Buddy is socialising fairly well on the whole, playful with dogs when there’s chance/time, happy for a quick hello with strangers, fine with older bigger dogs, but sometimes with smaller dogs he barks at them, after an initial friendly sniff (this is on the lead). Now I’m sure this is just because he wants to play but can’t, but I suppose not everyone will think that? Is this normal? (He’s just short of 12 weeks old) And how maybe can I try to stop this happening if need be? It’s all very new to him so hopefully he’ll calm down a bit the more dogs he sees. I’ve heard mixed feelings on puppy classes and have lots of friends with dogs so I’ll just keep doing that for socialising for now. Any advice welcome, thanks!
It's difficult to know exactly why he is barking, but it could well be excitement. Chewie definitely barks out of excitement when meeting people and dogs. The bark is quite high pitched and often has an upward inflection. It's the same bark he does when he's sick of me relaxing on the couch... We have had an improvement with "look at that" training where you reward your dog for calmly looking at stimuli without barking and pulling. There's a thread in the Training forum I think.
Hi, i can't advise I'm afraid but Isla,who is 27 weeks now has just started doing the same. I think it's just excitement and only when she's on a lead but I'm worried other dog owners will not know that. I don't know why suddenly she's started this. I wondered if maybe if i see a dog coming before she does and distract her with a high value treat this may work. Does Buddy just bark or does he strain on the leash to get to the other dog?
He does strain a bit but that’s because I start to pull away because I don’t want to make owners feel uncomfortable, I’m almost certain it’s excitement, he doesn’t growl or anything, he does the same with our rabbits, but when he gets near the cage he just licks them! He’s so soft with everyone, he just loves to play but he’s my first dog so I’m a bit unsure of how it all works. I’m just going to keep trying with friends dogs until he gets fully used to being around other dogs. The most play he’s had has been with his siblings which is quite full on, so this could be why, he loves it and might not get that not all dogs want to play his game, I’ve read about that kind of thing.
Yes i do the same with Isla and there's no growling at all just high pitched bark. She is so excitable! And definitely thinks all other dogs will want to play! If off lead she bounds over to every dog to play. Hopefully as they mature they will be less excitable
Folks, you might want to look up 'frustrating greeting' in dogs. One huge important thing to teach any puppy, is they don't always get what they want - and how to deal with that. Frustrated greeter behaviour can look extremely aggressive and serious if allowed to continue - you can end up with a dog bouncing up and down on the end of the leash, barking angrily-sounding (out of frustration) because they want to reach the other dog and can't. It is generally good to think long and hard about whether you want to allow your dog to greet other dogs when on leash and how your dog is supposed to make sense of that: Why sometimes do you allow them to get to these dogs, whilst they are pulling or straining to get to them - and other times you don't? To the dog this is just a random withholding of something desirable, which makes no sense. It usually makes more sense if you have a rule of 'when on lead you don't get to meet other dogs - you only get to meet them when off leash'. That way the dog will never expect to meet another dog on lead and you can work on training them to manage their barking through Look At That at the sight of another dog. If you do want them to meet other dogs on leash, then you want to ensure you are not letting your puppy pull you up to another dog and be focussed on that other dog. Instead, you would ask for a 'Watch Me' behaviour and then release the puppy whilst the puppy is looking at you, to greet the other dog.This can often be hard to set up in reality - you need to know the other dog is safe for your puppy to greet and you need that owner to stand still with their dog until you've released yours to greet them. But if you can implement this, then you end up with a dog giving you excellent attention when around other dogs, because they are then hopeful they might get released to greet them. If you don't do either of the above things, then you do run the risk of the dog attempting to get to any dog you pass and then becoming frustrated and potentially barking at them. This behaviour tends just to get worse as the dog gets older and because people don't realise the problem it is, when it is happening in a cute puppy, they don't try early enough to stop it - and then it has become quite engrained. I would definitely be attending a well-run puppy class. I'm a trainer and I take my own dogs to as many classes as I can whilst they are puppies. The socialisation is vast and huge, the puppy learns to focus on you in the presence of other puppies and distractions and research shows that puppies which have attended a puppy class are less likely to develop behaviour problems and less likely to ever be rehomed or end up in rescue. That's reason enough for me, even though as a trainer I can teach the actual exercises fine without being at a class, I still go....
Thanks Jo, I really appreciate you always having time to write such detailed and constructive responses! I probably will take buddy to a class if I can find one that’s well recommended, as brief meetings aren’t enough playtime for buddy and I don’t want to give him the wrong message. Anyway, we took buddy to a big market/fair/event today that is run by animal welfare so there’s loads of people, mostly with dogs, and buddy did great. Fantastic with children, and met as many as 50 different dogs with no problem at all. He barked a at a couple, but I forgot to mention in my original post that he bows with his front paws. My breeder has just told me that this is a ‘play bow’? Can anyone confirm this? I definitely think he just wants to play. I haven’t restrained him at all as I want him to meet as many dogs as posssible, however, not all owners/dogs are quite so sociable for whatever reason. And this ties in with what you said about mixed messages, which I am aware of and keen to avoid. It does seem a little unfair that he can’t have a proper play with strangers when on lead, so this is something I will have to address/structure. He’s so soft though, and everyone that has met him has commented on it, so again, I’m keen to keep it like that, thanks again!
Yes, he is just doing a play bow to invite the other dog to play with him. The good news about this, is you have what sounds like a pretty well-adjusted happy and confident puppy (without any fear to be dealing with). The down side of things, is his interest in other dogs might be something to keep an eye on as he grows - you don't want him getting more and more 'into' other dogs and less and less into you. As he's within the socialisation period at the moment, I wouldn't worry too much about it - more important he has good experiences with other dogs until he is 14wks - but after that point, if he is ok with other dogs, I'd focus on training and on him-and-you bonding activities and less on play with other dogs. Whereabouts are you based? What country or area? I might be able to put you on the path towards a good trainer, or give you some directories to check out a list of trainers on...
Thanks again Jo, we are north west uk. I am going to look into trainers but we have a very good bond as I train him every day and I’m keen for that to continue. Also my 12 year old daughter is doing great work with him. He stands, sits, lays down, and only go’s for a treat, even when it is on the floor in front of him, when she says ‘yes’. Thanks so much for your input and I’ll be sure to keep his interest in us as his interest grows with other dogs!
You might want to check out an APDT trainer: http://www.apdt.co.uk If you want to give some structure to your training, I do like the KC Good Citizen Awards
