Hi, me again ;D As you know now Goldie was a working dog kept kenneled the majority of the time. She was kenneled with a young Cocker pup and pobably only her mother. If we meet dogs out walking she will back off and looks ver uncomfortable and mostly avoids saying hello. The dog at the stables (young Collie) stalks her, bounds over to her and ties to instigate a play but she either ignores him, avoids him completely, freezes or if he ges too close gives him a warning snarl. I met up with a friend for a walk on Friday night who has a 14 week old Retriever pup. She went over, had a sniff at him, wagged her tail but from then on ignored him and his advances to play. I wondered if maybe working dogs take their job a bit seriously so she doesnt think she's allowed to play...or knows how? How can i get her to relax around dogs and have a play other than keep taking her out with calm dogs or is she destined to be a loner ??
Re: Wont play with other dogs Hi Lisa , I think you have answered your question , yes, keep taking her out with other dogs They vary so much in their natures so maybe Goldie just isnt a playing sort of girl ? You`re doing exactly the right thing by socialising her with other dogs , stick at it and you may see another side to her before too much longer
Re: Wont play with other dogs My dog. Lady, has a similar difficulty with other dogs. She's very timid and goes flat when another dog approaches and stays that way if she perceives the other dog as a threat in any way, and that can just be a dominant or over confident nature in the other dog. I find when she gets to know the other dogs over a series of meetings she's becomes much more relaxed and will initiate play quite freely and has a normal socialisation with them. I'd suggest seeing if you can get her used to some regular dogs to see if this helps.
Re: Wont play with other dogs as i thought ;D For a dog who has had little physical contact from humans she loves a good tight hug. I even tried to replicate being another dog and we were chasing each other up the drive....good job i've no neighbours to speak of : I have a friend who has the puppy i mentioned and she also has a Collie. We will arrange more dog walks with the puppy a few times and when i think shes ready ill introduce her to the Collie.
Re: Wont play with other dogs oh no my lil fella want to play with every dog he sees, then wants to follow them
Re: Wont play with other dogs Well today Goldie has made me out to be a great fat liar :. We met the neighbours dogs (x 4) this morning and she raced over introduced herself and was bounding about happy as larry. sniffing and smiling. Then tonight she was getting a hug from a stranger in the park and a Spaniel type dog came bounding over and said hi. She wagged her tail and ran about attempting to steal its ball for a few seconds then we set off on our own. Shes maybe just picky about who her friends are ;D
Re: Wont play with other dogs Maybe she is just taking a while to become fully confident in this new phase of her life as well (which I bet she is absolutely loving) Great to hear that she has found some like-minded buddies to have a good romp with
