My puppy is a small breed dog and she's going to max out around 10-12lbs. Right now she is about 7lbs and is super social and playful! My friend has a big dog who has had puppies before (rescued and spayed) and is very gentle playing with my girl, and there are a couple dogs in my area who like to play with her who I trust. I want her to be able to have interactions with other dogs.
I've been trying to train her to sit first when she wants to say hello to another dog. She doesn't always want to, somes she ignores them or is just sniffing things so I don't do it every single time I see a dog up the road. Since she's so small I dont want her bouncing excitedly up and down on her leash to meet a random dog, and if I'm doing something like picking up her poop its just not safe. It only takes a second for something to go wrong. Also, not every dog wants to say hello to her so I think its helpful if she can watch them pass by and understand that means no, I give her big rewards when that happens.
But other people don't seem to respect that at all. I'll kneel down and start trying to get her to calm down and sit, and people will just say "Don't worry he/she's friendly" and let their dog come over to my puppy. I never get a chance explain until the interaction is basically already happening. Sometimes I quickly manage to say "I'm just training her to not run up." and they just say their dog is friendly again 😭 like that's not the point!
I've still been making decent progress, if she sees a dog she knows and some stranger dogs she sits and waits for me to say OK before saying hi, but when she's already excitable and the other dog is excited she still hops up and down at the end of her leash. When people are respectful I can usually get her to calm and sit for a moment before she days hi. It's just so frustrating when Im obviously trying to train something and people don't care!
submitted by /u/unknowablecore
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