While taking Bella for a walk last night we met a very well behaved young collie and after her usual jumping, pulling and whining she sniffed at her in a calm way for about 2 seconds before we moved on. I was proud of her and praised her for being calm while she was.

But it's highlighted just how bad she still is with greeting other dogs No matter what the dog is or how calm or hyper it is, she has to throw herself at it and try to play. I'm almost hoping she meets a dog that will tell her off so she'll learn some manners!

We go to dog classes twice a week (so long as there aren't too many dogs for her) and try to say hello nicely to any dogs we meet but she has never settled. my mum took us for a walk with her super-placid 7 year old lab but she didn't calm down with him at all and the one point I let her off her lead she ran round and round and knocked him over (not helpful to a dog with arthritis) for a half hour walk she pulled at her lead the entire time to get to him.

Is there any more (or less?) I can do to help her learn manners around other dogs?

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I'll have a read of your previous stuff about this if there is any but it sounds like she is just very excited around other dogs and wants to run and play with them. How old is Bella and how long have you had her?
How long does she get let off lead and what games do you play with her?

She's about 6 months old (but everyone has commented on her being big for her age) She gets about 10-15 mins off the lead each day as part of a longer walk but not when other dogs are around. We tend to play tug and fetch and at home she has a Kong, she doesn't recall well when we're playing fetch so I let her get into a position where she's close and likely to listen before calling her over.

I'm really hoping it's just youth, I know she's been to at least 3 other families in her life and I guess I'm worried she's missed out on some vital socialisation window. She's never been aggressive to another dog or person (she has barked a warning at a GSD before) and I know she just wants to be friends, it's just that she's so manic about it I just hope it's something she eventually grows out of.

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Its my view that dogs can only really learn how to behave properly around other dogs by beiung taught, by other dogs. Of course there are wasy we can intervene and we can teach how to behave ON LEAD to some degree around other dogs,m but actual close up social interactions and its relevant doggy do's and don'ts needs to be taught by other dogs. Could you contact a local dog trainer to or fporum members to see if there is a group dog walking facility nearby where dogs that are strong and confident and big enough to cope, will help your dog learn how to behave.

When it comes to learning dog language, dogs learn usually in oen of two ways...... BY mimicking (which they do less as they get older) and by consequence of action. ie if your dog approaches in some ways it will get a play response of it approaches in others itll get told off. Depednding on the dog. But it is crucial that your dog gets to meet dogs whixch are strong enough mentally to deal with the situation wiuthout it getting too "hot".

Good luck and please let us know how you get on. Denise

Dexter was like this when I adopted him. He would go BESERK with joy at the mere sight of another dog. Once off leash, he would go racing over and then hurl himself at the other dog - and if the other dog refused to play, Dex would then start play bowing like mad and barking at the dog!

I found that what really helped was finding him two other dogs, also young, and also very very sociable and playful! Dex is a neutered male Lab, and his two best mates are a neutered female Lab X Poodle, and a female Flatcoated Retriever.

Once he had a few pals to run around with, this eased his frustration with other dogs who would not play.

If those two dogs were not there, I used to keep him on leash - and then would ask other dog owners if it was OK to let him off, and warn them that he was very excitable.

Gradually, he began to calm down and observe how other dogs greeted each other...

Remember too that your dog is VERY young! Dexter was 14 months when I brought him home, so over twice the age your girl is now

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Thanks for the reassurance, I'm sure she'll settle at some point, I just want to make sure I'm doing the right things to get her there. I have tried to find a local dog walking group and posted in the dog walking section but am having no luck.

I've also decided to stop lessons at my local class. Three sessions in a row there were more dogs than Bella can cope with and more seem to turn up every time

Atm, I'll just try to get her out when there are more dogs around to meet and hope some show her some manners

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I have the same thing with Cookie, she is also 6 months and because she is a lab x american bulldog, she's rather big for her age and she loves to see other dogs but the problem we have is she likes to put her paws on little dogs heads!! I know she's not being aggressive or anything, she's just overly friendly and she gets proper excited - I was looking yesterday online for classes in my area and found some as I think she definitely needs much more socialisation with dogs.

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Raising paws to other dogs heads/face (i.e play with me nowwwwwww!!!) does calm down with age I found. Worse I think when they're on lead and passing or meeting another dog rather than if they're off lead which then they fathom out themselves and it's a more natural approach.

Luckily he was only 'told' by more senior dogs that basically I don't approve thank you....but was never attacked or bitten for his enthusiasm. Fred too was also massive when he was 6 months or so and looked way older than that.

He is still enthusiastic but there is a wee bit more thought that goes into greetings these days

Seeing them start to calm down a little is fantastic (when you have a hyper social dog) and you start to realise ok so it was only puppyhood. We're not out of the woods yet at 15 months but he has got sooooo much better - hurray!!!!

Hang on in there if they have a good temperament they usually work it out eventually themselves and learn manners from others and age (as I say).