[daniellealberta]

Spike and I spend most of our time in the local off-leash park, where he dashes around quite happily from one smell to another. It's certainly not a busy park, but we do run into the occasional person with their dog(s), and so far, no problems.

Because of his size, one of the things I wanted to do from the start was to make sure Spike could stand up for himself. That didn't mean I wanted him to be able to beat another dog in a fight. Being 4lbs, that probably wasn't going to be very likely. What it meant was that when he encountered another dog, he would meet the dog and interact with it, and I would only intervene if I though Spike was in danger. So far, it hasn't happened. The worst thing you can do is pick your dog up everytime another dog, person etc., comes over, because dogs naturally are pack animals, and they need to work out who is boss dog, pack leader, etc. Most of the time this is achieved with no argument whatsoever. If you pick up your dog, however, I find that he/she is more likely to be bullied by the other dogs, because he hasn't been given the opportunity to assert himself at all. Anyone who has watched the "Dog Whisperer" might have seen this theory put into practice.

Spike makes it very clear when he doesn't like another dog's behavior by growling or barking, but never biting or otherwise being aggressive. Most of the time it is simply when he encounters a really energetic dog who desperately wants to play and won't take 'no' for an answer! I make sure I stand close by, and will often keep my feet about hip distance apart, so Spike has somewhere 'safe' to go if he needs it. Other than that, I let him get on with it, and so far, so good.