LoonyLuna Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 So we started puppy preschool today and Luna had a great time. One of her brothers is at the same preschool and they instantly recognised each other and went in for a loud session of bitey face. She was very polite and respectful of all of the other puppies, and only played rough and loud with her brother, but I'm hoping their familiarity doesn't affect either of them in their quest to be good canine citizens. We stood a few dogs apart for the training portions and that seemed to work so far, but as soon as we were off lead for a play session it was ultra loud bitey face with each other again. On a side note, I'm so happy the instructor told everyone it's perfectly normal for littermates to be so loud together, I was worried that they would all be thinking "Look at those fierce German Shepherd puppies". Just wondering if anyone has any other tips apart from keeping them a little apart during training portions? We don't have any other dogs at home and preschool is our main socialising time...should we make more of an effort to meet up with other non-related dogs so she gets a good mix of canine interaction? She's currently 11.5 weeks old, and has had her second vaccination. My main desire for her is that she's not fearful or aggressive to other dogs as we live in an area with a lot of dog walkers, and that she continues to learn to be civilised and obedient at home AND in public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 My girl Quinn had a litter brother in her puppy preschool class. They too liked to play with each other but they both also liked food more :laugh: We would generally sit on opposite sides of the group and make sure we did lots of rewarding for focus on us. We'd also keep play sessions short and regularly call them back to us and reward so they learned that playing with each other wasn't the only fun thing in the world and there was value in still keeping track of what else was going on. Regardless of having her brother in class it's still important to socialise her in a controlled manner with other appropriate dogs while she's young. Ideally stick to dogs and people you know so you can be confident she won't have a bad experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoonyLuna Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 @Simply Grand - thank you! I hadn't even considered using the play portion as a training exercise to come back and focus. I really appreciate the insight :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Agree with Simply Grand. You can also use playing with each other as a reward for performing a behaviour - double whammy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dididog Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) I echo SG's advice to make sure play does not become higher value than you. My pup is nearly 7mths old now and we went to puppy school which in retrospect put too much focus on free play and socialisation and as a result Didi LOVES dogs and is very confident around other dogs and plays nicely but also knows she needs to be gentle and can tell when she should leave someone alone. The problem now is she loves dogs too much which makes recalling her from a play session hard sometimes (depending on how fun the other dog is) and means on walks she tries to pull me over to say hi and I'm now having to work on getting her attention and holding it when we encounter another dog. I wish I'd been a bit more restrictive about her social interactions as I am now trying to reverse the high value she has for other dogs but of course this is much more difficult than starting her off on the right path. Of course play and gaining confidence around other dogs is also extremely important and I am glad that I know Didi can handle herself well and keep a cool head around all different sorts of dogs especially as she is so big and has the potential to do a lot of damage. As a result though, I now have a dog that can be a bit hit and miss with focusing on me and responding to me when other dogs are around which is obviously not ideal. I know I'll definitely do things a bit differently with the next puppy I get. Edited May 5, 2014 by Terri S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaCharlie Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 we took Shock and Fuze to the same puppy school. I don't think they even realised though, they weree too busy showing off to all the easily impressed owners with treats :laugh: If they were though, I would have used it as a focus exercise as down the track we expected them to be able to work in close proximity to each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Hehe, Terri with every new puppy I've found I learn another "what not to do" lesson :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dididog Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Hehe, Terri with every new puppy I've found I learn another "what not to do" lesson :) I can imagine :laugh: poor Didi has had to be the test run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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