28/09/2026
Brilliant Post.
🐾 Your Dog Is NOT Being Friendly - It May Be Harassing Another Dog 🐾
Let’s set the scene.
You’re sitting at a café with your family, enjoying a sunny afternoon. Or perhaps you’re waiting for a bus, walking through a park or simply making your way home.
You’re minding your own business when a complete stranger starts walking directly towards you.
You feel uncomfortable.
You don't know this person. You don't know what they want. You would prefer them to keep their distance.
But their friend calls out:
“Don't worry! They're friendly!”
The person keeps coming.
They get right into your personal space. They touch you. They hug you. They walk around you. They keep talking to you even though you are clearly uncomfortable.
You ask them to leave you alone.
They don't.
Instead, their friend tells you:
“Come on, they're only being friendly!”
How would you feel?
Would you suddenly think, “Oh, wonderful! I've made a new friend”?
Probably not.
You'd probably want the person to back off.
You might move away. You might tell them more firmly to stop. If they continued to ignore your attempts to create distance, you might eventually become angry or defensive.
Now let's change the scenario.
The stranger is a dog.
Your dog runs towards another dog on the beach.
“It's okay! He's friendly!”
But here's the problem:
Your dog being friendly does not mean the other dog wants to interact.
The other dog may be nervous.
They may be uncomfortable around unfamiliar dogs.
They may be recovering from a previous frightening experience.
They may simply prefer their own space.
They may be elderly, injured, tired or overwhelmed.
Or they may actually enjoy other dogs but need time to approach and interact on their own terms.
And if the approaching dog keeps following, jumping on, chasing, sniffing, circling or pestering them despite their attempts to move away, that isn't a successful social interaction.
It is harassment.
The fact that your dog is having fun doesn't change that.
Dogs communicate constantly through body language. Turning away, moving away, avoiding eye contact, freezing, hiding behind their person, lip licking, yawning, stiffening or repeatedly trying to leave can all be signs that an interaction isn't comfortable.
If the other dog is trying to create distance, that information matters.
This is where we often get things completely backwards.
The dog that has been repeatedly approached, chased or pestered may eventually growl, snap or lunge to make the other dog go away.
And suddenly that dog is labelled:
“AGGRESSIVE!”
Meanwhile, the dog that ignored every signal to stop is described as:
“Just being friendly!”
But a friendly intention does not make an unwanted interaction acceptable.
We need to stop thinking that every dog in a public space is available for our dog to meet.
Being in a public space is not consent to interact.
Your dog doesn't need to greet every dog they see.
And another dog doesn't owe your dog a playmate.
Some dogs genuinely love socialising with unfamiliar dogs. Others are selective about their friends. Some prefer to interact with familiar dogs they already trust. Some simply don't want to interact at all.
There is nothing wrong with that.
Socialisation does not mean teaching a dog that every dog is an opportunity to play.
Good social skills also include learning when to leave another dog alone.
So, if your dog runs towards another dog and you hear:
“It's okay! He's friendly!”
Please don't assume that everything is okay.
Ask yourself:
Is the other dog choosing to participate?
Are they approaching willingly?
Are they relaxed?
Are they able to move away if they want to?
Is my dog listening when the other dog says, “No thanks”?
If the answer to that last question is no, your dog needs to come away.
And this is where effective control matters.
If you cannot reliably call your dog away from another dog, they shouldn't be running up to unfamiliar dogs in public spaces.
Use a lead or an appropriate long line while you work on that recall.
Give other dogs the space they need.
And most importantly, don't make the other dog responsible for teaching your dog boundaries.
A growl, snap or lunge is often the very end of a long conversation that we humans have failed to notice.
Let's teach our dogs that being social isn't about greeting everyone.
Sometimes the most socially skilled thing a dog can do is walk past another dog and leave them completely alone.
🐾 Friendly is wonderful.
Respectful is even better.
Donna Williams,
Emerald Park Border Collies.
www.emeraldparkbc.com
"My mission is to make life better for at least one dog today!"
