Dogs Just Being Dogs??

[violagirl]

My friend and I have different styles when it comes to "raising" our dogs.

She has a 7 month old terrier/lab/? mix...very friendly, very exuberant. My oldest dog JRT/Dachshund, a little over a year doesn't seem to particularly like him.

When my friend comes over, at first there is general barking and hubbub what with her 3 dogs and my 3. If her puppy goes near my dog, she will either lift her lip at him or growl and bite his nose..he goes onto his back.

Once we get out walking everything is good.

It seems my dog only gets annoyed with him when he is all excited. When there is no excitement...it's all good. She also doesn't like him all up in her face when he is excited.

Here is where our two "parenting" styles come into conflict.

Her dogs are all bigger than mine so I keep an eye out to make sure playing doesn't get too rough or excitement escalate too much. I do not allow 2 on 1 playing as it never seems to work out. I'm more of a referee who occasionally calls a time out.

In the case of my dog and the puppy, I think she is trying to teach him doggy manners and I do not interfere. He needs to know he can't just jump up in the face of another dog, as friendly as his intentions are, he needs to control himself. He is very friendly and obviously not great at reading another dogs body language.

My friend thinks my dog is psycho and will step in and Chh! my dog away from hers. Which works, my dog is not all crazy excited when she does this and will lick her lips etc etc. She says MY dog is the one with the bad manners.

To what extent do you let dogs tell other dogs how they want to be treated?

Obviously there are some situations where you need to step in and diffuse a situation but I don't feel in this case there is potential for injury or intent for injury so I'm inclined to let the dogs show each other what they think.

[cell]

generally it is always the puppies fault. Your dog is doing nothing wrong by enforcing manners in the puppy. Dogs have different tolerance levels when it comes to puppies, and that fuse sometimes shortens with excitement. My doxie is sweet and will cower and try to hide when a big dog frightens him with over excitement or rough housing, but if it is a puppy he will go into (what appears to be) full on "attack" mode when rambunctious puppies jump on him. He is in no way hurting them but it scares the be-jeebers out of them and lets them know that the behavior is un-acceptable. My uncle had a doxies (many years ago) which had a puppy and I can remember how strongly she would discipline her puppy when it stepped out of line. Maybe it is a doxie trait to less tolerant of rude puppy behavior.

If your dog is simply defending it's space and isn't seeking out confrontation then the situation is as you described -discipline. You need to explain to your friend her dog will not learn how to treat other dogs, especially smaller ones, if it doesn't experience discipline. Many big dogs do not know how to treat little ones simply because they lack socialization and never learned boundaries. It sounds like your dog is doing the right thing.

[renegaderuby]

Best puppy trainer is often an older doxie. from what your describing, your doxie is teaching pup "manners" and "personal space bubble". puppies learn "play" from other puppies, and learn "manners" from adult pups. Its just the way it is. that why its great to socialise them with all ages and sizes, and not just with one age group. the only way I know to explain it is in a pack there are ALL Ages, and all temperments, and that as long as thier isnt blood drawn...that the dogs sort things out themselves, and that its best to let them teach each other for appropriate social behavior. if you want a well rounded dog...kinda step back a bit and get over the anxietys now. not just let anything fly mind you. But dont be so quick to referee..i guess it what I'm saying. They usually sort it out themselves.

[Red Shasta]

This is the best article I've ever read on this subject. Your dog is doing nothing wrong. The puppy is being "rude" and your dog has every right to put her in her place. He Just Wants To Say 'Hi'!

[violagirl]

That was a great article! and it is exactly as I thought.

I think she is more concerned because my dog is reactive to seeing other dogs when we walk but I don't think the situations are the same. It is a different scenario when seeing a strange dog to seeing a dog she knows.