A question for my fellow dog lovers

CLoGreenEyes

I should totally just make the minimal effort to type this into the Google search bar, but I wanted to get your expert advice and tips. Basically, I'm wondering how to socialize Maggie to other dogs. She's about 10 weeks old now, and I'm just surprised by her reaction to some of the other dogs she's met since coming home with us. She seems scared at first if she hears another dog barking somewhere out of sight, but if she sees one while we're on a walk or whatever, she will pull at the leash and try to get to them and whine/cry if they back away or are going in a different direction. I'm not sure if that's normal or not. It's like she's never seen another dog, but she was around her brothers and sisters, as well as a number of other dogs, up until the day we brought her home, so I'm just curious about her reactions.

I'm hoping to get her started in puppy kindergarten over the next couple of weeks, so hopefully being around other puppies will help her learn to be more comfortable and social. My childhood dog was always "inappropriate" with other dogs and was never really relaxed around them, so I really want to make sure this puppy learns to be comfortable with a variety of people and animals. Thanks for any help you can give me!

beanbot2002

I am experiencing the same thing with Callie. We're going to have a puppy play date with my sister and her new puppy this weekend. They're about the same age/size so hopefully it will work out. If a dog approaches her, she runs and hides behind me. If she hears one, she shakes like a leaf. But, if she sees one that does not approach her, she does the same thing-pulls and whines towards them. I never had this issue with Slowy, so it's completely foreign to me. Since I'm just a foster, though, I'm not supposed to take her to puppy classes. They want the adopter to do that. So, we're left to work with her ourselves to try to make her more adoptable.

audrewuh

I'll just say that living in an apartment complex with questionable dogs has made me guilty of conditioning my dogs to be afraid or timid around other ones. We took them to the dog park over the break and went into the big dog area since one of Elle's is over the 20 lbs limit. They were okay at first, but towards the end, Molly got really overwhelmed. I want to take them to the small dog park soon, but the nearest park is an hour away. 

I think puppy kindergarten will be good for her. It's a controlled environment where you'll be right by her side. Since she's a puppy, I don't think you'll have a problem modifying her behavior. 

labro

I really like the idea of puppy kindergarten. I didn't do it but I kind of wish I had. It's a controlled environment and all the other dogs there are puppies so you don't have to worry too much about Maggie getting overwhelmed. At least in theory... I was with Cinders at the dog park the other day and a 6 month old female German Shepherd wasbeing  very aggressive and domineering even to older dogs...so you still have to watch out for puppies that are showing early signs of being a dominant dog.

We were lucky and were able to socialize Cinders pretty easily thanks to my parents living nearby with their two dogs. However, for quite awhile she was very timid when she heard other dogs barking (even when it wasn't at her) but she always wanted to visit with other dogs when they were in her line of sight. I think it's just because she was so tiny and that's probably Maggie's issue too.

We took Cinders with us everywhere (and still do as much as we can) during the first few months we had her. We were making constant trips to Lowe's and Home Depot (they allow dogs in the store) for stuff for the house so we always dragged her along. It made it easy to introduce her to strangers since adults and children were always running up to us wanting to pet the puppy. It may not be a bad idea to just take Maggie around to different stores that she's allowed in - like Lowe's or an outdoor garden center or Christmas tree lot...where she's going to come in contact with lots of people and maybe other dogs - just to get her used to encountering strangers.

CLoGreenEyes

Thanks, everybody!

@lmhollister, I didn't know that dogs were allowed in those stores - good to know! I've definitely been trying to get her out in the world to meet different people. She loves going on walks, so we go on a few short ones every day and usually meet one or two people who want to pet her. She is usually really good with people, especially kids - she's friendly but usually won't jump all over everybody, which is good.

