Puppy yelping when playing with bigger dogs today?!

[Jinnybean]

Need some advice please

Jinny was bite by a Labrador last week and the last few days (especially today!) she’s been absolutely terrified of other dogs. Especially bigger ones.

I took her straight back out after cleaning her up and she was fine, loves playing at the dog park etc.

But today she met a golden retriever and he went to sniff her and she screamed really really loud. Every time he went close her tail would go under and she would hide so we left. This evening she’s done the same with another goldie, she wanted to play so much but the min he went near her she screamed and cried. It’s horrific and it’s breaking my heart because she was SO confident! She was absolutely happy to go back out and play afterwards, and every day since tbh! It happened 6 days ago.

What do I do?! I’m so heartbroken 😭

You need to go back to basics and give her a lot of space from other dogs, then slowly work forwards from there.

She needs to feel that she's safe, so you need to do some positive association work and let her move at a slow, comfortable pace. Start at a distance - letting her watch other dogs and rewarding her for calm, relaxed behaviour. Then the next day, you try going a little closer. And so on. If she's scared, she's too close to other dogs and needs to take a step back.

Also, I would avoid dog parks for now, if what you mean by dog park is a small enclosed area with lots of dogs playing? It's going to make her feel too vulnerable.

If you can afford to see a trainer/behaviourist, now would be a really good time for this too.

Don't worry. Try to be calm, positive and supportive when you're out with her, so that she doesn't absorb your anxiety (difficult, I know!).