My Bolshie Pup

[LoremIpsum]

Martha is four months old. Since our first class at puppy school, I've known she is a fairly dominant dog. She was the boss of the pups at puppy school. Another puppy was a bit nippy and aggressive, and Martha was the only one who could dominate him, which she'd generally do just by sitting on him! She wasn't aggressive. She loved playing with the all the other pups at puppy school and was never aggressive, but she was definitely dominant — often ending a chase by standing over another pup, pawing at their heads, winning all the games.

We live opposite a huge park with on and off-leash areas. I obey the signs, and in the off-leash areas I let her off if there's no other dogs around. I leash her if we see people, because otherwise she'll jump all over them, on-leash dogs, and off-leash dogs that I don't feel certain about. But she plays off-leash with dogs quite frequently.

She is best with dogs who are adults and feisty. She'll lie down submissively when they approach. But as soon as they've sniffed, she's up for a game. She's quite fearless with any dog and loves rough-housing. Even if an older dog gets annoyed with her she'll still be trying to play.

But with puppies her own age or with passive dogs her own size, she still tries to be dominant. Her hackles go up and she growls a little. Still, I find it hard to know if she's playing roughly or actually being aggressive. She's still playing when these interactions happen.

I call her away from these situations, but they really worry me. Am I raising a monster? How can I teach her to play nicely? Or should I just leash her whenever she sees another dog, and wait to see how they interact?

I'm very keen to train her to behave well off leash, and I want her to accompany me on long walks.

[Tonymc]

Botheration, if your unsure of reading the behaviour correctly then have an experienced person have a look for you.Then you will know if there is a problem or not. Tony

[dee lee]

Given that my dog does NOT play nice, I cant help with tips

BUT, If you do a search, recently there have been a few threads about how to get pups to play nicely. You are certainly not alone in your concerns.

I think you are being a very smart and responsible dog owner looking for advice on this sooner rather than later. It is definitely a very good idea to teach Martha not to be a bully.

Worst that can happen is that you will have a dog with lovely manners!! :D

[percyk]

could you not practise sitting quietly in the far end of the park or even outside and just make her focus on you?

if she has total focus on you then by the time she is older then youll be able to call her off anyway

dog parks arent great to socialise dogs anyway - you get such a mixed bunch

her first experiences should be round calm dogs who wont get her going

im guessing she has learned bite inhibition by now ? does she stop playing and let up when the more submissive pups yelp or look away?

does she ever play fairly with these dogs or does she charge around all a-bristle?

if the other dogs are running away scared hiding then theyre not enjoying it

but if they run away then come charging back pouncing and inviting more then its ok

the hackles arent the norm though

the growling can sound savage enough but the mouth is pretty loose and they kinda airbite with the side of their jaws - the whole side of the head is down

does she get up and spar and box the others like a kangaroo? or does she mostly puppypounce with the younger dogs?

does she mount other dogs?- some dogs will really hate this and will bite back so that could lead to her aggression getting stirred up

id keep her out of dog parks and exhaust her with lots of heeling and some off leash fun as long as her recall is good

you just dont want anything coming out of the blue and wrecking her chances of being an easy dog to socialise - so many people just unclip their dogs and set them free- it's like watching them feed something to sharks sometimes

get to know the dogs and maybe let her have turns when there are good role model dogs there-noone that excites her into that zone where you cant get her back again

good luck

[percyk]

ps

youre right to call her off - every couple of minutes if the play gets rough -get her back and reward