Add On To Puppy Pre School

[bret]

I remember posting something very similar to thelast post on 'puppy pre school' about maiya and makaybe being antisocial and snapping atpuppy preschool, but loving human attention. Together, they play rough and tumble just like the pups at preschool do, but at the classes they never played. they sat under the chair and just watched. They did however learn different games which when they came home they liked to play with each other.

now 9 months on and maiya still doesn't like other dogs. Taking her to the park if she see's another dog usually she will go to within about 15 metres of them, or a little closer and drop, and wait. in a book i read this is a calming signal. but when the dog comes up and sniffs her, if they stay too long (longer than like 3 or 4 seconds) the upper lip quivers and a little growl. lately she has been snapping at other dogs. I took her to sheep dog lessons 2 weeks ago for hte first time. although she excelled in the sheep ring, her skills at socialising with the others lacked considerably. 2 togs were tethered on a picket about 2 meters away from each other, and the other dog approached, maiya snapped and given that the other dog was a long haired collied, maiya ended up with a wee mouth full of hair, nothing in it i don't even think she really expected to get that close.

lastly, today i took her to the spit, a notorious dog beach, we were doin great, 1 baby dog came up, the lip quivered, i kept her close to me, the dog went away. but after that a pup boxer maybe a little bigger than maiya came bounding from like 20 metres away, jumped straight onto and over maiya, she didnt like this and growled and snapped, so the boxer decided to do the same. I told maiya 'no' and she downed, but watched boxer dog who i quickly got a hold of the coller. the owners were like 2 seconds behind and leashed him, i guess he lost his freedom for the beach session P:(..

anyway, lets get to my questions.

i thought that maiya would grow out of the whole hating other dogs thing, but it doesn't seem so. her sister is the only dog so far she will play with (oh and a friends border collie, but they only played in 3's, never maiya and tahi!) is there a way to have her like dogs? is it a jump straight into defense drive? in her drive she still listens, quite well which i am happy with, but i don't want her to be scared all the time of other dogs.

any answers would be great

cheers

bret

[Kavik]

It might be an idea to see a behaviourist to assess your situation and help you with a plan to improve your dog's social skills with other dogs. It is best to do this in a controlled environment where all the dogs are leashed and the temperament of the other dog is known and is quiet.

I would stop taking your dog to parks where other dogs are going to run over off lead, as this will not help improve your dog's behaviour and may make it worse.

[Poodle Mum]

Your girl is telling you she doesn't want to be near other dogs - yes she doesn't dound like she is socialised and yes she doesn't know what to do.

To help her - don't plave her in situations that she doesn't feel comfortable in, not until she & you receive professional help.

If a dog is quite happy living on their own with humans they don't need to socialise with other dogs, especially off the leash. Most often it is the human owner that likes to see thier pet playing.

As humans, some of us don't like other humans or we might meet people that we don't like! Its normal. Same as it is for dogs.

If you want her off leash around other dogs you will need to get some help, so you can help her to do so without being worried.

Just my opinion!

[ReXy]

without knowing her full history to hard to say.... my first thought is was she socialised as a young pup wthout makayabe?.. was she introduced to lots of other dogs in a nice calm manner?..did.she have any bad experiences as a young pup?

if i were you i wouldnt be puting her at risk in situations like that,, meet with a few dogs that are nice calm sociable,,one at a time that you know wont have any problems,, build the sessions up longer and slowly introduce different dogs... you may also need to see a professional trainer who deals witht his type of thing.. do you attend obedience club?. this could also help.. you are in a more controlled area.

[Miranda]

Not all dogs like or need the company of other dogs, some just like the dogs they live with and are not interested in playing and socialising with others. If she doesn't like other dogs I wouldn't force her to mix with them. I have a bitch here who is totally disinterested in strange dogs and I don't push the issue.

Edited January 16, 2007 by Miranda