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Lily is almost 6 months old now and I am slightly concerned about her behavior with other dogs.
Everyday we go to a park where she and I will go for a 1/2 hour - 1 hour jog/walk through the nature trails and the she goes swimming. After swimming I take her to the dog park to play fetch, interact with the dogs (so long as I am comfortable with the dogs that are there), and to dry off.
Now I know that most will say stop taking her to the dog park - but at this current point we don't have another area where I can take Lily for off leash fetch. We only go when there are a few dogs there and only ones that I have watched behave well with others. I walk with Lily around the park and most often it really is just the two of us on one portion of the park playing fetch. I have no problem stepping up to a dog that I think is being rude or asking another owner to remove their dog or us leaving when the other dogs get riled up (even when Lily is not involved).
My concern is that Lily has two extremes when it comes to playing with the dogs. One is she ignores them completely. She will let the other dog sniff her, but usually because she is so caught up in watching me with the ball. Occassionally she will watch the other dogs play and join in on a game of chase. However, Lily has a bad habit of nipping the other dogs as they run and growling. When I watch her play I almost feel like she still hasn't learned what is acceptable play and what is not...and I don't know how to teach her that. The other dogs will stop playing with her when she nips. No one has ever gotten hurt but it's almost like the other dogs look at her like she has no manners. And other times she has no patience or interest in another dog interrupting her game of fetch. It's like the other dogs don't exist or they are just a nuisance to her play.
Any thoughts? Is there a requirement that she actually play with the other dogs? What is the best way to teach her how to play nicely?
I have a friend with a female pitt that she loves to play with. But this pitt is so submissive that she basically lets Lily just bite her all over and the pitt just rolls over. I felt like this was acceptable when she was very young and small, but now that Lily is getting older, I don't feel like her manners towards other dogs has improved from that puppy stage (and I know she is still a puppy, just trying to make sure she is developing at a good rate physically, mentally, and socially).
Sometimes I see a bit of a fearful dog in Lily. She almost seems to have an attitude of "I'll get them before they get me" without actually attacking. She puts on a big show of barking and acting tough.
Thanks for any advice.
Everyday we go to a park where she and I will go for a 1/2 hour - 1 hour jog/walk through the nature trails and the she goes swimming. After swimming I take her to the dog park to play fetch, interact with the dogs (so long as I am comfortable with the dogs that are there), and to dry off.
Now I know that most will say stop taking her to the dog park - but at this current point we don't have another area where I can take Lily for off leash fetch. We only go when there are a few dogs there and only ones that I have watched behave well with others. I walk with Lily around the park and most often it really is just the two of us on one portion of the park playing fetch. I have no problem stepping up to a dog that I think is being rude or asking another owner to remove their dog or us leaving when the other dogs get riled up (even when Lily is not involved).
My concern is that Lily has two extremes when it comes to playing with the dogs. One is she ignores them completely. She will let the other dog sniff her, but usually because she is so caught up in watching me with the ball. Occassionally she will watch the other dogs play and join in on a game of chase. However, Lily has a bad habit of nipping the other dogs as they run and growling. When I watch her play I almost feel like she still hasn't learned what is acceptable play and what is not...and I don't know how to teach her that. The other dogs will stop playing with her when she nips. No one has ever gotten hurt but it's almost like the other dogs look at her like she has no manners. And other times she has no patience or interest in another dog interrupting her game of fetch. It's like the other dogs don't exist or they are just a nuisance to her play.
Any thoughts? Is there a requirement that she actually play with the other dogs? What is the best way to teach her how to play nicely?
I have a friend with a female pitt that she loves to play with. But this pitt is so submissive that she basically lets Lily just bite her all over and the pitt just rolls over. I felt like this was acceptable when she was very young and small, but now that Lily is getting older, I don't feel like her manners towards other dogs has improved from that puppy stage (and I know she is still a puppy, just trying to make sure she is developing at a good rate physically, mentally, and socially).
Sometimes I see a bit of a fearful dog in Lily. She almost seems to have an attitude of "I'll get them before they get me" without actually attacking. She puts on a big show of barking and acting tough.
Thanks for any advice.