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Dear Yvette,

Our puppy Samson has attitude galore. When he plays with other puppies his age, he pins them and generally does not play nice. We have been told to socialize him. We have been arranging more play sessions and using the dog park. But it is not getting better. What is wrong with this dog?

Jake

Socializing your puppy is absolutely one of those things that most people finally understand as being critical. The average puppy generally figures their way around other dogs with little help from people. It can be frustrating when you feel like you are doing everything right, but it is not working.

Free play does not work with all dogs. Although most dogs fall in the middle, on either side you have dogs that are extreme in their behaviour. Dogs that are extremely shy are on one end of the spectrum. Positive exposure is critical for them.

Fearful puppies can have a difficult time in free play. Other rough and tumble puppies run up and pounce on the shy puppy. The puppy flees and hides. While running away, another puppy herds him the whole way by nipping at his heels. That is not a positive experience.

At the other end, you find pups that are abrasive. They fail to “give” in their play when their playmate is no longer having fun. You might see this type of puppy engage in a repetitive bite and hold that they cannot seem to break out of.

Healthy play involves give and take. It is not so much about win and lose. It is about having fun.

Sometimes I find analogies can help owners better recognize normal. Picture in your mind a father and son wrestling. The father does not try to bully the child. Instead, the dad will sometimes “give” to the child. If you watched a father pummel his son, you'd probably be legitimately concerned. It's not fun for the child.

You can see dogs doing similar things. One moment Fluffy is flipping Fido. Next time you look, Fido is on top of Fluffy. If neither dog wishes to leave the game and looks like they are having a good time, you're probably watching good old-fashioned play. If one pup is squealing while the other continues to pin him, you should also see this as a red flag.

With fearful puppies, you begin by exposing them one on one with calm dogs with a gentle disposition. You work at the puppies pace until his confidence increases. Be careful not to allow coddling or owner panic to further fuel the problem. Stay calm, positive and encouraging.

For the rough guys, they need to learn how to control the level of their play. You teach the pup to stop playing when the game starts heated. When the puppy can be called out of play you can add a timeout to firm things up. “Play nice or the play ends.”

In either situation, group puppy classes give you the ability to teach interaction based on the dynamics of the group. Free play is not all it's cracked up to be if someone is getting bullied, or learning how to be a bully. The experienced eyes of a trainer can help identify and correct problems early.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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