Puppy Romper Room
I have discovered that a local pet store in Portland (Planet Dog) does something called Puppy Romper Room for an hour a day on Saturday and Sunday. This is really great because I was kind of at a loss for ideas on how to socialize Penny. I don't know anyone in the area with dogs, and whenever we've gone to the park and tried to meet dogs there, Penny is very shy. Well, honestly, almost terrified. I'm pretty sure this must be because of the incident with Comet (my out-of-state friends Golden/Yellow Lab mix) earlier this month. When we were all camping together, Penny tried to get a chew toy away from him and he bit her on the muzzle. No blood was drawn, but she hasn't wanted to come near another dog since.
So Romper Room: It's for puppies under 6months and 25lbs. They gate off a section of the store, and divide that into 2 sections, more aggressive players and less aggressive. There is one trainer in each section to supervise. Penny went into the less aggressive side of course, and she was in there with 6 other puppies. These were all puppies that were smaller than her, but there was a lot of activity because they had no problem playing with each other. She is an active dog, loves to frap around the living room, race around outside, etc. When they put her in she immediately cowered in the corner. I felt so awful, asking myself, what am I putting this poor pup through? If puppies came over to say hi to her, she snarled at them and her fur was up most of the time. She had a few moments when she looked like she was relaxing, but then a puppy would get in her face too much and she would start snarling again. They took her out after about 5 minutes, suggested that she go outside and take a potty break, and then try again later. It was about the same the second time, although there was one cute terrier mix (Gigi) that was very mild mannered and Penny didn't seem to mind her as much. So the trainer decided to wait until the very end, when almost everyone was gone and put just Penny and Gigi in there together. They were in there for about 10 minutes together and at first Penny didn't want much to do with her, but at the very end she started racing around with her! It was such a relief, I'm so happy that it ended on a good note. I am still worried about her mental health, maybe that is too many puppies for her to deal with.
Any thoughts, suggestions? Honestly, am I doing this wrong?
So Romper Room: It's for puppies under 6months and 25lbs. They gate off a section of the store, and divide that into 2 sections, more aggressive players and less aggressive. There is one trainer in each section to supervise. Penny went into the less aggressive side of course, and she was in there with 6 other puppies. These were all puppies that were smaller than her, but there was a lot of activity because they had no problem playing with each other. She is an active dog, loves to frap around the living room, race around outside, etc. When they put her in she immediately cowered in the corner. I felt so awful, asking myself, what am I putting this poor pup through? If puppies came over to say hi to her, she snarled at them and her fur was up most of the time. She had a few moments when she looked like she was relaxing, but then a puppy would get in her face too much and she would start snarling again. They took her out after about 5 minutes, suggested that she go outside and take a potty break, and then try again later. It was about the same the second time, although there was one cute terrier mix (Gigi) that was very mild mannered and Penny didn't seem to mind her as much. So the trainer decided to wait until the very end, when almost everyone was gone and put just Penny and Gigi in there together. They were in there for about 10 minutes together and at first Penny didn't want much to do with her, but at the very end she started racing around with her! It was such a relief, I'm so happy that it ended on a good note. I am still worried about her mental health, maybe that is too many puppies for her to deal with.
Any thoughts, suggestions? Honestly, am I doing this wrong?
Comment
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Comment by Kristen on July 29, 2008 at 5:29pm
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I think the socialization is so important and what you are doing is good for her. My Corgis can all be standoffish at first in a group setting including the raised hair on the neck for a time, but eventually it is all fun and games. Penny may almost always be more comfortable in a small group setting or a one on one. Nothing wrong with that. In a well supervised Romper room like you have her in, things are managed to avoid conflict. Sounds like the trainer paid close attention. You might want to just have Penny watch for a while from the outside of the pen and keep taking it slowly. You'll be glad you did it.
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Comment by Caitlin on July 29, 2008 at 1:52pm
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Thank you, I really appreciate your input. It re-assures me quite a bit that I am not traumatizing her by taking her there. We'll just press on and get through it! Thanks a bunch!
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Comment by Ginny and Diggory on July 29, 2008 at 11:42am
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Really, that seems like an awesome opportunity for you to socialize her. If she's fearful right now with other dogs, it probably won't get better without more socialization, and the puppy romper room seems like a safe place for them to get to experience other dogs. I got Ginny this January and there was a local doggy daycare that had a puppy playgroup on Saturday mornings. People could bring their puppies for an hour and let them play with each other. This was just for pups under 1 year old, but there wasn't a size restrictions (some of Ginny's best buds were the bull mastiff pups). She was terrified her first time. About 3 and a half months old. She would either hide under a chair or behind me or want to be picked up. I would pet her, but tried not to coddle her too much so she wouldn't think she was getting attention just because she was scared. If another dog got too interested in her and was really buggin' her a lot, the trainer would spritz them with a squirt of water to divert their attention. As for the raised lip (aka "ugly face"), the trainer said that it was a perfectly acceptable form of dog communication. It's sort of their way of telling the other dog that they don't want to be messed with. By about our third visit, she was doing great and starting to really come out of her shell, so to speak. Now, if we go to the dog park, our visit starts with about five minutes of raised hair on the back of her neck, and the occassional raised lip, but then she has a great time and plays really well. Letting them play with other dogs is awesome because it really wears them out mentally and physically. I'd say give it a little time... as long as it's a positive experience, she should get used to it. Just watch out to make sure other dogs don't start bullying her. If she needs a break now and then, that's ok too.
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