Your dog(s) and other dogs -- what has changed over time?

[Bailey08]

I'm sure it'll depend on your breed in many instances.

I have been thinking about this recently with Bailey. When he was a puppy, it was "omg-I-loooooove-dogs," all the time. When he was in puppy classes, he would scream in frustration when it wasn't puppy socialization time. I was definitely second on his list of favorite things, the first being other dogs.

Now that he's two, that seems to have changed. He does fine with other dogs -- he goes to daycare every weekday and he really enjoys it. He LOVED the neighbor's dog last year. OTOH, when we're at the beach, he interacts fine with other dogs, but he'd rather play fetch in the water with me (and any dogs that want to play fetch with him (and who aren't too pushy)). Recently, at the dog park, I've noticed the same thing -- he'll sniff other dogs and greet them politely, and he's fine to play fetch with them, but he otherwise just hangs out around me or wanders around sniffing. He growls a warning sometimes when another dog is being pushy (and he was, of course, the little PITA puppy that liked to push buttons!). He still likes the dog park -- he gets really excited when we go -- but then he's all chill when we're inside, lol. And I think the dog beach might be his favorite thing ever.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting. He's my first dog as an adult and it's kind of interesting to think about how he has changed over time. (I'm also a little sentimental these days as his "gotcha day" is coming up soon!)

 

[Lilavati]

They have both changed dramatically, and not for the better.

Sarama was always kinda pushy and dominant, but she LOVED to play with other dogs. Not really any more. She doesn't have much patience with other dogs. She's not aggressive, exactly, but she wants to be in charge or be left alone and can get snappy about it. Only occasionally does she start play bowing . . . it used to be a constant when she saw another dog.

Docket has gone from fine with any dog to downright dog aggressive when on leash. Working on that.

 

[HayleyMarie]

hmmm. Do you know what I have not really noticed any changes yet, but Teagan is only 15 months old so still very much a puppy.

Well ok maybe one thing I noticed is that her confidence has grown so much since she was a puppy. She is a shake off and forget about kinnda dog. She was attacked by my friends GSP freaked her out and it was very tramatic for her, but she never developed fear of bigger dogs nor was she scared of that dog afterwards. Which I see as a good thing

 

[vanillasugar]

Sierra's dog reactivity kicked in pretty quick (within 3 months or so of coming to us - I estimate her to be just about a year old when it did), but that's been improving over time.

Edit: I mis-read the OP, edited my reply to be more appropriate of an answer

 

[Laurelin]

Summer's dog reactivity has gotten MUCH much better. She rarely ever even growls at dogs anymore.

Mia has become a lot less tolerant for strangers. It takes her a lot longer to warm up to them.

 

[*blackrose]

Rose used to be horribley fear aggressive towards other dogs, but now that she has gotten older and I have socialized her more, she is much, much better. She still needs careful introductions around other dogs and she never really does play, but a strange dog coming up to us isn't cause to attack anymore.

Chloe is the same has she has always been. She gets along famously with puppies, reacts towards dogs barking at her, and needs very careful intros before she will ever begin to think about playing with another adult dog. The only way she is different than when she was a pup is that when she was a puppy it was other puppies she didn't like - adult dogs were cool - and she would react towards dogs in general, not just when they were barking at her.

 

[elegy]

luce has gotten much much much better. she used to FLIP OUT whenever she saw another dog. now she'll only get her panties wadded if that dog sounds off at her first.

mushroom is way more dog-reactive than he was when he came here, but it's hard to blame him since he's had a number of bad/scary experiences. properly introduced, though, he's still good at playing with other dogs and he looooves it.

steve has always been fearful of dogs bigger than him. when he was a baby he'd cower/hide, now he will hardstare/hackle/growl, which is something i really need to work on, but it's hard because when he's working, it doesn't happen. there's a black lab that he was running flyball with that he wants to destroy. he bit her in the face once when she invaded his space. but he can pass her in flyball without any trouble at all. he loves and is a ridiculous flirt with little dogs. he wants a papillon.

