How does your dog behave when around other dogs while leashed? Is it pull, pull, pull? Sniff, sniff, sniff? Is your dog's attention on you, the other dog, or both?
I bring this up because that's one of the areas that's covered in testing to register a dog as a therapy dog. My Yorkies are registered through Pet Partners, and one stage of the 20-plus-stage test is to walk your dog past a "neutral dog and handler" without the dogs being allowed to interract. The handlers greet each other, but the test subject's dog is not allowed to approach the neutral dog.
For people taking the test, that's is often the area that gives them the most trepidation. Fail that one stage and you fail the whole test.
Actually, my Yorkies get off easy in that part. I can opt to test them as small dogs and carry them through that stage. Though I "think" they'd be able to pass it on the ground, I've always elected to carry just because that's quite likely what I'd do in a real hospital situation.
But back to my question: How would your dog do in a situation like that? If well, how did you train for it or what advice would you have for others?
And for anyone curious, here are the two parts of the Pet Partners examination: A skills test and an aptitude test.
Anchorage