Writing this post for some advice / reassurance. Our general dog walk routine (1½ to 2 hours off lead) involves a mixture of the following for our dog: -free time to have a run around / sniff -playing (retrieving ball or finding hidden ball) -some short intervals of training Some days we will walk with friends and my dog will play with their dogs, other days we walk by ourselves. Apart from when we meet dogs he knows, our dog has lost interest in playing with other dogs and is more focused on us and playing with the ball. This has not always been the case. Yesterday while walking, we met a dog that ran up to mine and bounded around him wanting to play. My dog wasn’t interested and walked past it by my side waiting for me to throw the ball. The owners of the other dog said I should be concerned with my dog’s behaviour which wasn't normal. Apparently this was because he wasn’t interested in interacting with their dog and was ‘obsessed with the tennis ball’. Our intention when introducing playing with the ball and LAT had always been to train our dog not to run up to people, unfamiliar dogs and dogs on lead. The fact that he is no longer interested in playing or interacting with new dogs was not intentional, but I have never seen it as a problem before. I am now wondering what other people’s dog walking routine is…maybe we’ve got it wrong?
I think you’ve got it right! My dog, Molly, will occasionally agree to play with other dogs, but mostly ignores them and focuses on me. She is relaxed with other dogs -lies down next to them at training classes - and I’m happy with that. I’m pleased that I’m the one she wants to interact with. It sounds as if you’re using the tennis ball for your dog to hunt for too rather than just repeated throws so that brings variety and greater mental stimulation.
My girl is the same. We play lots of 'find the ball' on walks as well as 'hide an seek' as well as the occasional throwing of the ball. She chooses to stay by me waiting to see what I will do ne t rather than run off and play with dogs she doesn't know. I prefer this and see it as a good thing.
My dog has never played with another dog! We do walk most days with a Greyhound and other Lab and they just do doggie things together, usually sniffing and exploring. My Lab is very focussed on his ball and I wouldn't want him dashing off playing with other dogs. In my opinion you haven't got it wrong
Sam had friends who he loved to hang around with, playing chase , especially when he was younger but as he matured , he tended to do his own thing , largely ignoring others . Nelly likes to meet and greet familiar dogs, but she prefers to stick close to me . Because she is deaf, she did depend on Sam a lot , following his lead so it was a major worry when he died , that she might rebel in some way , luckily this hasn't happened . She does have the odd run around but only with dogs she is familiar with , that suits me fine .
You have a super routine. My Tatze loves to play with Zaba, her Best Friend in the Whole Wide World - and she’ll occasionally be goaded into playing with my pups. But all other dogs it’s just a sniff and walk on.
I'd say you have it right too. Even Labs, one of the most gregarious breeds, can lose interest in actively socializing with strange dogs as they get older. There is nothing bad about that, gives more control to the owner. Mine both still played with doggy friends they'd known for a while, not so much with newly met dogs. There can be big differences by breed too. My dog walking friend became a friend because her GSD took a liking to Oban. He was one of the few newly met dogs she ever played with.
Thanks for the responses – I feel reassured. I have to admit, this time last year we were more concerned about him being too interested in other dogs and walking was becoming quite a stressful experience. Then in the summer he lost his adolescent enthusiasm and seemed to mature pretty much overnight. Up until the comments yesterday I had been rather relieved at this: walking him was suddenly enjoyable again. Thankfully, he still seems to love meeting puppies and will always lie down and play gently with them. Snowshoe – I feel a bit of a cheat as he is not a Labrador but a Flatcoat. We found this website after reading some of Pippa’s articles and books and found it such a valuable resource. Mind you, most of the dogs we walk with are Labradors so I imagine he thinks he may be one!
I hope that one day my dog will be like yours, and not want to play with everyone in a 200 yard radius. I think you've got it just right, your dog wants to be with you, not everyone else. I will keep on working at it.
