Sorry for 3 posts at once, I was posting these daily to facebook and forgot to put them on the blog. So this post gets you caught up :-)
Other Dogs
Many people are under the mistaken impression that socialization is letting the puppy play with as many other dogs as possible. This is a great way to get a reactive dog! Because these same people also don’t help the puppy if those other dogs are rude, overwhelming, pushy, or sometimes even mildly aggressive! The puppy learns that other dogs can be overwhelming, rude, pushy, aggressive, and even terrifying! And this applies to other puppies they meet too! Puppies don’t usually fight back against those behaviors, but when the dog matures, he is much more likely to do so!
And even if the puppy only meets very appropriate dogs or other puppies, if they learn that the sight of other dogs means they get to play every time, good luck keeping that dog’s attention around other dogs! This makes dog sports very challenging!
Instead, I want my puppy to see and watch lots of other dogs, but only occasionally get to interact with them (ones I KNOW will be appropriate). Females that have had at least 1 litter that they did well with are a good start.
So we will go to places where there are other dogs, sit in a comfortable spot at a distance, and the puppy will get treats any time he chooses to look at me or do easy behaviors for me. Dogs being visible is just another cue that the ‘treat bar’ is open.
When my pup can interact with another safe dog, there are lots of call aways from play to come get treats from me and then get sent right back to play. And if the pup ignores me, I go get him, and then give a treat, before sending him back. This does many things-
- Works on recall (though I just use enticing sounds, not my recall cue until I know it is well established and will work!)
- Teaches the pup that he can always check in with me for a treat and it doesn’t end the fun
- Provides breaks from play I can use to assess whether or not the pup wants to continue playing or not
- Gives me a way to interrupt unwanted behavior by either dog during play (mounting, getting too amped up, being rude, etc.)
- Prevents frustration aggression (when the dog is prevented from getting what they want)
Most adult dogs are not interested in play with other dogs (though some do maintain that for a while). They might want to sniff/greet, they might want a brief bit of play, but most aren’t playing like puppies do. So I’m really just interested in having the pup learn appropriate play/interactions as a youngster so they are safe around other dogs and don’t freak out or react badly if a loose dog approaches. But play sessions are not something I do a lot of with my puppies. Mostly I focus on, “Can you engage with me with other dogs around?” and “Can you ignore other dogs while we move past or around them?”
As you can see in the retriever party, he was totally focused on the toys!
Voodoo at a Labrador Fun Day:
And at a Retriever party:
