Hi. My 18 week old labrador seems to be excessively submissive and timid when she meets other dogs. she doesn't seem to want to chase round and play other than with pups of a similar age. she seems to be shy and always rolls over submissively as soon as she sees another dog . is this something I can help her get over so she can enjoy playing with other dogs
Hi @Gill&Ruby and welcome to the forum. I moved your post into its own thread, because you'll get more views and replies this way. Some puppies are a bit more timid than others. My two would alway roll over when unknown dogs were around. It's just part of their body language and you shouldn't worry about it, unless she's obviously fearful. Try to engineer meetings with gentle, friendly dogs and remove her from the situation if she's out of her depth. I very much doubt this will be a problem as she matures. To be honest, most of the time, the struggle is preventing our Labs charging over to other dogs, so, as much as you don't want her to be afraid, learning that you are more interesting and exciting than other dogs isn't a bad lesson to be teaching now. Do you think she's just a bit unsure, which is perfectly natural, or do you think she's actually afraid?
Hi Gill, I shouldn't worry about it too much, this may just be a stage she is going through. Just make sure Ruby has enough exposure to kind, gentle dogs, and let her play with other puppies; all to help her confidence increase. My girl is usually quite submissive to other dogs (especially large bitches she doesnt know) even now, at four years old. I think that's fine!
