Last night we took Taiyo (almost 9 weeks) to his first puppy party at the vet's. There were 3 other dogs, 2 male and 1 female, all older than him (11+ weeks). He was overwhelmed and hid at first, as one of them (a Cocker boy) was the most hyper blur of barking brown fur I have ever seen xD But after he started feeling comfortable he was running around pinning them all to the ground, and with the males his growl became a snarl and his hackles raised up. With the female he pinned too but didn't show that behaviour, instead he humped her head which she seemed pleased about Is this all normal behaviour? The vet nurse said we had a "confident dog".
Yes, it's normal behaviour - but four pups playing is rather overwhelming for them all, I think. I prefer mine to play with one at once at that age (we go to each other's houses) It's good that they learn doggy language through play. But puppy classes are better imo, as they learn to be around other pups without playing. Excellent early impulse control. ...
Thanks @Boogie that's good to hear! It started out with all 4, then the nurse switched to one on one, round robining the dogs so they all got a chance to play with one another. I'm glad the snarling with hackles raised is OK, I was worried it crossed the line. I know biting/growling/barking is all normal, just wasn't sure about that as he seemed to be the only one taking it that far. We are starting a puppy training course this Saturday, it's the Kennel Club Good Puppy Citizen program. He'll be having 3 weeks of puppy parties at the vet's in conjunction with 6 weeks of the training course. The one area of socialisation which I'm not sure I'll be able to do with him are babies and toddlers, I hope this will be ok. I don't have children and don't know any those ages :/ I'll be going to the primary school gates after school though so at least he'll experience that age range.
Jessie was the most bonkers one at her puppy party and still goes insane if we go near the vets where it was held! It all sounds normal for a confident lab!
Gypsy was a proper snarler as a little puppy when she played - muzzle a wrinkled up and showing teeth! ...
Maisie was the worst for crazy puppy play behaviour, teeth, snarling, growling! She was the one that had to be removed from the group and she was too OTT! She has grown into a calm and sensible girl, but at the time looked like a right hooligan
The other puppy owners were looking rather concerned! No other Labs though, the other three were a Cocker, Cockapoo, and Springer.
I found this article on socialisation which is very interesting and sprang to mind as I was reading about your puppy party. It sounds a bit OTT for a young Lab. http://www.wylanbriar.com/behavioural-information/avoiding-growing-an-oversocial-dog/
Thanks Snowbunny that was an interesting read. I'm a bit confused though, should we not take him to puppy parties? I'm trying to follow the Handbooks advice on socialising but that article seems to contradict it when it comes to people/dogs/children etc. Or I guess it's advocating doing a blend? Some socialising, some just wandering about seeing other people dogs pass by or at a distance. Although I really don't see myself telling a child or kind stranger "please don't pet my puppy", no matter how tactfully :/
I think you have to know your puppy, to some extent. The Happy Puppy Handbook is aimed at all puppies. Labradors are not "all puppies", not by a long shot They tend to the confident and boisterous. That's why there are so many people having problems with their Labs running up to other people, to other dogs, jumping up, wanting to play the whole time. So, this article suggests that, for a puppy who has already had a good grounding, whilst at the breeder, of meeting new people, then it may benefit the owners of these confident monsters (said with utmost affection) to teach their puppies not how to play with other dogs, but how to not play with other dogs. So they don't come to expect that every dog they meet is their play thing. Similarly, not every human. Of course, there are exceptions. My two aren't confident dogs, yet I still had to deal with Shadow wanting to run up to other dogs, because that's what he'd learnt; other dogs meant "socialisation", which I had equated with playtime. Due to several things, as he grew up, he became nervous around male dogs (I'm not linking this with too much play, I hasten to add). I wish I had spent lots of time with him as a puppy doing what this article suggests; being in an environment where there are other dogs, but learning that it doesn't mean interaction is inevitable. To learn to be calm in the presence of other dogs. Willow, conversely, is rather ambivalent to other dogs. If another dog persists politely, she will have a bit of a play, but in general, she is more than happy not to interact with other dogs at all. This isn't something I trained for, it's just her personality. And it's fantastic. I don't have to worry about her at all around other dogs. She won't run up to them and cause problems. She's not nervous of them, she's just not bothered. She's relaxed and calm in their presence. She did have a problem with jumping up at people, though, because I overdid the socialisation on that front. Everyone wanted to hold her and pet her as a puppy. Who wouldn't, she was delicious! But I should have been teaching her that not everyone is her play thing. When I get my next puppy, this is what I will be practicing, rather than having them practice being a lunatic. Some short play (no more than a couple of minutes) with some nice mannered dogs on occasion (I'll probably be calling on some forum members to help me out there!), but a lot, lot more instances where they don't get to play. Puppy parties and puppy classes are something I don't have the benefit of where I live. It's entirely up to you whether you go to them or not. Some people have wonderful experiences with them, some less so. I'd just encourage you to look at the behaviour of your puppy and decide if that's what you want to encourage and practice. How will it feel when he weighs 20kgs+? I must stress, it's not "all or nothing". No-one is suggesting that your puppy should never get to play with other people or dogs!