The only issue with her is getting her to walk away from her new friends - she will pull at the leash and freak out until they are out of her line of sight. I don't want to reward that behavior, but sometimes the only way to get her to move on - say, if somebody was working in their yard and we stopped to visit really quick - is to physically pick her up and carry her a few feet away. Same thing with her meeting other dogs, except that is ten times worse. I'm not sure what other ways I can approach it.

blabla89

I've noticed that my dog gets really tense around other dogs when we're out walking on the leash, but he's totally fine and friendly at the dog park. I was just talking with my family about it over the weekend and they said that's normal. Puppy kindergarten should definitely help.

minskat30

We got our dog socialized very early through puppy classes as well as doggie daycare and dog parks (after he was vaccinated).  If you are worred about the vaccination issues, do you have neighbors/friends you trust whose dogs are vaccinated you can introduce Maggie too?  Start slow and don't overwhelm her...maybe 10 minute incriments.  You can get her used to dog noises without any dogs actually being around by playing (softly at first) the sound of a dog barking online.  Treat her when she hears the noise so she doesn't associate it with a thing to be fearful of.  I hesitate giving treats to any dog while actually around another dog (unless you know and trust that dog 100%) because you never know if another dog is going to be food aggressive (ultimately, making Maggie's fear worse if that happened).

 

Hummingbird125

I definitely had this concern with Kaya since shiba inus have a bad reputation in regards to getting along with other dogs. We started taking her to the dog park after her first round of puppy shots. Most people recommend waiting until after their puppy vaccinations are complete, but as it is important to get a LOT of socialization done as early as possible, we decided to take the risk and let her meet new dogs earlier than that. We brought her to dog parks that had a separate area for small dogs, and she was pretty comfortable there from the beginning. I've noticed that when people bring their dogs to a dog park for the first time, they often want to keep him/her on a leash. This is actually a bad idea because the dog will often feel intimidated since he knows he can't get away. I also recommend not bringing toys or treats as some dogs are possesive.

labro

@Arnapola14 Just a few more thoughts because I've been through all this so recently and I know what you're going through.

Once Maggie has had a round or two of vaccinations she'll be safe to start meeting with other dogs even if they aren't vaccinated. Up until I had Cinders vaccinated I was very very picky about other dogs (she only got to interact with my parent's dogs basically). Your vet should also have you on some sort of heartworm and flea/tick schedule now too. I think Cinders got her first rabies shot at either round 2 of her puppy vacc's or round 3...I don't remember now.

Another benefit of taking her around to pet-friendly stores like Lowe's is Maggie will become very comfortable in the car and she'll view it as a positive experience. I didn't want Cinders to associate car rides with vet trips only (although so far the vet is still a positive place for her generally...not for long though...she gets her lady bits removed on the 20th) so I made sure that car rides were fun and varied. Like trips to the park. Trips to the store. Trips to my parent's house. Stuff like that.

More fun things with meeting strangers - it gave my BF and I A LOT of opportunities to work on correcting Cinders' behavior issues...like jumping up on people. It's still a work in progress but basically before she is allowed to greet anyone she has to sit and be calm before she gets affection...no exceptions for anyone. She still tries to jump up from time to time but you just have to be consistent with correcting the behavior...and also not be afraid to ask whoever she's jumping up on to correct her too and not allow her to jump up.

Bringing her in to new environments is also good because she's getting learning experiences outside the home. We realized this when Cinders would do exactly what she was supposed to do inside our house...but at my parent's house her behavior was a total 360 - ie jumping, having accidents, things like that. So basically Maggie learns that the rules are the rules no matter where she is. It's also good to have distractions around because she learns just to focus on you and what you're asking of her instead of focusing on what's going on around her. It's easy to train in a quiet and controlled environment like your house...not so much at the dog park or puppy kindergarten.

Sorry if that was kind of all over the place. BF and I are still figuring things out as we go along. The great part isthat we're seeing the results of all that training finally starting to show...no matter where we are or who we're with.

Hummingbird125

Puppy kindergarten CAN be great, but it was kind of a waste of time for Kaya. She was almost 4 months old when we started (we brought her home two weeks into the session before that), and she knew most of the commands we worked on in class. During the first session they let the puppies run around and play for 10 minutes, but they didn't do that for any other sessions because there was another class on the other side of the arena. I definitely recommend inquiring as to whether the class will include time for "free play". 

