Socialisation - big dogs and little dogs
I just wondered if any of you had any tips or experiences with regards to socialisation that you could share with me especially involving big dogs and little dogs.
When socialising Keiko (JA) we seem to have a bit of an issue with small dogs. We have a very busy park and field at the end of my road and walk her there twice a day during both walks she will interact with other dogs 90% of the time, most of the people are friendly and once we have checked their dogs are ok for Keiko to meet we let them greet.
What we are finding is that small dogs really have an issue with her. She is 4 months and growing rapidly and is bigger than all the 'small' breeds we encounter. So far we have only met one small dog a pomeranian who is willing to play with her. She has a habit of jumping at the dog's faces when initiating play and bigger dogs put her in her place a couple of times and then she is fine playing with most big dogs.
What we are finding is that she has a difficult time understanding when to back off from the little dogs who don't want to play with them she chases them trying to initiate play even when they are barking and giving clear signals they don't want to play. At no point have I ever seen any aggressive gestures, growls, showing teeth etc from Keiko she's not much of a barker anyway but she doesn't even bark back.
At ring craft class my concern was she would be trying to play with the other dogs constantly but she was good as gold and picked up on the other dogs energy and was settled in the room only interacting at times it was allowed. Once again there was a small dog there that growled and lunged at her when she was looking the other way. I have been told on more than one occasion she is a happy confident pup, and I'm wondering if its her confidence that's causing this issue?
Have any of you had any similar issue or have any advice on how to deal with it? It will be greatly appreciated
When socialising Keiko (JA) we seem to have a bit of an issue with small dogs. We have a very busy park and field at the end of my road and walk her there twice a day during both walks she will interact with other dogs 90% of the time, most of the people are friendly and once we have checked their dogs are ok for Keiko to meet we let them greet.
What we are finding is that small dogs really have an issue with her. She is 4 months and growing rapidly and is bigger than all the 'small' breeds we encounter. So far we have only met one small dog a pomeranian who is willing to play with her. She has a habit of jumping at the dog's faces when initiating play and bigger dogs put her in her place a couple of times and then she is fine playing with most big dogs.
What we are finding is that she has a difficult time understanding when to back off from the little dogs who don't want to play with them she chases them trying to initiate play even when they are barking and giving clear signals they don't want to play. At no point have I ever seen any aggressive gestures, growls, showing teeth etc from Keiko she's not much of a barker anyway but she doesn't even bark back.
At ring craft class my concern was she would be trying to play with the other dogs constantly but she was good as gold and picked up on the other dogs energy and was settled in the room only interacting at times it was allowed. Once again there was a small dog there that growled and lunged at her when she was looking the other way. I have been told on more than one occasion she is a happy confident pup, and I'm wondering if its her confidence that's causing this issue?
Have any of you had any similar issue or have any advice on how to deal with it? It will be greatly appreciated
Comments
It sounds mean to do, but I have to add that I would NEVER let them fight. I just wanted Shelby to know her boundaries with the tiny ones. I also took her to daycare and made sure she hung out with dogs of all sizes.
The dog needs to learn that it only gets to play with the other dogs when it behaves appropriately. This is easiest to do with negative punishment, aka punishment by removal. Take away the good thing (being allowed to play with other dogs) when your dog acts inappropriate. Seperate your dog from the smaller dog and focus on doing something else (ask her to perform some tricks she knows) until she is calm and ready to try again.
Every time the other dog signals that it is uncomfortable and you do NOT remove your dog, you are tacitly giving approval and positive reinforcement for her bad behavior.
When I took Shelby to daycare, it was where I worked and I had a window right in front of my station where I could see her at all times. If she got pushy with the small dogs, I let them correct her and then I tapped on the glass and pointed at her (I did this with any dog that was being pushy). She got the hint and started playing nicely again.
If she acted out and the little dogs did not correct her behavior immediately, I put her in outside daycare alone for a few minutes. I then put her back in daycare and repeated the process, if necessary. My boss would have done the same (she did with any other dogs) but I told her to let me handle Shelby. This only happened a few times before Shelby got the hint and, even though I still watched her, she always played nicely.
I try my hardest to be a responsible pet owner and have well behaved dogs. I'm sorry if anyone got the wrong impression. I have just found that letting the other dog correct Shelby as well as my correction has helped her become a gentle playmate for dogs and cats of all sizes. I surely don't want to give bad advice to anyone either and I'm sorry.
@Myabee09, it sounds like Shelby figured it out, but I would be concerned if my JA thought it was okay to pester other dogs (regardless size) and the other dog accidentally got hurt.
I am taking her to a pet exhibition tomorrow which I'm hoping will be a great place to put this into practice more as there will be lots of people and dogs for her socialise with! Also sticking with larger dogs initially will probably be better too. Then when she has learnt more social skills I can start introducing her to smaller dog's so hopefully she won't overwhelm them.
Any other experience's or advice are welcome!
Mochi (25 lbs border collie?) would bite at Eevee's (Akita mix?) neck and would begin play that way, but nothing too aggressive. Mochi is just a bundle of energy compared to Eevee. He does get her to play with toys again though.
Now, Ninja is mean to dogs bigger than her. She always has been. I did not socialize her with other dogs besides a few obedience classes we had. If a dog bigger than her 110lbs frame was around, she would bark at it.