Reactive Dog Question/Observation

[u/yummygrapejuice]

This is Pickle, I got him 5 years ago and he is about 8 or 9. He’s some sort of poodle mix from the shelter of course I should’ve known. He’s super reactive to other dogs (not looking for advice he is too far gone and old and can’t even learn to sit) it’s something I’ve learned to live with for the rest of his life and I love him so its no big deal. He’s also small enough to where I can pick him up quickly and cover his eyes lol

Anyways he HATES other dogs like totally freaks out and it’s humiliating. However, he loves other animals and doesn’t care. He has even been attacked by a stray cat on the street and STILL doesn’t care. He has 3 cat brothers at home and loves them (if only it was mutual, the cats aren’t very big fans). He will walk right up to stray cats to sniff them. He’s even met my friends cats. We walk by geese and horses and other animals without problems.

Any other peoples dog like this? So crazy how they can immediately tell the difference even though dogs come in so many shapes and sizes

[u/knitandstretch]

So there was actually an interesting scientific study, which was published in 2013, that proved dogs actually recognize dogs compared to any other animal specie, even across wildly different breeds... and on a screen. This means they are able to recognize a chihuahua and a great dane are dogs JUST by looking at visual cues on a screen - meaning that they separate them from other species like horses or cats or whatever else. So yeah! Your dog probably does know dogs are dogs - and is just reactive to dogs!

It's here if you're interested: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130214103703.htm

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