Jumping on bigger dogs

[Labradorks]

Tonka will be 6 months this week

I cannot for the life of me get him to RELAX when a dog approaches, some of the dogs on my street, which ironically are all labs, will allow it, but a couple of them do not like it at all.
The lab 2 doors down Sahara really dislikes it, and we have been working extra hard on getting Tonka to knock it off since we brought the little fur ball home

Another neighbor just got a lab puppy, hes about 10 weeks old and Tonka is so incredibly friendly with him
no jumping, but they roll around together.

Any idea how to get this annoying jumping to stop?

We use a gentle lead and that seems to work for the most part, but Id like to stop using that eventually

Don't allow her to approach other dogs or vice versa. Every time you allow it, you reinforce the behavior. Also, if the dogs that he jumps on don't like it, that dog's owner should be telling you to keep your dog away. Why would they allow a big puppy to jump on their dogs who don't like it? It is the owner's responsibility to keep their dog's safe and not put them in a position where they could be injured or pushed to a point where they lash out.

Part of training is management. If you are not training a young dog or puppy, you should be managing. It's the same as crating/tethering/baby-gating; it keeps them from developing bad habits or becoming injured when you are not able to train, either because you are not there or you are unable to supervise.

At what point can your puppy not jump on other dogs? A few feet? Other side of the street? Start there. Don't let the pup visit. Reward for good behavior. It might take some time as the pup has a long history of self-reward. It would be a good time to take a class where the instructor will teach you how to get your puppy's attention and deal with him around other dogs.

I still cross the street when I see other dogs and my dogs are 3 and 6. My dogs don't jump on other dogs, but if I let them visit, they certainly get excited, in the other dog's face, start play-bowing and being rambunctious, the leashes get tangled and it's just annoying. I have a clear line between walks, work and play and the dogs know that because I never deviate.

[Madalee]

Thanks for everyones feedback!
Greatly appreciated

Okay, what im a bit confused of now is playing?
I allow Tonka to play with the new puppy down the road (who are family, we will be spending LOTS of time with them)., I allow them to rough house, is that allowed?

I will from now on stay clear of dogs and maybe Tonka will get the no jumping hint.

As for my neighbor who allows Tonka to jump up on her dog, she says its good for Tonka to be put in his place, when she has enough she will show him that. And so far she has only growled, never nipped him. Im kinda hoping (this sounds awful) that a bigger dog will put him in his place.


Side note:
Beginning of June, I took Tonka and the kids to a water park and we were playing and these 2 kids came over and asked to pet Tonka, I allowed it, the one started feeding him grass and I asked twice for her to stop, my youngest had come up to me and I turned for just a second to look at him and Tonka had accidentally nipped the little girls hand, as she was still feeding him bloody grass after I requested her to stop.
Puppy teeth are sharp, but she didnt give me a chance to make sure she was okay, she took off running to her parents and her mother who was not so happy came up and spoke to me.

She started off quite rude with her back up, which I totally get, my dog just made your kid cry. But I asked her where she was when this happened and she said she was reading her bok. I explained that I asked for her to give him space and to stop feeding him grass and she declined to listen. She didnt have much to say after that

[silverfz]

growling is not aggression, i had to learn it. also baring teeth is also not aggression. gigi has her stink face as the trainer refers to that looks like a wolf baring its teeth. she is just playing.

dog parks : take tonka to dog parks. Avoiding dogs is not a great teaching step.The dog down the road is also allowed. If the other dog wants to stop it would have stopped. Gigi plays with alot of new dogs . good ones , dominant ones and crazy ones. As with kids they have to learn the social aspects on there own. handle bullies , recognize friends etc. gigi still does not get some dogs will not play and will bite. other than that she is gotten better with handling other dogs just with interactions .tonka is young and he needs it now as this will be the foundation for his future. also my wife gets very protective of her like with our kids and i on the other hand let her learn and get pushed around. i can tell as she plays with other pure labs that if push comes to shove the german Shepard side comes out and she pushes back.
take him to dog parks where he meets alot of new dogs with alot of different personalities.

dog parks lets you work on recall , leave it when tonka say messes with a dog or puppy he should not. you will find he will pick his group or 1 dog he plays that will give you insight into what get him going. After alot dog park gigi does not get excited meeting dogs , she know if its play time she can play rather rough sometimes. She also know come and lets go means it times up and to walk to the car and jump in ignoring the dogs. again she has been to tonne of dog parks in 5 states and met maybe a hundred dogs in the last 3 months. She has been to doggy day care - the off least ones in 4 states so low balling the number of dogs she probabily has interacted.
when he was 3 months she went one for 3 days while we toured hersey park with kids and what a change she had as far as nippy goes. she lost 50% plus nipping on other 3 days of playing with older dogs of her size.

keep puppies far from strange kids till they get out the puppy teething and sharp teeth phase. gigi is still crazy at home but at advanced training she is doing awesome. even though she looks all lab she is more trainable then most labs in her class maybe its us working every day . most people cuddle alot which we do but know that if we do a good job for a year we will enjoy her more for the rest of her life.

