Not Allowing Your Dog To Play With Other Dogs...

[poodlefan]

Sometimes I think it pays to bear in mind that while we may have modified some dogs' temperaments with selective breeding to make them less territorial, many dogs remain a territorial pack animal at heart.

Wild dog packs kill or drive off strangers to their territory.

I think it also pays to bear in mind that many of the folk saying they restrict their dogs' interactions with other dogs own more than one dog - their dogs have a social outlet.

I'm not interested in exposing my dogs to physical or mental trauma so I control who they meet. The world is full of dog owners who have no real understanding of their dog's temperament and even less control of their dogs. I like to avoid them.

Some of my dogs arouse prey drive in others. One of them runs like the wind and can trigger it too. That makes me perhaps more cautious than owners who don't confront these issues.

Edited July 28, 2011 by poodlefan

[corvus]

Mien do mix with otehr dogs, my own pack and a few other trusted ones, so they do get to talk dog, what they don't get is injured , bullied or frightened.

And mine have? Because they mix with strange dogs? They get traumatised? My previous dog got traumatised walking up her own driveway. There was no controlling that interaction. Recently a dog tried to traumatise the boys when they were walking on leash with me down the street. There was no controlling that interaction, either.

[sheena]

I don't normally let Bindi run around with other dogs she doesn't know, but OH pursuaded me to let her go run with about 20 other dogs at the end of a days trialling a few months back. Definately wished I hadn't as the next couple of trials we went to, all she could think about was the dogs running in the next ring...not interested in me at all & so frustrating. She now gets to run with our new pup only & she seems happy with that & has settled again at trials.

[wuffles]

Mien do mix with otehr dogs, my own pack and a few other trusted ones, so they do get to talk dog, what they don't get is injured , bullied or frightened.

And mine have? Because they mix with strange dogs? They get traumatised? My previous dog got traumatised walking up her own driveway. There was no controlling that interaction. Recently a dog tried to traumatise the boys when they were walking on leash with me down the street. There was no controlling that interaction, either.

I have to agree, my dogs have been more traumatised by random interactions such as aggressive off leash dogs on our walks or even at obedience trials. When with either known or unknown dogs I intervene VERY quickly if something is not right.

The other day I was practicing some agility at the local oval. An owner arrived with his two dogs and we let them have a play. His younger dog was a bit timid and would play bow at my girl but run away and squeal if she tried to chase him or paw him. So she started throwing herself on the ground in front of him and rolling around on her back - he loved this and they had a good play. After a while they were happily playing chasies. The only way she has been able to develop this 'skill' is to regularly meet and play with different dogs.

Sure, it may not be a skill some people are interested but I like it. She makes friends wherever she goes. If she gets told off in the process she accepts it and adapts her body language appropriately.

I am more careful with my older dog because of his personality but he still regularly gets to interact with both known and unknown dogs.

[MonElite]

I dont let my dogs play with other dogs, or if I do its with dogs and owners I know. My dogs are rude and they can be the bullying things that others want to avoid, so I wouldnt put other dogs in the situation, I wouldnt want my dogs to be in. If I ever let my dogs off lead with a new dog I warn the owner that my dogs are not of the submissive type and they might, or might not bully their dog.

But there are few dogs that my dogs will play with and they get an opportunity on a very rare occassion. They have each other at home to play, so I dont feel they are missing out on anything.

Also I never forget that play between the dogs is really a test of strenght.

Edited July 28, 2011 by MonElite

[corvus]

Sure, it may not be a skill some people are interested but I like it.

Me too. For lots of reasons.

If play between dogs is a test of strength, why do dogs who live together often play with each other more than with dogs they don't know? Is it also a test of strength when dogs play with humans? What about self-handicapping? What's the point in that if play is about strength? What's the point of bite inhibition? What's the point of role-reversals? Or bigger dogs laying down on the ground when playing with smaller dogs?

[dee lee]

Mien do mix with otehr dogs, my own pack and a few other trusted ones, so they do get to talk dog, what they don't get is injured , bullied or frightened.

And mine have? Because they mix with strange dogs? They get traumatised? My previous dog got traumatised walking up her own driveway. There was no controlling that interaction. Recently a dog tried to traumatise the boys when they were walking on leash with me down the street. There was no controlling that interaction, either.

I didnt read OSS's comment as criticising you- in fact the beginning of the post reads quite the opposite.

Seems to me she was merely relating her experience.

Personally, I don't have too much of an issue with my dog playing with other dogs at the park. I will only prevent it if I have observed undesirable behaviour from a distance.

[Ali]

Socialising, doent mean playing through right....

My dog is a pup right now and when he meats another dog he is calm and confident, will allow the dog to come up and sniff with being nervous,

[aussielover]

Just wanted to add I think it entirely depends on the personality of the dog.

