Author Topic: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her  (Read 5234 times)

Offline pink2378

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Hi there!  I have a 4 ½ month newfie pup named Lucy.  She is normally so sweet and well behaved (well, for a puppy!)  and she LOVES to play with other dogs.  The problem comes when the other dog doesn’t want to play with her.  She just kind of goes insane barking and running around and sometimes growling.  She is almost uncontrollable unless I put her on a leash and then every 20 seconds I’m having to put her in a sit or a down and making her chill out.  Is this normal?  Will she grow out of it?   I haven’t had a puppy before and I’m not sure what normal puppy behavior is.  I don’t want to freak out if she’ll just grow out of it but I want to correct it if it’s something that she needs to learn not to do.  Help!  Thanks ???

Offline newflvr

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Re: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2006, 07:26:21 am »
She's a baby-baby!!!  Of course she wants to play and will be obnoxious when an older dog doesn't want to roughhouse.  You are doing the right thing.  She will outgrow that behavior but you may have to let an older dog growl and snap at her to put her in her place. 

Offline Skippy

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Re: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2006, 07:49:25 am »
Oh what a look. You just know she is going to be a handful.
Central New York

Offline pink2378

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Re: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2006, 08:50:52 am »
We recently had a older dog at our house that didn't want to play with her and that dog did snap at her and try to put her in her place but it didn't work as I'd hoped.  Instead Lucy just got more frustrated and barked more and more at her and then the older dog just started avoiding/ignoring her which lead to more barking etc.  So I ended up putting Lucy in her kennel to calm her down. I guess we'll just have to step up our efforts to get her out there and learning more doggy behaviour.  Thanks for your input.  It's good to know that it's something that she should grow out of. 

Offline newflvr

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Re: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2006, 08:57:00 am »
Has she gone to school yet?  A qualifed trainer could help you out as well.  The more exposure you can give her to different situations, the better.  The more handling by all sorts of people, the better. The more animals, the better, the more noises, the better!!  All of this will help her learn to be calmer and more dependable in all situations.

I have found female Newfs to be a lot stronger in temperment than the males.  Mine was more protective, stronger willed and her nickname was "Little B*tch"!!  for a very good reason.

She is SOOO adorable, though!!

Offline pink2378

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Re: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2006, 09:36:12 am »
LOL, I think that nickname might apply to Lucy as well!  She's can be quite the handful sometimes.  But she's still such a baby so that's to be expected.

We have her in puppy class and she's doing well.  It's good for her to be around all the other puppies and their owners.  I plan on following up with obedience work. 

I hadn't heard of "puppy license".  That is good to know!  I was wondering when the older dog's tolerance would wear out and they'd start treating her differently.

Thanks for all your help!  I really appreciate it!

I'm attaching one of her sweet girl moments that make me fall all googly in love with her.

Offline newflvr

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Re: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2006, 09:43:10 am »
Maybe it comes with the name???  My girl was "Lucille"!!!

She is so adorable!  You would have to be completely crazy NOT to fall in love with her!!

Offline pink2378

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Re: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her
« Reply #7 on: November 09, 2006, 10:42:55 am »
How funny is that!? It must come with the name!  Lucys apparently come with spunk!  Maybe I should change her name? 

Thanks to you all for the warm welcome!  I'm glad to be here!

And, yup, she's pretty irresistable -95% of the time anyway! The other 5% I might want to take you up on your offer to take her!!!  LOL

Offline pink2378

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Re: Help! My newfie pup gets frustrated when an older dog won't play with her
« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2006, 11:45:41 am »

Jack still gets frustrated at times.  What dogs do to him is sort of tease him.  They bob around him and as soon as he goes into the play bow they run away.  That really ticks him off.


What do you do when he gets frustrated?