confused o.o"

[Caleb Chun]

hmmm so i've been taking tobi on a couple of play dates to my friends home to play with their pups/dogs so he could get some socialization in a few times/week. last week and the week before he'd do the normal dog thing and sniff the other dog/puppy for a while, look around, look at me, sniff some more, and than play with the pups/dogs.

the other day however i took him to another friends home so he could play and after sniffing the first time he stepped back and kinda tried to bite the other pup. well i wouldn't say bite bite but more like nip. what concerned me was that he looked like he was aiming for the nose of my friends pup. so i backed tobi away for a few min, than he continued as normal(sniffing/looking/sniffing/playing).

should i be concerned about the nipping/biting or am i just over thinking it??? should i stop with the visits for a bit???

edit: also this morning while we were playing in the yard he started to bark at the dogs that he saw/smelled that were on walks outside of our fence

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Sounds like he was just playing to me.  I'm not sure tho...he's still so young and at this age they are still learning.

Are there other dogs in your street that bark at dogs that walk by?  I honestly think that Zoe learned to bark at other dogs that walk by because we have a dog across the street that barks.  Now Zoe barks at anything and everything and it's so annoying but it's harmless barking.  She is the most friendliest dog alive.  If you don't want him barking you might want to train him not to...or at least stop on command.  Do a search...there are a lot of discussions on barking :)

Now Bender...my problem dog...rarely barks when people walk by.  Go figure.

[Caleb Chun]

yea one of my neighbors dogs(she has two of them) are highly aggressive and bark/growl/jump/etc at anything that crosses their path... i've made it a point in my daily regime to not go near their place anytime during walks/drives/play/etc it might take a bit longer to go home but i don't want tobi to get the wrong impression of dogs... but i guess when they're in their yard and tobi is playing in my yard he can hear/smell everything...

though i don't think it's playing because when the other dogs were on their walks he bolted behind me and just started barking... his tail was down(not between the legs just not wagging up)... so i'm not sure if he's scared or something but he never did it before :/ i did try to go to the other dogs first to show him nothing was wrong but he just stayed back :/

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Oh I meant I thought he was playing on the play date when he nipped at the other pup.

I think he's scared.  I would highly suggest not to walk by the neighbors dogs that are aggressive.  Maybe always try to reassure him when other dogs are walking by.  I always used to pet Zoe when walking by scary dogs and kind of hum/sing to her a "its ok mommys here" song.  I  never did that with Ben :(  Sorry I'm not much help.

[Caleb Chun]

oh lol... about the nipping though, what concerned me was where he tried to nip... i mean aiming for such a sensitive area on another puppy was such a shock to me... if he wasn't aiming for the nose he was definitely aiming for somewhere close to that area :/

[Caleb Chun]

thanks i'll definitely try that if it happens again... i guess i'm just a little worried haha 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

all sounds normal to me!  puppies nip at each other and learn the boundaries of how hard they can do it from each other.  it's better than the pup nipping at you to learn boundaries.  was the other puppy's reaction.  

have you taken a puppy class?  usually as part of that the trainer lets the pups play and they can tell you what is expected puppy play versus anything you should be concerned about.   

I am sure others will check in with you that are more experienced than me, but from what I have learned it sounds like puppy learning.  

[Caleb Chun]

the other pup was just kinda shocked when tobi tried to nip... he stepped back and looked up at my friend with a look of "what did i do??"... but hopefully it was just normal play and i'm just overthinking lol..

tobi's first puppy class starts next wed though so i'll be sure to ask my fair share of questions with the trainer :)

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

how old is Tobi?  Have you considered attending a puppy obedience class?  A trainer would be able to watch him interact with the other pups and then offer suggestions on proper interactions (if necessary).

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

That's sounds normal to me. He is learning.

Auggie learned to bark at other dogs that walk by since his older brother does it.

You might want to check if there is any puppy socialization class in your area (I'm sure there is). The good thing about these is that they are under a supervision of a trainer and the puppy gets to play with same aged puppies. They all learn together. I've done it with both of mine.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I think he is just "coming in to his own".  Some dogs love to wrestle and play fight and if they find an appropriate wrestlemate, they will play like that for the longest time.  My youngest doodle loves to wrestle and he doesn't hurt the other dog but it looks like he wants to hurt him.  Some people get upset and some dogs do not want to wrestle, but they will search out the willing partner.  My larger doodle will wrestle, but only for a short while.  Harpo can go on forever.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Brinkley to this day wants to play hard and "nip" while playing.  The problem is when he's playing with another dog that doesn't act like this.  Luckily my best friend's dog plays the exact same way.  They take turns beating each other up.  He's found his match. 

Brinkley did start becoming "dog reactive" when he was in the yard and other dogs walked by.  This started when we got a fence-- I think he started to guard his territory.  We've been working VERY hard to break this.  It's a lot of work!!