I got pretty good at this! When Willow was at her jumpiest, she was still cute but was getting big (well, they never got really big, my two, but big enough!). People would still approach her while she was lunging and jumping. I would be very direct with them at first, "Please don't touch my puppy!", which would stop them in their tracks and, if I chose to, would allow me to explain why, and then how to wait to approach when she was calm. If you explain that they're helping with training, they tend to come away from it feeling they've done something good, rather than offended.
@snowbunny Gotcha! And yes that's a good point about the Handbook being about all puppies. I also have the Lab specific one which I'm working through with the early training exercises. I guess I feel this article and chart are what are contradictory to that article (which I see as very valid, as we have a rescue Jack Chi who has zero self control around other dogs. She was a stray so she was able to do whatever she wanted growing up) - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-socialise-your-labrador-puppy/ Since it's Lab specific, I've been trying to follow it like the Bible, although I find the 10 checks for certain items rather challenging. As you say though, we have to know our puppy and his personality. I honestly had no idea he was a "confident dog" until this puppy party, the vet nurse knew it immediately. We've only had him just shy of a couple of weeks now. I was planning on going to the school gates this afternoon to socialise him around children, now I'm wondering should I do that? Is he just going to be like "ooooooooooo kids!!!!!!" when he gets bigger? Ahhhhhh so many avenues to mess up this little pup it's doing my head in >_<
Just think about the interactions he has with the kids. If they rile him up, or overwhelm him, or make him scared, then he's going to have a strong reaction to them in the future. But, if you can have positive, calm association with kids, where one or two come and stroke him nicely, then he's learning that kids mean calm. Of course, kids aren't always calm, they can shriek and flap around, but have him watch that calmly, from a distance if needs be, while you keep him focussing on you by playing with him, tickling his tummy or whatever he likes. Then he learns that flappy, shrieky kids mean that he gets to have fun time with you.
Don't worry, by the way, it is overwhelming at times! I've learnt so much in the last two years from my two, so I know far better what I will do if I ever get another. Just keep in mind that the socialisation "window" isn't the be all and end all - dogs keep on learning through their lives and things that didn't work quite how you'd like can be sorted out later on. My two had the regular socialisation with kids when they were young puppies, but then probably didn't see one for several months. When they next did, they were scared of these small humans that were so shrill and moved in such a strange way. I had to do a lot of work to get through this - you can search for my posts on the matter, if it's of any interest - but I got there, and they're no longer scared, barking monsters when kids are around. They will still be a bit uncertain around them, and I don't let kids approach without judging my dogs' mood, but just because you don't do something perfectly in the beginning doesn't mean your dog is "broken" for life
Rory had to do everything late due to illness. He was about 8 weeks behind. Luckily I had my other 2 who although old taught him a great deal. I got friends to bring calm relaxed vacinated dogs. When he eventually got to puppy class he was Huge. The trainer always has a lab puppy class theres always load or crosses or just big bouncy pups that do well together. When he got there he looked round taking it all in and had a great time. We let different pups play once they had done some gentle work. Rory just lay on the floor on his back and let them lick his Willy. I been so worried him missing out missing that short socialization period but it was ok. Even fact that he is still a total hedonist is not a problem. Ive just had to do a lot of things later. It was horrible at the time such a worry, but I think raising pups is so hard.