Cooper and Tilly are usually more interested in balls than other dogs. If I want them to interact with other dogs, I keep the ball hidden. Tilly is too old to run very much, but Cooper will play chase with other dogs if she likes them. Some times she will also compete with them for thrown tennis balls. Tilly will walk around and say hello, but not much more. When Cooper meets our neighbors Labradoodle they both go crazy and play all sorts of chase and keep-a-way games, but it is like they are soul mates. They are close to the same size and age.
That is pretty normal to me and also makes life easier at times. We have been working on this with Vanilla for a long time and in the last 6months she has gotte good. She will now wait and look at me before I allow her to interact with other dogs. But most times we just interact, makes for a pleasant walk whilst out. And by interact I mean , tell her about my day and ask what she has been up too. Sure she thinks ' what are you talking about'. Play a few games etc. And just sit and watch the world go by
I’m going to go against the grain just a touch here. I’m certainly not saying you have it wrong, but I would also be taking an honest look at my dog’s relationship with the ball. How would he react to the other dogs if it wasn’t there? Do you ever take walks without it? How does he behave then? Can he follow cues when it’s visible, can he be called away from it? Can he take food when it’s in sight? A dog’s love of a ball can be a useful thing indeed but it’s not healthy if it becomes obsessive.
Yes, good point. Zaba would become totally ball obsessed if we let him. So it only comes out at certain points in the walk. It is useful if he needs distracting for any reason (unusual, he’s a very laid back boy ) .
Hi snowbunny, in answer to your questions - How would he react to the other dogs if it wasn’t there? The ball always goes away when we meet up and walk with other dogs we know. This is mainly because the ball invariably gets dropped and lost by one of them. His interactions with unfamiliar dogs seems to vary depending on how they interact with him. He is happy for a quick meet and greet but if they charge up to him or are very bouncy and ‘in his face’ (like the one we met the other day) he tends to ignore them. He doesn’t pay much attention to small dogs and if it is another entire male he will nearly always avoid it. Do you ever take walks without it? How does he behave then? Not recently. If I am honest, I am sure he would love to have a walk where we just threw him the ball the whole time, but we only play with the ball for part of the walk. He knows that if the ball is put in my coat pocket then the game is over. Can he take food when it’s in sight? Oh yes... we have yet to encounter a situation where he won’t take food Can he follow cues when it’s visible, can he be called away from it? I haven’t tried to call him away from it, but I am sure the answer would be no. Any suggestions on how we start to train him to do this? Do you suggest we should leave the ball at home sometimes? Boogie - What a stunning dog Keir is!
Same here!! It's so stressful when they run off when they see another dog! Mason is nearly 6 months fine around me but as soon as he sees someone or a dog he has gone. Just now he ran upto a dog, owner very sweet but had trouble getting him until he calmed down. Any advice?
I think 6 months is still such a young age, although I know what you mean about feeling stressed. Up until a year old, our dog was always friendly but submissive when meeting other dogs. At a year his confidence seemed to grow and he became very excited around new dogs. As a puppy we had spent a lot of time working on a solid recall and encouraging him not to run up to other dogs, but suddenly this all seemed to go out the window. On occasions he would get so excited he would start to hump the dogs he played with. Initially, I began to keep him on the lead when we approached unfamiliar dogs. Then we had a couple of incidents where other entire males ran up to him and attacked him while he was on the lead. In the end I began to avoid unfamiliar dogs all together and considered having him castrated. After some research, we decided to try a Tardak injection instead. I was then forced to let him off lead to see the effects. To my amazement he seemed a different dog: suddenly other dogs weren’t that interesting anymore and he was happier being with us. There was no change after 6 weeks (when the injection should have worn off). In fact, I would say he became less interested in other dogs so I don’t think this change in behaviour was entirely down to the Tardak. I would like to say it was the result of training, but I think it had far more to do with his maturity (now 2 ½) and maybe a drop in hormone levels as he has got older. Tomorrow we walk without the tennis ball. Will have to think of some other games to play with him while we are out.