 

[mrose_s]

Buster used to completly loose it, at the end of his leash, pulling on two legs, whiney and barking etc.
Now he whines a bit but tries really hard to keep tention off the leash, you can't walk him right by another dog but he I can see him working so hard to control himself and think before he flies off the handle.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Gonzo was fearful as a puppy, but SUPER playful as long as the other dog wasn't a jerk. However, after being attacked several times, he's much more wary of other dogs... but not less playful. If he likes a dog, he will convince them to play with him no matter what, within 5 minutes of meeting. If he doesn't like a dog, he will snark at them and probably won't get over it until they've met several times. I know him so well that I know if he'll like a dog before he even meets them. I love that he has NEVER gotten over playing with other dogs! At almost 10, he is more playful and energetic than most 1 year olds. Other dogs running and playing is still a major distraction/challenge for him, even after being around it for years, it makes him so excited.

Fozzie is much less playful with strange dogs than he used to be. After an incident at 2 years old and a jaw injury, he got much less playful with strange dogs and started growling at other dogs for the first time. Now, I'm very proud of him because he RARELY growls and if he does it's a calm, collected warning. He has been fine with 100's of dogs that he meets at my work and the countless dogs he's met at the dog park. However, he's pretty lazy and dogs have to convince him to play these days... he is still super playful with the dogs of all of my close friends and with Gonzo, which matters the most, anyway.

Docket has gone from fine with any dog to downright dog aggressive when on leash. Working on that.

Almost EVERY Cardigan I know has this issue... :/ I guess it just comes with the sass. Fozzie went through a leash aggressive phase. Get Control Unleashed and/or Click to Calm! Seriously. You can overcome it and re-shape how he looks at strange dogs for life.

 

[Laurelin]

he loves and is a ridiculous flirt with little dogs. he wants a papillon.

*contemplates what would happen with Mia and Steve in the same room*

Mia is in LOVE with my friend's BC. (I need to get pics of those two together- she is such a flirt!) It's too bad she didn't feel the same way towards Jude when we met him though. She's come a long ways on that front though.

 

[Bigpoodleperson]

If a strange dog runs up to him while onleash he will react. Not attack them, but react. If he meets certain dogs while both are onleash then he will take offense to some. Mostly if they get in his space/get pushy (and most of them are males). He again will not attack, but make it clear to them to stay away. If we are walking and see other dogs he is perfectly fine and wont bother anyone. If both dogs are offleash then he is great. Will either be interested or walk away.

 

[Tankstar]

Blaze has always been the "happy go lucky nothing really bothers me" type. And he still has that attitude. He enjoys other dogs. He doesnt care about playing, but if a dog initiates a play, he will take the bait and play. He is 7 now, I doubt he will change much, if any. Its just his attitude, he dances to his own beat and is way to happy in life to be misrable. I swear if he was human, he would be that reallllly annoying person that is just always super duper happy, high on life. thats him to a T lol Always has been, hope it stays that way. You could have the worst day in the world. And come home and there is Mr jolly dog, complete normally with his teddy bear, cant stay mad about anything then lol

he LOVES little dogs, to a point its pathetic. He will whine if he can not meet a little dog. And I notice most little dogs hate/scared of big dogs. Just today at petsmart he was DYING to see a pom. So we approched (after I asked the owner). The pom snapped at poor blaze right away. What does he do? Lays down and nudges the dog lol. he is a goof.

 

[Paige]

Bandit has imrpoved. He used to not like other dogs. Now he LOVES playing with other dogs, just so long as they aren't rude.

