<3Jess<3 Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Ok it may be kind of long...Lol just warning you now =D When we first got Bella we only socialised here at puppy school and at a friends house who had 2 great danes...They didn't get to play much at puppy school was mainly the training so she mostly got her first lessons and play experience from the great danes... We now take her to a local enclosed dog park every day were she is let off lead to run with sometimes 5 dogs sometime 20 other dogs Bella is fine with dogs her size or bigger then her they play wrestle and chase each other around. Butttttt ( theres always a but! ) as soon as a dog smaller then her comes into the field Bella beelines for them and will sniff say Hello but as soon as the little dog runs she chases them, tackles them and plays with them how she does with the other big dogs...But due to the fact that this is a small dog she crushs them and the owners most of the time get very upset, intimedated by Bella I have been sworn at, yelled at and Bella has been kicked. She doesn't bite or actually try to hurt the dogs she just plays too rough for there size... I think I'm not sure but due to us bringing her up playing with big dogs she's never learned to play with little dogs so plays too rough with them and doesn't adjust how she plays to there size also I thought it might be some of the husky prey drive? Because she only does it once the little dog starts running. *We have tried putting her on the lead and moving away making her sit with no attention for a few mins then letting her go but she just goes straight back to the little dog and does it again *We have tried saying no firmly then walking her in a circle didn't help at all (this is what they teach us to do at puppy school) and then we have to leave the park or keep Bella on a lead till the small dogs leave the park. She only tackles/rough houses the little dogs if they run if the little dog just walks around the field she completly ignores them. I hope someone made it through this and can help us as we are now having to leave the park and Bella is missing out on socialising and playing with all her friends. -P.S- Bella does not bite or hurt the little dogs...Alot of the other big dogs there are alot rougher with the little dogs then Bella is I just wish to fix this as I don't like her acting this way. Llamas, cuddles and cookies for you all. :bananalama::cookies: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franklin Phil Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 I'm not sure this really has anything to do with socialization. I'm also not sure a lot of dogs really care what size a dog is when they play. It's like, "this is my level of play. Can you keep up?". The good news is they can be trained to be more gentle with a smaller animal. This usually might take some close supervision, instruction, and correction. Socializing is one thing, training is another. The tricky part is find a small dog owner willing to let you work with Bella using their dog as a training instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 I won't blame socialization in this case... Bella is a dog, and in dog's world size doesn't matter! She's just playing, just like how she always does. And unlike humans she is not willing to change her roughness level according to her new friend's size. This's normal, very normal. Too bad people don't think it is, and the best solution for you is to stay away from mini-sized dogs as much as possible sorry to say this, but training will be pretty much useless IMO =\ Because Bella doesn't understand about the difference between playing with a lab and a chihuahua, she will be confused why she is allowed to wrestle with this dog and not allowed to wrestle with that dog. Especially with the fact of her being a husky x) what pops up to your head when you hear the word "husky"? Other than wolves, it's rough-housing!! Right? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpups Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Yer my guys think small dogs are food especially ice he is ok with dogs his size or bigger but not smaller gus just plays to rough and his size could kill them but as soon as we say play nice or gentle he goes gentle with them some people see the size of him and run in the opposite direction cause he is so big Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 is there not a small dog play area seperate from the big dogs? could u - when a little dog comes in - ask the owner if they can keep it on a lead for bella to say hello to and have a little play around on lead to help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules dief taz tor Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 our three play with a tiny tea cup terrier approx 3lb in weight, they do exactly the same if he walks thk, but the minute he runs , they leap on him, little dog is learning not to run in front of them,lol, we have tried everything we can think off to stop them , but to no avail. all i can suggest is if little dog is in the park, dont let her off the lead untill its gone, not much help i know, but better to be safe than sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Melsom Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 If she hurts a dog they will let her know be it big or small and personally if somone kicked my dog i would kick them in the face. My mom has a chihuahua that plays with my brothers giant 50lb german shepherd puppy and plays with my dog and she can hold her own she lets them know when they go too far. They will yelp when they get hurt and that usually means stop and if they dont then its fine All puppys should be taught socialization with well trained older dogs because they usually teach them manners where as puppys dont know manners. When an older dog snaps at my puppy when its getting out of line the owner usually freaks out and apolagizes and I tell them not to worry they are just teaching my pup manners. But if your really worried about it keep em on a lead lots of dog owners dont know how dogs do things so they dont understand whats going on they usually flip out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
