Should My Puppy Mix With All Dogs?
You have your new puppy and you want them to be confident around other dogs for the rest of their life.
That’s a reasonable expectation if we socialise and train them well. There are of course some exceptions to this, but let’s put certain genetics and environmental factors aside for now. The chances are that you are going to bump into many dogs throughout the course of your dog’s life, so helping them cope with that is a big part of raising your puppy.
But, some people expect their puppy, and subsequently their adult dog, to want to mix with all dogs and this is where expectations are going wrong. If you haven’t seen my guide on socialising your puppy yet, head there after reading this for some tips on what to and not to do.
What many people don’t realise is that dogs are similar to us in that we tend to not want to mix with all people all of the time. And that’s OK. There are some days where I don’t want to chat to anyone, there are some days where I fancy chatting to everyone. There are some people I would rather avoid and there are some people I love to see. Our dogs are pretty similar to this and that is OK too.
What’s important is getting to know who your dog is and then building their world around this. For me, dogs fall into one of three categories:
Library Dogs:
These dogs don’t particularly want or love to mix with other dogs. If they do mix with others, you’ll usually see them on the sidelines or spending more time with the people around them than the dogs. These dogs would rather sit at home and read a book and are quite happy in their own and their owner’s company without needing much more in life. They don’t crave or need attention from or interaction with other dogs. If you have a dog like this, it is normal and OK. It’s just them and it isn’t always because of emotional wellbeing issues.
If your dog, however is a library dog because of struggles with anxiety for example, you will want to seek professional help with that. That is not to say that your library dog will become a disco dog (see below) because underneath the anxiety they still might be just that; a library dog. But professional training will help your dog feel more comfortable with the world and within their own skin and help them live a happy life. Some of the happiest dogs I know are library dogs!
Pub Dogs:
These dogs quite like to meet their mates out, have a pint in the pub, so to speak, then head home to put their feet up. They aren’t so interested in other unknown dogs or mixing with them, they have their group of friends and get their social fix from that, but otherwise they are good. If you have a dog like this, it is normal and OK. It’s just them.
Disco Dogs:
These dogs are the social butterflies. The ones that want to regularly go to the disco, meet and chat to anyone and everyone and party like it’s 1999. They crave interaction with other dogs and are constantly looking for the disco. If you have a dog like this, it is normal and OK. It’s just them. The only caveat I would add here is to remember that pub and library dogs are probably not going to want to interact with your disco dog, so make sure that your disco dog’s training and especially their recall is on point.
In my experience, most dogs fall somewhere around pub dog status. My dog certainly is. She has her friends and loves to see them, but she isn’t so interested in other unknown dogs and doesn’t particularly want much to do with them. And that is completely normal and OK.
Where I see things going wrong sometimes is that people are taking their library dogs to the disco. Or their disco dogs to the pub and they end up placing their dog in social situations that they are not comfortable with at all. Which is where things can go horribly wrong. A disco dog pushing a library dog’s buttons can result in friction and it only takes a matter of seconds for situations to escalate between dogs.
So, what’s the point of all this? Know who your puppy is. Any one of these dogs are completely normal and OK, as long as they are trained well, not upsetting others and as long as there isn’t a fundamental mental health issue underlying it. Structure your puppy’s time around what makes them happy and flourish, whether yours is a library, pub or disco dog.
Happy training and enjoy your puppy, they don’t stay so little for long xx
