We're completely mystified by the hostile behaviour of our two little sibling poodles to the presence of people or other dogs they're not familiar with. Their instincts appear to drive them toward belligerence and despite being chastised repeatedly they simply continue this embarrassing and potentially dangerous behaviour.

Our first poodle, Button, was a miniature breed and she exhibited none of this kind of belligerence. She was, in fact, terrified of encounters with other dogs that might betray a character of ill intent. When she was a puppy the sound of a dog barking would send her for cover. But she was happy enough to be friendly with non-threatening dogs, though she remained shy of people.

Riley, our apricot toy poodle who was introduced to Button when he was a puppy and she was already seven, loved people and was suspicious of other dogs. We had hoped they would get along together and become companions with one another. That never happened. Button, despite all of Riley's attempts to endear himself to her, was steadfastly standoffish; she simply ignored his presence. And for the following dozen years that they lived together that was that.

Our current two-and-a-half year-olds are supposed to be toy breeds, even registered with both the American and Canadian Kennel Clubs for all that's worth, and to us, not very much. They're about the size of a miniature poodle, so much for being 'toys'. The thing of it is, toys are notorious for being very unfriendly to other dogs, and these two fit the bill.

They're just fine with dogs they know. They were introduced at an early age to the presence of other dogs, socializing when we come across them on our daily forest walks, but when they come across a dog they're unfamiliar with, their behaviour is decidedly hostile. That's a problem for many reasons, not the least of which is that we like to walk them on the forest trails off leash, and if they see or smell another dog approaching they burst into hostile barking and sprint ahead.

The danger lies in the possibility of coming across a large dog whose reaction could be a vicious one, and that might end in tragedy. We once had something of that nature occur with Riley. It was in the depth of winter, he was wearing several coats, one atop the other, and boots. He accosted a large old Husky in the most belligerent manner, snapping at it. And the Husky simply closed its jaws around Riley and held him while I scrambled to reach them, attempting to loosen the Husky's grip on our then-whimpering little toy dog.

The Husky did relent and Riley was none the worse for wear. The dog's owner apologized, explaining his dog was familiar with small dogs, his mother had one, but he was suffering with cancer in one of his hips/legs. I apologized for Riley's unspeakably miserable behaviour, and was grateful that nothing more had come of the encounter.

Yesterday, walking back down the street after our ravine walk, we saw a neighbour coming toward us with little Munchkin, a long-haired miniature Daschund, a dog both of ours know well, yet Jackie advanced toward the little dog in a threatening snarl, even though both were on leash. It's a puzzle, and a worrisome one.