# Question About Confident/Overly Confident puppy?



## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

I would redirect him if he's being to much of bully and always "on top". Most of the time you can let dogs work it out, but you definitely can intervene if you don't like the level of play.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

mylissyk said:


> I would redirect him if he's being to much of bully and always "on top". Most of the time you can let dogs work it out, but you definitely can intervene if you don't like the level of play.


That's what I was thinking. I do usually intervene when he's being too much of a bully and he's quick to calm down. I just don't want this to become something he thinks he can do to other dogs. When he plays with others he rolls around and plays well, but he's never met a dog as laid back as her. I'll just keep an eye on him I guess, I just don't want him to grow into a dog that thinks it's okay to bully timid/laid back dogs.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

It kind of just sounds like play to me. The descriptions of their personalities match the way they are playing. She is standing up to him so she's not letting him push her around too much. If you feel it's getting out of control, stop them. I would get him into a puppy kindergarten class. Most puppy classes are more about socialization than training. Don't allow chews when they are together.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

Abeille said:


> It kind of just sounds like play to me. The descriptions of their personalities match the way they are playing. She is standing up to him so she's not letting him push her around too much. If you feel it's getting out of control, stop them. I would get him into a puppy kindergarten class. Most puppy classes are more about socialization than training. Don't allow chews when they are together.


I signed him up for classes at petsmart but their puppy classes don't allow the puppies to interact and their puppy socialization days don't allow not neutered puppies. I'm having a hard time finding classes that will let him go if he's not neutered :/ 

It does look like play, and normally I wouldn't be too worried, I'm just hoping it doesn't become a habit. I want him to be a well behaved puppy around other dogs, not the dog that has no idea how to play well because it needs to be on top all the time.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Tagrenine said:


> I signed him up for classes at petsmart but their puppy classes don't allow the puppies to interact and their puppy socialization days don't allow not neutered puppies. I'm having a hard time finding classes that will let him go if he's not neutered :/
> 
> It does look like play, and normally I wouldn't be too worried, I'm just hoping it doesn't become a habit. I want him to be a well behaved puppy around other dogs, not the dog that has no idea how to play well because it needs to be on top all the time.



Look into training clubs. They are much more affordable than PetSmart and the training is often better. I don't know about other places, but where I teach they allow a short play period during the class time. They learn dog language during that time. Don't let them bully you into neutering too soon! At this stage in life, he's just a puppy like ALL the others.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

Abeille said:


> Look into training clubs. They are much more affordable than PetSmart and the training is often better. I don't know about other places, but where I teach they allow a short play period during the class time. They learn dog language during that time. Don't let them bully you into neutering too soon! At this stage in life, he's just a puppy like ALL the others.


We plan on showing him, so hopefully we won't have to neuter him any time soon! I'll try a club, I've been looking into a club that has handling classes near me anway


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

Tagrenine said:


> I signed him up for classes at petsmart but their puppy classes don't allow the puppies to interact and their puppy socialization days don't allow not neutered puppies. I'm having a hard time finding classes that will let him go if he's not neutered :/
> 
> It does look like play, and normally I wouldn't be too worried, I'm just hoping it doesn't become a habit. I want him to be a well behaved puppy around other dogs, not the dog that has no idea how to play well because it needs to be on top all the time.



First, I would run far and fast from any so-called training facility that requires puppies to be spayed or neutered. There is so much research nowadays to show the negative impacts of very early neutering, and there is really no excuse for a facility that requires four month old puppies to be spayed or neutered.


Second, your pup, at 15 weeks, is too old for puppy classes. If he hasn't done them already, he probably wouldn't benefit from them now. 



Third, in any case, in my experience the best way to ensure that your pup grows into a dog that behaves well around other dogs is to arrange occasional one-on-one play sessions with a well-behaved, polite adult dog that will educate him and teach him how to play nicely. If you let him play frequently with random groups of unknown pups or young dogs, he's more likely to develop problem behaviours. Better to limit his interactions to adult dogs you know will play properly.



Last, honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about his behaviour with his littermate. They are pups who haven't learned to play politely, and they're not going to learn it from one another. I'd tend to limit their interactions and only intervene if things seem to be taking a turn for the worse.


It's a myth that dogs need to be able to play nicely with every single dog they meet: you're never going to achieve that. There will always be dogs he doesn't like/that don't like him, and that's ok. With a confident puppy, however, I'd strongly recommend obedience training, sooner rather than later. Much better IMHO that your pup learns to focus on you when other dogs are present, than on the other dogs - especially as you are thinking of showing him. Training class will help you achieve that. 



Best of luck!


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

ceegee said:


> First, I would run far and fast from any so-called training facility that requires puppies to be spayed or neutered. There is so much research nowadays to show the negative impacts of very early neutering, and there is really no excuse for a facility that requires four month old puppies to be spayed or neutered.
> 
> 
> Second, your pup, at 15 weeks, is too old for puppy classes. If he hasn't done them already, he probably wouldn't benefit from them now.
> ...


Thank you so much! His experiences with other dogs have been very positive and controlled (I'm a bit of a control freak lol) especially because I didn't want him to experience anything negative during his early fear period. 

The female puppy is definitely more laid back, but won't let him walk all over him. When he's around the adult dogs from the breeder, he's very polite and respects them. So I'm unsure what to make of this. 

As for his confidence, it definitely threw me for a loop when I began working with him. Getting him to willingly give me eye contact was very difficult. I've put in a lot of time in building a working bond with him where he wants to work for me and is eager to please. Reading the breed standard calls for a solid temperament without any undue aggression towards dogs or people and I guess I'm just paranoid that this will develop into something that will not make him an asset to the breed. 

He's my first golden and I'm not sure what to expect, so I'm just worried. You guys are awesome though! I've learned a lot about the breed attributes.


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