This is true, I often let Louie be told off a lot by other dogs - he doesn't enjoy it, but it'll make him a better dog and I'm also there to make sure it doesn't go out of hand.

In fact when he was about 16weeks old he tried to steal a stick off a GSD - she let him know! He now doesn't steal off strange dogs..

wondering wtf u where doing prob lol.. joking aside he could prob tell you were anxious and Dex sounds like he fed of you too.

my flea gets hassled by my friends dog(she is very ott),he lays on the floor and gets woofed(well squeaked at)non stop,flea is very much a social boy and well adjusted to all dogs and is a real 'nanny dog'...he takes it,takes it..then he is up and theres a short burst of him chasing her snapping teeth and woofing as he does it...he thinks she has no manners

I was only holding Dex on a very loose, relaxed lead, as that's what our trainer has advised, so that no tension travels down the leash to my dog.

I think I only got tense when the RR lunged...

That's possible, but the dogs I've known who've done this don't generally try to make contact or nip at a dog. Dahlia will warn off overly boisterous dogs, but she does it with a warning growl (and she sort of opens her mouth, wraps her lips around her teeth -- that's the best way I can describe it -- and turns her face away from the dog as she growls). She'll escalate to air snaps if the dog won't leave her alone, but she's never nipped at him.

Usually in these cases it's not a matter of who "started it." It may very well be a combination of boisterous young dog + an older dog who isn't 100% good with greeting and correcting young boisterous dogs = a bit of a scuffle.

Is it me or is anyone else wondering why the RR owner didn't leash his dog before walking past an on-lead dog?

Implicit in the post is the fact that the 2 dogs didn't know each other so therefore the RR owner didn't know WHY the Lab was on-lead in the first place. Could have been because of fear-aggression issues etc.

Parker is recalled and leashed if I see someone with an on-lead dog unless I know the owner is ok for him to approach. Common-sense and courtesy really -not that there's much common about it!!

You're not the only one! Whenever I see a leashed dog I automatically leash up my dog. Heck on many walks, I leash her up if I see a dog at all. Even dogs who are off leash may not be the friendliest dogs out there and I don't want anything to happen. I always ask if the dogs can meet just to make sure!

Depends on the warning in my experience. My border collie would start off by stiffening and giving them the look and would work his way up to flying at them snarling horribly and looking as though he were making a sincere effort to kill them. He'd make contact if it got to this stage but never went beyond slobber and noise and it never made the other dog afraid of him. This was reserved for the extremely rude dogs who didn't pay attention to any more subtle warnings, it wasn't the first stage. Same thing with several other dogs I know, start really subtle but will escalate to the same sort of thing if necessary. Course it shouldn't be allowed to get to that stage in the first place but on occasion it does.

Right...should have been clear. I'm notorious for not explaining myself well. LOL This was a first warning, from what I'm gathering, and so usually those are much more subtle, just a growl or a hard stare. A well socialized dog shouldn't first try to correct a boisterous dog by attempting to nip.

Like yours, my girl begins small and subtle (often by sitting down if they're trying to sniff her butt) and graduates to larger displays.

Well put!
You are spot on I believe.

ah, i see,.
on your other headcollar thread you mentioned fear, so i thought you meant scared of dogs, hence my posts on that thread.