Hi all,

I wonder if anyone could help me.
I recently got a Coton de Tulear puppy, got him at 4 months and he is now just over 5 months. I'm really worried because although he's really friendly with people he seems to hate other dogs.
We don't live in an area with a lot of dogs, so he doesn't get to see them often. And with the weather being so bad recently we haven't been able to take him to parks.

Whenever he sees other dogs (such as at the pets or groomers) he will bark and growl at them. Sometimes he will calm down and sniff them, but other times he will continue to bark. It seems more aggressive rather than a 'wanting to play' bark. I took him to meet my friend's bichons and he barked for about 10 mins before he settled down and started to play with them. He has a really loud bark for such a small dog and so it can get pretty disruptive.

We've booked him to go to socialisation classes in January, because with it being Christmas a lot of dog training places aren't open. But I;m a bit concerned as he will be almost 6 months then and the 'window' might have passed.

Last night I thought of showing him videos of other dogs on youtube to try and desensitize him. As I expected he was barking and growling and whining at the sight of them. His tail was also wagging so I don't know if it was because he wanted to play.

Should I continue to show him videos of other dogs or should I just wait till January for the socialisation class? Or is there anything I can do to help in the meantime?

Would be grateful for any advice!

It sounds like your dog is over excited rather than aggressive. My dog when playing growls but he's not aggressive. If your dog was aggressive he wouldn't just sniff another dog he would bite.

Take the dog to classes in january and he should be fine.

Thanks for the reply. So he is not aggressive and fearful after all?

I was getting worried after the commotion he caused at the groomers and the vets....

I would say he possibly is a little fearful from your description, but not truly aggressive. Socialisation with other dogs when he joins the class in January should help him a lot.

Keep us updated as to his progress if you can.

I'd thought rather fearful too - particularly tied in with his age of 4 months when you got him. Where was he until then? If he was being run on a bit by his breeder, he probably wasn't socialised as well as if you'd got him at 8 - 9 weeks. There's still time to catch up, but I think you'll have to make more effort - so take him out even if it is raining and nasty, trips into town whether you need to go shopping or not!

If you didnt get him until around 4 months ie 12 weeks, a lot would depend on what socialisation and habituation he got before. Its not only socialisation with people and other dogs of all shapes and sizes a pup needs but they also need habituation getting used to the outside enviironment and going to different places too. A lot of barking, snapping, isnt agression as we often perceive it, its often out of uncertainty or fear and because of stressful situations for the dog.
If a dog is stressed by traffic, or lots of people etc, the behaviour can manifest itself as re-directed fear agression to people and other dogs instead. Or if the dog hasnt socialised with other dogs of all shapes and sizes then it can purely be lack of social skills and understanding, or even a mixture of the two. In adddition to this even dogs that have had the socialisation and habituation and are quite brave and outgoing can suddenly again act to sights sounds and situations as they also go through fear periods too, its all part of the critical phases of developement.

The fact that he mostly meets dogs at the groomers or the vets and barks and growls is not surprising, vets and groomers can be a very stressful situation anyway, and if he suddenly finds himself in a confined area with other dogs, its easy too see why he likely reacts like this. A lot of dogs that are really friendly for example can snap and growl in the vets.

The fact that after 10 mins he is fine and enjoying himself with your friends dog, sounds like, he is just lacking in confidence and just needs time to take a step back weigh up a situation and then when he feels comfortable then he interacts.

I know the weather might be bad, and there may be a dog shortage but you really do need to get him out there and experiencing things, you cant shove him in at the deep end, but he needs to be doing things at a slow steady pace being introduced at initially a distance he is happy with, and when he doesnt react praise and treat him, to make a good association with the situation/dog whatever. Then you move him closer, pause if he is still Ok and not reacting and relaxed more praise another treat and so on and so on, so he is then taken up and introduced at his pace and what he can cope with.
Just give him the space and a pause as you go, until he wants to interact.
Really just replicating what he does with your friends dog. Until he feel comfortable to play.

He does need the training classes, Have a word with the trainer beforehand
to tell him/her what problems you are having if you havent already, she may suggest ways to introduce him and bring him into the class. Make sure its a small and structured class too, last thing you want for an unsure late bloomer is a oversubscribed busy loud doggie madhouse to plunge him into.
He does need a traning class though, because there he can meet dogs in a controlled environment, so sooner the better, but he does need to begin meeting dogs and environmental things in the meantime too. Time is ticking.

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Hi all,
I just want to update you all on how my puppy is doing.

Over Christmas we had loads of people over and went to other people’s houses and seemed to get on with the kids and was really friendly with people in general.
He also met another dog who is occasionally at my neighbour’s house. They met off leash and as I expected my dog started to bark, but his body language suggested he was inviting this other dog to play with him, unfortunately this other dog wouldn’t play with him. My neighbour warned me that her dog was antisocial with other dogs in general and after a few minutes of my dog yapping at him he started to growl so we promptly took them away. However poor puppy was a bit frustrated that this other dog wouldn’t play with him and was a bit angry? miffed? (I’m not sure)

I took him to socialisation yesterday and he seemed to do fine. He didn’t bark much at all except for one dog which kept barking at him so they had a bit of a barking match, but otherwise he seemed to get on ok with the other puppies. Although I think he needs to learn some manners as after the sniffing he becomes a bit too friendly tries to climb on them etc.

The trainer doesn’t think my puppy is aggressive, she says that he just needs to know who is the boss.
I don’t think he is either, I think he just wants to play but needs to learn manners around other dogs. Hopefully these classes will help and he can meet loads of other dogs in the process!

How's your Coton doing now?