Hello...
About 2-1/2 days ago, my husband and I got Lexi, an eight-year-old Maltese from a rescue organization. She was rescued from a puppy mill and was with her foster mother for about a month before we adopted her. The foster mother had several dogs that varied from large to small, so Lexi doesn't have a problem with dogs. She is also curious about people and is timid when we go outside for her potty breaks.
She is not leash trained; it's not that she is pulling, she freezes up. If you tug slightly on the leash, this also causes her to freeze up. We encourage exploration and praise her when she walks beside us. She is catching on slowly.
She is house trained, except for excited/scared widdling (we're working with her on that) and we put her in a harness and on a leash when we walk her. We live in an apartment community that allows medium-sized dogs, so one would think this is a wonderful opportunity for Lexi to socialize; however, many of the dog owners cannot control their dogs. It's not that the dogs are aggressive, it's just that they get so excited to meet another dog.
Anyway, Lexi and I were out on our midmorning potty session when a medium-sized puppy and his owner came outside. Lexi was curious about him, so I made her sit quietly while the other dog approached her. The other puppy sniffed her face and she sniffed his butt, the owner decided that they were done and went to walk away. Lexi sniffed his hind leg, the puppy turned around and playfully feinted toward her. Lexi did the same, and the other dog's owner freaked out a bit and pulled on the puppy's leash.
The thing is, I want Lexi to be social with other dogs, not fearful; however, I am concerned by how excitable some of the larger dogs are because they haven't been socialized enough. I don't want her to get hurt, but I don't want to be overprotective. I don't have any friends with calm dogs that I can schedule "play dates" with, so what do I do?
Question about safe meeting and greeting other dogs
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CharityStansbury
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2016 3:18 pm
Re: Question about safe meeting and greeting other dogs
She looks lovely, and she's lucky to have found such caring owners 
I'm not an expert, but these are my thoughts...
You've had her for such a short time and she's being exposed to so much that's new. You want all her experiences to be positive right now. She may well have sensitivities that you don't even know about yet as it will take a while for her to come out of her shell and show how she's feeling.
It's great that she seems OK with dogs, but just so she doesn't have any bad experiences, I'd avoid any interactions with dogs who might be reactive or who might be too excitable. Watch other dogs and their owners and see how they interact with others. Try to chat to the owners and if they seem friendly, tell them that you'd like to introduce your dog to other dogs but that your dog is timid (you can exaggerate a little
) and doesn't like 'bouncy' dogs. It's fine to let them have one sniff and then walk away. Less is more right now, but hopefully you'll soon get to recognise some dogs you think could be suitable playmates, or just 'friends' (many dogs like to say hello & then just mooch together, and at her age she may well not want to play as such).
She may not actually need to be sociable with other dogs. Many dogs happily ignore other dogs while not being nervous of them. So avoiding bad interactions is more important than engineering good interactions, if that makes sense.
I'm not sure why the other owner you met reacted as they did - it sounds as if the dogs were getting on fine, but maybe they were also concerned about them getting over-excited.
I'm not an expert, but these are my thoughts...You've had her for such a short time and she's being exposed to so much that's new. You want all her experiences to be positive right now. She may well have sensitivities that you don't even know about yet as it will take a while for her to come out of her shell and show how she's feeling.
It's great that she seems OK with dogs, but just so she doesn't have any bad experiences, I'd avoid any interactions with dogs who might be reactive or who might be too excitable. Watch other dogs and their owners and see how they interact with others. Try to chat to the owners and if they seem friendly, tell them that you'd like to introduce your dog to other dogs but that your dog is timid (you can exaggerate a little
) and doesn't like 'bouncy' dogs. It's fine to let them have one sniff and then walk away. Less is more right now, but hopefully you'll soon get to recognise some dogs you think could be suitable playmates, or just 'friends' (many dogs like to say hello & then just mooch together, and at her age she may well not want to play as such). She may not actually need to be sociable with other dogs. Many dogs happily ignore other dogs while not being nervous of them. So avoiding bad interactions is more important than engineering good interactions, if that makes sense.
I'm not sure why the other owner you met reacted as they did - it sounds as if the dogs were getting on fine, but maybe they were also concerned about them getting over-excited.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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CharityStansbury
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2016 3:18 pm
Re: Question about safe meeting and greeting other dogs
Thank you! We love her to pieces!JudyN wrote:She looks lovely, and she's lucky to have found such caring owners
You've had her for such a short time and she's being exposed to so much that's new. You want all her experiences to be positive right now. She may well have sensitivities that you don't even know about yet as it will take a while for her to come out of her shell and show how she's feeling.
It's great that she seems OK with dogs, but just so she doesn't have any bad experiences, I'd avoid any interactions with dogs who might be reactive or who might be too excitable. Watch other dogs and their owners and see how they interact with others. Try to chat to the owners and if they seem friendly, tell them that you'd like to introduce your dog to other dogs but that your dog is timid (you can exaggerate a little
She may not actually need to be sociable with other dogs. Many dogs happily ignore other dogs while not being nervous of them. So avoiding bad interactions is more important than engineering good interactions, if that makes sense.
I'm not sure why the other owner you met reacted as they did - it sounds as if the dogs were getting on fine, but maybe they were also concerned about them getting over-excited.
What you are saying makes sense. Lexi is my first dog ever, so I guess we both have a lot of learning to do together.
Re: Question about safe meeting and greeting other dogs
Do stick around then - Jasper was my first dog too, and this forum was a lifesaver in the early days!CharityStansbury wrote:Lexi is my first dog ever, so I guess we both have a lot of learning to do together.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
