Most of the time, I work with sensitive dogs, either for lack of socialization (or an inappropriate one), or following sometimes negative experiences – even traumatic ones -, or because of genetic predispositions.
Some situations, such as a dog racing to them or a human staring at them, can trigger various reactions : fleeing, freezing, attacking to keep the other at a distance or scaring him away. These reactions can show up from a few meters to thirty-ish.
When you share your daily life with a dog who perceives the world as a constant threat to cope, you arrange your outings, your social and family relationships. You are on the lookout outside, torn between the well-being of your doggy and the avoidance of an incident. You keep in mind that it is no pleasure for your dog to behave like this, that he remains your beloved doggy, even if these situations are exhausting to live with. You do your best to handle what is not controllable. You do your best so that no one is bothered. You do your best so that your own emotions do not negatively influence your behaviors and/or contaminate the information you transmit to your dog.
If your dog has had an experience such as being attacked by another dog, and you were present, it is important that you keep in mind that witnesses to an attack can be shocked and traumatized as well ; besides it happened to a being close to your heart.
Whatever the trigger is for your dog, you often warn other humans, asking them for a moment to adjust, to keep their own dog close to them, or getting around them.
There you face at least two types of profiles :
the understanding ones
Even if they are awkward, they will listen to you, have good intentions. I also call them those-who-make-hope-possible. They relieve you of this moment by also adapting their own behavior. I have even seen some know and abide by the etiquette of meeting (a dog is on a leash, you keep yours on leash or close to you) before anything is asked of them. They show solidarity, putting it into perspective what is happening, playing it down for you involuntarily.
the beep ones
They will judge and disdain. They give you unsolicited advice, which most of the time turn out just to let their ignorance of the dog species and of your situation be revealed. They downplay when they approach or when their dog does with fallacious reasons and a condescension that leads you to drain the cup to the dregs to avoid trouble that would make the situation worse. They make you feel guilty, blame you, tell you your reaction is the cause of everything, don't care about your requests for distance, insult your dog. They will never show the slightest ounce of solidarity.
Beyond the situation itself, living with a sensitive dog, adapting to a human society, of which we speak the same language unlike Doggy, can drain energy and hope for better days. Letting go of other people's opinions, of anger in the face of people for whom you are only a disturbing backdrop, is already a step towards more serenity. There are beings from whom it is beneficial to stop expecting something, and others who will surprise you and bring a smile back to your heart, cheering up your motivation.
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