I'm hosting multiple dogs for the holiday. The pack seems to dislike this one dog...any ideas? It's quite odd since just only this one dog that nobody wants to play with. He is cheerful and friendly, but a little barky when inviting others to play.
He is a French Bulldog who breathes heavily.
I have a dog who doesn't speak "dog" well. It takes him a day or two to be accepted by any other dogs. We separate as necessary and have supervised only togetherness time until they work it out amicably.
Having dogs meet on neutral territory outside the home and walking the dogs together as a pack seems to speed the process for us.
I would love to hear any other hints as well to speed the process!
My socially awkward dog is a 70lb boxer mix with a very bouncy play style that a lot of dogs find offensive.
Thanks for the advice. I'll try walking them together as a pack. Yesterday, I was trying to break the ice with toys, but it didn't work. Oh, he has a bouncy play style too! Maybe that's one of the reasons. I think another reason is he doesn't care about "personal space" with other dogs.
Sounds like the pack is telling him he's being rude and needs to back off. Since you don't mention any altercations, it sounds like the pack is being very polite about it as well, though that doesn't mean it will stay that way if he doesn't change his approach. Walking them together may help significantly, since that gives them a group goal that doesn't leave room for insensitive play behavior. Also, making sure he's had some exercise before allowing him to try to play freely can take the edge off. If he's less excited, he's less likely to be pushy. Finally, I'd leave him on a lead when the dogs are playing together. If he starts to get too intense, lead him away and give him time to settle, and always praise polite behavior.
The rest of the dogs will likely accept his advances once he learns a little more self-control. It may take some time, though, since humans are more than willing to forgive over-excited, pushy behavior because the dog seems friendly (especially from smaller dogs), and view the dogs who enforce their personal space as rude or aggressive. The links below can help you recognize good and not-so-good social behaviors and how to respond appropriately. Good luck!
http://paws4udogs.wordpress.com/2012/...
The other answers here are great, and I'd like to add a comment: I think the breed plays a part here. When I watch dogs with heavy, wheezy breathing (pugs, french bulldogs, boston terriers, pekingeses) sometimes the other dogs interpret that noise as an aggressive or excited sound and react accordingly. It's really interesting!
Very much so. Other dogs don't know what to think about the heavy breathing/wheezing. I have an English Bulldog today and a Great Dane that has been with us for almost 2 weeks now. He didn't know what to make of this little, fat dog, that breathes heavy all of the time and it made him anxious.
Thanks so much for all the helpful answers! I agree that walking them together is one of the best ways to solve this problem. Also I just watched Cesar Millan's video and found that Bulldogs often exhibit "bully behavior" that should be trained as a puppy. Now I'm hosting two bulldogs and they get along super well. The others have accepted the first one, but not yet the second who just arrived.
Please don't take training advice from Cesar. I love a lot of his messages (exercise! rules!), and it's obvious he's passionate about animals, BUT, he relies on the seriously outdated dominance theory for many of his methods. His techniques risk getting you or your dogs injured, or at the very least, damaging the trusting, respectful bond you've formed with them. Punishing a dog will make them less likely to repeat the behavior, but out of fear. You can get the same (often better) results with positive training techniques, and strengthen the bonds you have with the dogs in your house in the process, making them WANT to please you. PS - this is one of the best dog training blogs I've ever come across - it's got great tips for dealing with all kinds of problem behavior and building a strong bond with your dogs. http://paws4udogs.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/whispering/
We had an issue recently with one dog being very aggressive with our dog. My husband took time to set them on the floor together and pet them both at the same time. Then he encouraged them to smell each other and relax. Within 30 minutes, the aggressive dog was voluntarily submitting to our dog. We made our dog submit as well, just to reiterate that we are in charge. It seemed to work as they then began to play very well together after that. We did continue to feed them separately though as the aggressive dog was quote protective of her food. So much so, that the third dog (which is owned by the same person as the aggressive dog) would rarely eat. We finally had to barricade her away from the other two and turn our back to her before she would be comfortable enough to eat.