playing with other dogs

[lilliegez]

Hi all, maisie loves to play with other dogs, my problem seems to be finding one that will tolerate her lunatic behaviour.  she doesn't mouth at all when playing but runs so fast sometimes running straight into dogs that she is playing with.  today I had to put her back on lead after only couple minutes of play.  she had run straight into another dog it squealed but was ok, thank god.  now im worried to let her off to play, she has no malice in her, she is just bonkers.  if it was you would you keep your dog on lead, I wouldn't want her to accidently her another dog.

[elaine.e]

I think it partly depends on the owners and dogs that you meet. Maisie would be my Louis' worst nightmare because he can't cope with speedy, crazy, in his face puppies and he becomes so fearful that he loses self control and starts growling and chasing with menaces. That's not a criticism of Maisie , but just an example of the effect that exuberant puppies can have on other dogs. William would tolerate her for a while, but if she was running into him he'd eventually lose patience and growl at her.

I always take recognition of what other owners are doing when I see them heading my way. If a dog is already on lead or the owner puts it on lead I do the same with my two. If it's off lead and isn't showing unfriendly or very boisterous looking body language I'll leave mine off lead (although because of Louis and his fear issues I sometimes choose to change direction and walk away).

I don't think you should have to keep her on lead all the time, but carefully choose which dogs she plays with and be prepared to recall her and put her back on lead if the play starts to become too boisterous. When she's playing watch her body language and that of the other dog so that you can recognise when play needs to stop.

There will be times when (for want of a better expression) you'll get it wrong and either Maisie will get growled at or the dog she's playing with will get scared and they'll need to be separated. It's not a serious problem, just something that happens which hopefully both dog owners will recognise and calmly recall their dogs.

[panda66]

Lila was like that but she has calmed down a bit since 1st season.    I put her on the lead if the other dog is on the lead, or the owner is wearing white trousers    but otherwise just sort of judge by what sort of dog it is and err on the side of caution  and like Elaine says judge by  the body language as not all owners of vicious dogs have them on lead.

[PopPops]

Wondering whether you might have any contacts or friends with older steady dogs you can walk with? There are a couple of elderly collies locally to us who have been brilliant at teaching Pops better dog manners when she's getting over the top with them, no snapping and she's perfectly safe with them but they're great at very clearly showing her the line. One just Looks at her and raises his lip and she stops on the spot, but she adores him.

[lilliegez]

I wish I could find some dogs to walk maisie with.  I did look for dog walking groups where I live in Leighton buzzard but there are none.  she loves dogs now which is great after her being so timid wish she had a friend and as you say some sensible dogs to interact with.