Bacon's Playdate? Wish us luck!

Ok, so let me start off by saying that Bacon is 10 months old now, and I have not done a great job of socializing him. I had a rough time in puppy class and we had to take Bacon to private lessons, which helped him with obedience but did not socialize him (Bacon could not focus and was to excitable with all the pups in class - Then started to be rough and bully others).

So, i let him greet as many dogs as I can on-lead but have not had any off-lead sessions for him. I can't find willing dogs or owners near me. Trust me, i feel terrible about it and i'm trying to find friends for him!!!

Anyways, we have been running into a kid and his young GSD female and she is very playful. She seems to be very tolerant of Bacon's exhuberance. Well, since Bacon's recall is bad, i don't want to let him off-lead in public with this other dog, so i've set up for them to play in my yard this afternoon. I have my fingers crossed that it will go well, but i'm nervous. Bacon has bad manners when meeting other dogs. He's always in their face and jumps and lunges at them. He's not aggressive, but other dogs snap at him sometimes because they don't like it and i don't blame them! Obviously, it's not ok to do this but i have a hard time breaking this habit of his.

I am prepared to break them apart if Bacon gets to amped up and bad mannered. Ahhhhh... Hope this works... Any advice for ultra hyper pups like mine?

Logan is hyper with other dogs too. I try to socialise as much as possible. The key is to take your time, deep breaths and remain as calm as possible lol. Also, don't over do it the first time, take it a few minutes at a time so you can feel in control.

Either way, good luck T!!!

I'll do that Mat, thanks for the advice man. It's tough at times with Bacon. I'll try to shoot a video of how it goes if possible.

That's a great idea! I agree, it certainly is not easy lol.

The only thing I would do is find neutral ground, not Bacons territory, this may not be the best place to start. How are they together when on lead and have you walked them together. Hopefully all will be fine but Moo has a play mate, and took me a long time for her to let him on her territory and thats after playing for a few hours first!

Sorry to be a little negative but better to be prepared, and good luck Xx

Janey - Unfortunately, my yard is the closest fenced off place around here that I can do it at. They've met on lead 4-5 times and have been very playful around each other. The last time they met the other dog was on the other side of the fence off-lead and bacon was on the other side of the fence on a long lead. They were playing fine with the fence in the way. Chasing each other and then meeting at the fence to sniff and lick each other. Bacon looked happy to play chase and his body language was ok throughout.

I really hope it works out for you nothing beats watching them play Xx

Thanks Janey. I hope it works too. Bacon is itching for a friend. He goes nuts over every dog he sees. He whines and howls when dogs pass us by. He just wants to run around and play. I really want to find him some friends that can deal with his energy.

I wonder if I should let him go with his lead on? That way if something happens it's easier to pull him away. Thoughts?

Good luck to you and bacon, what a fab name he has too

good luck hope it goes well

Hope it goes/went well. Loki's been like this too, I thought it was just us. He hasn't been able to run around off-lead with any dogs because none of the owners are willing, or because he annoys the dogs. Even the friendly dogs have snapped at him because of how excitable he is. We've made some progress though, he now actually stays still and lowers his body and sniffs the dogs first instead of just jumping all over them. I think it's because he got told off a lot by other dogs. I'm not saying Bacon needs to be attacked of course, just that dogs getting angry with Loki is what made him think he needs to calm down when first meeting dogs. So it's not just you, and he'll get the hang of it eventually. In the meantime, if he gets too boisterous and ends up annoying another dog, take him away for a moment to calm down. Maybe that'll make him think he needs to relax a bit.

I would walk them together first so that Bacon doesn't have as much energy. If you can't take them together than at least give Bacon a walk first. Hope it goes well

i'm sure Bacon will be fine with the GSD just take things steady. If it looks like things are getting out of hand just separate them and use distractions like toys, a squeaky toy may be beneficial to you for this.

UPDATE - We had the play session and I'm happy to report that it went very well. Bacon was definitely a Bulldozer, and definitely goes hard. I am always surprised by his drive to play nonstop. He could not be stopped or called off. I had to step in a few times when I could tell the other dog was tired and wanting to stop playing. Otherwise Bacon would have kept at it. Next time i'm going to let him loose with his lead attached. It was hard to get ahold of him when I wanted to stop him.

Still, it was a huge success and I'm thrilled to have found him a friend. Hopefully i'll find more!!! Thanks for all the tips guys.

Also, I wasn't able to shoot a vid since I was so preocupied and nervous. But here are some pics at the end of the session!

Glad it went well. You can tell from the pictures Bacon just wanted to keep playing lol. Logan is like that too, he has no off switch haha. At least you stepped in and calmed the situation when it was needed

Great pics and glad it went well

Tara wrote:Hope it goes/went well. Loki's been like this too, I thought it was just us. He hasn't been able to run around off-lead with any dogs because none of the owners are willing, or because he annoys the dogs. Even the friendly dogs have snapped at him because of how excitable he is. We've made some progress though, he now actually stays still and lowers his body and sniffs the dogs first instead of just jumping all over them. I think it's because he got told off a lot by other dogs. I'm not saying Bacon needs to be attacked of course, just that dogs getting angry with Loki is what made him think he needs to calm down when first meeting dogs. So it's not just you, and he'll get the hang of it eventually. In the meantime, if he gets too boisterous and ends up annoying another dog, take him away for a moment to calm down. Maybe that'll make him think he needs to relax a bit.

Hi Tara, Hope you dont mind me saying, but when you said Loki lowers his body, alarm bells began to ring. Kenny used to do this with all dogs, then 1 day whilst at the park, a dog came towards us and he did the same, lowered his body, but instead of his usual, "ok, sniff me, now lets play", He tried to launch a full on attack. He waited until the dog was up close. What i witnessed wasnt anything like my boy. It came on without any warning, and was very sly. Just be carefull. Im not saying he'll do the same as Ken, but just thought i'd share.

Ah great pictures i am so glad Bacon has found a friend and got some play time i have found the same problem with my Ava with the added problem that My 7yr old Skye doesn,t really get on with other dogs so when Ava use too get told off my other dogs for rough playing Skye would stick up for her!!!
I have found afew friends for her now and is so worth it as they do have so much energy, i have owned staffies for over 20yrs and they have been in my family for 80odd yrs and most of the young staffies i have dealt with love mad play lol its their trade mark.
Stick with it Bacon is a gorgeous looking dog x

Brilliant pic's, im glad all went well