Doesn't play well with others

We've only had Jellybean for about a week, she's 8. When another dog tried playing with her today she just sat there like a stick in the mud and growled as if to say "get away from me you hooligan!" Is she just a cranky old person? What can we do help her get friendlier with other dogs?

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Beth on June 24, 2009 at 6:50am

If a dog is not socialized with other dogs when it's a puppy, it might not really understand how to play with other dogs. Of, if you just got her and she's 8, then she could still be working out her new situation.

If it were me, I'd try to arrange times when she could spend some time with some quiet, well-behaved, older dogs that might not be so bouncy and playful, and just see if she'll tolerate sniffings and greetings. Keep it short at first and as soon as she calmly greets another dog, finish for the day and take her off for something fun. Also, dogs are observational learners, so you might try taking her where she can watch other dogs play, but stay quietly to the side and just observe. If she stays calm and doesn't growl, tell her what a good girl she is. I might not treat in that situation, though; some dogs aren't very good about eating when there are other dogs around. I must say, though, that we know a guy with an older dog that was a rescue, and he just does not like other dogs. He ignores them, mostly, or grumbles at them, and does not get involved when all our other dogs play together. Not all dogs love their own kind, it seems. On the other hand, we know a young guy with a five-year-old lab named Corona. Corona always ignored the other dogs, and then last week out of the blue she just up and decided she wanted to play, and acted like she'd done it her whole life. You should have seen her and our Jack wrestling and chasing and licking each other's faces. It was adorable.

However, I don't have direct experience with this and I'm sure some others probably do. Maybe one of our rescue people has some good advice.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on June 24, 2009 at 8:23am

Do you know anything about Jellybean's past? That might give you some clues. When I introduce a new corgi to my pack, I introduce them at a neutral place, before the initial meeting, I take time out to walk the new dog and my dogs separately for 1-2 miles, that will tired them out and get the initial excitement out of the way. Walk the new dog on one hand, the other dog on the other, focus on walking, no sniffing, no big introduction, after a mile of two, THEN let them figure each other out. If it is a dog park situation, walk and exercise your dog first before you bring them in the park, a tired corgi is a well behave corgi, he'll be more calm and easy going after an initial walk.