# Puppy too confident



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ah, I too have an uber confident dog! If something _does _scare him or make him nervous, 90% of the time he'll charge back at it. He refuses to let himself be scared. He also had problems meeting other dogs - thought he was big-boss man and the older dogs would put him in his place. 

Just keep up with the socializing and keep exposing him to older dogs who will correct him properly and firmly, but NOT aggressively. This will probably be the worst point because he'll be going through his cocky stage soon AND the hormones are going to come in. I noticed a drastic decrease in other dogs snapping at Ranger after he got neutered - not that his behaviour changed much (at that point) but once the testosterone cleared his system, the other dogs seemed more relaxed.

Also, realize what dogs are and aren't going to get along with your pup. If you see a dog walking down the street with his chest puffed up and leading the way in front of his owner, chances are that's the kind of dog who will *not* be impressed with a cocky young fellow (I learned that from experience!). Even now I keep Ranger away from certain dogs we see out walking. I know HE'll be fine, but if the other dog takes exception to him, Ranger won't back down. 

It's tough at first, but I'd rather a super confident dog than a nervous one! Just my personal opinion...


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Ranger - What great advice and how great to see that Cosmo is not the only dog like this. I like how you say that he refuses to let himself be scared. Our little guy is like that too. He won't even let himself be intimidated. 

We'll continue to socialize and cautiously try out a few different dog parks too (he's only been to one and there was only one dog there but they got along great). As you say, we'll also pick more carefully which dogs to introduce him too. We usually stay away from dogs that look out of control (pulling a lot, not listening, dogs wearing prong collars) anyways but we'll be even more selective now. I find that he's much better with calm dogs who display a little more control.

I'm thinking now that him not being neutered but starting to mature may be inviting certain reactions from other dogs too. Perhaps it will not change his behaviour but maybe the behaviour of other dogs who interact with him, as you said. We have a late neuter clause in our contract but if we and our trainer think it would benefit Cosmo to have him neutered earlier we'll chat with our breeder and our vet for sure. Also, he can't join daycare if he's unneutered after 6 months. For him, he might benefit more from continuing with daycare than to wait to have him neutered. We'll work on some intensive socialization at daycare for next couple of months and see how that goes.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> Does anyone have experience with puppies that naturally have a lot of confidence around other dogs, perhaps too much?


I'm thinking about our Sammy dog who thought everyone in the world LOVED him. And other dogs really hated him and instantly wanted to tackle into the ground. 

And then of course there was our Danny on the other side of the coin who ignored all other dogs... except black ones. He would instantly start growling at and trying to lunge at them. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. 

Both dogs were carefully monitored around other dogs - especially since they were intact. It wasn't a huge deal, as we are definitely not the types of people who would let our dogs loose with other dogs. <- The closest we came to that was back when Danny was a puppy and we went to summer picnic at the breeder's house. She invited owners to bring their dogs and puppies and get together or whatever. When we came, she encouraged us to let Danny loose so he could play with his former littermates. And this other horrible puppy kept mounting him and I had to keep going up and yanking said puppy off my golden's butt, glaring at the laughing owner the whole time. <- And I actually have pictures from that day, showing how STRESSED out he was because of macho boy.

If you are training your puppy/dog and not permitting any inappropriate behavior, then I think he'll be ok. It means you have to be on the ball and correct your puppy and step in when necessary. 

So no mean comments necessary. Unless, you are letting him loose and laughing as he mounts other _innocent_ puppies...


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

I think the best thing you can do is what will be happening - more and more time around other dogs. Dogs do better teaching each other what is acceptable or not - as they speak their own language and our best attempt at it is likely "Me Tarzan, you Jane" kind of feel. I think doggy daycare will help him learn how to better interact with others through practice alone.

Is 4 months old enough for doggy daycare? I know I've read that a lot of people won't take their puppies to the dog park until 6 months old. My only kind of hmm addition.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

It actually sounds to me like Cosmo is quite insecure.

It's hard to say without really seeing him, but a lot of times, when a dog constantly feels the need to put other dogs in their place or to challenge older dogs, it can be because he's not quite sure where he is in the order of things.

A truly confident dog tends not to do a whole lot of challenging of other dogs. Confident dogs tend to have more fluid relationships with other dogs and not to get so hung up on possessiveness, territory, and body position. Two confident dogs at play, for example, will often take turns pinning each other.

Is there anything in Cosmo's training that might be undermining his confidence?


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

If tippy is right, then I have a confident dog.  Can a dog be confident and submissive? He plays very well with other dogs/takes turns pinning/etc but has no problem being at the bottom of any given totem pole. I really don't understand confident/insecure doggy behavior but I for one would find it interesting to learn more about it.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

momtoMax said:


> If tippy is right, then I have a confident dog.  Can a dog be confident and submissive? He plays very well with other dogs/takes turns pinning/etc but has no problem being at the bottom of any given totem pole. I really don't understand confident/insecure doggy behavior but I for one would find it interesting to learn more about it.


Absolutely! Confident/submissive is actually an ideal combo in a companion dog. Confident/submissive body language defuses other dogs' anxiety, and it makes your dog a great playmate and biddable training partner.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

I considered briefly that it might be insecurity since, after all, a confident dog has nothing to prove. However, he exhibits a lot of the I've-got-nothing-to-prove mentality and thus he is a very calm dog. He'll walk into puppy class amongs all the dogs playing, tail held high, sniffing here and there and not really attempting to play with anyone. The others always give him his space. Cosmo will walk around by himself greeting people and chasing balls on the ground. After a while he'll maybe play with one of the dogs for a little while, usually as the top dog most of the time. 

He only really becomes more active when another other dog doesn't like him strutting his stuff and then there is a little bit of posturing from both sides.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Our dogs could be brothers! Ranger is the same way about other dogs' posturing...though he has gotten a lot better (due to intense socialization and corrections) about letting it drop.

Tippykayak has a good point about it possibly being insecurity. Most "beta" dogs (or animals) are constantly trying to prove to everyone that they can be "alpha" - but no dog lets an unbalanced dog become leader. How I knew that Ranger was confident, not insecure, was because he wasn't intentionally picking fights with other dogs. He just had NO clue how to do a proper meet and greet. With easy going dogs, that was fine - they'd warn him when he got too exuberant and he'd settle down and try again. ("Oh, I'm NOT supposed to lunge at you when i want to say hi? How bout if I approach you calmly? Yeah, that's cool? Okay great!") It was the nervous energy or "out to prove something" dogs that had a problem with HIM. All he has to do is walk past a "beta", insecure dog and that dog will go nuts trying to go after Ranger when Ranger was just calmly walking by.

Unfortunately, I had a behaviourist tell me that Ranger's problem is because he's so confident that he thinks it's his job to "calm" other dogs down. So when the insecure (not the same as submissive) dog starts to go crazy towards Ranger, Ranger wants to get over there and "calm" the other dog down. We're still working on that aspect of it.

I'll tell you though - every male dog that met Ranger when he was in his 9 - 12 month stage HATED him. Snarls, snaps, growls...and Ranger never retaliated. Once the testosterone left his system, there was a rarely a problem with male dogs - just the insecure "I have something to prove" ones that are either male or female. 

The key is training and socialization. NON stop socialization. Ranger is way better with his meet and greets now and I'm still working on getting him to ignore the dogs that have a problem with him. Like the 3 pitbulls that walk down the street wearing muzzles!


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