Dog socialisation
Getting your puppy used to other dogs does not mean they have to play with every dog they see. We want to focus on quality over quantity, so that every dog that they meet is a positive experience. Just watching another dog is still part of getting your puppy used to other dogs. If you are going to allow an interaction with another dog, always ask the owner if their dog would be happy to say hello, the other dog may not like dogs, may be too old to interact with puppies, or may have an injury. If there is mutual agreement that your dogs can say hello, let your puppy lead. If they don’t want to approach the other dog, don’t force them, just be patient and see if they build up the courage to say hello. If not, just move along. If either dog looks like they want to leave the interaction, let them. Unless both dogs seem like they want to play, just keep the interaction as a polite hello and then move on. Make sure that you keep it to a roughly 50:50 ratio of dogs that your puppy gets to see and greet vs. to see and just keep on walking past. It is important that your dog learns that dogs are nice, but that seeing one doesn’t mean they will always get to play with them. This will help you avoid having your dog become over excited by dogs or frustrated when they can’t get to them as they get older.
