barking at other dogs and not being able to play

[Brian]

I'll goldendoodle is around 15 weeks old and we've been bringing him to socials lately.  He barks at the other dogs and isn't really good at playing.  He gets highly aggressive and bites.  Sometimes one on one, he will play ok with the dog, but the constant barking and growling makes it seem like he is angry at the dog.  I've tried the "quiet" command that I've tried to teach him, but he doesn't really respond to it.

Any advice to help with the barking and playing?  He has had one training class and is going to some more next week.  I tried to search the site but it's hard to find what you need.  I read about the different kinds of collars but would like to try and avoid that.

Brian

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

He is still pretty young to expose to more than one unknown dog at a time.  Try to find a friend or neighbor with an older calm dog friendly dog.  Then schedule brief one to one play dates. Dogs often play better on neutral territory at first. 

When all is well with that play grouping, find another older friendly dog or equal age puppy to play with.  Slowly introduce him to "controlled" unknown"  multi dog situations - maybe a dog park with only one or two dogs.

Puppy barking during play is common, play growling and biting is also puppy behavior.   it can be hard, especially if this is your first dog to tell play from aggression.  Real growling or aggression requires that you remove him immediately from the area and isolate him in car, or by walking him home, or sitting beside you well away from the area until he is quiet and calm and the return home.  Do not return to that area, dog park for awhile.

Perhaps you could find a trainer or someone who has witnessed and managed a lot of puppy play to go with you and help you figure out if he is really aggressive or just puppy playing.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Agree with Maryann.  Your puppy is very young and it might be he is just frightened and excited -therefore barking  I would scale back like Maryann suggests and find a one on one play partner until he learns how to play.  An older dog is perfect and it will tell your dog what is and what is not appropriate very quickly.  When your puppy is off the charts stimulated like this, I doubt he can even contemplate your quiet command.    

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Taking young dogs to puppy socials is strongly encouraged these days, and this works well for many dogs, but based on recent experience with my now almost 8 month old mini labradoodle, Belle, I think if you have any concerns about your pup's behavior in a group, you should strongly consider changing the socialization environment, as described by Maryann and Linda. After an initial period of shyness at 11 weeks old, Belle engaged energetically with the other, mostly larger, puppies at her puppy socials. Then she started mouthing the other dogs, and developed a right hook. Although everyone laughed and thought this 13 pound dustmop smacking the big pups was cute, I found it disturbing. Then at a doggy day care evaluation this behavior was considered unacceptable and potentially dangerous. For two days a week during the past 6 weeks Belle has been attending a small, carefully supervised day care group with well trained, mostly adult dogs of similar size, and she has stopped mouthing and smacking the other dogs, and is enjoying herself tremendously. She still has not graduated to the larger, less restrictive group, but she is definitely moving in the right direction. I wish I had stopped taking her to the original puppy socials sooner though. Just our experience, for whatever it's worth.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Andrea - Good to hear your little one is adjusting - some just take longer than others.  Then there are others like our Charlie Brown who could care less if he played with any dog (including his own little half brother).  At a dog park, he walks around and visits the people!  Ignores all dogs.  He really should be a therapy dog, but I am being too lazy!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

So glad your Daycare was willing to do this.  IMO the best way for a puppy like this to learn proper behavior is from other balanced dogs.