Puppy adolescence - suddenly dislikes other puppies?

[Pringle89]

Our nearly 9 month old pup who has always been super friendly and loves other dogs has suddenly decided he dislikes other puppies.

Example, bouncy puppy comes and plays and is over excited, bats his face and doesn’t take a growl to mean go away and keeps trying to play he gets really snarly and aggressive so we have had to put him on the lead and walk away. This has happened with three different puppies on the last week.

Is this adolescent behaviour or something more? I don’t understand why he doesn’t like puppies anymore (being a puppy still himself - although a small breed so matures quicker than a larger dog).

It’s worrying. me that he will become aggressive, do I need to get him neutered to stop this, first time dog owner so no idea if this is normal for this age or something else going on?

[missbattenburg]

He's no more a puppy than a 13 year old human is a toddler.

It's normal for behaviours like this to emerge in adolscence which may or may not stick around in adulthood, depending on what the dog learns now. Part of the reason is the heightened senstitivity to fear that occurs during this period.

If he learns that snarling gets rid of the pesky puppy he will keep using it as a method into adulthood. He's also likely to try and use it in other scenarios he is not comfortable - e.g. strangers, children, other animals etc. You obviously do not want this.

I'd focus on NOT letting him learn that right now which means avoiding anything he is not comfortable with.

Example, bouncy puppy comes and plays and is over excited, bats his face and doesn’t take a growl to mean go away and keeps trying to play

Don't allow those other puppies to do this. Keep them at a distance your dog is comfortbale with and reward him for ignoring them and engaging with you.

[Pringle89]

It was very challenging today as we put him in the lead and tried to walk away but the other owner kept saying oh he’s got to learn and left her puppy off the lead for a good 5 mins whilst ours was getting worked up at the other dog not getting the hint at all! When we we walked away he dog followed us and she couldn’t get him to come back. I will try and avoid all puppies when we are out, so hard though!

[missbattenburg]

I get that it's hard but the risk of failure is too great. Stop relying on hints and be direct. Mean, if you have to.

Yell at the other owner that your dog is sick, contagious, aggressive, or whatever it takes to keep that puppy away. You are doing them a favour in the long run because a young puppy that gets barked at by an older dog is only learning bad things...

[BiteyShark]

I would have walked off straight away. If the puppy follows shout to the owner that they need to get their dog back because you need to leave. Or if your dog has a good sit and stay walk the puppy back to the owner if you have a spare lead and maybe tell them a puppy going up to some dogs might lead to it being bitten

I agree with missbatternburg that you just have to be quite assertive with some dog owners as they are relying on you to do their teaching when actually your responsibility is only to teach or protect your dog.

[Pringle89]

Thanks for advice, will be more assertive from now on, I’ve always been so happy at the fact our dog is so friendly towards other dogs so I’m feeling a bit sad we have this issue, hopefully just temporary!