I know I am not alone in this. I have a dog that needs more personal space than other dogs. He is a senior; he is suspicious of unfamiliar dogs and will lunge or snarl at them if they stare at him, or come too close too soon.

And yet every so often, an off-leash dog will come bounding up towards him (or even sometimes, an on-leash dog) and the owner will call out “HE’S FRIENDLY!” without checking with me first if it is OK for their dog to meet my dog.

There is this automatic assumption by most people that if their own dog is friendly, then everything is fine with the world. Who the heck cares what OTHER PEOPLE’s DOGS are feeling? The idea of consent does not seem to cross their minds at all.

My response is always usually “Please call your dog away. My dog is NOT friendly”. But sometimes I can’t say this fast enough. Or the other person ignores me.

My dog freaks out and turns into a murderous beast. To the other person with the “friendly dog”, we look like the bad guy. I wish I could simply say: “Please google SPACE ETIQUETTE FOR DOGS when you get home!”

I decided to make a pocket-sized pamphlet ( a la www.pocketmod.com) which measures 2.75″ x 4.5″ - small enough to fit in your treat bag or poop bag. You could hand this out to other dog owners and they could trash it or they could read it. No pressure.

VIEW AN EARLIER DRAFT on my instagram here.

The information in these pages is adapted from posters which you can view in greater detail via www.doggiedrawings.net/freeposters (Space Etiquette for Dogs, Does My Dog Love Other Dogs)

I am offering this booklet as a FREE DOWNLOAD. All you need is paper, a printer, and a pair of scissors. Select “Borderless” in your printer settings before you print.



LINK TO DOWNLOAD - Letter Size paper (USA)

LINK TO DOWNLOAD - A4 Size paper (Rest of the World)

FOLDING INSTRUCTIONS

Also check out:

Dogs In Need Of Space

Consent - It’s Not Just For People

To Leash or Not To Leash

How to Thwart an Off-Leash Dog Rushing You and Your Dog