Re: Playing with other dogs

Question
I have a 7 months year old miniature puddle who is loving and overall well behaved but very energetic.  He loves to greet all dogs and people. The problem is that he has poor doggy social skills.

When he was 9 weeks old, I took him puppy kindergarten. He had an opportunity to play with other puppies. He was the most pushy puppy in class, but not aggressive. He wanted to run around and just play.

When my puppy greets a new dog, he wants to jump on them and gets really excited. Adult dogs tend to growl at him. If they are bigger than he is (more than 10 pounds), then he would get extremely submissive and nervous. BUT, he continues to try to play with them again after a minute. If he meets a smaller dog who is timid, he will be very pushy by jumping on them or mouthing them constantly. Sometimes they growl back and show their teeth to him, but my keeps going back and tries to be either submissive pushy or just plain pushy.

I just don't know what to do. His obedience skills are improving and we practice positive training on a daily basis. But, the doggy social skills is very frustrating.

I'm concern that he will meet the wrong dog and get seriously injured or psychologically ruined. At this point, he still loves greeting all dogs desperately.

What can I do as a owner to keep him safe but help him politely greet other dogs and play well?

Answer
Hello Joey,
You are going to have to teach your dog to submit to you and to other dogs. Do this at home a couple of times so he realizes that you are his boss.
Keep him on leash when you are at a dog park or play area and when your dog confronts another dog, make him lay down in the submissive position and submit to the other dog.  When you decide to let him up, make him sit and let the other dog sniff him first.  If he goes to jump on them, correct him and make him sit again and stay.   
If he is good, then he can go and play.    

See if this helps you some.  If you have other questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using Allexperts.com,
Kim