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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on June 30, 2009 at 4:53pm

It is instinctive for a pup to go for the face because that is how the mother dog {in the wild} feeds their young by regugitating food. However a very firm no and removal from the situation should teach her to stop. I would be worried about letting it go because the puppy could be hurt and you really should teach her proper manners around other dogs. So I think you are right in wanting to correct the behavior.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on June 30, 2009 at 5:38pm

When Jack was young, he used to leap on dog's heads all the time in play. I've seen other young dogs do it too; I think it's a puppy thing.

To be honest, we had very little success in stopping the behavior. Then as he reached adolescence, he had one or two dogs air-snap at him for it, and some others just refuse to engage, and that is when he learned better doggie etiquette, and the fine art of butt-sniffing.

Puppies have different behaviors than adult dogs. It can be hard to get a senior citizen to tolerate a rambunctious pup, and they may never really be friends. You need to protect them from each other. I would only allow highly supervised interactions. Gently correct the pup from being over-exuberant. And continue to socialize Stella extensively with other dogs. Ideally try to find her some younger dogs to meet who will be more likely to enjoy her antics. You would not expect an 80-year-old woman to want to play with a three-year-old toddler, right? Right. :-) Rough play is normal and healthy for puppies and young adult dogs, but older dogs often have little tolerance for it.

As far as teaching your puppy better dog manners, I think we are truly limited in how much we can get them to understand proper dog etiquette. That is why socialization with many dogs (once she has all her shots, of course) is so important. The dogs really learn more from each other in that regard.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on June 30, 2009 at 6:03pm

I got Ethel at 8 weeks when Bertie was 3, and I did two things -- first, I took Ethel to puppy kindergarten and then beginning obedience. Especially in kindergarten, where she got to play and wrestle other age-appropriate pups, she learned to soften up her bites and to understand the doggy version of "hey, too much, back off!" Then, with Bertie, I never, ever left them together alone (if I went out, she was crated), but supervised their time together. I know Bertie's body language pretty well, so I watched him for signs of any kind of aggression or antipathy and I was also lucky -- I never really had to step in. He was very patient with her (but he was a lot younger than your Annie is, too), but he did correct her sometimes, the way a momma dog does (which does involve kind of mouthing the puppy, but certainly not nipping, or biting, just a show, really). Ethel got the message very quickly, and they get along great now. They are both food crazed, and I can even feed them next to each other -- they understand their own rules, and leave each other be. There are lots of good behaviorists on this site who can give you good advice, far better than me -- but I wanted to just tell you my experience, such as it's been. Good luck!

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