Pet Behavior Solutions: Should we allow dogs to meet each other on leash?

Dogs help to make people happier and healthier. Studies have shown that the bond between people and their pets is linked to several health benefits, including decreased blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels, feelings of loneliness and anxiety. In addition, dogs increase our activity level by simply caring for them. Going for walks is an important part of our dog’s daily exercise as well as ours. As the weather gets cooler, more people are out walking their dogs. For many dog owners, it is a sociable walk as we pass by or stop and meet up with the neighbors in our community. But do our dogs also see this as a sociable opportunity to meet up with other dogs?

Not necessarily. Leash approaches and greetings are inherently counter to normal canine greeting behaviors. Parents frequently mismanage their dog’s leash leading to leash tension, corrections for inappropriate behavior and a general lack of good communication with their dogs. Not all dogs are, nor do they want to be sociable with other dogs. Some dogs become possessive of their parents and see the approach and meeting of another dog as a threat because they are guarding or protecting their person. Some dogs become very stimulated when they are outside. Those dogs are unable to focus on one thing at a time and are always looking ahead in their environments for next thing that feeds that stimulation. Of course, while many of these issues can be helped with good behavior training, not all these situations can be remedied in the way the owners want.

This article is intended to help you to know whether you should allow your dog to meet other dogs when on leash. There are many benefits to conducting a risk assessment prior to meeting another dog. These include keeping your dog safe from harm, keeping other people and their dogs safe from harm, tending to the emotional and psychological well-being of your dog through his experiences, and reducing any potential liability on your part for your dog’s actions.

Let’s look at some study results about how dogs choose to meet in a sociable way when they are not leashed next to their handler. Sociable dogs will usually approach each other in an arc. They do not make a beeline for, rush at, or jump on the other dog. This is not only bad manners but can also overwhelm or frighten the dog who's being charged. Once they have approached each other, they engage in muzzle sniffing or mouth sniffing, then off to the genital area with inguinal sniffing, and then anal sniffing. That entire greeting usually takes between six to eight seconds before the dogs break the greeting to engage in another behavior. Only 12% of off-leash greetings result in play. Most greetings resulted in a simple disengagement from the dog and on to do something else. Of all the greetings between domesticated dogs that were studied only 54% of the greetings were even reciprocated. A difference in size of the dogs resulted in unreciprocated greetings. Meaning, an approach between toy dog to a giant dog generally resulted in no greetings at all (dogs may still approach to inspect, threaten or play inappropriately, but if it doesn’t meet the criteria above, it is not considered a sociable greeting).

As is evidenced by this study, dogs do not prefer to meet other dogs in the same sociable manner that people do. Many dogs want to approach and investigate but not actually engage in a sociable greeting. Here is a guide to the risky and less risky behaviors that will guide whether you should meet or not.

• Dog looks threatening.
• Dog is aligned and frontal to other dog.
• Dog is staring or tracking.
• Dog looks fearful.
• One dog is trying to avoid.
• Lack of friendly signs.
• Dog is over aroused/excited.
• Very little foot movement, almost too calm and stiff.
• Dog is over a year.
• Intact male dog.
• Dog is pulling hard on the leash.
• The handler has no control over the dog with the leash.
• Dog approaches only to sniff the other dog’s butt.
• Big size difference in dogs.
• Dogs on retractable leashes.
• Dogs on shock or pinch collar.

Consider meeting

• If the owner describes how the dog interacts with or meets other dogs.
• If dogs approach and share space (no one is taking all the space while the other moves away).
• Body looks relaxed, not tense, tight, or spring-loaded.
• If both dogs are familiar with each other.
• If similar in size.
• If showing friendly signals.
• If calm and curious.
• If handler has good control/handling skills.
• If the dogs disengage to do other things.
• If the dog checks back in with his handler.
• Brief eye contact.
• Dog is under a year.