Inara's come a really long way on our walks - if she sees or hears another dog, she no longer flips out, barking and lunging. Now she may just pull slightly or focus on them. But I'm noticing that if we are passing a house, even across the street, and there is a dog barking at us, whether it's inside or not, Inara will often want to pee and sniff the ground, and if I don't permit her to do so she gets antsy. Is she giving calming signals to the other dog or showing displacement behaviors because she's anxious? And should I permit her to pee/sniff? Usually I cheerfully tell her to "leave it" and "c'mon" and then once we're a couple houses down I'll let her pee. Occasionally after she does her "post dog pee," she'll scratch the ground, acting all big and bad. Is she just being a bitch by wanting to pee in front of them, especially when she does a handstand to pee higher?
So yeah, displacement or calming? Or bitchiness? And how do you know the difference? Is there a difference?