First Play Date

[tds]

my friend brought his bulldog over, shes a big girl, seems he was too excited untill she went to sniff his face and he feared for his life!

So lion ran crying all the way up the stairs home, i brought him back to try and get him to friend her but it felt like i traumatized the poor pup


either way i stayed at the park for an hour both dogs played fetch i ketp trying to get him to go near her but hed only go 10ft distance.
she went to play with him 2 times and he would just cry out of fear, she didnt bite nip paw or even touch him, i understand he might be scared of her but he was at the petstore the other day near 10 dogs twice his size and he didnt budge his ground!

after his other walk a chiwauwa was walking and lion felt the urge to growl bark and jump at her since the chiwawau was too!

did i just create an aggressive puppy? i see alot of info and alot of posts and alot of opinions, but i can never distinguish the true facts

will playing tug of war with my puppy just make him more aggressive?seeing as he starts growling more biting harder and being more rough


i know its long hard work but seems my access to pure information is limited i dont watch dog shows or trust all the forums and blogs i read. i try to keep an open mind and make common sense of things.

i understand all dogs have different personalities, and whether i want to train him to be a gaurd dog, a playful friendly dog, a unfriendly dog, or a killer also has an affect.


again, thanks guys your advice does mean something and i respect the time you take to help me out. ill be putting up more pics soon

[BigBrownDog]

You should not be bringing a 9 week old puppy to the park or to petstores. He does not have full immunity to dangerous diseases like Parvo yet and you risk him picking up Parvo or other potentially fatal illnesses from other dogs and from the surfaces there. When you walk him on a leash it should be short and only to places that are not frequented by other dogs.

He should only be around other dogs you know to be fully vaccinated and only in places that are not frequented by other dogs. Please take this seriously - you should certainly bring him out with you in public - but if you are at the vet he should be in your arms (not on the floor) and you really, really need to avoid strange dogs. Parvo is hellishly expensive to treat and many puppies do not survive the experience.

Edited to add - OK - I see that your puppy is a little older and "almost" 12 weeks - may not be as big a risk for disease and he may have a decent amount of immunity (if you have been vetting him and he has a couple of rounds of vax in him) - but you still should treat him like the baby he is and control the number and selection of dogs he encounters. He is too young for a "dog park" experience where he is in with a whole lot of dogs at once. You can impact his behavior if he has a bad experience with a dog at this impressionable time in his life. I would still keep the dog encounters one on one with dogs you know to be vaccinated and healthy.

[tds]

hey brown,

Yeah mate, i dont want you thinking im a moron or a retard lol

i never mentioned a dog park, i was referring to the huge park behind my home that noone attends and rarely people walk their dog there
the pet store was where i got the vaccines and he was in my arms 85% of the time

i just got the pup some new food, a treat ball , some new treats , a bone and a leather collar


someties its very hard to stay a step ahead of him, hes only peed outside twice ever, normally hell pee as soon as i take him out, and when he gets back and plays for a bit he marks his spot on the house again!


should i play tug of war with him? im trying to teach him to drop toys but seems he growls in a playful way but he gets more aggressive, so im really scared to tug with him to promote aggressive behavior.

he knows, sit , stay, down, woof, and paw now!

hes still biting im trying to always swap my hand with a toy and run away from him into a room yelping, i hope he understands soon, hed be a little angel if he didnt bite

[Tanya]

for the record, given the information you provided in the first post I was going to make the same comments as above. The fact you met another random dog means other dogs DO go there and your puppy is quite young and could very well catch something. the above poster just wanted to ensure you knew there was still a risk (and there is a risk - but it may be one you are willing to take and that is your decision). even if it wasn't an official "dog park" it is a park and there were other dogs there.

and I'll be honest - 85% of the time off the floor at the pet store wouldn'T be enough for me - but again, your decision to make.

he isn't marking at that age - he is peeing. it is normal for a very young dog to have to go pee again soon after coming indoors. make sure you clean using an appropriate product (vinegar works) to remove the odour - household cleaners are not sufficient.

you can play tug of war and growling is VERY normal when playing this game.

you must TEACH the dog to drop it. a good way to start is to give the toy (puppy take) and then put a treat to their mouth and say (drop it) and trade for the treat. use high value treats.

it will take many many many repetitions before he gets it. but hang in there.

ETA: you don't have to like the advice you are given - but this is a free board and people will give the advice they choose - you are free to IGNORE what you don't like - but remember even if you don't like the way it is said, it can still be good information. But if you start insulting members and talking behind their backs that will just look bad on you.

[SammyShuford]

When he pee's outside, praise him and give him a treat. He will be begging to go out.

[tds]

When he pee's outside, praise him and give him a treat. He will be begging to go out.

thanks Sammy hes been asking to go out more often. i was doing this before but now i give him super good treats outside and a not so good treat for training.

i need to buy some more anyway, im giving him liver biscuit treats and then all natural chicken bit treats..

should i play tug of war with him or never? since he hasnt learned not to bite people and bites your hand instead of the toy sometimes, i dont want to train, untrain, retrain because i do something bad with him then try to correct it

[SammyShuford]

If he bites your hand (while holding toy) remove toy from his view and use for a day or so. It won't take many times of losing play time with the toy he will become more carefull. (hopefully!)

[tds]

thanks sammy i appreciate the advice