# Puppy excitement/immaturity or something to be concerned about?



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

It sounds to me as if perhaps she missed out on some early socialisation, and now that her puppy licence has run out older dogs are telling her off in no uncertain terms! It could explain the high reactivity to other things and people she sees, too.

Have you looked into BAT (Behavior Adjustment Training)? Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) | Official site for BAT: dog-friendly training for reactivity (aggression, fear, frustration) by Grisha Stewart, MA I have found it very helpful working with my neighbour's dog reactive terrier, and it is a kind, consistent way of teaching dogs better ways of coping with the world. In Hershey's case, I suspect you need to teach her to inhibit her excitement and greet dogs politely - and the other well-socialised dogs will help enormously with that, once she is not quite so rude.

General impulse control - learning Wait and Settle Down and Leave it - may also help to create a calm space for you to remind her to be polite. I find it interesting that Sophy, my Papillon, practically taught herself these things, while Poppy is an enthusiastic poodle, and needs reminding occasionally! She learns very, very fast though - especially if I use body language and no words - I think she is so focussed on me sometimes she is too busy watching what I do to hear what I say.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

Hmm, I will keep an eye on this thread. I'm having a hard time teach my puppy good manners when greeting strange people and dogs. She's very playful, and not at all reactive, I just don't think she can read other dog's very well. We do go to the dog park fairly often and she definitely has fun. I'm worried because I don't really know anyone with nice adult dogs we can practice socializing with. There are a ton of dogs in my apartment building but most of them are very dog aggressive, too old to care, or teeny tiny and could be crushed by a stray puppy paw :/


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## hershey567 (Mar 15, 2012)

fjm said:


> It sounds to me as if perhaps she missed out on some early socialisation, and now that her puppy licence has run out older dogs are telling her off in no uncertain terms! It could explain the high reactivity to other things and people she sees, too.
> 
> Have you looked into BAT (Behavior Adjustment Training)? Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) | Official site for BAT: dog-friendly training for reactivity (aggression, fear, frustration) by Grisha Stewart, MA I have found it very helpful working with my neighbour's dog reactive terrier, and it is a kind, consistent way of teaching dogs better ways of coping with the world. In Hershey's case, I suspect you need to teach her to inhibit her excitement and greet dogs politely - and the other well-socialised dogs will help enormously with that, once she is not quite so rude.
> 
> General impulse control - learning Wait and Settle Down and Leave it - may also help to create a calm space for you to remind her to be polite. I find it interesting that Sophy, my Papillon, practically taught herself these things, while Poppy is an enthusiastic poodle, and needs reminding occasionally! She learns very, very fast though - especially if I use body language and no words - I think she is so focussed on me sometimes she is too busy watching what I do to hear what I say.


Thanks! I appreciate the link to BAT... I will definitely try that!

Interestingly enough here is what happened today: I took Hershey for her daily walk, and being a Sunday there were many people and dogs at the nearby soccer pitch. Most people have medium to large dogs in my neighborhood (or so it seems) and I was working on "being a tree" with a short-ish lead. She was really starting to get it that there is no forward movement. In any case one of the german shepherds in the group of 10 or so dogs caught sight of Hershey and curiously approached as I continued the "be a tree" walking. Two other dogs (a golden retriever and a smaller shepherd) came trotting over. It turned out to be a really good meeting. I approached the rest of the owners and Hershey behaved really well with greeting and not being too rude. Even a pit bull in the group was really not that interested after a couple of sniffs (I was honestly nervous on the inside and so ready to scoop Hershey up -- I resisted!). There was only one (older) dog who didn't like Hershey's energy and quickly corrected her, at which point Hershey tucked her tail between her legs and hid behind mine. I was pleased at the outcome.

Again thanks, I'm going to start BAT tomorrow!

Kevin


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## Leooonie (May 30, 2009)

I think the 'tree' method is very useful. dogs are very inclined to follow our body movements, and the stillness and quietness does make them think twice.

what I also tend to do is get a nice solid 'watch' even if not on command so that in any situation the dog will give eye contact and change the focus.
I also like this to happen, if Harley if pulling to sniff.. I will just stop 'be a tree' and treat for looking back at me... and then as that becomes second nature, increase the time spent looking at me...

but goodluck!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Very interesting that things were much less frenetic when you stood still. I think often what happens is that we see a dog approaching, and automatically tighten our grip on the lead. Our dog reacts, as much to the tight lead as to the other dog. We tug on the lead, the dog tugs back, and so it escalates. For many already fearful dogs, the approach of another dog is a predictor of a painful yank on the leash, so they become even more fearful, and even more determined to prevent the other dog coming close ...

It is great that you have found a way of helping Hershey to greet politely - now you can praise and reinforce the polite behaviour, and distract her if she starts to get too forceful (although dogs are very good at teaching pups how much is too much!).


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