What is acceptable “telling off” by dog

[Arche]

We have a very boisterous, puppy. 16 weeks. On a walk our dog had a poor interaction with another. It started when my puppy and an older dog started to say hello - the other dog started to sniff bums, so did my pup momentarily, but then puppy shoved his face in the others dog’s face very abruptly. Puppy jumped in dog’s face really. Which caused the dog to growl and chase my puppy. The owners had to grab their dog. Whole thing lasted maybe 30 seconds.

The older dog’s owners said their dog was only telling the puppy this is not acceptable. And that there dog has only hand 2/3 poor experiences in the 9 years they had him. All due to puppies being too energetic for their dog’s liking.

There is telling off. I get how else do dogs learn. And then there is something else.

I have learned a lesson. Normally the telling off is a bark but this was extreme, no?

Hard to tell really but in general maybe best to only socialise pup with dogs you know. Just like humans how skillful they are in their own communication skills varies widely.

Never let dogs meet on lead. Your dog doesnt need to meet other dogs. Get his attention on you.

No, absolutely normal. Dogs are much less polite than we are in saying "back off you little shit" and they would both understand exactly what was meant and learnt by the interaction.

neither dog was on lead

Were they both off lead? If so I’d take that as a reminder he’s not ready to interact and that all interactions need to be carefully managed (or not allowed at all).

Dogs do need to meet other dogs. They are sociable by nature.

16 weeks off lead?

Dogs do get annoyed by pups. Assuming your pup has no recall it shouldnt be off lead anyway

There is a range of responses, and what you describe is in the range of normal telling off. Everything from ears pricked to a warning snap could be "normal" depending on the context. So no, not extreme.

It sounds like you need to work more with your puppy in terms of calm introductions, but at 16 weeks there's plenty of time and room for both of you to get it right.

No they don’t - some dogs are happy to meet other dogs, some dogs most certainly are not. You have to judge your dog and the situation carefully.

We've had various dogs over the years although currently without and I agree, this is in the realm of normal and your dog 'started' it.
Dogs are pack animals and it's normal for them to assert the hierarchy

It takes a doggy village to raise a puo but they don't go in for gentle parenting really. Bold youngsters get the doggy equivalent of a smacked bottom so they are chastened , but no lasting injury. A younger pup would likely be given more leeway by older dogs but at 4 months, cheekiness gets dealt with.

Normal dog behaviour. Your pup will probably behave more appropriately next time.

The younger the better - puppies stick to you like glue and it's the ideal time to teach a good, solid recall before it goes out of the window during adolescence.

OP - see this as a lesson learned for your puppy. Lots of older dogs don't want puppies bounding up to them and jumping in their faces - it's awful doggy manners, and if your puppy doesn't live with an older dog, the only way it'll "learn" is by interacting with other dogs on walks.

However, you do need to be really careful as while most dogs will "just" tell off, some will be aggressive and bite.

The younger the better - puppies stick to you like glue

Mine certainly didn’t - nor did the puppy across the road who almost ended up under the wheels of my car when she ran away from my neighbour on their walk and made her own way home.

Sorry, I should have clarified, by "off-lead" I meant "not on a short lead" - so, on a long-line with the freedom of being off the lead but the safety of being able to be grabbed just in case.

The risk of running into a road is, unfortunately, one you take every time you let them off the lead - even the best trained dogs can "fail".

Agree re the long line - that’s how we practised recall. Yes, it’s always a risk letting them off but I left it much later than my neighbour did who I suspect thought that the pup wouldn’t leave his side. Lesson learned - we all got a huge fright (apart from the pup who thought it was a great game!)

I can imagine @SirChenjins - mine got out of the front door once and legged into the road. I was absolutely terrified but thankfully a lovely man managed to grab him for me and all the cars stopped to help too.

My heart was in my mouth and he wasn't allowed off lead for a good few weeks afterwards 🙈

My older dog really doesn't like dogs that stare/eyeball him. He will also growl at over enthusiastic puppies in his face. Especially if it the first time he has seen/met them. He will pin the puppy down show his teeth then happily release them [without harm] and then go along on his walk. He just sometimes doesn't like strange dogs at his first introduction in his face.
He is not bothered by puppies he has been introduced to or know. Even if they are in his face. If he has enough of them he just walks away.
He's lovely and not aggressive but some dogs are. Be careful with your puppy OP!

Even with us,if we stare at him,or tell him off. He will give you side eye and walk away 😂
Dogs are fabulous 👀

Dogs do not need socialisation with other dogs. What they do need is controlled exposure to a variety of environments, situations and conditions, which includes people and animals they may encounter in the course of their lives. Part of that exposure should be training the dog to essentially ignore other stimuli around him (cars, food, people, dogs etc) and focus on you, his owner. You need to be the most entertaining thing in his world and the thing that gives him so much fulfilment, joy and satisfaction that he doesn’t feel the need to look for it elsewhere.

The other dog corrected your puppy for being too boisterous and wayward. Dogs will do that to each other, it’s entirely normal. In most cases, there’s no harm done and the puppy learns there is a right way and a wrong way to approach and play/interact with another dog.

Honestly? Sounds very measured from the other dog.

Puppies and adults interact very differently. And an adult dog that interacts well with other adults may not interact well with puppies - because they are boisterous.

My cocker spaniel has always been wound up by my golden. He knows the boundaries with her well by now. But still, if he pushes her to much (and is a massive dick - he’s still young - and jumps around and bothers her), she chases him and barges into him until he rolls onto his back and bears his neck. It looks very aggressive - and she sounds she makes certainly is - but 2 minutes later he’ll clamber into her bed as her best friend and she’ll groom him.

Dogs communicate differently to us. What looks aggressive to us, very often isn’t to them.

I'm another who doesn't think your dog should be off lead in public at 16 weeks.

This was your fault not the other dogs

It sounds to me like the other dog’s reaction fell into the normal range, but not a pleasant interaction so I would keep your puppy well away from this dog if you see them again.

I’ve got a 5 month old puppy been off lead since about 3 months. Most adult dogs have been patient with him as he learns manners & just ignore him when too boisterous or maybe a small growl. However he has had a few tellings off with no harm done - he has to learn doggy manners & that’s something older dogs can teach him better than me.

Sounds within normal realm to me - the other dog clearly didn’t want a bad mannered puppy jumping all over his face! It takes time for puppies to learn appropriate manners but you need to teach them and not rely on other dogs to do the ‘telling off’, have him on a long line, only let him approach dogs if the owner says it’s ok and as soon as you can see him starting to be over the top recall him back.