Excited V's Aggressive energy

Hello - Sorry to bother you again!

I had a thought last night In regards to Bailey and this 'scruffing' he does with excited bouncy dogs . .

I may be getting a CM here about a dogs 'energy' (not sure what it entails) but to a dog that can't see the other dogs body language would excited energy feel the same as aggressive energy?

Can a dog actually feel an energy or is it a body language thing??

Just wondering as it may explain his behaviour a bit if he couldn't differentiate between the two without the visual aids.

Thanks in advance

Energy is felt, have you ever walked into a room when someones just had a heated argument - you can feel the tension, can't you?

After reading his story I think that all this nipping at other dogs etc is his way of saying, calm down I can't see you - but then again I am not a behaviourist or trainer so for this I think you're better off with an expert's opinion.

I'm not a behaviorist either, but I think it's pretty obvious they sense each other's energy.

An example: my sister's dogs are two bouncy overexcited cases, always tremendously nervous wherever they go.
When our dog, usually Mr. Calm himself, walks into the hallway of my parents house and Lady & Laika are there (behind a closed door, so he can't see them). He already starts getting excited too and he definitely doesn't do that when they're not around.

Might be scent-related, but then again he doesn't just do that because dogs are present, since my parents also have two calm dogs and he doesn't get extraordinarily excited when he smells them...

As to the question if they can make out the difference between agressive and excited energy, I'd say definitely! Maggie, my parents in law their dog which is also almost fully blind, always 'corrects' Ziggy when he gets too playful, just because she's old and wants him to be calm around her. If she encounters an agressive dog though, she just gets really scared and tries to flee.

I think in your case, Bailey can differentiate between the two (never underestimate a dog's intelligence ), he just does not like nervous bouncy dogs around him...
Pretty logical if you think about it, if I'd be blind, I wouldn't want people running and jumping around me like headless chickens, I'd want them to take it slow and be calm so I can hear what they're up to

Not exactly. I mean, if people had a heated argument and left the room I wouldn't sense anything. But if I came in and saw their body language, the tension in their faces, the way they moved or stood, THEN I would "feel the tension." But that has little to do with some new agey concept of "energy" and everything to do with body language.

I didn't see the original post on this dog (is the dog blind? I'm getting that from responses?). If so, it may be more scent-related or from being run into consistently by an excited dog. What do you mean by scruffing?

From what I read he is blind in one eye and has less than half his sight in the other - congenital cataracts if I remember rightly - he can see shadows.

I guess different people and dogs are more in tuned with their senses - in this case Bailey would be more in tuned with smell, touch and hearing.

Cherry is blind in one eye and poorly sighted in the other and doesn't like excitable dogs in her face. She would go into head-butt mode if allowed but I stop the other dog getting to her and just let her meet calm friendly dogs.

Just about every physical thing has energy. Even a table.
However, this does not translate into some sort of Mystic Aura.
You (and the dog) pick up on scent, body language and occasionally pheromones. Add to that state of the one doing the percieving.
If your dog is scruffing other dogs it`s because he has no manners, not because it`s their fault.

So if our dog reacts to other dogs their state of mind, even though they're in a different room, you think this could be because of a scent only? Interesting... so if we would diffuse the scent with something which has a strong smell, that might help?

I don't necessarily agree with the lack of manners idea though... If I look at Maggie, she's an old blind dog and just wants peace and quiet. The way I see it, old dogs are quite comparable to old people. If I had kids, I'd tell them to be quiet in an old folk's home as well, so I do the same with my dog. Ziggy has learnt to be extra quiet and calm around any dog (or human for that matter) if we give him the command to be careful.

I mean, if I understand correctly, Bailey's not harming the other dogs, right? He's just giving them a warning to be calm, because he doesn't like all the excitement? Just like Kerryowner said, I'd just avoid overly excited dogs and find some calm friendly ones for him to play with

He's totally blind in one eye and only has around 5% sight in the other - According to the specialist he can see light against dark etc and movement but has no idea of space/distance etc He has Bilateral Optic Nerve Hypoplasia!!
Scruffing = when a lively dog comes near him he grabs them on the shoulders and tries to hold em down, he doesn't growl or bare his teeth just a silent grab He's never broken the skin but that's not to say he won't and I've put things in place to stop him being able to.

No he's never hurt them physically.

He's brilliant with calm dogs, never had a problem. I don't let him off lead near any dogs whether I know them or not just in case plus he tends to walk right over the little ones!! He's only ever off lead with my other two but he doesn't do it to them even when they're tearing around playing!!!

I was just curious about the hidden signs dogs give off like energy and if he could be confusing them? I'm just trying to get to the bottom of WHY he does it? What is the trigger as he seems to know as they're approaching not necessarily when they're actually bouncing in his face.

Hmm, but if you see the trigger going off before they're bouncing in his face, can't you distract him with e.g. the scent of a tasty snack?

As for the confusing of the signals or energies, don't think so, even if they're blind or deaf, dogs can read each other pretty well. Better than any human can, that's for sure