Do you think this was an off thing to say about my PFD?

[MsRyanGosling]

Hello,

I've been to a puppy party tonight with Dexter (bedlington terrier).

Normally the format is people sit round the edge of a room holding their dogs on knees until invited to put their pup on the floor either alone or with another pup or sometimes two others.

This week was a different guy, he was very young which I only mention age becasue of what he said!

He asked me to put Dex down and asked what sort of dog he is, when I told him he pulled a face cracked off laughing and said "ooh you're in for an intersting time with him!" to which people laughed . Then he wouldn't let Dex play with the pups as if he was too playful [mad] so I had to then try and keep him on my knee for the next 30 mins when all he wanted to do was play as invited.

As I drove home I thought how bloody dare he cast aspersions and stereotype my PFD. Has he met every single bedlington ever born ? Has he met any? He certainly didn't even know what he was until I told him

So we won't be joining his training classes !

Well, unless your puppy was attacking the other pups and tearing chunks out of them I can't see why he would make such assumptions about your PFD. Having said that a lot of the terrier breeds can be a bit of a handful, so maybe he just thought he was being amusing.

I own a small fluffy dog and people frequently comment about how surprising it is to see her retrieving her ball and running around the park like a 'normal' dog. They seem to expect her to be aggressive and bark continuously, she does neither. Oh and she doesn't sit in my handbag either.

I changed my vet because of adverse comments from the previous one about small breeds.

People make assumptions about certain types of dogs. Just ignore it and enjoy your lively puppy. And as you say, you won't be joining his training classes. That's income from one potential customer he's lost.

So the whole point was to socialise & he wouldn't let your pup "just in case"?

But he was with pups that he knew?

Sounds ridiculous.

I would phone him up and ask him why he did not let your puppy interact with the other dogs.

It may be that he was observing body language of all dogs and can give you a clear reason as to why this was the right course to take. In that case he needs to offer you a plan to allow your dog to learn to socialise in a situation that is right for your dog and the other puppies.

On the other hand he could just have been a numpty

I hate most puppy socialisation classes with a passion - in rl how often do dogs meet puppies, they are more likely to meet older dogs who do not appreciate the puppies throwing themselves at each other which is what they learn in puppy brawls classes. All that puppy classes teach a dog is to have great fun with puppies and not to concentrate on their owners. It is much better to introduce a puppy to an adult class where the dogs already have good manners for the puppy to learn from.

My trainer says she has come across a lot of problems which she believes have been started by the current fashion for puppy parties. So glad I didn't go to the ones advertised round our way but relied on interaction with my sister's two adult, calm, well trained dogs who taught my pup dog language. He is now very respectful to other dogs and shows a good understanding of 'dog'.

If he is not confident working with all breeds then he has no business running these sorts of classes.

I tend to agree with mutty and NCIS though. We did puppy classes but the idea was to practice focus on me when in a room full of exciting distractions. These sessions where puppies socialise with other puppies don't make a great deal of sense to me as they aren't going to learn not to be hooligans from other puppies.

PS. I saw a local guy with his two Beddies out this morning. His 14 year old Beddy outplayed my nearly two year old Pattie mix. Just sayin'

I'd also advise against puppy parties. As nutty said, all it does it teach pups to romp about with pups, when what they need is socialisation to dogs of all ages, breeds and sizes - as well as everything and everyone else of course.

We made the mistake of going to one with our Soft Coated Wheaten girl way back in the 90's and it was awful. The largest pup there was a Rottie, who was lovely, but spent the entire time jumping on the smaller pups while the vetnurse told us to leave them to it as they were learning from each other. Fortunately my girl was a feisty terrier and gave as good as she got. Needless to say we never went back.

Far better to go to puppy training classes, where all pups are kept on lead, are taught how to interact with their owners when there are distractions present and can meet each other in an appropriate, controlled manner.

I love Beddies, they are lovely dogs, but they do have a bit of a reputation for being stubborn and feisty and you are likely to come across some prejudice because of it. You need to have develop a thick skin when you have a sighthound, because a certain proportion of people will insist on viewing them as 'killers' that are just waiting to mistake smaller, fluffy breeds and puppies for bunnies and savage them. I have two large Lurchers and people put their dogs' leads on and avoid us in the park or cross the road to avoid passing us, despite both mine walking beautifully to heel, despite them not doing anything to deserve it.

Oops, that should read 'you need to develop a thick skin'.

Also agree with others, the best way for pups to learn good manners and communication skills is from well trained, well socialised adult dogs.

He does sound like he has stereotyping and being unfair unless as mentioned he'd read something in his behaviour.

But be aware (like other breeds) the 'proper' terriers are like marmite. And I'm not casting insults at crossbreeds etc there, I just mean the terrier breeds known for showing what are described as true terrier traits. People seem to either be terrier people or avoid.

I love terriers. It is an untruth that they are untrainable.But I honestly do think that they are different to say a lab or ball focused spaniel.

But, I agree with all that has been said about puppy parties. BT is my first dog as the responsible adult. We were told puppy parties are the thing to do. We went. We had the time if our lives. I have that 2 year old hooligan mentioned. He is improving (I can see it but would also forgive people for laughing when I say it out loud) slowly and still needs micro managing off lead.

Tbh, I am not the best advert for breaking the stereotype but I couldn't be without a terrier.

Ditto the other comments about puppy parties. I am responsible for organising them at work and the first thing I did was ditch the off-lead free for all that had traditionally happened - to the disappointment of many owners, incidentally! It was just insane though, the heaviest bolshiest puppies were squashing anything in their path and very few meaningful interactions were happening.

We now do 'veterinary socialisation' focusing on creating positive associations with coming to the practice and showing owners how to practice handling and checking their pups - eyes/ears/teeth/feet/clippers etc. - and discuss recommended protocols for flea/worm/vacc/neuter. We strongly recommend signing up for a puppy training class, discuss what to look for in a trainer and have leaflets/cards available for good local trainers who use only postive reward methods. Everyone goes home with a 'troubleshooting booklet' of APDT sheets about toilet training, crate training, mouthing, resource guarding, recall etc. and a socialisation checklist to work through at home.

Buck firmly passed but IMO a number of veterinary nurses are not up to date with modern dog behaviour and training methods and I would rather they focus on preventative care and instead just set the owners up well with resources rather than try to train hyped up pups and owners in a cramped reception.

I try my very best not to be breed-ist except if it's relevant to behaviour - for example if someone mentions that their collie pup is showing interest in moving cars. Anyway, it goes without saying that all terriers are untrainable shits.

The puppy party I took my pup to years ago, run by the nurse at the local vets, was awful.

Puppies all off lead, resulting in a scrum. At which point the vet nurse produced a Pet Corrector aerosol and proceeded to demonstrate how it could be used "to break up play if it gets too boisterous". Result - scattered, spooked puppies. Stupid woman. I'd never go to a puppy party again; as said above they're much better off socialising with older, steadier dogs.