[Tanya]

You need to find safe, adult dogs that will interact with Tonka and show her the ropes. NOT just puppies. puppy play dates are terrific but she won't learn "good manners" from puppies necessarily. Staying away from dogs won't help in any way really, and may make things worse as she will just be MORE exited from not getting to meet dogs. but do ask people before meeting them and ideally you need to find friends, neighbors, acquaintances to help you (by not advancing unless your pup is not pulling).

Dog parks - well puppies learn as many bad habits as good there. and i haven't' really known them to be good at training a recall cuz the dog is so highly distracted, you need to work up to that before you start trying to call them in such a busy environment.

And definitely take your puppy away from situations like the one you mentioned earlier. I would not ask more than twice before removing the puppy from the situation. I know it's hard as you have kids too but then it may mean managing when the puppy comes so you know someone is able to be on puppy duty.

[Abulafia]

Hi—

1. I wouldn't let an 8 month old roughhouse with a 10 week (I think?) old puppy. I say this from the perspective of both dog owners. That's not a good age match.

2. I wouldn't avoid other dogs while on leash in the hopes that your dog might "get a hint." I would train Tonka not to be reactive to other dogs while on leash. There's a huge difference.

3. I disagree with your neighbor in the claim that you should let Tonka, while on leash, provoke another dog, on leash, hoping for a correction. Leashed dogs do not interact with each other normally—as unleashed dogs would. I think it is a very bad idea to hope for a "correction" while two dogs are on leash. If they were both offleash, playing, and she corrected Tonka—sure. Do you really want to deal with a correction between two large dogs while both are being attached to humans by a leash? Do you want Tonka to learn that this kind of behavior is Ok while on leash? I'd think this through very carefully.

4. The episode at the water park was exactly what I had in mind when I cautioned against allow children to approach. First, why allow strange kids to pet your dog? If there are no parents around, kid should not be pettig your dog. And indeed, it is fine to just say "No, not now, thank you."

Second, if anyone feeds your dog anything... why? You don't allow it. You don't ask them to stop: you say "NO! Stop that now." If the person does not stop, you get between the dog and the person, move the dog away, and say, loudly "please get away from my dog NOW."

Why? Well, because you don't know what they are feeding the dog. Because you don't want your dog to get used to taking food from strangers. Because it takes control away from you and puts it in the hands of the other person. Because this confuses your dog, as you are allowing it. Because the dog may nip or be perceived to nip. Because then the parent comes over and you are the bad guy. Because if the parent wishes to, she or he can report a dog bite.

No unknown child touches Hoku unless: they have asked a parent; they have asked me; their parent is there; I have told the child how to pet Hoku (never on the head); Hoku is sitting down; and I am down with her, holding onto her collar. This is not to protect the child (Hoku's the mildest thing ever); it is to protect my dog.

And I have in fact stopped children dead if they try to pat her on the head. It's easy: you smile, gently take the child's hand, and say "Oh no, not like that. Being hit on the head scares dogs. Do it this way, along her back," and then guide the child's hand to the dog's back. If the parent doesn't like you correcting their child to pet a dog safely, the parent can stuff it.

[Madalee]

Never on the head?
Never heard that one, but it does make sense!

Thanks everyone, I think im a bit smarter today!

[Labradorks]

If you are managing the play with the puppy, it might be OK. It's a good time for both owners to teach dogs about playing. If you are not managing the play well, then no, I would not allow it. Again, go to obedience class, a puppy K class (though your pup might be too old) to learn how to manage play and teach the dogs how to play appropriately.

Your neighbor is not advocating very well for their dog by allowing your dog to jump on it when the owner knows their dog doesn't like it. Good grief.

In the case of the kid, you should have taken the dog out of the situation. If you cannot watch your dog like a hawk, especially as a very young dog/puppy, don't take him with you. I imagine it's difficult to watch your children, your puppy, other people's children, etc. If you wish to take him to places like this, bring another adult so you can deal with the dog while they deal with the kids, or something like that.

[Abulafia]

Never on the head?
Never heard that one, but it does make sense!

No, never on the head. Some dogs may well enjoy a head / ear scratch / nuzzle from people they know and trust, but I highly doubt any dog likes to be patted on the head by anyone. It's threatening, in dog body language, and it's painful / annoying. A lot of kids approach a dog that way, kind of trying to reach up over to pat the dog on the head, and the dog will often then raise its head to make this difficult, causing the child to pull back the hand and then kind of try to thrust it forward again to get a pat in, the "cobra hand." This comes off as an aggressive move to dogs, and it can be dangerous (even if not with your dog, then with the next dog the child tries this with).

Many dogs like a nice long stroke from shoulder to tail, that direction only. That's usually safe (at your discretion). Never on the head!