<3Jess<3 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 I'm not sure this really has anything to do with socialization. I'm also not sure a lot of dogs really care what size a dog is when they play. It's like, "this is my level of play. Can you keep up?". The good news is they can be trained to be more gentle with a smaller animal. This usually might take some close supervision, instruction, and correction. Socializing is one thing, training is another. The tricky part is find a small dog owner willing to let you work with Bella using their dog as a training instrument. Any idea on methods of training to go about in fixing this?? Like how we can do it? We have tried correcting her..putting her on lead and moving her away and saying gentle but she keeps doing it. is there not a small dog play area seperate from the big dogs? could u - when a little dog comes in - ask the owner if they can keep it on a lead for bella to say hello to and have a little play around on lead to help? Nope no seperate play area...Also if the dogs are on lead it makes the situation about 5x times worse...Bella pulls, jumps and woo's till she is let of the lead...Same with all the other dogs at park they don't play on leads but once you let them off the lead they are fine If she hurts a dog they will let her know be it big or small and personally if somone kicked my dog i would kick them in the face. My mom has a chihuahua that plays with my brothers giant 50lb german shepherd puppy and plays with my dog and she can hold her own she lets them know when they go too far. They will yelp when they get hurt and that usually means stop and if they dont then its fine All puppys should be taught socialization with well trained older dogs because they usually teach them manners where as puppys dont know manners. When an older dog snaps at my puppy when its getting out of line the owner usually freaks out and apolagizes and I tell them not to worry they are just teaching my pup manners. But if your really worried about it keep em on a lead lots of dog owners dont know how dogs do things so they dont understand whats going on they usually flip out Yeah we have a small problem with our huskys...She doesn't know what agression is or what another dog snapping at her means...Bella has been growled at, barked at and nearly bitten (i grab her when it gets to this stage) but she still doesn't back down will still try and play with the dog...The other dog could have all it's fun up teeth barred and bella will be in front of it bum in the air about to pounce on it or keep trying to chase it ect...I don't know if cause we got her early ( 6 weeks ) she didn't learn it from her parents I'm not sure just we have to really watch her as she never stops and moves away from an aggressive dog. Thanks for all you helps guys =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franklin Phil Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Well in my opinion the best circumstance I can think of is if you had a friend with a smaller dog that you could arrange regular play dates with. If it was a friend then the visits wouldn't be a complete bust and they would have a purpose. Let them play in close quarters where you can monitor the activity and you're always right there to help maintain the level of play. I'm thinking in a living room where the play couldn't migrate away from you. Use words like Gentle to help him understand it's getting too rough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #1 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 The trick is to find someone who has a lil dog...that's been around Husky types maybe? I don't know if there's any owners in your area with the mix, and if you were closer I'd actually offer to introduce your pup to Tinkerbell...our beagle who thinks she's a cross between a mastiff and a bloodhound but is actually just a beagle...Fox is a bit rough with her at times, but she's just as rough back...she's learned to take the cheap shot (usually the hamstrings...) if ours is getting a bit too rough with her...and ocasionally we do still separate them probably not because they're being too rough...but because they're being sooo loud. It's always amusing to see someone watch our two for the first time, as they generally get the OMG look because they can get loud and they sometimes look ferocious but it's just play (the exception was when Tink was in heat...but thats a whole nother ball of psycho wax). I agree with what a lot of others have said...training and socialization need to work together to get the sorts of results you want. Maybe find someone with a smaller dog and work on lead with them first then sloooowly work up to off lead play? Whatever you decide good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Personally I do think it's a socialization issue if she can't read when another dog is uncomfortable. I would be concerned her value for other dogs is too high. I would be watching her body language closely and preempt her by calling her to you and rewarding her and playing a game with her BEFORE she gets too excited with the other dogs. I only ever let my dogs greet otherwise if they are calm and once I've made sure the owner is ok with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 We have a chihuahua (lil' Sh!t, yes that's his name ) He playfights with Daughtry, she is very gentle with him. They chase each other around the house. So funny. Darwin and Echo pretty much ignore him. Although he will happily curl up on top of them and fall asleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
<3Jess<3 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 thx for all the advice..is a bit hard for us as all family members and friends have big dogs the only time we encounter little dogs is at the dogs park we do get owners every now and then who tells us to leave bella they understand she is just playing but then you get other owners who go skitz...Lol life is hard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 IMO it's reasonable for owners to not like a larger dog playing rough with a much smaller breed. I avoid dog parks completely for many reasons, but if your dog cannot tell that the small dog is uncomfortable with them and she is being over the top that's not appropriate play and she is being rude in doggy language - the small dog owners have every right to be upset and not want a large dog rushing at and getting over the top with their dog even if the large dog thinks it's "playing". As a responsible owner I would not be allowing my large dog to play roughly with small dogs especially if it's not reciprocated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