Right now I have a dog that is very easygoing with other dogs, she's submissive and as never been involved in any incidents.

My other dog (RIP), was more dominant, wouldn't take crap from other dogs and reactive if dogs, ironically, like labradors rushed up into her face she would tell them off and possibly start a fight if the other dog didn't like it. I used to dread seeing labs as many of them are very full on and excited to see other dogs.

She was not a good candidate for play with strange dogs. So I would have said for her that I would not allow her to play with unknown dogs as it could possibly be too dangerous.

[corvus]

Mien do mix with otehr dogs, my own pack and a few other trusted ones, so they do get to talk dog, what they don't get is injured , bullied or frightened.

And mine have? Because they mix with strange dogs? They get traumatised? My previous dog got traumatised walking up her own driveway. There was no controlling that interaction. Recently a dog tried to traumatise the boys when they were walking on leash with me down the street. There was no controlling that interaction, either.

I didnt read OSS's comment as criticising you- in fact the beginning of the post reads quite the opposite.

Seems to me she was merely relating her experience.

Nor did I, but it begs the question, don't you think? Obviously it's a rhetorical question because no one knows what my dogs might have been through and how I interpreted it.

[Aidan3]

Just wanted to add I think it entirely depends on the personality of the dog.

x2

One of mine is a social genius, he wasn't always that way, he learned it through interaction with other dogs but it was always clear that he would learn it. The other was never going to be great with other dogs, it wouldn't matter what experiences she had.

[OSoSwift]

Mien do mix with otehr dogs, my own pack and a few other trusted ones, so they do get to talk dog, what they don't get is injured , bullied or frightened.

And mine have? Because they mix with strange dogs? They get traumatised? My previous dog got traumatised walking up her own driveway. There was no controlling that interaction. Recently a dog tried to traumatise the boys when they were walking on leash with me down the street. There was no controlling that interaction, either.

I didnt read OSS's comment as criticising you- in fact the beginning of the post reads quite the opposite.

Seems to me she was merely relating her experience.

Personally, I don't have too much of an issue with my dog playing with other dogs at the park. I will only prevent it if I have observed undesirable behaviour from a distance.

No I wasn't critising. It was mearly my take on it.

Also it comes from have a very dominant Dobe bitch or two, I was quite careful there as well as they could be turds when they wanted to be, or ignore everyone as they were beneath them.

I live on large acerage and rarely walk my dogs in town, I do occassionaly when we all go into together and while they were on lead a dog ran up to us as we were getting kids and bikes and dogs organised, jumped on one of the kids, jumped on the car and then growled at the dogs. They were not too worried but I know it can happen even when they are on lead. Last time an off-lead JRT lunged and snapped at them, they were not to worried as it didn't contact and was just out of boot range.

They have played a few times with friends dogs and Rommi got T-boned by the Stafford who was mearly going from a to B and ended up limping, Lewis got shoved by a very friendly Goldie and ended up sommersaulting through the air. So even with friendly dogs I know they can get hurt when nobody has done anything wrong.

The difference is I know these people, I know their dogs and I know they will intervene if there is a problem.

To be honest, I am WAY more cautious with my Whippets than I ever was with my Dobes or Rottis as the Whippets tear and rip much more easily and do not handle body slamming or T-boning very well. They tend to go around each other here and while there have been some injuries, they are going pretty hard to get them.

Whippets tend to run - fast and in circles, dogs try to chase them and then Lewis in particular gets really worried about being hunted down.

They do not have any issues being around other dogs so to me they are adequately socialised, we have dogs come out here to train and very occasionaly stay a night or two, they have no issues with that either.

Edited July 28, 2011 by OSoSwift

[corvus]

To be honest, I am WAY more cautious with my Whippets than I ever was with my Dobes or Rottis as the Whippets tear and rip much more easily and do not handle body slamming or T-boning very well.

I can attest to that. My family's whippet cross was once clipped by my corgi during a game and she tumbled into a lantana bush and tore her flank just behind the shoulder. It was pretty bad and needed stitches. My boys do things like that all the time, and worse, and they just get up and shake off the debris and keep going.

[Pomi]

I think it's extremely important for dogs to mingle with other dogs that have similar temperament and size since a young age so that they can learn how to play, greet and respect other dogs as they age. This also helps them to grow confident in themselves and it teaches them to be calm around new dogs big or small when they're older.

[toughgirl27]

I will only let Em play with dogs I know and trust.

I totally agree, Vi

And I always love seeing Mr Charlie and Princess Emmy in photos :)

They are both sooo gorgeous!!

[rastus_froggy]

Froggy plays quite rough, so I am selective with the dogs that I let her play with. She wrestles and body slams frequently and is also vocal while doing this, a lot of people interpret this as her being agressive but it's just her playing style.

