collies4me Posted March 28, 2007 Report Share Posted March 28, 2007 Quest does so well with other dogs, of all sizes, breeds, sex, etc. We go to the dog park probably 4-5 times a week since he was 11weeks old, so we have been going for 7 weeks straight. Once in a blue moon he will exhibit either extreme play and/or aggression towards other puppies his size. It is very vocal, i never see teeth or hair stand up, but he'll make the other puppies submit by bringing them down by the neck with his mouth, sometimes he'll make them wimper if they are not use to play. Today was a golden retriever that he got vocal with RIGHT away as we walked up to the pond. I grabbed him and held him back and we slowly introduced them together. The retriever was 15 weeks, about the same size, and female (opposite than quest). After we introduced them slowly, they played appropriately for about 20 minutes, than it got rough again. Im thinking it is just puppies figuring how to win the dominant position since they played fine for an extended amount of time, but it was interesting and a little scary to see him get aggressive so quickly. There weren't that many dogs around, probably 4 or 5, quiet, no sounds.. I know every dog will not enjoy every other dog's company, but I am more interested than curious about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SincereArtisan Posted March 28, 2007 Report Share Posted March 28, 2007 What happens when one of the puppies whine? Does the other give up and back off? It is essential he knows that a whine or yelp is the indication he needs to back off. A simple "Quest! Easy!" and pulling him back to rest him at your side a minute can get the point across. Rune soon learned through this method that a yelp or whine does not make me hapy, and will even spring away and look to me the moment a puppy yelps, even if the puppy hops right back up and tries to engage her to play again, as most puppies will. When the play gets rough, are both puppies still into playing? Rune and Ido play VERY rough. Rune will even take Ido by the collar/scruff, drag her in circles, they flip one another other, nip, bare teeth, (I call those demon faces!) they look like they're virtually about to install major physical harm on one another....and its all a big vocal show of how much fun they're having. How do I know? Because if they are suddenly interrupted, or if I step between them, both of them want to go right back to what they were doing. As long as one of the pups is not running away from with tail tucked, hair up, or showing any other signs of clearly wanting the play session to end, you can pretty much assume that they're just having a rowdy good time. Lots of social interaction is great for your pup, it helps teach doggy manners and good bite inhibition. But it is crucial you can call him away from a situation, even if he is having fun and the other pup seems to be enjoying it too. I have learned that not every dog owner out there understand that my dogs and their own are simply playing, and they read the play growling and show of teeth as agressive. Sometimes its necessary to call your dog off before a situation arises, such as both pups heading off in the wrong direction effected by the zoomies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Posted March 28, 2007 Report Share Posted March 28, 2007 have learned that not every dog owner out there understand that my dogs and their own are simply playing, and they read the play growling and show of teeth as agressive. I've run into this before... not with my dog, but watching owners getting worried and over-agitated when their dogs are clearly (to me) just playing. You just have to keep an eye out and call your dog off. I'd agree with everything SA said, btw. If the pups are jumping right back into it when broken up then they're just playing. But it can be hard to tell at first. Also, puppies can be a little bit slow in picking up other dogs' reactions. Puppies with puppies are usually okay (from what I've seen) because they're at the same mental hyper level. But I"ve seen pups bugging Oreo... they don't yet know when the stop. (Oreo teaches them with a snarl and a display.) This can get extremely irritating to many older dogs. That young I don't know if there would be much dominance "stuff" going on. It's probably just roughousing play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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