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Joxer was my Smooth Collie. When he came to me, he was lacking in social graces when it came to other dogs. He was friendly but his social skills were just not there.
I adopted him through Collie Rescue back in 2001. We think he was around 3 years old or so at that point. He'd spent eight months in rescue waiting for a new home.
Joxer had a rough start to life. His original family never taught him much other than that lots of stuff in this world was scary. He was afraid of: children, balls, things that drop or fly through the air, loud noises, high pitched noises, and squeaky toys.
The one thing he was not afraid of though was other dogs. He really really wanted to make friends with other dogs.
He clearly had very poor social skills when it came to other dogs, though. As much as he wanted to meet and greet all the other dogs we saw, he really had no clue how to be socially appropriate.
When it comes to greeting other dogs in an appropriate way, dogs with good social skills understand that you should NOT rush up in someone else's face. Fast approaches are a no-no. Direct head-on approaches are a no-no. Direct eye contact is a no-no.
Joxer did all of those things. He did not have a mean bone in his body. He really was very very sweet. But the other dog being approached in that manner did not know that.
As with many other things we had to work through, it took some time. I had to teach Joxer how to approach other dogs. We approach slowly. We do not stare at them. We do not come head on.
It took some work, but Joxer learned how to approach in a calmer less confrontational way.
He then became my helper dog as I worked with clients whose dogs also had poor social skills. He was a fantastic helper once he understood how to do things in a nonthreatening, more friendly, more socially appropriate way.
He was actually one of my best helpers when it came to working with other dogs.
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