.

It may well have worked well with the 1-year-old lab I spent a fair bit of yesterday trying to block from getting to him - after a few good telling-offs from Jasper the lab may finally have got the message (and wasn't likely to be psychologically scarred). But I've no idea if Jasper would have actually bitten him or stuck to air snaps and inhibited bites.

[Nettle]

You know your dog, so you were happy with how it went and I don't offer criticism. The following is generic:


I would never allow this. It could so easily have gone horribly wrong. Next time they meet they might be okay or they might not. That's for you to manage and I am not referring to this specific incident or your handling of it, but if anyone asked me - I'd say too damned risky and no I wouldn't. Dogs assess each other for strength, and one chink of weakness for one tenth of a nanosecond results in a big vet bill and a lot of upset.

[Ari_RR]

I agree, and given time and choice I would also not have allowed this interaction.

But - as it happened, they were both off leash and just found each other (probably were drawn to each other), and got too close to each other and into the staredown before we could call them off. And when they are stiff next to each other, Ari's imperfect under the best of circumstances recall simply doesn't exist. This was environmental mismanagement on my part, but also - this is the drawback of a nature park - with leaves starting to come out, visibility through the trees gets reduced.

So, the choice was to interfere after they already were nose-to-nose, or try to wait it out.

Interfering would be to grab one dog and pull it away while turning my back towards the other.. That was my plan had they actually gone for each other.
Harness that Ari always wears is very valuable tool - grab by the sides, lift the front of the dog so he is standing on the hind legs, turn and get in between, facing your dog, back towards the other, and stay between them until the other owner grabs his dog. (Standard operating procedure from the wild adolescence days )

But in this particular case I felt that interfering, grabbing or even touching either of them in any way, had a good chance of being the final trigger, and waiting it out was actually a safer option.. In this particular case.

[Nettle]

I agree, and given time and choice I would also not have allowed this interaction.

But - as it happened, they were both off leash and just found each other (probably were drawn to each other), and got too close to each other and into the staredown before we could call them off. And when they are stiff next to each other, Ari's imperfect under the best of circumstances recall simply doesn't exist. This was environmental mismanagement on my part, but also - this is the drawback of a nature park - with leaves starting to come out, visibility through the trees gets reduced.

So, the choice was to interfere after they already were nose-to-nose, or try to wait it out.

Interfering would be to grab one dog and pull it away while turning my back towards the other.. That was my plan had they actually gone for each other.
Harness that Ari always wears is very valuable tool - grab by the sides, lift the front of the dog so he is standing on the hind legs, turn and get in between, facing your dog, back towards the other, and stay between them until the other owner grabs his dog. (Standard operating procedure from the wild adolescence days )

But in this particular case I felt that interfering, grabbing or even touching either of them in any way, had a good chance of being the final trigger, and waiting it out was actually a safer option.. In this particular case.

Yep, you were spot-on. Any human interference would have tipped the balance. I bet you never knew you could hold your breath so long

Generic again - we should not call our dogs in a sitaution such as this. It breaks their concentration and gives the other dog an opening and boy are they quick. Moreover, if our dog turns his head to look at us, he presents his neck to the other just right for a bite.


If we have to interfere, it is best to walk between the dogs and use thighs to push them apart sideways. There is a small risk of a bite, but bites are easier taken on the leg than the hands, and more readily given on the hands than the legs. Dogs understand blocking - they do it to each other all the time. Mostly they just move apart, then we get ours behind us and block the other one back. Face the strange dog not your own. Little tweaks make big differences.

But you handled this well, and I'm glad no harm was done.