So for whatever reasons, up until now, I've been allowing Maisie to have a quick meet and greet with other dogs while on lead. She has really progressed in terms of how she behaves during these (used to want to leap up on their heads to sniff them, straight into play, now is much better at just sniffing then trying to play). However, she does not understand the line between a quick sniff and wanting to play and I think it would be much clearer to her if she understood on leash, we ignore other dogs, and off leash she can play (if the other dog wants, I'll still police her play until she learns proper dog manners as she doesn't understand "dog" very well yet). I think this will be clearer to her instead of her being able to sort of meet other dogs… but not play.. but sometimes play… I'm also looking at cars so we'll be able to drive to fenced off leash areas (only off leash area near me is a busy dog park near a busy road, unfenced. We use the beach area and another park that is technically on lead area, but we never use it with another dog there) as well as driving her to other people's homes so she can have play sessions. So I'm less worried about her dog socialization since we have that option. So I'm looking for tips on (1) how to teach Maisie we don't meet other dogs while on lead, particularly since up until now she *has* been allowed to do so; and (2) dealing with other humans!! I feel like the human aspect is going to be the biggest problem, to be honest… there are a lot of dogs being walked around here and often people don't even have their dog on a leash while walking, which is ridiculous (I'm talking about walking on sidewalks next to roads, we're not walking on trails or anything like that). Take this morning for example. My landlord has a dog that Maisie loves but can't seem to play very well with, so I avoid them meeting when I can. We were both getting back from a walk at the same time, so I crossed the street and started doing some training with Maisie while we waited for them to go inside. Landlord gets the dog up the stairs, has the door open, then stands there. Eventually I say "I am waiting for you to go inside!" to indicate.. go inside… I'm not letting them meet… Then she goes "She won't go in, can they meet?" And I say something about not letting her greet dogs on the leash anymore, and LO AND BEHOLD they got inside in about 30 seconds flat. So clearly it wasn't the dog holding up the going inside… it was my landlord. I just don't know how much clearer you can be about not meeting!! I crossed the street!! So any tips you have on dealing with people… I sometimes have a hard time being strict when people cross my boundaries out in public because I ge ta bit of a freeze/shock response (one lady called Maisie an idiot, as in "Oh you're just an idiot aren't you?" when she was jumping around… I was so shocked I didn't respond even though I wish I had). I'm thinking just a firm "We don't say hello" and walking onto the grass/away/crossing the street as a last resort?
Re: Teaching puppy to ignore other dogs while on lead I find puppy classes the best way. Ours expect them to ignore each other completely the whole time, so they learn to 'work' while there are lots of dogs in the room. Today they were learning 'send away' and two at different times, decided to have a run around! They made a bee line for Gypsy - such an attractive girl! But, generally, it's great practice for dog distraction.
Re: Teaching puppy to ignore other dogs while on lead I tend to just say, "Sorry, no, I'm training". There's always some eejit who tries to get them to come and say hi (and therefore pull on the lead) when you're working with them, though! Willow is very interested in other people when she's on lead, and I've been working on it by C&Ting as soon as she looks at them, which makes her then look back to me. After a little while of doing this, she generally now spots someone and looks directly towards me, ignoring the person or people. We need to proof it against people she knows now, and people making "come here" noises. Personally, I don't even want my dogs going up to others when they're off lead, especially if they don't know the dog. I'm lucky in that they're not really interested in other dogs, at least at the moment, but will get excited by one or two they know. Shadow will generally run straight towards them, but he has the stronger recall, so I call him back, give him a big treat and then send him to play. Willow is generally a bit more aloof approaching them, preferring to see the owners first (knowing most of them carry treats!), and is therefore it's easier to catch her attention and stop her. But a few times now, she's actually stopped herself without anything from me, turned back towards me and awaited instruction - come back, or go play? Not something I've specifically trained for, but I'm hoping I can strengthen that behaviour in her; it's very useful
Re: Teaching puppy to ignore other dogs while on lead It is a bit tricky. I have a "no hello while on lead" policy for a few reasons but one reason is that Charlie has never got the "quick hello" thing, he just wants to play which is impossible and dangerous on lead. And since I don't want to stop to say hello to every dog it's clearer I think to never do it. But lots of people do train the quick hello and move on thing, and in some ways it's probably an easier path to take. Particularly if your dog spends a lot of time on lead. Other people and their dogs saying hello are an absolute pain though. I just developed a range of ways to say "no" while being firm and as polite as I could be (but still get abused a fair bit when people think it's unreasonable to deny their dog the opportunity to romp around with mine while both wrapping their leads around the ankles of passers-by). No, we won't say hello. No, please don't let your dog pull you over to mine. And so on. Off lead dogs are nearly impossible. The only technique, which I developed when Charlie was injured, was to get hold of the other dog, hold it on one side of me with its collar and hold Charlie on the other side and tell the owner to come get their dog. I don't do that now Charlie is better, it often didn't go down very well, but I will step towards an approaching dog with my hand up (like a policeman) and say "back off". It often works....
Re: Teaching puppy to ignore other dogs while on lead Yeah, the issue I'm having is Maisie does a hello, often walking around the other dog (lead tangle), then launches into playing. So I either have to get her to understand sniffs are ok, playing is not, or just avoid the other dog together. And then there are some dogs that she wants to play with from far off, so I don't let her visit... She has a leave it cue for when she sees a dog across the street she's interested in, to get her moving again. I have trained her to check in with me as we approach another dog by turning her head, and when she sees other distractions. She used to be very interested in all people, and now she walks past people who aren't interested in her, but sometimes tries to visit ppl who are talking to her, doing something interesting like eating, or that she's met before. So that's improved a lot. I think she's too play minded at the moment to learn sniff is ok, play is not, unless we charge off after the sniff right away (ppl may find me rude, but oh well...), perhaps with a sardine in front of the nose (freeze dried).
