What's going on in his head?

[ElaineH]

Morgan (16 months) is a smashing dog, very friendly, loves playing with other dogs and is now starting to "read" their body language a bit and becoming a little more cautious but mainly expects all dogs to want to be best friends with him. If the other dog is onlead we put Morgan onlead and they usually say a gentle hello before moving on.

Today, however, it was a bit different on our woodland walk.

We were at the end of our walk and saw a woman, 2 small children, and a dog onlead walking towards us, so we put our boy onlead. As soon as Morgan caught sight of the other dog he started growling quite deeply and then began barking. He's only ever growled in play with tug toys etc. before now, so we were totally taken aback. The other dog then started barking as well so we kept a wide berth while passing them. It had a flat bulldog type face and I wonder if this was a significant factor?

[Top Barks]

possibly. did he see dogs like this as a pup? Maybe there was some scent communication going on which we are not party to.
Try not to end any such encounters by just walking off. see if you can walk with the new dog at a distance Morgan feels comfortable with and treat him for anything other than growling.
Mark

[ElaineH]

Thank you Mark.

I can't remember if he saw dogs like this as a pup, this is the first I've seen round here and we walk in this particular area quite often.