i always walk henry for about 20 mins at the moment and im trying to socialise him with other people and dogs but the other dogs will sniff him then walk on and other dogs sniff him and run off! do they not like puppies or something lol it seems to be the boy dogs anyway poor henry lol
No problem. So long as he meets plenty of friendly dogs. In fact, too much puppy play can build up unrealistic expectations in their minds that all dogs want to play (they don't, not by a long way).
So true! Harley will usually say hi to dogs who want to say hi, but will move on 9 times out of 10. Occasionally she will play with a pup and is very gentle (she is very kind to pups especially!). I think it's good to teach pups that not all dogs want to play so this will actually help you in the future.
Much better if they don't start thinking that they get to say hello and play with every dog they meet.
When can they interact with dogs in relation to their vaccination status. Our black lab Cole is 9 weeks old. He had distemper/parvovirus/hepatitis today due for rabies in middle of May??
Hi Maryann, there should be little risk to Cole in meeting dogs that you know are fully vaccinated in a safe environment. As to when you can take him out and put him on the ground to meet other dogs is a question for your vet as it will depend upon the vaccination schedule and the risks in your particular area.
This sounds ideal to me. I'd really like it if I was my dog's favourite playmate. This what happened with us too, the other dogs met puppy, gave him a sniff, he wasn't interesting, they went and sniffed something else. I think this is a great meeting, no antisocial behaviour on the part of either, no wild plays, ho hum you're boring is not bad with other unknown dogs. Or even known dogs. Puppy, you're cute but you are NOT the King of the World.
I'd also try to make sure that Henry is used to seeing dogs when you're out and about but not automatically getting to say hello to everyone. We made this mistake when socialising Ella as we wanted her to meet as many different people and dogs as possible. Twelve months down the track we're dealing with a dog that expects to be able to say hello to everyone single person or dog we encounter!
Totally agree - you want a puppy to calmly meet and greet lots of (friendly) strange dogs, and have a few special mates to play with, but absolutely do not want a puppy to learn that every strange dog (or person, jogger, cyclist etc) is to be greeted with wild excitement and an assumption it's playtime.
If I could pick one thing that I would go back and do differently, it would be this. Ella's wild excitement is by far our greatest challenge and to think that I played a part in creating it!! Argh!
yea we tried this this morning and he couldnt greet a king charles spaniel they crossed over and he had a little tantrum lol
My 11 week old boy has been meeting selected dogs since he was 8 weeks old - two dogs of a very good friend (one is just over a year old and the other is 10 months old) and my sisters dog who is 10 weeks older than my boy. I am worried that as they are all still in full playful pup mode when we meet other dogs Bailey is going to think that they all want to play - he gets very over excited when he sees other dogs and whines, wriggles to get down and lets out some really high pitched yelps. Any advice on how to calm him down when he sees other dogs? We usually have to take him out of the room but he still struggles to get back to the other dog.
Hi Samantha, We had the same problem where our friends all have young dogs and puppies that we socialized Quinn with before all her shots and she was rushing up and trying to play with every dog on the street when we started taking her out. We started training her to sit with a treat whenever a dog approaches and she has to wait to "say hello" and she doesn't get to say hello every time. At 5.5 months she now sits and waits to greet dogs (and people haha) on the street without being asked...it's a work in progress but she is now pretty calm in her greetings.
Thank you for this - we will start with that as soon as we can - think its too late with the three he already knows as they all greet each other like complete nutters!
It's never too late, it will just take longer where greetings have been "excited", but it is really god to work on their impulse control when they are still small and unable to use their strength/weight against you
