Socialization/Puppy Class

[ashley1135]

Sulley had his first day of puppy kindergarten yesterday! I guess it went well, but being a paranoid mom, I was a little worried about his interaction with the other pups. He has had very few chances to play w/ other pups up until now, so he is still learning how to play.

There were a couple of periods during the class for off leash play w/ dogs of similar size. There were only 3 little babies, Sulley, a pug, and a Jack Russell. Sulley is bulkier than both of the other dogs but they both started chasing him around and that obnoxious (I'm over protective) Jack Russell was biting him! Poor Sulley ran and ran until finally he just snapped....he stood up on his hind legs, lifted his front legs way up high and spread them wide (like a litttle monster) and let out the most hideous growl/scream you've ever heard. :lol: It was the funniest thing I've ever seen! I laughed until I cried! Then he started pouncing, chasing and biting them. My question is, do you think the Sulley is learning to play and figuring out the pecking order, or do think this situation might just be teaching him aggressive behaviors?

I just wanted to grab my baby and hug him when those meanies were biting and scaring him! Should I just hang back and let them figure it out?

[miss heather]

this is precisely how our pups learn to play appropriately with other dogs, and also how they learn bite inhibition (a yelp from another dog lets him know when his bite is too hard).
it's perfectly natural and indeed, necessary, to your baby's development.
I understand how you felt nervous about their play though, I was the same way when Stella went through puppy socialization class... sometimes those noises can be awful!

relax and enjoy the puppy experience... I'm sure Sulley is :D

[wendykei]

Sigh, I'm not sure that Sidney ever learned bite inhibition in puppy class. He would grab hold of another pup's neck or leg and then wouldn't let go even after they whimpered. (The trainer generally advised us to just let them play except that when Sidney ignored another pup's yelp and kept on attack mode, she recommended picking him up to stop the behavior.) I do think he has finally grown out of this. It is a little nerve-wracking, but these Frenchies are big dogs in small packages.

[slakker]

Belzie had her first socialization class yesterday. we didn't have a off leash play time, but there was a lot of on leash greet and play between the pups. Our little franchie went up to every other pup from Great Dane, Mastiff to the little little Bostons.

Funny enough, I thought Belzie was the most well behaved, but I'm biased. The little Bostons were the most energetic and funny to see how they interacted with the mastiff pup. The Mastiff was so shy it was like the old Bugs Bunny shows with the 2 mice. The little mice being the bully and the big one just following around shy and timid. :lol:

It was also funny to see Belzie sit at attention during the lesson on the sit command. Everytime the trainer said sit, Belzi just plopped her butt down. appicon