 

[Toller_08]

Keira's used to be super playful and energetic, wanting to be every new dog's best friend, and really submissive about it (rolling on her back constantly, lip licking). She is now much more relaxed and doesn't demand hours of exercise, and she never plays with dogs ever anymore really. She'll play a 3 second game of chase with strange dogs, and maybe wrestle with Dance and Ripley for 5 mintues before she's had enough. She has no tolerance for playful antics anymore. She'd rather just hang out with people or chase a ball (which is new -- the ball thing -- she used to have zero interest in many toys).

Dance has gone from being a super laid back, easy going puppy to having a lot more drive and energy. She never demands work or exercise, but when she gets it, she just loves it! She used to be super hard to motivate. Now she lives for training and learning, and has the best time doing stuff with me. She's also developed a bit of leash reactivity with other dogs... but not all dogs. Not sure why, but it's not severe and is very easily controlled and stopped. And her mannerisms around people have gone from horrendous, to good, and now we seem to be back tracking a bit. That's my only complaint about her, is her seemingly inability to even tolerate most strangers looking at or touching her. She barks (and thus scares the person and gets away with them not touching her, which is her goal), and then backs away. I'd be happy if she could just tolerate them and understand that they're nice people who are not going to bother her... maybe one day.

And Ripley, he's just gone from being the best puppy in the world to a rotten teenager, lol. He's young yet... we'll see how he changes within the next year.

 

[Dogs6]

Fudge has gone from horribly DA (at 6mos he wanted to attack my friends 3mo old beagle puppy) to slightly DR but only with certain breeds (the beagle is now his best friend).

Taz just has slightly more self control around other dogs. He still loves them, he just doesn't go running off as soon as he sees them (depending on how close they are -we're working on it)

Scamp went from interested in other dogs to DA but now when he meets a strange dog it seems to be more like rough play than a full scale attack.

 

[skKi]

Pit was scared to death of dogs and people as a puppy. 3 years gone by and he's gone through tons of changes. He went from loving dogs to being terrified of them to being kinda scared to rather enjoying little dogs to LOVING LITTLE DOGS OH MY GOD BEST THING IN THE WORLD to wishing death to all puppies. He is now in the groove of loving little dogs, HATING black puppies, dislike for most other puppies, avoidance of large dogs and indifference with all others.

As for humans, he went from love, to terrified and is now avoiding strangers outdoors completely unless they say his name and politely greets most people indoors, with the exception of a few people he just loves for some unknown reason. Still mortified of children though.

 

[PWCorgi]

Frodo, over the past month and a half has gone from freaking out when he sees another dog to being able to go on walks with other dogs and work in their presence. His biggest accomplishment has been his ability to rebound now after having a bad experience with another dog.

Yesterday a standard poodle came charging through it's front door at Frodo. No contact was made but the poodle came within a foot or two of him with teeth bared and growling. Frodo reacted, but within a block from the poodle he was cool, calm and collected again.

/mini brag

 

[HayleyMarie]

Yesterday a standard poodle came charging through it's front door at Frodo. No contact was made but the poodle came within a foot or two of him with teeth bared and growling. Frodo reacted, but within a block from the poodle he was cool, calm and collected again.

/mini brag

YAHH!! FRODO!!!!

I think thats a huge accomplishment. Good For you two. Just shows that the hard work is paying off!!

 

[GoingNowhere]

He is now in the groove of loving little dogs, HATING black puppies, dislike for most other puppies, avoidance of large dogs and indifference with all others.

At least he seems to like Holden - and that is one BIG, black puppy!

 

[Beanie]

Auggie loved other dogs from the get-go, then had a bad experience where a dalmatian mix charged him and bit him in the face, and for a while he was really unsure around big dogs. Got over that that though. Now he's back to loving all dogs, big, little, short haired, long haired, it doesn't matter. He apparently especially likes big crazy obnoxious dogs - for some unknown reason, he thinks they make the best playmates for a little crazy obnoxious sheltie. :eyeroll:

Luckily he is not the kind of dog who will flip out on leash if he sees another dog because he REALLY wants to greet them. He will stand there and wag his tail, but he won't vocalize or pull or anything.