Also - most Petco's have small dog play time on the weekends. You have to wait until they have the rabies vaccine for this (and will need to show documentation), but Kaya LOVED it - and it's also nice that it is inc=side, now that we're heading into the winter.

CLoGreenEyes

Awesome - thanks for the thoughts, ladies. I'll make sure we start obedience classes soon and just get out in regular increments so she can see the world and get used to it. I think there is a dog park near us, so I will check it out in a couple weeks. I don't know too many people with particularly friendly dogs, unfortunately, but I'm sure we'll run into folks in the neighborhood and hopefully at classes when we get started.

Dignity100

I agree with puppy kindergarten/obed classes!  We got to class early on purpose with Nessie (my Newfie) so she could play with the other fur-kids. 

Take your pup to the pet stores with you.  Make sure your Lowes and Home Depot allow dogs as many have different rules regarding this (I know the one by me says 'as long as their feet don't touch the floor').

IF you're going to do dog parks - BE CAREFUL as nobody checks to make sure dogs have their vaccines.  I have a few friends who took their dogs there and they got ill after going (the vets did confirm it was stuff they probably got from another dog).

Check to see if there are any doggy events in the area.  I know that the Cleveland Indians has 2 times a year they allow dogs into the stadium, the minor league hockey team Cleveland Monsters has a day that they allow dogs in - I'm not sure about the Cleveland Cavs and I'm pretty sure the Cleveland Browns do NOT.   I know some restaurants that have patios will allow dogs as well.

smalfrie19

Hummingbird125 said:

I definitely had this concern with Kaya since shiba inus have a bad reputation in regards to getting along with other dogs. We started taking her to the dog park after her first round of puppy shots. Most people recommend waiting until after their puppy vaccinations are complete, but as it is important to get a LOT of socialization done as early as possible, we decided to take the risk and let her meet new dogs earlier than that. We brought her to dog parks that had a separate area for small dogs, and she was pretty comfortable there from the beginning. I've noticed that when people bring their dogs to a dog park for the first time, they often want to keep him/her on a leash. This is actually a bad idea because the dog will often feel intimidated since he knows he can't get away. I also recommend not bringing toys or treats as some dogs are possesive.

I had this too with Ms. Athena as she is part heeler (they tend to be one people dogs) but I took her to dog parks after she was vaccinated and took her around people and other dogs and she great (almost three years old now) and right now we are just trying to work on the trust of being left alone and being more calm (not likely I realize, but it would make FI happy as he isn't really a dog person)

Hummingbird125

smalfrie19 said:

Hummingbird125 said:

I definitely had this concern with Kaya since shiba inus have a bad reputation in regards to getting along with other dogs. We started taking her to the dog park after her first round of puppy shots. Most people recommend waiting until after their puppy vaccinations are complete, but as it is important to get a LOT of socialization done as early as possible, we decided to take the risk and let her meet new dogs earlier than that. We brought her to dog parks that had a separate area for small dogs, and she was pretty comfortable there from the beginning. I've noticed that when people bring their dogs to a dog park for the first time, they often want to keep him/her on a leash. This is actually a bad idea because the dog will often feel intimidated since he knows he can't get away. I also recommend not bringing toys or treats as some dogs are possesive.

I had this too with Ms. Athena as she is part heeler (they tend to be one people dogs) but I took her to dog parks after she was vaccinated and took her around people and other dogs and she great (almost three years old now) and right now we are just trying to work on the trust of being left alone and being more calm (not likely I realize, but it would make FI happy as he isn't really a dog person)

With enough socialization done early, I think almost any dog can get along with others. Kaya LOVES other dogs - she can usually handle herself playing roughly with bigger dogs, but she is gentle enough with little dogs to play with tiny 4lb chihuahua-things. I think you need to be proactive with any breed. My mom has a puggle who she never socialized, but the dog is friendly to everyone. On the other hand, the one dog Kaya has ever been attacked/bit by, was a golden retriever. Whether you have a pitbull or a lab, it's important to socialize with people and dogs to make sure you wind up with a friendly, well-behaved adult dog. In my experience any breed of dog can be mean or nice, depending on its training.