I suspect that many dogs react aggressively because they feel trapped by their leash.

Bobbie, my 4 year old, always confuses me with her reaction to other dogs. For the most time, she is quite friendly with other dogs. There are times though when she will bark when seeing one from a distance. There are also times when they approach each other in a friendly manner, tails wagging, only to start barking at the other dog for no apparent reason.

She is a very sociable and loving dog. We take her out 2-3 times a day and let her loose whenever the surrounding area is safe of cars. We try to have come in contact with as many dogs as possible as we believe it is essential to her behaviour.

On many occasions she is approached by stray dogs which are an enormous problem in Greece. The dogs are not dangerous to the people as they circulate in heavily populated areas but do get aggressive if another dog enters their territory. My husband and I are both on alert, reading both dogs body language for any aggressiveness, and are ready to scoop Bobbie into our arms in case of an attack. Most times they play wonderfully and she returns home happy and content.

On one occasion though, she was attacked by 2 strays while crossing a traffic light. She yelped quite a few times as they tangled around my legs and I managed to pull her up into my arms while my husband tried to keep the dogs off us. Fortunately none of us were hurt.

Another attack came while sniffing a husky which was on a mechanical leash. They both looked quite happy sniffing each other until one of them, I am not quite sure who started it, barked. From then on, the husky was biting Bobbie, and they were playing May pole with my legs until they threw me down. It was my fault for not having kept my distance so I could have pulled her back. The huskies owner did nothing to reel in the leash but sit there and look impassively at the whole mess.

I gave her a piece of my mind but backed off as she got very offensive and started coming for me.

I now let Bobbie approach another dog but keep back and ready to pull her in if need be. I have also started carrying a small can of spray in case I need to ward off a stray.