Hi my lab is 13 weeks old and we’ve had him for 2 weeks now. For the first time yesterday we took him out for the day and went to a really busy park where there were lots of people/kids/dogs. He was fine with people and kids but when some dogs came up to him, they were both on leads, milo went crazy, jumping around and really snarling/growling! My husband had to hold him back and it surprised us both. Any suggestions on how to stop this please
Well firstly I wouldn't be taking a 13 week old pup to a very busy park. It is simply too much stimulus for them. Secondly, I really, really would avoid other dogs coming up to Milo, especially on a lead. Milo's reaction, jumping, snarling,growling was an instinctive response to an environment that was simply to much for him to process at his age. Stress in a young dog, or a dog at any age, can look pretty similar whether it is happy stress or unhappy scared stress. So give him a few quiet days at home, playing training games for example. A good way to help a puppy learn to adjust to our very busy environments, is to find a quiet bench, some distance from any busy activity, and where Milo feels comfortable, then reward him with small tasty treats and lots of praise for calmly observing the world. Puppy socialisaton is more about gentle positive exposure to new things, than lots of interactions. A common mistake, and a very easy one is to rush out and let your puppy meet everyone and everything! Which for some pups is fine, although not so fine when you have a 30kg adult dog who thinks is's OK to say hello to every dog it meets. For other dogs who are naturally more more nervous disposition this can lead to trouble further on. Have you enrolled in puppy classes yet?
Hi thanks for your response, I should of added that although it was a busy park we did keep milo away from all the hustle and bustle and keep to the edges and we went for a walk in the woodland where there were hardly any people and that’s where he came across the dog that he didn’t get on with. Weve enrolled him in a class but it doesn’t start for another couple of weeks.