Stimpy doesn't play with other dogs, she will sniff them and they can sniff her (but only for her allocated time length) if they try to start a game with her they are quickly told to bugger off, she can mingle in a pack fine but would rather be at my side.

[Bullyisious]

Froggy plays quite rough, so I am selective with the dogs that I let her play with. She wrestles and body slams frequently and is also vocal while doing this, a lot of people interpret this as her being agressive but it's just her playing style.

Stimpy doesn't play with other dogs, she will sniff them and they can sniff her (but only for her allocated time length) if they try to start a game with her they are quickly told to bugger off, she can mingle in a pack fine but would rather be at my side.

My Bulldog is exactly like Froggy! People can get a bit testy, she is verry vocal and being a bulldog sounds like she is growling and chocking.

I Love it when a rough boxer or something comes in. :D

[MrsD]

The point is I think it can be very dangerous to not socialise a dog as much as possible.

Having a dog that doesn't have a high value for other dogs or having a dog you don't let play with every dog it comes across is not the same as having a dog that is not well socialised.

Socialisation is about far more than letting your dog play with others.

I personally see no benefit in having a dog that has a high value for others, but each to their own.

Same here, none of my 3 dogs have a high value for other dogs & only Jonty has a high value for other people, it doesn't mean they haven't been well socialised though. Apart from herding, having a dog that has high value for anything you don't control makes training hard work! And I don't want hard work, I want the easy life ;) .

I think it also pays to bear in mind that many of the folk saying they restrict their dogs' interactions with other dogs own more than one dog - their dogs have a social outlet.

Yes, all our 4 dogs will play together so plenty of social outlet. They also get to say hello to other dogs as long as I am happy that the other dog is suitable, but as soon as they have had a quick sniff or I speak to them they will simply ignore the other dog & focus back on me.

It's funny because we were at a training day yesterday & the lady who was sitting next to us was a bit perplexed because she she had taught her dog that when it was in it's crate it just relaxed & didn't move again all day, so when she took the dog out of the crate to work, it wouldn't. She was astounded to see that my dogs were lounging in their crates one minute, on their feet at the door of their crate as soon as I got up out of my chair but lay back down again if I sat back down because they had been taught to relax in their crates, but if I got up & moved over to them it might be the beginning of the biggest & best play session ever . She was also amazed to see that I could send Jarrah to his crate from across the otherside of a playground & he raced over & threw himself in there & stood there quivering with excitement because to him, going to his crate means that sometime, somewhere in the future he'll be able to come back out of his crate again & play! :D

My dogs have no value for playing with other dogs & that is exactly the way I want it.

[trinabean]

Froggy plays quite rough, so I am selective with the dogs that I let her play with. She wrestles and body slams frequently and is also vocal while doing this, a lot of people interpret this as her being agressive but it's just her playing style.

Stimpy doesn't play with other dogs, she will sniff them and they can sniff her (but only for her allocated time length) if they try to start a game with her they are quickly told to bugger off, she can mingle in a pack fine but would rather be at my side.

My Bulldog is exactly like Froggy! People can get a bit testy, she is verry vocal and being a bulldog sounds like she is growling and chocking.

I Love it when a rough boxer or something comes in. :D

Like mine. ;)

And like Rastus froggy, I'm cautious and selective as to who I let him play with.

Bruno looks so surprised when another dog doesn't appreciate an awesome body slam/ wrestle. I'm very mindful of the size difference of dogs, differing play-styles and potential for injury and try to judge each situation accordingly. He plays beautifully with like-minded medium-large dogs (other Boxers, Rhodesian Ridgebacks,a neighbours Amstaff etc) He'd probably love your dog too Bullyisious! ;)

[Polgara's Shadow]

Another bully owner here, of a young SBT. We live by the beach and have been frequenting dog beaches since he was a wee one. I'd say he's met thousands of dogs in his not quite 2 years of life, but I've only let him off lead play with a fraction of them. At nearly two years old he has been involved in 0 dog fights and I'd like to keep it that way for the rest of his life. That said he loooves other dogs, all other dogs, and will play for hours and hours with a well matched buddy. His best play mates are two other SBT's, a Bull Terrier and a Rotty. He also plays well with whippets, greyhounds and labs.

I'm very mindful of his strength and his high energy bodyslam/wrestle play style. I never let him randomly play with strange dogs, I always clip him onto his lead when others come into sight. If the dog looks friendly enough I have a quick chat with the owner first to make sure the other dog is up for playing and is friendly. I don't usually let him play with dogs smaller than him as I'm worried they'll be unintentionally hurt. He doesn't seem to change his play style to suit his smaller play mates - they too get wrestled and body slammed. Play with little dogs is closely supervised and managed.

He does however know a cranky old timer when he comes across one. He seems to respect the old timers signals to 'bugger off' .