28/10/2025
Brilliant post about dogs meeting each other in the correct way 🐶🐕🥰
( unfortunately this can often go wrong 😞)
SECONDS COUNT
This post is not advocating that dogs meet every other dog, but rather about how to go about it in a safer way, if and when it does happen.
The 3 second rule for dogs meeting each other is used as a guideline to help foster positive introductions, prevent either dog from feeling overwhelmed or trapped and prevent any potential reactivity and stress.
A short 3 second introduction is enough time to provide important information to both dogs.
Enough time and information for dogs to decide – “are you a threat?”, “do I like you?”, “do I want to learn more about you?”, “do I really dislike you?”, “do I want you to go away?” etc. Both dogs may not feel the same way – one may not be happy to engage while the other may want to.
All interactions should ideally happen like this, not just initially. Just like us, dogs can have off days – things like pain, trigger stacking, lack of sleep or a host of other reasons can influence a dog’s emotional state and whether a dog wants to interact or not.
There are countless times I have witnessed meetings or introductions between dogs that have gone on just a few seconds too long and have not ended well.
This can have long lasting effects on future behaviour when meeting other dogs.
Understanding body language is critically important. If we are going to share our lives with another species, protect them, advocate for them and help them feel safe, then we need to understand and respect their language.
The examples in this post of red and green flags are just a few general ones to look out for – there are many more and these will differ depending on the individual dog, context and circumstances.
Here are some resources that provide more detailed information about body language –
The Veterinary Behaviour Centre
https://bit.ly/4hwC8k1
On Talking Terms With Dogs - Calming Signals, 2nd Edition by Turid Rugaas
https://bit.ly/4oftWqW
Make sure those first 3 seconds count – they can make all the difference.