<3Jess<3 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 IMO it's reasonable for owners to not like a larger dog playing rough with a much smaller breed. I avoid dog parks completely for many reasons, but if your dog cannot tell that the small dog is uncomfortable with them and she is being over the top that's not appropriate play and she is being rude in doggy language - the small dog owners have every right to be upset and not want a large dog rushing at and getting over the top with their dog even if the large dog thinks it's "playing". As a responsible owner I would not be allowing my large dog to play roughly with small dogs especially if it's not reciprocated. When she starts getting to rough we leave the park or put her on a lead as stated above. This post is me trying to get help on how to train Bella to play gentle and not be rough with other smaller dogs...Not have someone chew me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha_Bailey Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Firstly, I know exactly how you feel. Bailey use to be like this with small dogs and puppies at the park. How old is your Sib? The reason I ask you her age is she might be doing a dominace behaviour over smaller dogs as she knows she is much larger? Bailey did a dominace/play behaviour for quite some time. What I did and has worked is I call him over or go and get him and take him away from the situation and place him in timeout. He isn't on the lead during this time and is in the drop position and commanded to stay. Usually during this time Bailey has the other dogs being big/small crawling all over him and is not allowed to move. Whenever he was released and goes back to do the same behaviour I repeated the process. He soon got the idea that, that type of play is not tolerated. Be paitient and repeat the process. Goodluck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 I'm not chewing you out - just explaining it from another perspective and giving my opinion that small owners are justified "going skiz" if your dog is behaving inappropriately. My point was also to intervene before her behavior gets to the point whee she is being too rough. You know shes not good with small dogs so call her to you and leash her before she is able to greet or interact with them to start with, and only let her have a controlled greeting if shes calm and youve asked the small dog owner permission. Then you will stop her from practicing the inappropriate behavior and you'll stop the small dog owners having a go at you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Melsom Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 If u have her on leash as well you can train her to play nicer with small dogs instead of avoiding them altogether Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
<3Jess<3 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Firstly, I know exactly how you feel. Bailey use to be like this with small dogs and puppies at the park. How old is your Sib? The reason I ask you her age is she might be doing a dominace behaviour over smaller dogs as she knows she is much larger? Bailey did a dominace/play behaviour for quite some time. What I did and has worked is I call him over or go and get him and take him away from the situation and place him in timeout. He isn't on the lead during this time and is in the drop position and commanded to stay. Usually during this time Bailey has the other dogs being big/small crawling all over him and is not allowed to move. Whenever he was released and goes back to do the same behaviour I repeated the process. He soon got the idea that, that type of play is not tolerated. Be paitient and repeat the process. Goodluck She is 9 months old...Don't know if it is dominace as she plays the same way with big dogs as she does with little dogs. Yeah thanks we will keep trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirbysowner Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 not an uncommon problem with husky pups i think. my boy is the same way, but over time he has learned to be nice with small dogs. i worked on recall first, and then called him whenever he started being too rough with small dogs. everything else just came naturally, or might have been me calling him back, regardless, you can try it and see if it works with yours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
<3Jess<3 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Gah...had typed a nice long reply to Bec...But after a thread the other day about things like this...I deleted it...I know this is 'your opinion' Bec but I feel you are coming across very strongly and not trying to see my side of the point I do understand the other sides as I have had many discussions with the small dog owners. I do not wish to take this any further as I feel I will get heated about it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Sorry if you feel my post is coming on "strongly" but you've asked for advice and I've given it you. Whether you want to take it on board is up to you. I feel that the tone of some of your posts in this thread were a bit derogartory towards small dog owners, which I don't feel is fair so I was simply trying to give an alternate POV. There is nothing I've said in this thread that I would or haven't already said in person to dog owners in my obedience classes so perhaps my usually friendly tone is lost in text Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseWillow&Dexter Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Willow was like that at Bella's age but she preferred to play with the little dogs over the big ones because she was quite timid with the big ones. She did grow out of it though, i have experienced an owner swinging at her to get her away from a puppy she wanted to sniff. I would just stick with what your doing, if she is playing too rough get her away from the other dog, make her go in a different direction and get her focus off the little dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
<3Jess<3 Posted July 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Willow was like that at Bella's age but she preferred to play with the little dogs over the big ones because she was quite timid with the big ones. She did grow out of it though, i have experienced an owner swinging at her to get her away from a puppy she wanted to sniff. I would just stick with what your doing, if she is playing too rough get her away from the other dog, make her go in a different direction and get her focus off the little dog. thx rose <3 we shall keep trying what were doing shes starting to get better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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