My puppy plays too rough with other puppies at puppy class and has been corrected by an adult dog who didn't like her pushy behavior. How can I help her learn to play appropriately?

Hi Cindy, first off, thank you for this wonderful service that you and Ed provide! My question is : I have a 16 week old australian sheperd/poodle mix. She plays too hard and approaches other puppies/adult dogs friendly but then wants to pounce on them and play very roughly. Some pups view her play tactics as aggressive and want nothing to do with her. We are enrolled in a 6 week puppy class that allows playtime and the trainer is working very diligently with my puppy. My puppy is on a leash during playtime and when she gets too rough I remove her from the action until she is calmer. Is there anything else I can be doing to help my puppy to learn to play more appropriately other than not letting her play at all? She has been corrected by an adult dog ( adult dog growled and air snapped at her until my puppy backed off) I want to do do everything I can to prevent my puppy from being seriously attacked by a dog who is not receptive to her play behavior.

Cindy's Answer

I would absolutely not put this puppy in a position to continue this, I don't allow my puppies to freely play with other dogs from outside my family (and sometimes not even with my other dogs) dog daycare, dog parks or puppy classes. I realize that this is an unpopular opinion with a lot of puppy owners but dogs differ so much in temperament and play styles that it sets up some pups for a bad experience that can cause fear or dog aggression or it can create an overexcited dog that can't focus in the presence of other dogs unless it's allowed to meet them. This overexcitement often turns to frustration and that can lead to reactivity on leash or aggression.

We want our puppies to look to us for play and interaction, not every dog and puppy that they see. I get many messages daily from people who have created a problem by letting their puppies go up to and interact with lots of different dogs. I want my pups to be comfortable in the presence of other dogs but not looking for interaction with them.

You may want to view some of our resources on puppy raising, we've updated our puppy videos since you purchased it many years ago :)